Liberian Journey #3

It's only my 4th day in Monrovia and i can't believe how much i am learning from this whole experience.
From governmental level to the very grass roots peace huts or community center in one of the worst slums of the world, women are involved everywhere. "Whithout the women, my friend and i would've been killed during the war, they were the ones who went out and fetched food for all of us. We couldn't go out scared that the rebells would kill us", said one of the male counselors at the lutheran church trauma center. Yes, the women of Liberia went out during the conflict, protected their men, their children, found food, and struggled with violence and rape but they were able to stop the war and bring peace to their communities.

Liberian journey #2

My second day started with an early breakfast with my colleagues; Alla from Fund Sukhumi, Georgia, Nino from Women's information Center in Tbilissi and Pervana from Yuva Center in Baku. After breakfast we were greeted by the Kvinna till Kvinna staff in Monrovia to have an intro of the week and a short presentation of their work in the country. Kvinna till Kvinna started field work in Liberia only last year with at first 2 local partners and now supporting and partnering 7 women's orgs in the country and working on many issues; peace and security, 1325 and GBV, Reproductive health, traditional practices endangering women's lives. Kvinna is one of the rare organizations supporting genuinely the local women's groups' needs and working on equal levels with them. You can read more about their work around the world on http://www.kvinnatillkvinna.se/en .

Liberian Journey #1

It is 7am in Monrovia right now. I arrived yesterday after travelling through Vienna and an overnight in Brussels. From snowy cold Yerevan i am now in hot humid +35 C Liberia. The passenger next to me in the plane was a young man from Ivory coast. He was returning from the US to visit his family for a month. He had a green card and was working in a small factory in Ohia for the past 3 years. "i need to work and send money back home to help my mother" - he told me, when i asked him if he liked the US, "you know us Africans, we take care of our moms so they don't work after a certain age. I see a lot of american old women working and i feel bad for them."

Tolerance and Social Activism: Teaching Kids the Basics

How do you create a fair and humane society if you don’t include the children in the process? Who will carry the torch? Who will guarantee its sustainability? How will the next generation learn about social responsibility if we always keep them away from the course of action?

I’ve always believed that raising kids did not only imply ensuring they are well-fed, warmly clothed and get a good educated (school) but also, and most importantly, it’s teaching them how to become responsible human beings; of their person, home, friends, environment, the earth and all living beings around them.