"All that it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing."
- Sir Edmund Burke
Good Day EWI!
Writing this at the end of a wonderfully inspiring EWI Day! Today was our Chapter's Annual Hot Heels Fashion Show, the first of two major fundraisers that we hold each year. A glorious event that always draws out our corporate community with rave reviews. Over 300 people attended today to once again partake in a luncheon full of fun, fashion and philanthropy. To me, what makes this event so special is that the models are comprised of our very own Chapter member representatives and sometimes their children. This year however, quite a few of the models were young mothers who had never modelled before but are residents of a local charity housing program that brings safe housing, parenting and life skills to unmarried young women who are completing their education. To see them bask in the glow of the spot lights and see their reaction to the applause of the audience was heart-warming to say the least. A perfect example of "members who empower others for positive change."
On our board call this week I was dismayed to learn that many of you within our Chapters are still unaware that it is okay for you to scale back on your fundraising efforts. Please, make recruitment your first priority. Until you have many hands to make light work, don't over-tax yourselves with huge fundraising initiatives. While honourable to try to make the same impact on your community year after year, sometimes we need to refocus our priorities. And that is more than alright! In fact, it is the first thing we coach Chapters who are struggling to step away from.
We are working on some alternative fundraising initiatives that might resonate within your Chapter while supporting our primary focus of literacy. The overall objective is to find initiatives that are manageable in scope for you while still supporting "One Vision."
"To be a global women's organization with 5,000 engaged members who empower others for positive change."
When I reflect on this statement several things come to mind of course. What will make us global? Having more international Chapters would certainly help, but to me, it also means that EWI needs to have a global view with those mandates that form the basis of our organization: Connections/Careers and Community. Having a global presence means being a good global citizen.
I have to tell you that my heart stopped this week when I learned of the most recent attack on Afghan schoolgirls with gas poisoning while they were in their classroom. Thirteen girls were taken ill and this follows two separate incidents earlier last week in different schools when about seventy girls complained of nausea and dizziness. The Taliban, which apposes female education is suspected. They had banned education for girls until they were overthrown in 2001. Now, militant extremists are resulting to these types of terrorist acts against their own countries female children. Both of our countries have fought and lost servicemen to bring these rights to the women of Afghanistan, along with a fundamental freedom to pursue ones' dreams for all citizens.
Conservative Taliban extremists of course are not just acting out against this change in Afghanistan alone. Who can forget last year when Malala Yousafzai, the fifteen year old education advocate, was shot in the head in Pakistan? She has since become the international poster child for women's right to read, the world over. Thankfully, she is recovered and attending school in England now.
The truth is, that one in five people in this world are illiterate. The United Nations has identified literacy as a fundamental human right, although that is not a reality for 775 Million people on this planet. Two-thirds of those are women.
The world is sadly made up of "Have" and "Have-Nots". Until that changes, there will always be extremists that are willing to kill themselves along with innocent bystanders, for whatever cause they champion, because their lives have no meaning.
Kofi Annan says:
"Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty and a building block of development. Literacy is a platform for democratization and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, a basic human right. Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential."
It is my fervent wish that EWI can be an agent of change, championing literacy initiatives so that we can truly, empower others for positive change!
So, that is my closing thoughts for this week. As Phil McGraw says, "Awareness without action is worthless."
If you are interested to learn more about what change literacy can affect, then I highly recommend either of John Wood's books, Founder of Room to Read. John will be our keynote speaker at LCAM on our "EWI Foundation Day of Literacy" on the Friday. I do hope to see you there!
Have a great weekend!
-K
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