It was a little thing...

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Dear family and friends,

 

It was a little thing, a one year old in a high chair who was playing with her food. But it made her father angry. And he became angry with her young mother. So he threw his glass in the mother’s face...over dinner.

 

That mother was myself twenty years ago...and I was stuck in a relationship with incidents like that and worse sprinkled throughout. But I was lucky - I had all of you, my family, my friends, my colleagues. And when I finally was able to realize it wasn't my fault – many of you all helped me get out. And others of you have  inspired me to believe in myself and achieve what I never would have believed I could when I was in that relationship. Luckily I am now in the most incredible marriage to my husband Jim and can clearly see the difference that men who know how to love can bring to life!

 

I am turning to all of you once again.

 

As many of you may recognize, my life could be a poster for the UN 's understanding that violence against women is one of the major sources of poverty. Ending violence against women has become one of the UN Secretary General's Millennium Development Goals.

 

For the past year we at Champlain College’s Emergent Media Center have been working with the UNFPA and Population Media Center, under the UNite campaign (http://endviolence.un.org/), on an innovative global game to be played by young boys to change their attitudes about the appropriateness of using violence against women in their lives.

 

I’m not one to often ask for help but this is a project I deeply believe will have a global impact when completed. This project will be two more years in development but unfortunately in the this difficult financial year, funds have run dry for the 2009 project phase putting a stall on production. We have come to a funding gap this summer of $89,000.  So I am asking each of you to help once again with a donation to our project. A project that we believe will help the young men we love grow to be men who can equally love back.

 

It is the little things that make a difference; a child and her food, an angry father, a call of support, or five dollars towards this project to create positive change. Please do this little thing - help spread the word to your friends, grow awareness, and offer your support by visiting the student created web site: http://www.emergentmediacenter.com/unvaw

 

Other information can be found at:

PMC: http://www.populationmedia.org/

UNFPA: http://www.unfpa.org/

United Nations’ Secretary General’s UNite Campaign: http://endviolence.un.org/

 

Thank you for being there,

Ann

like a brick

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The impact of this project hit me again today – square in the face. Maybe it’s because this phase of creation is coming to an end… and we don’t know when the next phase will begin. We’ve run out of funding and as of next week, this project will be shelved.

Maybe it’s because the photos on our walls of the trip to South Africa stuck me again suddenly. The photos have always been moving, but I suppose that seeing them every day, my eyes started to glaze over them and they became more of a background fixture. Not today. Today they stirred up my emotions all over again. Alone in the office early this morning, I got teary looking at all the faces of the people we met… some sad, some oppressed, but mostly hopeful and full of possibility. Looking at the young girls and young boys, knowing that they are the reason we are pouring so much energy into this project. My eyes were filled with tears, as a huge smile spread across my face.

Photos by Nichole Magoon, Raymond McCarthy Bergeron, Ann DeMarle