Hello Friends!
It's been some time since we've sent out an update about what we're up to and there's a lot to report on - at UNPAC, and in the world!In this UNPAC Update:
- Congratulations to our Change Makers grads!
- Join "Honouring Metis Mothers" ceremony led by one of our Change Makers TODAY at the forks
- Support our Syrian sisters!
Change Makers 2 Graduates!
Congratulations to our Change Makers from Altona who graduated from our year-long leadership training program! We had four graduates in this group: Asunta Siemens who created and facilitated workshops for women in the Altona immigrant community, Bailey Blatz who coordinated the fundraising efforts to get representatives from the group to Ottawa to present at the Women's Worlds 2011 conference, Jessica Stephenson who created and distributed a handbook of local resources for women and single parents, and Laura Loewen who created and ran art workshops for adults living with disabilities. We are very proud of our Change Makers' work, and look forward to working with them in the future!Metis Honouring Ceremony TODAY at the Forks
This is a little late notice on my part, but today at 3:00 at the historic port at the Forks, Ramona Guiboche, one of our Change Makers from Kani Kanichihk will be holding an honouring ceremony for Metis women who had to flee Canada to give birth to their children during the Red River Resistance. Join us as she honours her ancestors who made this difficult journey and those of all Metis women.Support our Syrian Sisters!
In these updates, we normally focus on issues that impact women in Manitoba. However, I want to take this opportunity to talk about an international issue that is near to my heart! A good friend of mine is from Syria, and while he has been working abroad for several years now, when the protests began in Syria in March, he went home to be with his family. He just recently came back out of Syria, and has been trying to support the pro-democracy movement on the outside. I promised to do my part to spread the word about what's happening in Syria as much as possible. I asked him to share with me some of the stories of how women have been impacted by the regime and how they are fighting back, and here, paraphrased, is what he said."It all started on march 15th 2011 when the security forces arrested 15 children for spray-painting messages in their school in Deraa, Syria, against the al Assad family (the family that has ruled Syria since 1963).
"When their parents went to ask about them, the head of the intelligence branch in Deraa told them to forget about the children and make new ones! The city burst in anger, and the regime's response was so bloody and barbaric, the whole country just stood up in an uprising we haven't seen for decades.
"As thousands of men around the country were arrested, detained, and tortured, women around the country began to organize to demand their sons and husbands be released, and that the al Assad regime be brought down.
"In one city called Banias (a small city in northern syria) a group of unarmed women staged a peaceful protest to demand that their husbands and sons to be released from the prisons. The security forces attacked them with live fire. Four were shot dead, many were arrested, and the rest fled the scene in panic."
This is some raw footage taken of the women being fired on at the protest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn8ngvS_RhM.
*Apologies for the quality of the videos. All the videos coming out of Syria have been taken by phone-cameras, or amateur video-cams as all international and independent media have been banned from the country since march 15th (the only media on the ground aside from amateurs is the official state media).
As the protests began to gather momentum, women began to more explicitly demand an end to the al Assad regime. Here is another link to a message from "the free women of Syria, from the Province of Suweda" in the south of Syria next to Deraa where the revolution started:
Here is my friend's translation of the first 40 Seconds of the video:
"We the Syrian people, of all races and religions, support the protesters in the expression of their legitimate rights, and support the blessed revolution. We stress that we the woman of Suweda as well as men, support this peaceful movement, despite all criminal and barbaric acts carried out by the government and its supporters to suppress and terrorize the Syrian people."
The video ends with the women of Suweda singing the national anthem of Syria.
We can support our sisters in Syria by spreading the word, and demanding that our government apply diplomatic pressure to the Syrian regime!
Let's show our solidarity by participating in the Syrian Days of Rage facebook page at:
To donate money to help activists in Syria continue their dangerous and important work, please visit Avaaz: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/syria_stand_with_the_protesters_1/?cl=1050790702&v=9021.
We need to stand in solidarity with women fighting for their rights and those of their communities around the world!
Susan Wadien
Project Coordinator
UN Platform for Action Committee Manitoba
60 Maryland Street
Winnipeg, MB R3G 1K7
Canada
204.772.7876
www.unpac.ca
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