Babaylanes Internationales

UN 2010 Report on Violence Against Women

2010-10-24T21:25:00.003Z

Violence Against Women A Global Phenomenon
Friday, 22 October 2010, 2:32 pm
Press Release: United Nations

Violence Against Women A Global Phenomenon – UN Report

New York, Oct 20 2010 4:10PM

Violence against women remains widespread across the world, exacerbated by traditions and customary practices that determine the way women are treated in families, places of work and communities, according to a United Nations report unveiled today.

The scourge “is an obstacle to the achievement of the objectives of equality, development and peace,” according to "http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/Worldswomen/WW2010pub.htm"The World’s Women 2010: Trend and Statistics, published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs ("http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/index.shtml"DESA).
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“In all societies, to a greater or lesser degree, women and girls are subjected to physical, sexual and psychological abuse that cuts across lines of income, class and culture. The low social and economic status of women can be both a cause and a consequence of this violence,” the report, whose release coincided with the first-ever "http://unstats.un.org/unsd/wsd/"UN World Statistics Day, notes.

The publication also provides the latest data on the status of women in the areas of population, health, education, work, power and decision-making, environment and poverty.

“This 2010 report finds overall progress in many areas, including school enrolment, health, as wells as economic participation, but it makes it very clear that much more needs to be done to close the gender gap in public life and to prevent many forms of violence against women,” Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, at the launch of the report in New York.

Other highlights of the report include the fact that there are approximately 57 million more men than women in the world, with some regions having less numbers of men and others lower numbers of women. Europe in general has more women than men, while the ratio in China is 108 men per 100 women.

“The trend of women marrying later and later continues throughout the world. This has obvious consequences for fertility which has declined globally to 2.5 births per women,” said Mr. Sundaram.

“But there are parts of the world where women marry early and bear more than five children on average. This has the effect of diminishing opportunities for women in education, employment and life chances,” he added.

According to the new publication, in the realm of health, women are more likely than men to die from heart diseases globally. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 270,000 maternal deaths in 2005 – half of the world’s deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth – were recorded, despite increases in the proportion of women receiving prenatal care.

Globally, the rate of girls of primary school age enrolled in school increased from 79 to 86 per cent between 1999 and 2007, with Central and Western African regions having the world’s lowest rates with less than 60 per cent of primary-school age girls enrolled.

The report also notes that while more women between the ages of 25 and 54 are working in most regions as compared to 1990, women’s wages represent between 70 and 90 per cent of the wages of their male counterparts.

Their participation in decision-making remains an area of concern, according to the report. In 2009, for example, only 14 women in the world held the positions of head of State or government, and out of the world’s 500 largest corporations, only 13 had female chief executive officers.

The publication also shows that households with single mothers with young children are more likely to be poor than those of lone fathers with young children, and that existing laws limit women’s access to land and other property in most countries in Africa and roughly half of the countries in Asia.

Srdjan Mrkic, head of DESA’s Social Statistics Section, noted that there have been improvements in the collection of data on the status of women around the world, but more needed to be done on that score.

“In preparing the World’s Women 2010 report, we were hampered by the fact that adequate and comparable statistics in certain domains are not routinely available for many countries,” he told reporters at the publication’s launch.

Also unveiled today was a UN Population Fund ("http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2010/web/en/foreword.shtml"UNFPA) report, entitled "http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2010/web/en/pdf/EN_SOWP10.pdf" State of World Population 2010, which found that discrimination against women not only exposes them to the worst effects of disaster and war, but also deprives their countries of a prime engine for recovery, according to a new United Nations report launched today.

“This year’s report is about the three Rs: resilience, renewal and redefining roles between boys and girls and men and women,” UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid said at the official launch in London of the report, which uses stories of individuals affected by conflict or catastrophe in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Haiti, Iraq, Jordan, Liberia, the occupied Palestinian territory, Timor-Leste and Uganda to bring home its message.

It shows how communities and civil society are healing old wounds and moving forward, while stressing how much more still needs to be done to ensure that women have access to services and have a voice in peace deals or reconstruction plans.

ENDS

Source: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1010/S00309/violence-against-women-a-global-phenomenon.htm

Indonesien Tag in Cologne: " Die Zweite Generation -Wo bin ich Zuhause?"

