International Women's Day: Giving of Ourselves

Happy International Women's Day from all of us at COHI. On this day, we invite you to shake off any anxiety and hesitation that may have found you in the last months of economic struggle and consider the gifts you have to give. At COHI, we rely heavily on our volunteers in the field and at home to meet our organizational, programming, and fundraising goals and we need your help. We'd like to share some of the stories, motivation, and successes of these generous people with you here in hopes of inspiring YOU to think outside of your checkbook for ways that you can give of yourself to the women COHI serves.

Jessica Alderman is an up and coming photojournalist who just touched down in the Middle East. She will be spending two months documenting COHI's work with coexistence, midwifery, and women's health. Jessica is generously giving of her time, talents, and enthusiasm through her involvement in COHI's work in the region, and we are thrilled to have her with us. You can read about Jessica's adventures and see some of her photos on her blog here.

COHI is led by its all-volunteer Board of Directors. These generous women's health professionals volunteer their time and expertise as they serve as technical support for our field work, and fundraisers for the operational and programmatic costs of the organization. Click here to learn more about these inspiring professionals.

Anna Thomas is one of COHI's oldest fans. She has hosted various fundraisers for COHI in Houston including a "Queer Prom" (PDF) and a series of yard sales with the proceeds going to COHI's field work. She is currently living in NYC and busy organizing a denim-themed fundraiser as a result of a donation of hundreds of pairs of jeans from NYC's boutique design company, Rag & Bone.

Talia Weiss is a leader in COHI's collaboration with Eve Ensler's V-day movement to stop violence against women. Talia is giving of her talents as the co-director of  The Vagina Monologues in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel, with COHI as one of the main recipients of the funds raised. Talia is a retuning COHI volunteer, having had a successful performance of another of Ensler's performances in Jerusalem in 2008. For more on COHI’s 2009 V-day plans, see below!

Businesses like Natracare Tampons and A Stone's Throw Jewelry give regularly to COHI, donating materials and proceeds from the sale of merchandise. To see the list of other such partnerships between COHI and the corporate world, visit COHI's online Bazaar.

There are many other ways you can give without even touching your wallet through donations of frequent flyer miles, office equipment, and professional services such as accounting and legal support.

COHI continues to keep its overhead low and put the majority of its donations directly into the field thanks to these non-monetary based gifts of time, talents, and tangible items. Contact COHI today to share your ideas with us about hosting fundraisers, giving of your professional talents, or forging a corporate or business partnership.

COHI V-Day 2009 Update   The husband of COHI volunteer Mary Drake with his baby at the COHI V-Day performance at Johns Hopkins School Public Health, February 2009 Our first VDAY performances of The Vagina Monologues were a great success at Johns Hopkins – with two near-sold-out shows!  Great thanks to Lisa Aslan, Presha Rajbhandari, Mary Drake and Jordann Loehr for all their COHI support and COHImmittment! Upcoming performances of COHI VDAY events will be in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beer Sheva, Apex (NC), Greenville (NC), NYC and San Francisco.  The Vagina Monologues; A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant and a Prayer; Until the Violence Stops and a Congo Teach-in are all in the works! Please find a local COHI VDAY event here.

On behalf of the women living in crisis we humbly serve,

Sera Bonds, MPH
Circle of Health International
Executive Director
28 Homa Umigdal Beer Sheva Israel
sera[at]cohintl.org
www.cohintl.org

Circle of Health International is a 501c3 nonprofit organization supporting the empowerment of conflict- and disaster-affected women through the provision of women's health initiatives. Learn more and get involved at www.cohintl.org.