SAWA-Australia was set up in February 2004 by a group of concerned people from Sydney, Melbourne and Central Victoria, Australia. It is dedicated to raising funds for human rights, education, nutrition, health, safety, and improving the self-esteem of the millions of Afghan women and children in Pakistan's refugee camps and within Afghanistan.
SAWA is operated entirely by volunteers. All funds raised will go to RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan) projects, so fundraising activities will run with minimum costs and as much sponsorship as possible. See www.rawa.org for more information on RAWA projects.
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SAWA's aim is to assist RAWA's projects in all areas, both inside Afghanistan and in the refugee camps in Pakistan. RAWA's projects include orphanages, schools, health services and income generation for women. As a small organization with only a short history of fundraising SAWA cannot contribute to all these areas at present. Apart from occasional minor contributions to other RAWA activities, SAWA concentrates on the following projects:
Hewad High School, located in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, is a primary and secondary school for Afghan refugees and covers years 1 - 12. SAWA raises funds to cover the school salary budget and assist with teaching supplies.
RAWA's Vocational Training Centre in Kabul, Afghanistan, was established in February 2008 to support the many war widows who are unable to fend for their families. Most widows are illiterate. With no prospect of work they are forced to beg in the streets or resort to prostitution. The Centre offers literacy course for 90 women and handicraft courses that allow widows to start a home industry and support their families. At the time of writing (May 2008) SAWA contributes 70% of the Centre budget, so the handicraft section is not open yet. SAWA plans to raise its support to 100% before the end of 2008.
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Donations to SAWA are allocated to Hewad High School and to the Vocational Training Centre. SAWA's priority is the alleviation of the fate of war widows, so the Vocational Training Centre has priority. But SAWA pledged to cover Hewad High School's staff budget, which means the salaries for 17 teachers and 4 other staff and the teaching needs of over 400 students. $60 cover the salary of a teacher for one month. SAWA has managed to meet this demand in the past and will continue to support the school at this level.
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SAWA supports RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, an independent, anti-fundamentalist, feminist political and social organization for women's human rights, and for a fully democratic and secular government in Afghanistan. RAWA was established in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1977 with the objective to involve an increasing number of Afghan women in social and political activities aimed at acquiring women's human rights and contributing to the struggle for the establishment of a government based on democratic and secular values.
Despite the horrors and political oppression, RAWA established schools with hostels for boys and girls and a hospital and conducts nursing courses, literacy courses and vocational training courses for women in refugee camps in Pakistan and in locations inside Afghanistan. RAWA rejects violence and relies on education and relief work.
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All funds raised will go to RAWA projects without deduction, as SAWA-Australia operates entirely through unpaid volunteers. Donations can be made in three ways:
- by filling out and mailing the attached subscription/donation form accompanied by a cheque or postal money order
- through online payment at:
http://www.sawa-australia.org/help.htm
- through internet banking directly from your own bank account to: SAWA-Australia, Bendigo Bank, Adelaide Branch, BSB: 633-000, Account No. 126035633
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Attached Documents:
Subscription
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