2010-08-30T10:01:00.005Z

(Photo/Info taken from Deutsch-Indonesische Gesellschaft e.V
http://www.adtractive.de/dig/artikel/termine.htm)

INDONESIENTAG

Samstag, 4. September ab 11:00 Uhr
Bürgerzentrum Alte Feuerwache, Melchiorstraße, Nähe Ebertplatz, Köln-Zentrum

11:00 bis 20:00 Uhr
Pasar Senggol

Indonesische Snacks, Kunsthandwerk, Gebrauchsgegenstände, Literatur

15:00 Uhr
Seminar: „Die zweite Generation - Wo bin ich Zuhause?“
Konsequenzen der Globalisierung, Fragen der Integration und Migration - vor allem von Menschen aus Südost-Asien - stehen im Mittelpunkt der Veranstaltung. Analysen, Erfahrungen und Erwartungen werden thematisiert.

Im Rahmen der traditionellen Indonesientage widmet sich das diesjährige Seminar wie immer einem entwicklungspolitischen Thema – nämlich der Frage nach den Erfahrungen des Austauschs von jungen Menschen aus Südost-Asien mit ihren „Herkunftsländern“, bzw. denen der Eltern. Die Übersiedlung aus Indonesien, Philippinen und Thailand ist unter den verschiedensten Vorzeichen geschehen. Lässt sich hier Erlebtes und Gelerntes vermitteln, welche Erfahrungen und Lebensweisen können sich hier behaupten, welche lassen sich übertragen?

Ausgangspunkt ist die Tatsache, dass vor allem in den 1960er Jahren eine nennenswerte Gruppe einerseits von Studierenden, andererseits von Berufstätigen (vor allem im Gesundheitsbereich) aus Südost-Asien nach Deutschland kamen, die ihrerseits entweder deutsche Ehepartner gefunden oder mit Partnern aus den Herkunftsländern hier eine Familie etabliert haben. Darüber hinaus sind eine Reihe binationaler Ehen gegründet worden, weil Deutsche ihre Partner aus SOA mit nach Deutschland gebracht haben. Auch politische Flüchtlinge kamen in die Bundesrepublik.

Deren Kinder – aus den Geburtsjahrgängen 1970 und folgende – sind unterdessen im dritten oder vierten Lebensjahrzehnt und ihrerseits z.T. auch schon wieder Eltern.

Die Sozialisation dieser Gruppe unterscheidet sich im Zweifel von den Gruppen aus Süd-, Südosteuropa, die ursprünglich als „Gastarbeiter“ dem deutschen Arbeitsmarkt zugeführt wurden.

Die Themenstellung will nun erkunden, welche Erfahrungen die Südostasiaten in der Bundesrepublik gemacht haben und welche Erwartungen sie an ihre Zukunft in ihrem Zuhause – sei es in Deutschland, sei es in dem Herkunftsland der Eltern – formulieren. Was lässt sich transferieren, was lernen wir voneinander. Kulturelle, politische, zivilgesellschaftliche, wirtschaftliche Aspekte werden erörtert.

Durch einführende Schilderungen aus fachwissenschaftlicher und politischer Sicht sollen die Voraussetzungen und Rahmenbedingungen dargelegt werden. In folgenden Statements beschreiben Vertreter der „zweiten Generation“ ihre eigenen Erfahrungen, Hoffnungen, ihre gesellschaftspolitischen Forderungen.

Geplanter Ablauf:
Begrüßung, Eröffnung
Karl Mertes / DIG

Aspekte zum Ordnungsrecht und zur Integration
Dagmar Dahmen / Ausländerbehörde Stadt Köln

Wissenschaft als universelles Bindeglied
Prof. Frauke Kraas / Uni Köln / Deutsch-Thailändischer Ges.

Migrantinnen in Deutschland
Jae-Soon Joo-Schauen / agisra
Informations-, Beratungsstelle für Migrantinnen, Flüchtlingsfrauen

„Was mache ich in der Fremde“ - diverse Statements u.a. von
Carmela Balignasay Verceles - Philippine Women's Forum e.V./ Sonja Wagner / Ani Nangoy/ Dion Dahmono / Rosari Harlan / Dennis Hannemann

Jeweils mit Aussprache / Diskussion –

Kooperation zwischen Deutsch-Indonesische Gesellschaft / Deutsch-Thailändische Gesellschaft / Agisra / Philippine Women’s Forum

19:00 Uhr
Essen – Trinken – Plaudern – Singen
Asiatisches Buffet & Karaoke
„Salz & Pfeffer“ Sudermanstraße 4

IWD International Women's Day 2010

2010-03-08T16:22:00.004Z

Some Images from the IWD celebration, March 8,2010 in Cologne.

Here is also the campaign for necessary financial support for
crisis centers for women in the whole NRW.

