Category: Blog

21^st September 2010, at my desk, Oak Plaza Hotel, Accra, Ghana

My day began at 4am when the Akina Mama onsite coordinator called my room to let me know that I have to be ready for my TV interview and that Sister Darkoa was going to chauffeur myself and Solome to GTV (Ghana Broadcasting Corporation) at 5:00am for the Breakfast show. Now, this was something I had been fretting about since my arrival at the hotel the day before, so as could be imagined I continued my drama – I was imagining being asked a question and being tongue-tied aka muumuu. The worst my imagination conjured up was that I would probably run off the set. Funnily enough as all these images run through my mind I was physically extremely calm (ask Sister Darkoa).

At GTV, I had to come to terms with the ridiculous amount of make up the “make up artist” had to put on my face. At the end of the pancake smear on my face, it was time for the interview, which lasted about 3 minutes, and to my surprise I was calm, collected and I was able to answer all the questions. Though the first question caught me of guard, by the end I was thinking…is that all? It’s that simple!

After breakfast, it was time to meet the participants who were from different countries in the sub-region. Different accents and different personalities from West Africa all in the same room. Here, again I was surprised at my self; I found myself starting conversations with other participants and actually sustaining a conversation, walking up to participants to have conversations, smiling and waving; I think I did quite well. Isn’t it funny when ever you mention the name of your organisation everyone asks if they could come for a grant? Anyways I answered yes and they could drop a proposal and so far I have two proposals for the AWDF!!

The opening ceremony; had a keynote speaker in the name of Angela Dwamena-Aboagye who spoke eloquently on the topic ‘Women’s leadership in Africa: The magic bullet?’ What struck me about her speech was that the “personal is political”- the private person cannot be disassociated from the public person, these two personalities make up the same person and that the mark of a true leader is character.

The greatest part of my day was receiving a call from my grandmother who was screaming on the other end of the call because she had seen me on TV and had called an assembly of her tenants to watch me on TV.

And that was my first day at the AWLI!!!

By: Thelma Owusu-Boakye

Programme Assistant

African Women’s Development Fund

P.S: The AWLI is an innovative leadership programme for young African women run by AWDF grantee, Akina Mama wa Afrika

A two-member team from AWDF and a documentary crew were in Liberia from the 3^rd of August to the 7^th of August to document the work and impact of AWDF in Liberia. In all the activities of 7 organisations and the testimonies of three women leaders in Liberia were recorded. The three women leaders included her Excellency President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Hon Varbah Gayflor, Minister of Gender and Development, Liberia and Hon Olubanke King-Akerele, Minister of Foreign Affairs in Liberia. Beneficiaries of the various projects also testified about the impact of AWDF’s grant-making, technical assistance and capacity building.

Some Outcomes

All grantees and personalities interviewed spoke about the uniqueness and the relevance of the work of AWDF. The results of AWDF’s funding and capacity building activities were evident in all the organizations visited.

– AWDF supported the active participation of women in the peace negotiations of the various warring factions and stakeholders during the conflict in Liberia

– AWDF have supported the building of women’s leadership skills for effective involvement in the reconstruction efforts in Liberia

– Young women have been trained and are being mentored to take up leadership positions in Liberia. These young women are also equipped to help build and maintain peace in their communities. One of the young leaders who graduated from WIPSEN’s young women’s leadership programme is presently the first deputy speaker of the Liberia Children’s Parliament

– AWDF has strengthened the organisational capacity of some women’s initiatives to provide critical services to the populace especially women living in deprived areas outside the capital, Monrovia. Services rendered include vocational training in hairdressing, dressmaking, catering and computer skills. Some beneficiaries also received micro finance and are presently running vibrant businesses that are catering for their needs and the needs of their families. These interventions have brought hope and joy to families especially children who can now benefit from proper growth and education. Many of these young women who benefit from these interventions are teenage mothers with no education or skills, many would have joined the teeming population of idle young people with no idea of what they can do with their lives.

