Dear AHA Foundation Supporter,
Each year I think I will find a way to spend less time on airplanes and each year I am wrong. That was certainly the case for 2016. Though I am still a fellow at Harvard, this year I have also joined as a fellow at the Hoover Institute, meaning my time on airplanes is likely to increase rather than decrease.
My favorite part of travel is that it brings precious opportunities to connect with you, my supporters from around the world. Your questions, thoughts and ideas provide me with needed encouragement and inspiration. One of the highlights from this year was a trip down under to Australia and the warm welcome I received everywhere I visited. I have another trip there already planned for 2017. I was also thrilled to meet with many AHA Foundation supporters as I roved around the US as part of various speaker series. I’ll be doing that again for 2017, so I hope you’ll keep an eye out to see if I’ll be visiting your city and that you make a point to come say hello. I look forward to that.
At home, my son continues to grow, and though it’s hard to believe, is now in school. I delight in getting reports back from the teachers on the articulate, independent person he is growing up to be, and am astonished each day to find out what he has learned from being in the company of those outside his family.
You may not be surprised to hear that I always enjoy a good debate, and my appearance at this year’s
Women in the World Summit was quite an opportunity to verbally duke it out with some dissenting voices. Each time I meet with anyone who doesn’t share my outrage at the idea of a woman or girl being subjugated because of her family’s religion or culture, I am shocked. But when those individuals see the obvious oppression surrounding them every day and still deny its existence - well, I can only imagine what they are doing to justify these injustices is some sort of mental gymnastics to avoid the truth.
These fierce encounters and debates only renew my determination to not stop speaking on behalf of women and girls who are oppressed and silenced. If we do not stand up to this - who will?
The Orlando Pulse nightclub attack continues to haunt me, as do the many other terrorist attacks that happened this year. It feels as if collectively we are becoming numb to them, which is a frightening realization. It seemed that within an instant, the news cycle had already moved on from the deaths of 49 vibrant individuals, targeted for living lives of their own choosing.
Because of the dangerous ideals that fuel and justify such atrocities, it’s no wonder to me that at the AHA Foundation, this year we’ve seen an increase in requests from religious dissidents seeking help to achieve safety from dogmatic ideologies that deny their right to think critically and determine their own beliefs. Thanks to your ongoing support, we have provided help to these brave individuals.
I remain incredibly proud of the successes the AHA Foundation achieves year after year. In 2016, we continued our life-saving work in helping the frightened women and girls who come to us seeking safety from situations of honor violence. We know the free helpline we introduced last year is making a difference because we have heard from individuals that they used it to find shelter to escape violent situations.
Also this year, we launched our free online training program to ensure that every at risk woman or girl facing honor violence will easily find law enforcement and domestic violence professionals who are sympathetic to the danger she faces and understand how to help her. We are excited to report that we have already trained more than 2,500 professionals to correctly handle cases of honor violence.
None of this work would be possible without friends like you. In 2017, we will continue this critical work, and have ambitious plans to expand the number and diversity of people we are able to protect. I hope you are proud of what we have accomplished together and will continue to support me in my fight to end honor violence and protect girls who live in fear of dangerous traditional practices.
I am honored and grateful to have recently received a $200,000 gift for my Foundation from an anonymous donor. To show our thanks and appreciation, we have designated this contribution as a challenge to supporters to raise $200,000 for the
AHA Foundation Challenge campaign.
If we meet this challenge, the extreme generosity of a stranger will lead to $400,000 in additional funding for the AHA Foundation’s life-saving programs,
allowing any gift you make to have twice the impact. That means even more life-changing counseling sessions for women trapped in an abusive marriage they never wanted, more police officers trained so that when a girl comes to them and says she’s afraid her father is going to kill her, they know to take her seriously and work to keep her safe from harm. It means more women and girls who are empowered to choose their own futures.
This holiday season, I’m looking forward to precious time with my family together. Thank you for being a part of my extended family, because without supporters like you, my work at the AHA Foundation – my life’s passion – would not be possible.
My wish for the women and girls we serve is that they be given the chance to transcend the violence they face in the same way I did.
And at this year end, I wish for you what I wish for myself – health, love and the company of family.
Happy Holidays,
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Founder
The AHA Foundation
The AHA Foundation is the leading organization working to end honor violence that shames, hurts or kills thousands of women and girls in the US each year, and puts millions more at risk. Get involved at www.theAHAfoundation.org
Comments
Post a Comment