Equality Now
Equality Now has been working to end violence and discrimination against women and girls throughout the world. Since 1992 they have been on the forefront of key issues for women: Discrimination in Law, Sexual Violence, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Trafficking. Equality Now is both deeply respectful of different cultural traditions but also recognizes that the right of women and girls to be free from violence is universal and should not be subject to religious or traditional norms. You can become more informed, and you can help. Check out Equality Now here.
Petition to End Child Marriage
Equality Now Girls under 18 are forced into marriage throughout the world. Equality Now has been on the forefront of advocacy to end this practice. "It is a human rights violation that legitimizes abuse of girls under the guise of culture, honor, tradition and religion. When a young girl is married and gives birth, a vicious cycle of poverty, poor health, curtailed education, violence, instability and legal and other discrimination begins." You can help: sign the petition. This will be presented in June to governments attending the Human Rights Council session. Read more about how you can help Equality Now here.
SPOILED
UPDATE First reading of SPOILED Friday September 26 - 7 PM Theaterlab 357 West 36th Street NYC, 3rd Floor Performed by Elizabeth Hess, Talkback after the performance moderated by Karen Hilbe A Performance in Pre-Production What Are We Doing to Our Men? An Exploration of Men’s Attitudes and Gender-Based Violence Summary: SPOILED: A theatrical exploration of masculine self-image and its connection to violence against women (VAW) in India and the USA. Project in Development: What’s up with men these days? In India and the US, the world’s largest democracies, recent acts of violence against women have catapulted onto the…
Yuwa
As a big fan of women in sport, it's always been discouraging to see the absence of sport in the lives of most Indian girls. Not at all surprising, mind you, but discouraging - I felt the absence. It's a thrill to see Yuwa-India develop. Yuwa gets how important sports for girls can be. The confidence, courage, and connectedness that sports can bring are felt throughout all aspects of life. Do read more about Yuwa-India here
Popping Tags, Popping Bulbs
Thanks, Macklemore, but here in Delhi we’re popping bulbs, not tags. Due to reasons both entertaining and unfathomable, we pop lightbulbs on the daily. Every night when I come home empty corrugated paper tubes, the packaging for lightbulbs worldwide, litter the trash. These are the Indian version: pale blue or orange, standard-issue flimsy. Are the light bulbs so weak that a few days worth of work exhausts them? Or is the wiring in our 40-year-old house so antiquated that a mismatch occurs, with no update in sight? Or maybe the inevitable surges and spikes of the erratic supply from the…
Shalom Hospital
I first visited Shalom Hospital almost two years ago when they were preparing to move to a new location. The new facility is on the northern outskirts of Delhi - a very long trip for staff and doctors, but close to where most target group patients are. Shalom provides compassionate, home based, palliative, and critical care to people living with HIV/AIDS. The Indian transgender and homosexual community is particularly affected and Shalom caters to them. Read more about Shalom Hospital here
Delhi House/Sewa Ashram
"The Transformative Power of Compassion" - this is Sewa Ashram. Practical, flexible, basic, compassionate - they help the poorest of the poor, the ill among the poor, the most marginalized and abandoned. Read about Delhi House/Sewa Ashram here
Sewa Ashram/Delhi House
It's over an hour from central Delhi to Sewa Ashram on the northern edge of the city. Here 125 destitute men - not just the poor, but men who are ill and the mentally physically or disabled - are given treatment, a home, food, and comfort. Tuberculosis and HIV patients dominate. Most men are picked up from the streets, but some are left at the door to Sewa Ashram. This is human care for those who have no one - and where there is no safety net. Hospital beds are perched around in the courtyard. One older man does not…