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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> Sponsor a Weaver

Sponsor a Weaver

The Bosnian women’s group BOSFAM and The Advocacy Project (AP) invite you to help us to preserve an ancient Bosnian tradition, reward hard work, promote inter-ethnic tolerance, and celebrate the bravery of massacre survivors.

Since 1994, BOSFAM has trained scores of displaced Bosnian women from different nationalities to weave traditional Bosnian carpets (kilims). Many of the weavers are survivors from the July 11, 1995, massacre at Srebrenica, which claimed the lives of over 8,000 men and boys.

Today BOSFAM has a core group of 18 experienced weavers, who form the nucleus of its weaving business. Weaving allows these craftswomen to work together in an atmosphere of mutual support while earning a living. BOSFAM's two weaving centers, in Tuzla and in Srebrenica, are open to Bosniak (Muslim) and Serb women - thereby promoting reconciliation.

The Advocacy Project (AP) has supported BOSFAM since 2002 and promoted BOSFAM ’s message of resilience and tolerance through the media, events, and speaking tours in the United States.

BOSFAM and AP are seeking sponsors for an innovative training program that is being launched on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the massacre (July 11, 2006). For $1,000 you can receive a beautiful carpet and sponsor a weaving team that comprises a core BOSFAM weaver and two apprentices. Your sponsorship will thus help the weavers to earn some money and start passing on their skills to younger women. Many lost a family breadwinner in the 1995 massacre.

Sponsors can be individuals or groups, and we particularly welcome inquiries from women’s clubs. Once BOSFAM has secured sponsors for all 18 teams, it will launch a long-term project to train the apprentices and strengthen its business.

This program invites sponsors to pick a carpet of their choice from BOSFAM's online catalogue. BOSFAM will connect the sponsor with a core weaver, who will make the carpet. The sponsor will receive a personalized plaque from the weaver, and be sent regular information about the weaver and her apprentices as the program evolves. We look forward to hearing from you!

For $1,000, you will:

Sponsor one “core weaver” and two apprentices
Receive a carpet of your choice (size, color, etc. can be chosen)
Receive a personalized thank-you from the weaver with her story, and information on what your donation helped to fund
Receive a copy of the AP short film “Weavers for Hope”

For more information, or to sponsor a weaver, contact:

Alison Sluiter
Phone: (202) 758-3328
2201 P Street NW, Rm 204
Washington, DC 20037

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