Schwere wege leicht machen!

Rough translation: Making the difficult ways easier!

For the whole background of the campaign, please
click the page:
www.schwere-wege-leicht-machen.de

December 10, Human Rights Day

2009-12-10T07:47:00.002Z

I"m posting here a copy of the letter of the
International Federation of Journalists (Germany)
to the Philippine Ambassador to Germany on the Maguindanao
massacre.

Letter of International Federation of Journalists (Germany)
to Philippine Ambassador
9 December 2009

RE: Massacre in the Philippines

Your Excellency,

The German Journalists Union (DJU in ver.di) respectfully requests
your cooperation in ensuring the Government of the Philippines is
aware of the global outrage about the massacre of a confirmed
59 people in Maguindanao Province, Mindanao, on November 23.

We urge you to use your authority and position to impress upon your
Government that the global community is demanding immediate and credible
action to ensure that all parties responsible for this atrocity are held
accountable to the full limit of the law.

We are informed by the International Federation of Journalists and its
affiliate the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines that at
least 30 journalists and media workers were among those murdered. At the
time of writing, another four media personnel are unaccounted for.

This is the worst mass killing of journalists and media workers ever
recorded.

Journalists and the international media community are grieving and
distraught at the failure of the Government of the Philippines
to uphold its responsibility to protect our colleagues and to end
the long-running culture of impunity for the murders of journalists
in the Philippines.

During President Arroyo’s tenure, at least 75 journalists have been
killed in the Philippines. Almost all have been killed in relation
to their professional work. At last count, only four convictions had
been secured for these killings. Outside of Iraq, the Philippines
has become the most dangerous country for journalists this century.

The Government of the Philippines is obliged under United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1738 (2006) to actively protect journalists
and media workers reporting in conflict zones within their national
borders, in accordance with their status as civilians under
international law.

We call on you to ensure your Government and police and security
forces act on their responsibility to bring the perpetrators and
masterminds of the November 23 atrocity to account, without delay,
and to act now to end the culture of impunity that has plagued the
Philippines for so long.

Respectfully Yours,

Ulrike Maercks-Franzen
General Secretary of
German Journalists Union dju in ver.di

Nov. 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women

2009-11-25T18:49:00.003Z

(Photo:Liza Tripoli taken from FB Justice for
Ampatuan Massacre Victims)

Statement of the Commission on Women
Mindanao
24. November 2009.

Women Outraged Over Maguindanao Carnage

No words can describe the bestial acts perpetrated yesterday in
Maguindanao Against civilians, mostly women. Together with the group
were two sisters and the wife of Esmael Mangudadatu, Vice Mayor of
Buluan town, who were on their way to file his certificate of candidacy
as provincial governor of Maguindanao when they were attacked in broad
daylight. They were murdered in cold blood and there were reports that
some of the women were also sexually violated, in a senseless massacre
that will go down in the annals of this country’s history as the worst
election-related violence. If unarmed women, lawyers and journalists
are not safe, who is safe?
From news reports, the Vice Mayor was quoted to have said that he
purposely sent his wife, sisters and female relatives to file his
candidacy without military escorts as he believed that they would not
be harmed being women and unarmed. But to his shock, the perpetrators
precisely took advantage of this position of vulnerability and succeeded
in committing those barbaric acts.

We, the Mindanao Commission on Women and the Mothers for Peace, express
our outrage at this new low in bestiality perpetrated by men on civilians
but most specially on women. If the reports that the women were violated
are found true, we condemn it. Sexual violence is an issue of power,
domination and control wielded by men over women. In times of conflict,
it is used by men to ensure utter humiliation of the enemy. This latest
incident by men, who are widely-believed to belong to a private army,
makes us shudder at what will happen in the days ahead if these criminals
and their principals are not brought to justice.
We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the Mangudadatu family.
Eden Mangudadatu, sister of BuluanVice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu,
and a Vice Mayor herself had attended activities of the Mindanao
Commission on Women. It is ironic that early this year Eden participated
in discussions of our project, “Women Healing Communities:Preventing
and Reducing Rido (clan feuds)”.
During the session, she shared her thoughts about rido and how
women played an important role in settling cases of clan violence.
The barbaric and brutal massacre in Maguindanao shows the total breakdown
of security in parts of Mindanao where many women and their families
live in dehumanizing poverty and violent conflict. We call on President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo – as President and as a woman - to do the
right thing: disband and disarm the private armies, bring down the
full force of the law on the perpetrators, and rid Maguindanao and other
parts of Mindanao of the scourge of warlordism. We also call on our
colleagues and partners in the development community to stand unafraid
to denounce this crime loud and clear. Let us continue to work for the
end of conflicts that divide us, so that our children will grow up imbibing
not anger, hatred and violence, but love,justice and peace.
As Mothers for Peace, we commit to continue our work for peace in the ways
of peace.