– Through the support of AWDF, some market structures have been renovated and are presently in use. Women now have the congenial atmosphere to do their business and no longer have to bear the consequences of the vagaries of the weather. Consequently children who accompany their mothers to the marketplace have a healthier environment in which to play and grow

– Organisations such as the Angie Brooks centre has also trained a core group of women and men who are solidifying peace in their communities by promoting peace and subduing early warning signs of conflict within their communities. With readily available peace educators, mediators and negotiators, communities are learning to resolve conflict amicably and readily.

Outcome of Training in Resource Mobilisation Course

– As a result of the GIMPA Resource Mobilisation course that a staff member of WONGOSOL attended, it was agreed at their last board meeting that the board should hold a special retreat to deliberate on the important recommendations that the staff member made after attending the course. The board therefore set up a committee that was tasked with ensuring that the retreat takes place and makes the most out of the opportunities presented. The board has agreed to review and revisit their resource mobilization strategies as well as their systems and structures. It is expected that the retreat will take place in the month of September 2010. WONGOSOL is a network of NGOs in Liberia.

– For the New Liberian Women Organisation/Skills Training Centre, the Resource Mobilisation course provided the skills and the knowledge to strategise and to be able to visualize all opportunities for mobilizing resources. For example during the International Colloquium on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development Peace and Security (7^th-8^th March 2010), the New Liberian Women Organisation/Skills Training Centre using some graduates of its training centre made clothes and sold them to conference participants. They also launched an individual giving campaign starting from the streets and the market places of Monrovia and its environs out of which they got some money to purchase land and to commence the construction of an office complex that houses their offices and skills training centre. They have taken their income earning projects seriously and currently bake bread for sale. They have acquired a stall in the business area where they display their bread for sale. Their other income generating projects include tie & dye and sewing. They have also launched a campaign to get women to support initiatives for women. Again, the trainee has been sharing the knowledge and skills acquired with other women’s organisations in the country.

Beatrice Boakye-Yiadom (Grants Manager)

P.S: This post is the introduction to an internal report on AWDF’s M&E visit to Liberia

Today was the finale for the XVIII International Aids Conference and an appropriate time to reflect on all that I have learnt, seen and heard over the past week. This is the second International Aids Conference I have attended; I remember feeling very impressed when I attended the previous International Aids Conference that took place in Mexico. ‘How well organized’ I thought, ‘so many learning opportunities’…

3 new things I learnt at this year’s conference:

Sero-Discordant Couples Exist

As the Chair of one of the panels on sero-discordant couples said, discordant is not really the appropriate word to refer to relationships in which one person is HIV+ and the other is HIV- because many of these relationships (like other types of relationships) are harmonious. For some reason I had never conceptualized relationships in which people would consciously choose to be with a person who happens to be HIV+, maybe a sign of my own prejudice… People in sero-discordant (I don’t know what other term to use) relationships can protect themselves by using barrier methods during sex – the same way any other couple should protect themselves. It was interesting to find out that some people choose to have unprotected sex even thought they know that their partner is HIV+. Reasons given varied including intimacy, love, etc. I was struck by how some people are HIV- despite long-term exposure to the virus. The only reason I was given is that some people appear to have a gene that makes them immune to the virus.

Sex Workers

I went to a panel on sex work because I have been trying to understand why anyone will choose to engage in sex work. I can understand participating in ‘survival’ sex, I can understand that some people get addicted to drugs and engage in sex work in order to feed their habit but I have struggled to understand why anyone would willingly choose to be a sex worker so after sitting through a panel and finding my question unanswered I was the first one to jump up when the floor was opened for questions:

Q: “So why will anyone choose to be a sex worker”

I got a range of responses:

A: “No one asks anyone else why they choose the jobs they do”

A: “You need no capital to start sex work”

A: “As a trans woman its a way of affirming my gender identity. Men find me attractive and are willing to pay to have sex with me”

A: “I like sex”

A: “I got raped as a child”

A: “It’s a way of running my own business – I work when I want to. I am my own boss”

CAPRISA 004

This was the most exciting news of the conference! The first microbicide trial to show a statistically relevant result and had resulted in 54% protection against HIV for those who had taken the vaginal suppository as instructed > 80% of the time. CAPRISA 005 is a Tenofovir (TFV) gel that is ART (Anti-retroviral therapy) based. The TFV gel is inserted 12 hours before sex and 12 hours after sex. CAPRISA 004 now becomes the benchmark for protection/prevention where future trials are concerned.

