In this issue of Let’s Get Schooled, Sahar Elhallak, Target Fundraising Coordinator for The FAWCO Foundation introduces the Backing Women Fundraising Campaign for Education. Funds raised over the course of the next two years will support the FAWCO Target Project, Hope Beyond Displacement.
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Sahar Elhallak from AIWC Rabat in Morocco and I am the Target Fundraising Coordinator for the Target Project, Hope Beyond Displacement. I was thrilled to launch the Backing Women Fundraising Campaign in Mumbai last month where I got the chance to meet so many of you. For those who could not be in Mumbai, I hope I get the chance to meet you at your regional meeting or at next year’s Interim Meeting in The Hague. As the Target Fundraising Coordinator, I look forward to helping you and your club over the next two years to fundraise for Hope Beyond Displacement. I encourage and welcome your feedback and ideas as we work together to raise funds for this very worthy cause.
At the launch, we announced our goal to raise $125,000 by February 2019!! We are fortunate that this project, unlike past projects, began not at zero, but rather with $8,200!!! That is because a number of FAWCO Member Clubs began fundraising BEFORE the Target Project was even launched. A huge thank you to those clubs who contributed beforehand: AWG Paris, AWC Hamburg, AWC Berlin, IWC Torino and AWC Bern!
Most of you know the Backing Women Fundraising Campaign from the Target Project for Human Rights. The logo for Backing Women was inspired by artwork donated by renowned French artist Christian de Laubadere, whose collection of “the Necks” depicts the nape of the neck as a powerful symbol of strength and femininity. Many of you remember when this painting was auctioned off on Foundation Night in Rome in 2015. I am delighted to tell you that The FAWCO Foundation has approved the continued use of this beautiful image for the current Target Project for Education.
Throughout the next two years, we will have fun and different items for sale in our Backing Women Boutique. You can find these items in the online catalog on The FAWCO Foundation website bit.lyBWFundraisingCampaign.
Our BW fans were a big hit at the conference in Mumbai, especially for those who went on the post conference tour! They are not only stylish and pretty, but also very handy to have with you. Don’t you think they would make a great gift for your mom for Mother’s Day or for her birthday? Don’t forget, giving a BW gift is actually giving twice: the gift for your mom and the donation to the Target Project in her honor.
Our other new item with the “neck” design was the BW notepad. These elegant pads make great hostess gifts. Perhaps you could use it as a thank you gift or a prize for a club event. I encourage you to give the notepad to your friends, neighbors or colleagues and don’t forget to share the information about Hope Beyond Displacement to spread the word about our Target Project!
We also introduced new fun-colored coasters in Mumbai, each set comes with four coasters that were produced by a local NGO in Mumbai. The FAWCO Foundation made a decision to support the Target Project through supporting the economic empowerment of women and these coasters are the first product of “doubling up”. Mayra Johnson (AWC Mumbai) did an excellent job coordinating with the Mann Center for Individuals with Special Needs, a charity that the AWC Mumbai has long supported, to make these items available to FAWCO members. The coasters might also be a great gift for your mom, don’t you think?!
We still have some of your old favorite items available - while supplies last. Make sure you check the new Backing Women Online Catalog on The FAWCO Foundation website for old favorite items and see what is new. Please send me an email at: if you would like to order any of the items from the Boutique and we will get them off to you as soon as possible.
We know that fundraising isn’t all about buying products - each club has its own philanthropic heart.
Many clubs hold their own annual or on-the-spot fundraisers for the Target Project. I want to hear from you and your club on what fundraising activities you are planning and I urge you to share your photos and ideas with us.- Have you seen the challenge that AWC Amsterdam posted in the FAWCO Facebook group encouraging us all to “Raise Your Hand for Education” ? Are you and your club ready for the challenge?
- Let us know what you are doing -
- And don’t forget to use the hashtag #hopebeyonddisplacement!
As we fundraise, we cannot lose sight of the work of the Collateral Repair Project (CRP) and the specific project Hope Beyond Displacement that was created for our fundraising campaign. There were many in Mumbai, like me, who got very emotional while listening to Amanda Lane, Executive Director of CRP talk about the women and girls at the CRP center in Amman, Jordan. (If you weren’t in Mumbai, you can read what Amanda wrote in last month’s bIog “Let’s Get Schooled”). As the child of refugees, I know from my own personal experience the feeling of leaving home and not knowing when one will return - if ever - and it is not a very enviable feeling! It is vital to try and look beyond the displacement for any hope, for any opportunity to survive, to provide for your loved ones and to move forward. Education is an ideal path to take towards a better future. Our help - yours, mine and the help of all FAWCO members gives many both hope for the future and the education or training needed to find their way.
Our Donations will fund:
Girls’ Education - enrollment of 100 girls in school each year and 120 girls in the SuperGirls after school enrichment program.
Women’s Vocational Training - 120 women will complete the International Computer Driving License (ICDL) computer skills training, and 45 women and girls who have their ICDL will be taught computer coding. In addition, 60 women will complete an economic empowerment program which provides training in cosmetology and self-employment skills. That means providing 180 women skills to generate income!
Women’s Leadership - participation of 160 women in the Women’s Empowerment 101 Program and 160 men and youth in gender-based violence training; 20 will continue on in Training the Trainer workshops; 90 women, men and youths will participate in the Leadership in Action program.
We are teaming up with the FAWCO Education Team ( previously Education Team) to bring new ideas to clubs for great ways to fundraise and raise awareness about Education. In some of our brainstorming sessions, these are some of the FUN-Raising ideas that have been presented:
- Host a series of dinner parties with the soup as the main dish; many refugees don’t have access to a variety of produce, so soup is all they can eat sometimes!
- Ask a local lecturer or author to be a guest speaker at your club next meeting, charge a fee that will go towards funding our Target Project.
- Invite people to view a film on a big screen at your local community center or universities. Charge a fee and enjoy with popcorn.
- Raise funds through walking, running or biking for our Target Project. Get your miles sponsored!
- Hold an Auction of Talents event, and offer your talents whether it is playing the piano, jewelry making or knitting lessons.
- Host a Fashion Show: local shop owners are keen on helping refugees ask them to donate some of their items. Charge for modeling the clothes and auction items to the highest bidder.
If each of us joins in the fundraising efforts and makes their own contribution, we will raise the money for Hope Beyond Displacement in no time!!
You can follow the progress of our fundraising campaign in several ways. We will make periodic announcements to keep you up-to-date and on The FAWCO Foundation website, you will see the stack of books which is our “pictometer”. We plan to update it monthly so that we can all see the progress toward our goal of $125,000. So, please help us raise our stack of books!
We also have designed new medallions for the Target Project for Education. Any club that makes a specific donation will be listed on the Target Project for Education Donor Wall and will be recognized with a specific medallion. Special thanks to Kristin Haanes (AWC Oslo) and Janet Davis (AIWC Cologne) for their work in designing them. We encourage all donor clubs to post their medallion on their own club’s website to show what your efforts have achieved.
The FAWCO Target Program unites Member Clubs to support a single global initiative. I know that together, we will reach our goal of $125,000 that will bring the UN’s 4th Sustainable Development Goal of Quality Education to the women and girls served by Hope Beyond Displacement and help repair some of the collateral damage from which all refugees suffer.
- Sahar Elhallak, Target Fundraising Coordinator