The Mindanao Commission on Women and Mothers for Peace Movement
121 University Avenue, Juna Subdivision, Matina, Davao City
Telefax: (082) 298-40-31

About MCW
The Mindanao Commission on Women was established in 2001
as an NGO by Mindanao women leaders. Its mission is to influence
public policy and public opinion. It advocates for a Mindanao peace
and development agenda from a women’s perspective. Area Core Groups
across Mindanao give MCW the ability to influence local, Mindanao
and national issues.
The Mothers for Peace movement is its grassroots base.

Tagung in Bonn

2009-02-05T14:47:00.002Z

Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland
Tagung 8

"Tu Deinem Mund auf fuer die Stummen und fuer
die Sache aller, die verlassen sind"
(Spruche 31, 8)

Forum zur Aufnahme irakischer Fluechtlinge in
Deutschland

06. bis 07. Maerz 2009

Evangelische Akademie im Rheinland
Haus der Begegnung
Mandelbaumweg 2
53177 Bonn

Contact: 0228. 9523.205

www.ev-akademie-rheinland.de

Babaylan Germany/PWFe.V. celebrates Inter-Cultural Week

2008-11-09T18:16:00.012Z

Babaylan Germany/Philippine Women's Forum e.V. celebrates Inter-Cultural Week

In celebration of the yearly Inter-cultural Week in Germany, Babaylan
Germany, Philippine Women's Forum invited women to two documentary
films about domestic workers in Germany and Hongkong.
One documentary film entitled Haus-Halt-Hilfe showed living situation of
German, Polish, Peruan and Filipino domestic workers in Germany. A short
version of the documentary film made by petra valentin gives insight to the
working situation of seven domestic workers; they take care of children,
clean, iron and do gardening. As cleaning women, domestic workers and
Au-Pair-Girls, they are doing jobs which are often not adequately honoured
and which take place in private households. While the employers and their
families can get off the burden of household chores, housework remains
often the only possibility for employment and living survival. Most of them
live separately from their families.

After the documentary film showing, guests treated themselves to German,
Filipino and Thai dishes and sweets followed by Karaoke singing with
intervals of tombola and dancing.

Babaylan

Germany

and PWFe.V. would like to thank the following
for their support for this event:

Hans Zarm for technical support, beamer, loudspeaker, etc.
Elda Weis for Karaoke and Music Equipment and coordination
Marilyn Hoehn for the main and other Tombola prizes
Vilma Koerperich, for non-stop help, tombola prizes and washing of glasses
And to the following Pinays for their help, cooking, driving, tombola
prizes,etc and usw at ibp.

Elsa, Helen, Christie, Vicky, Yvonne, Sol, Edna, Erma, Lillian,
Claire and Je.

Maraming Salamat

Invitation: InterKulturelle Woche Koeln 2008

2008-10-15T22:08:00.006Z

Babaylan Germany
Philippine Women's Forum e.V.

in celebration of InterKulturelle Woche 2008

www.interkulturelle-woche-koeln.de

cordially invites to

Merienda, Film and Music (Karaoke Evening)
(For Women Only)

on Saturday, November 8, 2008
from 4 pm at the Vereinsheim
Kleingartenverein Hoffnung e.V.
Xantener Str. 45
Cologne City (Köln)

How to Reach Xantener Strasse:

Take Strassenbahn No. 16 going to Niehl-Sebastian Str. Get off at
Kinderkrankenhaus Amsterdamer Str. Haltestelle, then walk passing
by Auto Repair Shop and a Flower Shop at the corner reaching the
Xantener Str. Turn left to Xantener Str., after ca. 200 m, you will
see a Bus Haltestelle Kretzer Str. Just beside it is the Vereinsheim.

By Bus:

From Ebertplatz, Bus No. 140 to Nippes. Get off
at Kretzer Str. Haltestelle.

Invitation to Internationales Begegnungsfest in Rheinaue Bonn

2008-08-27T16:33:00.003+01:00

6, September 2008, 13-21 Uhr
Freizeitpark Rheinaue, Bonn

see: www.bonn.de

Ausstelung gegen Männergewalt!