All in all it was an interesting, useful and educational conference. Roll on AIDS 2012!

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

Programme Officer

Fundraising & Communications

A couple of images I took today at the XVIII International Aids Conference in Vienna, of AWDF’s grantee partners.

Nana Sekyiamah

Programme Officer (Fundraising & Communications)

A young, energetic graduate responds to a call to volunteer her time and skills as an HIV peer educator and it becomes a life saver even though it did not appear so at that time.

Then 27 years old and newly married, Ihe Nkeiru had just completed the University and was ready to undertake her national youth service. During the orientation UNICEF appealed to the “Corpers”, as these service persons are nicknamed, to volunteer to be trained as HIV&AIDS peer educators. Ihe heeded the call and volunteered to be trained as an HIV&AIDS peer educator. After the training, the peer educators were asked to undergo voluntary counseling and testing as a way of knowing their status and to be able to convince people about the importance of knowing one’s status through voluntary counseling and testing.

It was this gesture that saved her health and life however devastating the news was at that time, Ihe tested positive to the HIV virus. She was devastated and did not know what to do or how to handle the situation. Luckily for her the counselor who had counseled her during the voluntary counseling and testing process was Doris Brenda the ardent HIV&AIDS activist and founder of “Heal the Land”, an HIV&AIDS support group.

Doris applied to the National Youth Service Corps and requested for Ihe to serve her time with “Heal the Land” as a peer educator. With counseling and support from Doris and the support group at “Heal the Land”, Ihe was able to learn strategies to live positively. Ihe completed her National Service with “Heal the land” and gained employment with the organization as an accountant, having graduated with a Bsc Accounting from the University.

Ms Ihe Nkeiru was one of 10 “Corpers” who won awards in Akwa Ibom State in 2008 for working assiduously on the prevention of HIV&AIDS and training secondary school students on HIV&AIDS issues. As a national service person she used her service allowance to purchase multi vitamins which she donated to people living with HIV&AIDS accessing health care services at the University of Oyo teaching hospital.

With her husband living outside the country at the time she tested positive Ihe had not disclosed her status to him or to any other person outside ‘Heal the Land”. When her husband visited about a year and a half after she had tested positive she had the task of disclosing her status to him. It was so difficult that she had to call her counselor and mentor Doris to help her with the disclosure. Upon disclosing her status to her husband he appeared to have received the news calmly was initially supportive until she fell ill a month later with TB. That was the beginning of her woes, her husband’s attitude changed towards her and he finally abandoned her at home and never came back. Then the tough issue of disclosing her status to a family member arose. With the support of her counselor again, Ihe broke the news to her brother who was very understanding and supportive. Her brother travelled for miles to see her when she suffered a partial stroke and had nobody with her, he asked the hospital where she was receiving treatment to transfer her to a bigger hospital near his home where she received the best of care. When she got better her brother took her to his home and nursed her till she was well enough to go back to work.

Today Ihe is well and helping to run “Heal the Land”, a support group of about 50 women living with HIV&AIDS, as well as undertaking outreach programmes to very remote villages in the State of Akwa Ibom of Nigeia where she provides much needed information on HIV&AIDS as well as caring for those living with HIV&AIDS.

Ihe is determined and passionate about touching and saving lives. She believes that women should equip themselves to face life. In her mind’s eye, young women especially need to equip themselves to face the future especially with all the advancement and turbulence being encountered in the world now.

AWDF supports “Heal the Land” to provide skills training to women living with HIV&AIDS as well as deepen awareness around HIV&AIDS issues. With the support of AWDF, “Heal the Land” has trained treatment literacy/adherence counselors, two of whom are permanently stationed at the St. Luke’s hospital and formed an HIV&AIDS club at one of the project Communities, Mbo in the Oron local government Area of the State of Akwa Ibom to provide continuous HIV awareness in the community.

