May 31, 2002
Dear Friends,
Every once in a while someone who receives this newsletter sends back
a note to say that they are awed and inspired by all the things that are
happening all over the world and they love being part of this
collaborative network--or words to that effect. These notes not only
warm my heart, but they remind me of what Silent Witness is all about--you
doing the great work of being the healers of the world. Believe it. And
cheer.
NEWS FROM THE STATES/COUNTRIES:
Massachusetts:
Willy Greenbaum wrote us this note about his men's group that is
helping Peace at Home in Mass:
We have been asked by Peace at Home Inc. in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
to build some Silent Witness figures for them. We are part of a grass
roots men's organization opposing men's violence against women in the city
of Gloucester, Massachusetts. We have just completed an 11 minute video
called Breaking Our Silence: Gloucester Men Speak Out Against Domestic
Abuse which you might enjoy seeing. I would be glad to send a copy.
*Thanks, Willy and friends, for all this help. We really appreciate it and
we welcome men who want to work with us. And thanks for sending me the
video. I'll look forward to it.
Minnesota:
A Fatality Review team in Hennepin County (Mpls) recently issued their
report. They studied nine domestic homicide cases. The project has lead to
several changes in the Hennepin County attorney's office, including
seeking longer sentences for repeat domestic violence offenders. Also the
Mpls City attorney's office has worked to find an attorney at the Police
Department to handle DV cases. An emergency room physician was quoted as
saying that she now understands why her medical evaluation is so important
and why it is crucial to accurately assess the damage. Police now try to
treat each domestic call as they would a homicide. Detectives work night
shifts and carry cameras.
*Thanks to Jaqueline Hauser who chaired this effort. She was the
originator of Mpls' Court WATCH program.
Mississippi:
Pat Davenport, of Our House, one of the SW Results projects, writes this
news from Greenville:
Our youth program is growing, we have several different groups.
Recently, one of our youth groups (whose members have had a
homicide in their family) created and produced a skit about recovering
after losing a loved one. They performed the skit for the state-wide
conference, "Putting Victims First" in Tunica MS, May 9, 2002.
We continue to implement programs that will reduce the violence in
the homes by involving youth and ministers.
*Thank you Pat and company, for all the work you've done to reduce
violence among youth and for all your success with that program.
You are inspirations for us all.
Montana:
We got a note from Jerri Miller saying that Rose Mary (and Susan's)
workshop on Self Mastery went very well. The evaluations were superb.
The program and the Silent Witness exhibit made the front page of
the Billings Gazette. We'll be excited to see the results of this great
training for perpetrator treatment. Thanks Jerri for the update.
New Mexico:
The New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence presents 2nd
Annual Conference and because we want to focus on "answers" and
"tools" the participants can walk away with and use in their own
community, the theme of this year's conference is "Tools You Can
Use!". It will be held August 7-9, 2002 at the Best Western Rio
Rancho Inn in Rio Rancho, NM. Our keynote speakers are Jackson Katz-the
Renonowned Anti-Violence Educator focusing on Youth/Teen and keynote
speaker Julia Perilla speaking on Men's Batterers Treatment Programs.
Workshops will be on youth DV preventioin, law enforcement & DV,
the justice system and DV, men's batterer's programs, immigration & DV,
DV in gay & lesbian communities, many children's topics, funding &
proposal writing, a crisis intervention workshop, and even a workshop for
"taking care of ourselves" as advocates, etc...focusing on
burnout, meditation, etc...
Early Bird Registration deadline is July 15th and we also have some
scholarships still available. For details,visit our website www.nmcadv.org
<http://www.nmcadv.org> , or
call Stephanie @ (505) 246-9240.
*The best to you on this conference. Thanks for the information.
Ohio: News for our Croatian partners.
Patrick O'Donnell, our friend and producer of the acclaimed video series,
City of Shelter, writes:
It's great to hear that Silent Witness is now in Croatia. I found
this news especially interesting because the City of Shelter domestic
violence training series was recently translated into Russian for use in
Croatia. This came about in cooperation with the Cincinnati-Kharkiv
Sister City Project.
