Former FMF Interns Senior Civic Engagement Project...

I feel like I have been really neglectful in continuing my blogging with FMF. This is mostly because I have been working on my capstone civic engagement project all semester. Now that I have finished, I am in the process of writing my field guide and I wanted to share my experience here.

Basically I organized an event where three unfamiliar organizations; Tri-Iota, Alpha Delta Pi, and the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, worked together. These organizations donated jewelry; bracelets, anklets, necklaces, etc. Then I held a jewelry sale in our student center, all proceeds went to The Fistula Foundation.

I chose this foundation after I began to understand the international dilemma surrounding obstetric fistula. The World Health Organization estimates that there are over two million women suffering from fistula. Most often to occur after neglected child birth; fistula is a hole that forms between the vagina and the bladder.

To break down my project from beginning to end, it is important to firstly mention what sprouted my brain storming. This summer while interning in the D.C. FMF office, Alison Shigo of Engel Entertainment held a showing of their documentary, A Walk to Beautiful. The film follows the lives of five women in Ethiopia suffering from obstetric fistula.

This film touched me and I was immediately drawn to this global issue that is close to unheard of in the confines of our own country. There has not been an open fistula hospital in the United States since 1875, this fact amazed me. How can something that two million women are suffering from worldwide, not even be heard of in the U.S.A.? Before this film, I had never heard of fistula, I figured that many people at my university had not either. Therefore, my plan began with the idea of incorporating this film, The Fistula Foundation, and my campus.

In March at the National Young Women’s Leadership Conference, while brainstorming during a campus organizing round table I heard a suggestion that stuck with me. Collaborating an FMLA with a sorority, having the groups donate their jewelry, and selling it, so all proceeds go to a foundation of their choice.

This idea stuck with me, it not only raised money, but also enhanced campus involvement within sometimes unrelated groups, and would create dialogue about an issue. When I began solidifying my ideas for my capstone, I immediately referred back to my experience at the D.C. conference and got in contact with our Alpha Delta Pi sorority to collaborate with FMLA and Tri-Iota.

This is an issue running rampant in countries like Ethiopia, Uganda, the District Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Fistula is the result of many other issues like child marriage, poverty and rape. Women in the U.S. are virtually worry free of fistula, making the necessary procedures to share this courtesy with women internationally a must.

My goal for my project was to raise $200.00 and bring together organizations to raise awareness. I ended up raising $240.00 and creating various dialogues about obstetric fistula. Through using various forms of media, I organized this event that involved unfamiliar groups. Now, these three groups may use each other as alternative resources and continue to help their networks grow at ETSU. Not to mention, educating those who had no prior knowledge of obstetric fistula.

Sarah Olivo on interning with FMF

Sarah Olivo, FMF summer 2009 intern in our DC office, shared some of her summer intern experiences with her fellow students at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in the East Tennessean, the official student newspaper of ETSU.

Here's an excerpt of what Sarah had to say...

This summer I got a taste of what the real world will be like for me after I graduate in December. I spent the last few months in Washington, D.C., interning at the Feminist Majority Foundation and learning the ropes of the non-profit world.

... [I worked] on some of FMF's campaigns, like the Afghan Women and Children Campaign and preparing for the Women, Money and Power Summit in October.

I protested CVS in Dupont Circle and a few other interns and I counterprotested in front of Nancy Pelosi's office when a very right-wing, anti-choice group paraded through and outside her building. I even got to see the confirmation of Chief Justice Sonia Sotomayor firsthand.

I researched and wrote for feminist.org about global humanitarian issues and was able to learn some new techniques and practice my writing. For five days a week for two and half months I worked for this organization, learning more about government and legislation than I ever have before, all the while working towards a greater good.

Although my days were almost always filled with researching, blogging, etc. I still got to experience the city and the nightlife like a resident and not a tourist.

Of course I had responsibilities and pretty much a nine-to-five job, but being a 22-year-old college student made the nightlife definitely a memorable part of my summer internship experience.

[...] I cannot stress enough how important I believe this internship is going to be for my future. The skills that I gained just from these quick few months are going give me a leg up after graduation in December.

Before this internship, I was absolutely technologically ignorant, now I blog, I tweet, I network. The options are endless and the doors are beginning to open. ... As I begin to finish at ETSU, if I could leave any advice it would be that students should apply to internships in their field of interest.

Thanks, Sarah, for sharing your experiences with the world - and thanks, ETSU, for giving Sarah academic credit to work with FMF for a summer!

If you're interested in interning with the Feminist Majority Foundation, visit www.feminist.org/intern for more information!

Newsday Tuesday: May 26 Edition

Another week of feminist news has gone by, so here's a quick week-in-review!

National:
The US Supreme Court ruled that maternity leave taken prior to the 1979 Pregnancy Discrimination Act does not have to be credited to pensions on a pregnancy discrimination case.

President Obama announced his nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States, replacing retiring Justice David Souter.

International:
The Nepalese Supreme Court ordered an expansion of access to abortion, particularly for poor women.

State by State:
A proposed anti-choice constitutional amendment in the state of Tennessee passed the state house of representatives, specifically stating that "nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion."

The State Assembly of California passed a broader state-level version of the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, expanding the statute of limitations on pay discrimination claims runs from the receipt of each discriminatory payment.

The Louisiana state House passed a health care "conscience" bill, allowing providers to withhold abortion, emergency contraception, and other services and medications on the basis of religious or moral objections.

In response to legislation earlier this month by the DC City Council enabling the District to recognize same sex marriages performed in other states, a bill was introduced to the US House of Representatives that would institute a Defense of Marriage Act for the District of Columbia defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

And the big news from California - the state's Supreme Court upheld the results of Proposition 8, an anti gay marriage ballot initiative which passed in November 2008.

Photo Credit: Official WhiteHouse Flickr Stream and Val protesting Prop 8 in DC last fall.