By: Beatrice Boakye Yiadom

Grants Manager, AWDF

When a friend suggested to Blessing Dickson, 17 years then that she accompanies her to an educational session at the offices of Girls Power Initiative (GPI) she was very reluctant. Not only was the meeting place a bus ride away, which she could not afford but also she really did not understand the essence of an after school educational session.

But the persistence of her friend and the encouragement of her brother led to her first attendance at the Girls’ Power Initiative educational session for young women after almost a year of persuasion, and since then she has never looked back. Blessing who is presently in the second year of the GPI programme is now a strong advocate of the Girls’ Power Initiative young women’s programme and has been convincing other friends to join the programme.

The GPI young women’s programme seeks to equip girls aged from 10 to 18 with human rights, and comprehensive sexuality education. The GPI young women’s programme is structured in such a way that everybody feels comfortable and safe. The entry level, level 1 is divided into 4 different groups based on age. The first group “shining stars” is for ages 10 and 11; second group “precious group” is for those 12 and 13 years old. The third group named “Silver” is for girls 14 and 15 years while the fourth group is for the older entrees aged 16 years and named “Pearls”.

To maintain the comfort of girls and young women within similar age groups the second level of the programme is divided into the older and younger girls. The younger girls are grouped together in the “Alpha” class while the older girls get into the “Bosoms” class. At the final level, which is level girl there is the “Damsels” who are younger and the “Seeders” who are the older group. The different classifications within the same level is to ensure that people feel free and are able to connect to and with people within their age group. The classification also ensures privacy and confidentiality. It takes 3 years to graduate from the GPI and an examination is taken at the end of each year before one is promoted to the next class. After the 3 years the graduate joins the GPI Alumni Association (GAA).

A wide range of topics are covered weekly including issues around women’s sexual health and rights; skills building activities including income generation skills, building of self esteem, imbibing a sense of responsibility and ability to think critically about issues. The girls are also taught to be firm in their convictions and to be able to withstand all the pressures of being a teenager.

GPI provides transportation to and from from the venue of the programme,, this ensures that the unavailability of a bus fare does not hinder any of the girls from attending the weekly classes/meetings.

Blessing who is now 19 years says, “Before joining GPI I could not stick to decisions, I was always wavering in my decisions and resolves but GPI taught me to stick to my decisions and to have a sense of responsibilities”. According to Blessing, the GPI lessons has helped her to shun all sexual activities as well as other negative social behaviours that teenagers usually indulge in. She has also learnt to respect the diversity of culture and tradition as well as to make responsible choices. She now can speak firmly but politely, is very assertive and has a high sense of self esteem.

Blessing is presently working as a fashion designer whilst saving money to continue her education. One of the key lessons Blessing has taken away from her training at GPI is the ability to readily apologise when she is in the wrong. This has brought about a lot of peace and tranquility within her relationships at home and amongst her friends.

She finds a lot of peace and comfort in the GPI family for she is able to confide in her facilitators especially in relation to issues around her sexual health, something she is unable to do with her mother. “The facilitators are friendly, they are like mothers to me. They listen to me, when I have problems even at home I tell them and they counsel me and support me and this makes me strong”.

GPI has helped Blessing to unearth her creative talents in poetry and song writing. She has presently written 4 songs that the GPI has adopted for the girls. Without the GPI most of these talents would have died within her. Blessing is planning to go to the medical school or to become a medical lab scientist, she plans on enrolling in a tertiary institution in 2011.

The GPI counseling programme is structured to involve parents and to engage with teachers when the need arises. Parents know that GPI is a safe space for their children, they have witnessed the changes that has occurred within their children and the diverse strength that has been displayed by daughters who have benefitted from the GPI programme. Teachers sometimes consult the notes of beneficiaries of GPI during lessons on sexual and reproductive health. Students approach students of the GPI programme for counseling, encouragement and support.

With the ever increasing numbers of girls attending the young women’s programme at the GPI there is the need to have a bigger facility that can comfortably accommodate all these girls. For this reason, AWDF is supporting the building of a new complex for the GPI.