In the past two years there have been several "citizen
exchanges" between Cincinnati and Kharkiv professionals who respond
to domestic violence. Most recentl;y, a group of Croatian law
enforcement officers came to Cincinnati where they attended workshops
hosted by James Brown, Director of the Police Academy at Clermont College
(University of Cincinnati). Last year several folks from Cincinnati,
including James Brown, a prosecutor, and women's shelter director, went to
Kharkiv to share ideas.
The Project Director for the Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City Project is
David Brokaw. His number is 513-241-8833. I hope this
information is helpful to our Croatian partners.
*Thanks Patrick, for this news. It is thrilling and so rewarding to know
that we all collaborate around the world.
NEWS FROM WORLDWIDE HEADQUARTERS:
Pew Partnership for Civic Change sites RESULTS as the key to programs
for the future:
There is now national recognition of how non-profits need to think
about results. The Pew Partnership for Civic Change examined why some
community projects showed results and others failed. They cited nineteen
projects around the country that have been successful--covering a host of
issues (domestic violence was not among those they studied). Suzanne
Morse, executive director said, "We don't have the luxury to just let
a thousand flowers bloom. If we were in the stock market, we would say bet
on the ones that have the most promising results and you're likely to get
better returns. That's what we're saying."
Community projects that work do these things:
Deal with people's problems in a comprehensive way (example, a women in
construction program that included child care and sexual harassment
training ); develop extensive contacts throughout the community (example,
a substance abuse prevention program coming out of a community meeting);
and the assess their results (example, a youth program that helps Latinos
complete high school, get driver's licenses, register to vote and learn
computer skills--all measurable).
Those programs that don't work often don't mix public and private funds,
lose their focus by addressing problems beyond their reach and fail to pay
attention to what has worked or failed elsewhere. Source: USA Today and www.pew-partnership.org
Silent Witness has consistently been focused on results. And we believe in
spreading the successes around the country and the world. We only
recommend programs that have been proven to work and all of our programs
are replicable. We work with the whole community and we look at the issue
of DV in a comprehensive way. We also showcase what everyone is doing in
our network newsletter. This focus on research, results, and sharing the
things that work is becoming more acceptable all the time. So if you want
to be on the cutting edge consider starting one of our results projects.
They are summarized on our web site
www.silentwitness.net home page right side
Web address from CAEPV
In the last newsletter I send you some wonderful sites but the links
did not translate to my computer. Here are the actual sites I mentioned.
Liz Claiborne's Love Is Not Abuse Site: www.loveisnotabuse.com
Teach Early (Family Violence Prevent Fund Program): http://endabuse.org/programs/display.php3?DocID=9916
OSHA's Workplace Violence Site: http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/workplaceviolence/
Economic Development Program for Developing Countries
The program I mentioned in the last newsletter for women's economic
development is so exciting. It goes something like this: A group of twenty
women from rural areas form a "circle." These twenty women give
two hours a day for six days a week to learning to read and write their
language so they can participate in commerce. They each make a financial
contribution (perhaps only a hand full of rice) each week which is
gathered together for the group. The next step is for the group to give a
loan (with interest) to the women in the group who are interested in
starting their own businesses. There is some basic business training that
goes along with this. As each woman pays back her loan they can lend the
money to more women. They become their own bank--and their default rate is
0%. The groups I heard about were in Nepal, which is presently the poorest
country on the planet. Amazingly some groups in Nepal are now buying land
and even loaning money to other community groups. They make as much on
their banking as they do on their businesses! In the past, programs have
loaned money to the women but in this program the women loan the money to
themselves and make all the interest work for them.
The husbands who may not have been so positive at first are seeing their
standard of living rising and that makes them much more accepting. The
growth of the capital and the success of the women's businesses is
amazing. These women are the pioneers for the future. If you are
interested in learning about this program perhaps to help work on economic
self sufficiency in your country contact the director of the program
Marcia Odell modell@pacthq.org.
The program is called Women's Empowerment Initiative. The umbrella
organization is called Pact. Their web site is www.pactworld.org
Isn't it amazing what we can do if we wrap our creative minds
around a problem?
I leave you today with a quote from Booker T. Washington:
"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has
reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to
succeed."
The women of Nepal have certainly faced a mountain of obstacles. And we
certainly have faced obstacles in our work with Silent Witness but the
spirit of determination, compassion, courage and healing always prevails.
From that vantage point, you are all huge successes.
Cheers
Janet
jhagberg@mn.rr.com
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