In 2014 we initiated the action SISTERS ARE DOING IT BEST.
Goal of this action is to present women who have contributed and still contribute to pushing borders in our society. In the worst times, women show their strength and solidarity. Unfortunately, these important social actors are often being erased.
The first action Sisters Are Doing It Best we did in partnership with BeFem, a feminist cultural centre, and during the evening dedicated to solidarity and friendship in a great and friendly atmosphere of October Community Centre (Zadruga Oktobar), with wonderful panelists – Čarna Radoičić, Marija Ratković, Nada Đuričković – and wonderful DJs – Women’s Studies Center, ACT Women, Women In Black, Autonomous Women’s Center (Centar za ženske studije, ACT Women, Žene U Crnom , Autonomni ženski centar) – we raised 24.111,oo dinars for Veliki Crljeni!!! We bought goods for forty women, thirty children and twenty-six men from Veliki Crljeni. At this link you can see a short movie made by BeFem collaborators Sanja Seliškar and Nada Kostić.
SISTERS ARE DOING IT BEST 2 raised the question of housing, a roof above one’s head. The floods in Serbia left people in many places without their homes, houses where they could get back, and some people lost their documents due to fast evacuation, while some internally displaced persons did not have documents in the first place. Therefore, it was important to discuss this topic and the ways to help. In the atmosphere of hospitality in café Ljutić, with great panelists Jovana Vuković, Dušica Parezanović, Violeta Đikanović, Iva Čukić, and wonderful DJs Sisters Engineers we succeeded to raise 30.000,oo dinars for the Karađorđevo settlement in Smederevska Palanka!!! For people in Karađorđevo we bought a stove, food and household chemicals, and the goods were directly distributed by Violeta Đikanović from Women in Black who was all the time in contact with the families from this settlement. At this link you can see a short movie by Nada Pleskonjić.
The right to housing is one of the fundamental human rights that requires full and unequivocal affirmation, especially today, in the time of general erosion of social rights that reduces this right to one of the needs that individuals are supposed to fulfill by themselves through market relations. Many people are falling victims of violations of this right, but the most dramatic cases in Serbia have happened in informal Roma settlements that do not meet the criteria of acceptable housing, and forced evictions of inhabitants of these settlements have often most severely violated this right. The floods that struck Serbia and Balkans in May this year exposed all the difficulties in reaching this right, especially for Roma who are treated differently than majority population (in providing temporary places to stay and by lack of appreciation of specific housing needs of Roma in regions that were not affected by floods, etc).
Jovana Vuković
Regional Centre for Minorities
More information and photographs from our actions can be found at our Facebook page.
THE EXPANDING CIRCLE – GIVE A LITTLE, CHANGE A LOT!
Reconstruction Women’s Fund goes on with the campaigns and promotion of local philanthropy. We encourage our friends to consider investing into the future of women, women’s groups and the only women’s foundation in Serbia.
From 2013 to 2014 we had a chance to see which methods are the best and make people feel most pleasant and somehow safe when investing their money in some action or activity. We opened our ears for learning, windows for questions, and doors for discussions.
Our experience with the circle of giving or the circle of friends is a method that individually motivates first people from our closest environment and then expands, motivating the expanding circle of people to invest into something familiar, where they can see their money bringing changes. We are grateful to our friends who invest in the work of RWF, thus contributing to raising money for the activities of women`s groups. We hope the circle will keep expanding and our friends will start organizing events themselves, without us, and inform people of the importance of investments into women, women`s human rights and women`s movement in Serbia.
During the floods that struck Serbia, RWF was in the field, mapping needs, distributing help, communicating with people. It is important that we were not alone – this disaster brought out a high level of awareness that we couldn’t do without each other!
The first action Sisters Are Doing It Best we did in partnership with BeFem, a feminist cultural centre, and during the evening dedicated to solidarity and friendship in a great and friendly atmosphere of October Community Centre (Zadruga Oktobar), with wonderful panelists – Čarna Radoičić, Marija Ratković, Nada Đuričković– and wonderful DJs – Women’s Studies Center, ACT Women, Women In Black, Autonomous Women’s Center (Centar za ženske studije, ACT Women, Žene U Crnom , Autonomni ženski centar) – we raised 24.111,oo dinars for Veliki Crljeni!!! We bought goods for forty women, thirty children and twenty-six men from Veliki Crljeni.
SISTERS ARE DOING IT BEST 2 raised the question of housing, a roof above one’s head.The floods in Serbia left people in many places without their homes, houses where they could get back, and some people lost their documents due to fast evacuation, while some internally displaced persons did not have documents in the first place. Therefore, it was important to discuss this topic and the ways to help. In the atmosphere of hospitality in café Ljutić, with great panelists Jovana Vuković, Dušica Parezanović, Violeta Đikanović, Iva Čukić, and wonderful DJs Sisters Engineers we succeeded to raise 30.000,oo dinars for the Karađorđevo settlement in Smederevska Palanka!!! For people in Karađorđevo we bought a stove, food and household chemicals, and the goods were directly distributed by Violeta Đikanović from Women in Black who was all the time in contact with the families from this settlement.
Therefore, the action SISTERS ARE DOING IT BEST 3 we intended directly to helping a woman who had a very hard life, survived violence and in the eve of the winter had no roof over her head. RWF invested into the roof, and money we raised bought her the door. Thanks to the joined action of our friends and their direct donations, life became a little easier for Milica Djordjevic from Mladenovac.
It does not take a lot of money to donate, since it ain`t easy for anyone today, but a little changes a lot!
Here are the links for the action, and we will go on in the next year, keep up with our work and invest into changes!
SISTERS ARE DOING IT BEST 1 (a short movie made by BeFem associates Sanja Seliskar and Nada Kostic)
SISTERS ARE DOING IT BEST 2 (a short movie made by Nada Pleskonjić)
SISTERS ARE DOING IT BEST 3 (a short movie made by Nada Pleskonjić)
All the information about our actions and more photos can be found at our Facebook page.
SOLIDARITY IS OUR POWER!
Join in the circuit of positive energy, donate for our programmes!!!