By: Beatrice Boake-Yiadom

Grants Manager, AWDF

Saiadatu Bala Ahmed is a 22-year-old married woman from Adamawa State in Northern Nigeria. Saiada as she is usually called has had her life transformed after watching the Vagina monologues play (‘V’- monologues) in Lagos.

Saiada lives with her husband and 2 year old daughter in Apapa, a suburb of Lagos State. She is a member of The Ajegunle Community Project (ACP) a grantee organisation of AWDF. ACP seeks to reduce social inequalities among grassroots women and the girl-child. Saiada got married at the age of 17 years under duress and had to forfeit writing the West African Examinations because her father could no longer pay for her education. Her prospective husband promised to send her to school to complete her education after the marriage, alas this promise was a fallacy as her marriage turned out to be as abusive as any woman could imagine! Any reference to the promise to continue her education intensified the violence against her. Saiada was beaten, wrongly accused of adultery, thrown out of home, raped, denied her human rights and was even divorced once (according to her culture a wife is divorced four times before the marriage is finally dissolved). Saiada’s husband sacked her from her marital home when she was four months pregnant because a male neighbor was staring at her (her husband said he doubted he had made her pregnant). Saiada’s daily life was a nightmare, one of apprehension and violence! Certainly this could not be allowed to go on forever!

The turning point for Saiada was in 2006 when she was invited by the late founder of Ajegunle Community Foundation to join other young women to watch the “V-Monologues” play in Lagos. The “V- Monologue” resonates Saiada’s life story. “Every stage of the play was about me and my life, l felt so sad and l just told myself that this is it, these violations of my human rights must stop now. The play just gave me courage, confidence and strength, and l just discovered my voice and myself. I was ready to demand and take my rights from my husband no matter what, l was just ready” Saiada said. Such profound words indeed! Saiada had to be careful though; she was not just dealing with an abusive husband but also an obsessed one. She started off by posting posters with messages of violence against women on the walls of their room at places where he would never miss to notice. Messages such as “Do not allow any man to turn your body into a punching bag, it is your right to protect it”. “Against her will is against the law”. These messages continued for awhile but they almost also landed her into trouble with her husband. But this never deterred Saiada. She was determined and stood her ground, threatening to report her husband to the police if he beats her and saying she will use the marks on her body as evidence against him. The spark of audacity and determination in her eyes and actions sent a strong warning message to her husband to be careful with her, “this is the new Saiada Bala who is now well informed about her rights” she said. In order to gain his ‘masculine ego’ back, he asked her to stop attending the meetings at ACP but she refused and insisted she will continue to attend. He asked her to leave his house but she refused and reminded him that she was his wife and had to be divorced four times! He threatened to marry a second women but she told him she will simply move out and move on with her life. He used all sort of ploys to get her into a submissive demeanor but Saiada was now too well informed to be manipulated. He finally gave up!

Today, Saiada has completed a computer school with sponsorship from her husband and she is getting ready to go back to school to study diploma in sociology. “My husband is becoming a changed person now, thankfully the violence has stopped” she said. Saiada also has political aspirations and will like to go into mainstream politics one day. This is an awesome young lady with huge potentials that should be nurtured. She is highly recommended to attend the African women’s leadership institute and African feminist Forum.

“The Vagina Monologues, “V-monologues: The Nigerian Story” is a remake of the American version. The American version, written by Eve Ensler, was a catalogue of various monologues told by various women. A recurring theme throughout the piece is the vagina as a tool of female empowerment, and the ultimate embodiment of individuality. However, the Nigerian version is a bit different. The play is aimed at raising awareness about various aspects of violence women and girls face in Nigeria.

The Vagina Monologues came to Nigeria for the first time in 2006 through Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND) a grantee of AWDF. It has since evolved into a Nigerian version (The V-Monologues) infused with issues peculiar to the Nigerian cultural challenges with the use of Nigerian language and music.

Nafi Chinery

Capacity Building Officer (AWDF)

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah (Programme Officer, AWDF) and Thelma Owusu Boakye (Programme Assistant, AWDF) held a number of vox pops with some of the participants at the African Women in Film Forum, 16th-17th June 2010, Lagos, Nigeria.

