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A Voice For the Voiceless

The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.

The Impact of Service "Speaking with locals and living in a country is the best way to learn about the real lives of citizens, not just the stories in the mainstream media. I will be more critical of what I read as a result of this experience. I also feel even more grateful for my education, and I feel a stronger responsibility to assist others who do not have resources or access to opportunities in their communities." Maria Skouras (New York University) volunteered in 2011 as a Peace Fellow for eHomemakers in Malaysia. For more 2011 feedback click here.

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Partner Campaigns > Advocacy Quilting > Ahadi Quilts > Ahadi Quilt Outreach

Ahadi Quilt Outreach

Early in 2011, the panels from the Congo were assembled into six quilts by two weaving guilds, in Michigan and Maryland (video below). AP began using the quilts as soon as the first quilt was available, and by April 2011, quilts had been exhibited in Geneva, Berlin and Washington DC. AP uses these events to demand action against sexual violence in DRC.


Interested in showing the Ahadi quilts? AP will be happy to help. We can also provide a speaker. Contact us.




THE QUILTS ARE ASSEMBLED

"You feel the anger and the despair....It's very powerful to work
with these pictures" - Susan Schreurs, Faithful Circle quilter

Two experienced US quilting associations offered to assemble the panels –  the Faithful Circle Quilting Guild in Maryland (below video) and the Capitol City Quilt Guild in Michigan (photo). Both guilds organized teams of volunteers, and completed six quilts by February 2010. As well as producing beautiful quilts, this has brought the message to an entirely new constituency. Working on the Congo panels has helped the quilters to understand the impact of sexual violence on women in DRC.

The Ahadi Quilt Comes to America





AT THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL (GENEVA, FEBRUARY)

The first Ahadi quilt was displayed at the spring meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. It featured in an exhibition of quilts on the theme of women and war, organized by the Quilting Challenge. The event was introduced by the American and Canadian ambassadors, and by the director of the Geneva office of UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which co-sponsored the exhibition. The US Mission in Geneva posted a video on the exhibition, which featured the Ahadi quilt (below). The exhibition was curated by Alison Wilbur.

Quilt Challenge: Women, Peace and Security





AT THE INSTITUTE FOR FOREIGN CULTURAL RELATIONS (BERLIN)

The second Ahadi quilt was shown in Berlin on March 23,2011, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (IFA).The DRC program receives financial support from Zivik, a program of the IFA. Marceline Kongolo, the director of SOSFED, and Iain Guest, the AP Director, participated at the 2-day meeting and used the quilt in their presentation.

The Second Ahadi Quilt at the IFA (Berlin)





GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY (WASHINGTON, DC, APRIL)

On April 20, all six quilts were shown at the Intercultural Center at Georgetown University. The event also featured a presentation by a former US Ambassador to the DRC, William Garvelink, and AP Director Iain Guest. The audience included a former UN Special Representative to Kosovo, staffers from the office of US Senator Barbara Boxer, and the former director of OFDA at USAID.The meeting was sponsored by the Human Rights Forum at Georgetown University, with the Africa Studies Department, the Africa Society of Georgetown, and the Washington office of the UN Population Fund.

The Ahadi Quilts Displayed at Georgetown University

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