On Sunday, the Senegalese people were the pride of West Africa. They went to the polls in a run-off election and peacefully elected opposition leader Macky Sall over the incumbent president, Abdoulaye Wade. Wade was running for a controversial third term in office even though youth unemployment, high commodity prices and a broken promise of …
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Originally posted on The Jew and the Carrot. This is the story of a fishpond. Not just any old fishpond, but a fishpond in Muchucuxcah (Pronounce the x like a sh), Mexico, four hours west of Cancun. I was in Muchucuxcah for ten days in January with American Jewish World Service’s Rabbinical Students Delegation. We were there …
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On March 19th, 1,500 rural and indigenous community members in Guatemala began marching for nine consecutive days to defend their natural resource rights. Tragically, state-sanctioned practices are destroying forests and mountains, contaminating rivers and water sources, and preventing rural Guatemalan communities from sustainably producing their own food. Nearly one year ago, hundreds of rural Maya …
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Friday started off as one of those days in which I remember why I decided to move to Washington, DC. At Sherman Circle, a block from the Sudanese Embassy, hundreds of activists gathered to protest the Sudanese government’s blocking food aid. The rally called on the United States and world leaders to stop the violence and …
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Most of you have probably followed the coverage and controversy of KONY 2012. Myriad articles about the campaign’s merits and shortcomings saturated the media last week. Ricky Richard Anywar, the founder and executive director of AJWS’s grantee Friends of Orphans in northern Uganda, shared his own thoughts about Kony 2012 in National Geographic. Ricky’s response …
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When there is a problem to solve, the women of Liberia know what to do: they put on their t-shirts that say “WIPNET,” (Women in Peacebuilding Network—under the umbrella of West Africa Network for Women in Peacebuilding Liberia, an AJWS grantee of nine years) and they gather. “They call us silent rebels,” says Cecilia T. …
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As a teenager, I used to groan when it came time to read Vayakhel-Pekudei each year. Privately, I referred to this as the “interior decorating” section of the Torah, and the detailed descriptions of the mishkan bored me to no end. Who cared about the exact height, width and depth of every vessel in the …
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Organization’s 4-Star Rating Indicates Sound Fiscal Management and Transparency New York, NY; March 9, 2012—American Jewish World Service (AJWS), an international development and human rights organization, has earned its 10th four-star rating from independent nonprofit evaluator, Charity Navigator. Four stars represent Charity Navigator’s highest rating and signify that an organization executes its mission in a …
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On New Year’s Day, Maya and I were eating fried pastries on the side of the road in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. I am living in this northeastern part of India as an AJWS World Partners Fellow, and Maya works with me at an NGO that promotes gender equality and women’s health. Maya rented a …
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We often look at Purim as a day of inversion and celebration: we wear masks and don costumes, make noise at Haman’s name, and eat a festive meal with family and friends. But Purim’s meaning goes far deeper than the surface and it is hardly about just masquerading and reveling; everything from the narrative of …
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