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Help empower Palestinian women

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Help empower Palestinian women!

Hi, we are Jax Wechsler and Shari Elle and we’re 2 Australian women passionate about making the world a better, kinder and more inclusive place. I’m Jax Wechsler and I’ve been a human centred designer specializing in the social sector for 15 years. I run a human-centred design consultancy called Sticky Design Studio and founded Social Design Sydney which is a community interested in design for social outcomes. And I’m Shari Elle , a founder of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) in Australia working with changemakers and organisations to speak and hear more inclusively and effectively. Through our work members of our community find their voices and co-create the social change they would like to see.

Did you know that women are among the most marginalised within the already marginalised people of Palestine? The unstable political, social and economic realities seriously affect their capacity to live their lives in freedom and dignity. They are discriminated against in the labor force, in education, in political representation, as well as in their private lives.

We have decided to support and participate in an exciting project designed to empower hand selected Palestinian women who are already in positions of leadership in their local communities.   It will provide skills and support to participants so they can become agents of change and is being planned in Bethlehem.

From the 12-15 April 2018 a workshop will be conducted by Miki Kashtan, an internationally recognized leader in Nonviolent Communication with Dr. Amal Hadweh , a founding member of the Palestinian-Israeli Women’s Dialogue and a Nonviolent communication trainer.  This workshop will be the beginning of a year-long program of empowerment, vision, and practical tools, giving Palestinian women leaders the confidence to find their voices and use their leadership positions to influence and support transformation in their communities. Miki Kashtan, Shari Elle, and Amal Hadweh are certified NVC trainers and active members in the  international NVC community.  

We really need your help to ensure this workshop can happen, and to maximize the numbers of women who can attend.  We also want to attend so we can bring the skills back to Australia to help give voice to our own marginalized communities.

 
What they will learn

Miki, Amal, Shari and Jax will support this community by:

1. Supporting women leaders’ in expanding their awareness of what they and other women need to lead full lives, including tools, skills, access, resources, and information.

2. Strengthening women leaders’ capacity to advocate for what they and other women need.

3. Empowering women to become agents of change who can contribute to creating opportunities for inclusion in decision-making levels and leading involvement.

The women in this workshop are uniquely positioned to make a significant positive difference in the everyday lives and conditions of families, communities, and Palestinian society at large.

Why we (Jax & Shari) want to go

We wish to support this program to see and experience Nonviolent communication being used in this context and learn more about Convergent Facilitation which is achieving brilliant results in intractable and high stakes situations such as child custody legislation and international child labour research and policy. (see the link below for an incredible case study about the Minnesotta Child Custody Group).  

We’re passionate about creating meaningful and sustainable change and we want to bring these skills back with us to help work on some of the intractable issues needing solutions here at home. We also want to contribute our hearts and skills to enable the co-creation of a better future for Palestinian women and their daughters

We need your help to make Miki and Amal’s project to empower Palestinian women a reality and for us to gain valuable skills, wisdom and experience ourselves to share within Australia.


How the money will be spent (in Aust dollars)

1. Main project

Travel for participants                                                          $1,850
Board for 40 participants & 4 training team         $12,500
Venue/catering                                                                         $1,800

Organiser fee                                                                           $ 1,500
Assistant trainer fee                                                             $ 2,000
Trainer fee                                                                                       $     0
10% Administrative fees                                                    $ 1,965

Sub total                                                                                  $ 21,615

2. Jax & Shari's costs

Airfares                                                                                      $ 3,600
Room & board                                                                          $   440
Shari and Jax trainer fees                                                          $  0
10% Administrative fees                                                       $ 404

Sub total                                                                                    $  4,444

TOTAL Fundraising goal                                                  $26,059 

 
The more money we raise the, more Palestinian women can be included in the training! We will need to raise this money by the first week of April.

Our withdrawal plan to get the funds from the campaign to the ultimate beneficiary/ies:

Funds for the womens program (main project) will be paid to Dr. Amal Hadweh who is responsible for the operations/logistics of the program (organising flights for participants, venue, catering etc.)

The funds for Jax and Shari's travel will be used to pay for flights and accomodation as soon as it is released.


LINKS:
Convergent Facilitation case study about the Minnesotta Child Custody Group
Miki Kashtan's blog 
Miki on Convergent Facilitation
Jax Wechsler's blog
Shari Elle's Embodying NVC

Donations 

  • Hardy Crombach
    • $100 
    • 5 yrs

Organizer

Jacqueline Wechsler
Organizer
Waverton NSW

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