On Saturday, 26 June, 2021 the Women's Federation for World Peace Scotland held an online event under the theme 'The Value of Humanitarian Aid'. In total around 25 participants attended.
Ann Breslin, chair of WFWP Scotland, welcomed the participants and introduced the WFWP through a video. Ann then explained that Humanitarian Aid does not only address the physical needs like food and shelter, but also the spiritual needs of people. Before the presentations, a video about the Principles of Humanitarian Aid was shown, explaining the importance of the protection of those in need and also the caregivers.
The first speaker was Eddie Hartley, chair of trustees of IRFF-UK who talked about their projects in Africa. In Uganda, IRFF built a school and is presently expanding it. IRFF has a mobile medical team and reaches out to young people and teaches together with WAIT-UK about HIV/AIDS prevention. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Hope for Children Centre takes care of orphans who live in the streets by housing, feeding and educating them. In Ghana IRFF started an agricultural and poultry project and in South Africa they support an Art project in Port Elizabeth by sending regular monthly donations to help to feed and educate 150 students. Just recently a project was launched in Gambia to assist women and girls to develop their skills and talents.
The second speaker was Shizue Katogi, an overseas volunteer of WFWP-Japan. Shizue is a project leader for Kenya since 1994. In 1998 a secondary school was opened with 2 classrooms and 35 students - it expanded in the meantime to 650 students. Many parents are unable to regularly pay school fees and children miss out on their education. A system of Japanese foster parents was initiated to provide continuous education. They also provide AIDS/HIV prevention education. The project is funded by WFWP-Japan and the aim is to support students during their school life to achieve higher academic results and enable them to have a bright and happy future.
The third speaker was Fusayo Irikura who works since many years in Jordan. Jordan has many refugees and many are children who receive only little education and don't have much hope for the future. The aim is to provide opportunities and teach new skills. Part of the project is also to provide character education and empowerment for needy children. They learn happiness through drama and performance. Making others happy makes them also happy. Fusayo wants them to have good experiences to remember when later their lives become difficult.
The last speaker was Nora Barseghyan from Armenia. She explained that the recent war between Armenia and Azerbaijan brought much suffering. Many homes were destroyed and there is a lack of food and supplies for poor families and because many husbands, fathers and sons were killed, women and children face extreme difficulties. As president of WFWP Armenia, Nora decided to help, even when her husband had been seriously injured. She visits families to offer support, brings food and supplies for babies etc. Nora's work is mainly supported through donations from Europe.
After a short question and answer session, Ann thanked all the participants for their investment and closed the meeting.
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