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Greetings!
Welcome to the very first issue of AWDF News, the newsletter for donors and supporters of the African Women's Development Fund (AWDF).
AWDF News is designed to keep you informed about the difference your donation makes to the lives of African women,update you about our grantee partners and share with you some of the ways through which you can work with AWDF to transform the lives of African women and girls.
This month's issue features an interview with Mbaasem, (Mbaasem translates from the Ghanaian language Akan as 'Women's Affairs') a group set up by the internationally renowned Ghanaian author and lecturer Ama Ata Aidoo to increase the creative outputs of African women writers. Do read the fascinating interview with Ama Ata Aidoo.
It will be great to get your feedback on this newsletter so do email your comments and suggestions to awdf@awdf.org.
Sincerely,
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi
Executive Director
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INTERVIEW WITH MBAASEM |
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 Founder of Mbaasem, and internationally
renowned writer and educator Ama Ata Aidoo
Internationally renowned writer and educator Ama Ata Aidoo is the author of Changes, The Dilemma of a Ghost, Anowa, Girls Who Can and numerous collections of poetry. Ama Ata Aidoo sat down with AWDF's Program Officer for Fundraising & Communications to have a chat about Mbaasem, challenges facing Afican women writers and issues affecting African women on the continent today.
AWDF: What was your motivation for starting Mbaasem?
AAA: All my life I had wanted a place where I could go and just write.I have realised that writers fit into two distinct groups; a group of us can write in any circumstances, any place, and any time. It doesn't actually matter what else is going on in their lives or where they are, they can write, sometimes a fixed number of words or so many pages a day. Then there are those of us who simply don't seem able to write unless we are in some secluded area, some place, some hideout where we don't feel disturbed and we can collect our thoughts...continue reading 'Interview with Mbaasem'.
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| AWDF NEWS |
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MARY ROBINSON SUPPORTS AWDF'S ENDOWMENT CAMPAIGN
Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and currently the President of Realising Rights has shown support for AWDF's endowment campaign by being the special guest at the US launch of AWDF's endowment campaign.
AWDF's endowment campaign, 'Women changing Africa' has two components, the Restricted Endowment Fund and Seizing the Moment Fund...continue reading 'Mary Robinson Supports AWDF's Endowment Campaign'.
AWDF CO-SPONSORS PREMIERE OF 'PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL'
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| EXCERPTS FROM THE AWDF BLOG |
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MEASURING SELF CONFIDENCE, EMPOWERMENT AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS
One of the challenges that women's organisations persistently face is measuring impact. How do you measure self confidence, empowerment and leadership skills? The answer I believe lies in capturing the stories of grantees and recognising that the stories women tell us about the impact donor funds have had on their lives are as valuable as statistics, tables and pie charts in measuring impact. After a visit to Bekuw Mea Fekuw Bakery with colleagues from AWDF and our sister fund Urgent Action Fund - Africa, I was simply blown away by the difference a grant of US$2000 had made to the lives of the members of Bekuw Mea Fekuw Bakery...continue reading 'Measuring self confidence, empowerment and leadership skills'
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The African Women's Development Fund (AWDF) is the first Africa-wide grant-making organisation which has been set up to provide grants to African women's organisations. The vision of AWDF is for African women to live in a world in which there is social justice, equality and respect for women's human rights. To this end, our mission is to mobilise financial resources to support local, national and regional initiatives led by women, which will lead to the achievement of this vision. AWDF raises money and makes grants for the support of non-profit African women's organisations working for social justice, equity and peace.
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