Below are a selection of Audio Files from the film forum. Your feedback, comments and thoughts are appreciated:

Film Forum – Tunde Kelani

Film Forum – Bunmi Oyinsan

A selection of pictures from the Film Forum can be found on AWDF’s Flickr page

Abena Busia’s paper which set the context for the Film Forum, ‘ Women and the Dynamics of Representation: Of Cooking, Cars and Culture‘ can be viewed on the AWDF Blog and AWDF Facebook Page

The display of youthful exuberance, intelligence, confidence and beauty attracted me to this young lady sitting in the mist of older ladies and who occasionally would chip in useful information about the organisation’s activities at a meeting with some staff members of Heal the Land Initiative, a grantee of AWDF at Akwa Ibom state in Nigeria. Ms. Peace Augustines is the third of six children born to Mr & Mrs Augustine from Abia States in Nigeria. Peace as she is affectionately called is 21 years old and lost both parents in 2002 to HIV&AIDs.

Soon after the death of her parents and at a young age of 16, Peace begun to feel the impact of HIV &AIDS as it perpetuates the cycle of poverty. As an orphan from a poor home she and her siblings were thrown out of their parent’s home, she abandoned her education and each one of them had to take care of themselves. The issue of survival becomes very critical here! Peace was lucky enough to have moved into her grandmother’s house, at least there shelter was assured, but then she had to assume a new role as head of the household at the expense of her education. Peace quickly found her survival strategy to raise income for her household’s upkeep; street hawking of pure water in the busy streets of Abia State was her new income generation activity. It was during one of her hawking activities that she was spotted by Ms. Doris Ugwu, the Executive Director of Heal the Land Initiative who also knew about her parents death. Doris, knowing this young lady decided to give her a chance to live a better life. Doris is HIV&AIDS positive and the first to publicly announce her status in Akwa Ibom. Understanding the impact of the disease on families and children especially, Doris decided to seek permission from Peace’s grandmother to allow her to sponsor Peace’s education whilst she continued to live with her grandmother to sit her West African Examination Council (WAEC) papers.

In 2008, Peace moved to live with Doris in Akwa Ibom State. She has written the joint matriculation examination board and will soon be writing her aptitude test to guarantee her a place in the university. Peace is a very ambitious young lady; she is looking forward to going to the University of Oyo to read psychology. She also dreams of being a philosopher, Peace believes she possesses a wealth of knowledge which she would like to pass on to other people to shape their lives for the better.

Peace has increased her knowledge on HIV&AIDs through her personal life and also through her engagement with HEAL the Land Initiative where she volunteers her time when she is not in school. Obviously Peace has had huge challenges in life, from her childhood to date; experiencing the suffering and death of her parents and its repercussion on her growing up. She said to me “It doesn’t matter what you go through in life you just don’t have to give up. I have learnt to improve on my knowledge, be vigilant and not to be taken advantages of by boys or men and to trust in God”.

• She has learnt never to stigmatise anyone no matter his or her situation.
• She has learnt to give back, and so she also wants to rescue other children from the street.
• She has built her confidence level; to her living positively is not the end of one’s life and she want to support others to live positively.
• She has learnt that maturity is not in age but in mind and character because that is the powerful tool one needs to win the community over.
• She has learnt to make friends she can influence positively and vice versa.

Unfortunately, not many children are or will be as lucky as Peace to be rescued off the street and given a decent life and an education. There are many more children who are continuously exposed to the hazards of ‘streetism’. It is therefore important that as development workers, women’s activists and donor organizations we begin to rethink the factors which fuel the spread of HIV such as gender inequality, conflict, migration, poverty, exclusion and the denial of basic rights as factors that cut right across the development agenda. Approximately 99% of those infected by HIV&AIDS live in developing countries and 12 million girls and boys are orphaned as a result of HIV&AIDS. HIV&AIDS is now one of the most powerful barriers to achieving the 2015 development targets in Africa, where it is now the leading cause of death.

Peace is a peer educator in schools and her community but how effective can she be if her actions and those of organisations like Heal the Land Initiative are not supported by decision and policy maker and all of us?

P.S: Peace is not positive

Nafi Chinery

Capacity Building Officer

AWDF