2008-05-05T08:14:00.004Z

Schlusspunkt.
Ausstellung gegen Männergewalt!

Amtsgericht Koblenz
Karmeliterstrasse 14
Koblenz

Schlusspunkt. Ausstellung gegen Männergewalt

„Sei nicht zahm, schlag Alarm!“ Mit diesem Motto geht der Notruf Trier
erneut mit einer Ausstellung von 28 Werbeplakaten in die Offensive.
Schlusspunkt.
Ausstellung gegen Männergewalt ist eine Fortsetzung der erfolgreichen
Plakataktion Tabuzone - Das Schweigen zeigen und brechen, die seit
dem Jahr 2000 insgesamt 47 Mal in 39 Städten gezeigt wurde.
Wieder haben namhafte Werbeagenturen Plakate entworfen, mit denen sie
der Gewalt gegen Frauen Paroli bieten. Sie haben sich zum Ziel gesetzt
Wege aus der Gewalt zu zeigen, die Täter zu ächten und die Opfer zur
Gegenwehr zu animieren.
Auswege beginnen im Kopf, Schlusspunkt weist die Richtung aus der
Gewalt. Wie bereits Tabuzone ist Schlusspunkt auch eine Ausstellung
über die Mittel der Werbung. „Wir wollten dieses Mal in der Umsetzung
weitergehen, humorvoller, provokanter und ironischer“
(Stephan Kraemer, Zink &Kraemer). „Schlusspunkt ist die Herausforderung,
Bildtexte für Unsag- und Unfassbares zu finden. Es ist ein anspruchsvoller
und heikler Eiertanz auf dem schmalen Grat zwischen der
Betroffenheit der Frauen und der Offenheit der Kreation.“
(Marion Kläs, brandtec)

Auf den folgenden Seiten finden sie Informationen zur Ausstellung, eine
Bildergalerie und Informationen zum Verleih.

Weitere Informationen zur Ausstellung können sie dem
Faltblatt zur Ausstellung entnehmen. Informationen zu den beteiligten
Fachstellen sind auf einem weiteren Faltblatt zusammengefasst.

Sollten Sie weitere Fragen haben, nehmen Sie zu uns Kontakt auf.

Die Gesamtkonzeption der Ausstellung lag beim Frauennotruf Trier in
Zusammenarbeit mit dem Förderverein des Frauenhauses Trier e.V.,
der Interventionsstelle Trier sowie der Heinrich Böll Stiftung Rheinland-Pfalz.

http://www.frauennotruf-trier.de/index.php?id=198

Internationales Frauenfilmfestival in Cologne

2008-04-15T10:34:00.003Z

Internationales Frauenfilmfestival
Cologne
23-27. April 2008
Fokus China

For detailed program please see
Frauenfilmfestival

Konzert im Zentrum Neues Erwachen, Internationales Zentrum

2008-04-04T12:28:00.004Z

Konzert im Zentrum
Neues Erwachen
Iranische Musik zum Nowrooz und Osterfest

Internationales Zentrum
Stolzestr. 1a
Koeln (Neustadt Sued)
Freitag, 11. April 2008, 19:00 Uhr
Eintritt: 4,50
Tel. 0221.560 46-60

Köln: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger Förderung von Frauen

2008-03-10T10:38:00.003Z

Bild: Peter Rakocyz
Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger Montag 10. März 2008

Talente und Potenziale liegen brach

VON CLAUDIA HAUSER, 09.03.08, 20:55h
BILD: RAKOCZY

Beim Internationalen Frauentag informierten im Rathaus unterschiedliche
Gruppen vor allem über Themen, die Migrantinnen betreffen.

Elisabeth ist 15, kommt aus dem Kongo und hat einen einfachen,
mädchenhaften Wunsch: 'Ich möchte mit 20 heiraten!' Das Foto, das die
Künstlerin Jane Dunker von ihr für die Ausstellung 'Innenwelten
Außenwelten' machte, zeigt Elisabeth deshalb im Brautkleid vor einer
Fototapete mit Strand und Palmen. 'Falls ich nicht heirate, habe ich
wenigstens ein Foto von mir im Brautkleid' , steht neben dem Bild. 17
Mädchen, die regelmäßig den interkulturellen Treff 'Lobby für Mädchen'
in Mülheim besuchen, zeigen über Bilder und Collagen, was sie sich
wünschen, wovor sie Angst haben und was sie berührt.

Die großformatigen Fotos waren beim Empfang zum Internationalen
Frauentag im Rathaus zu sehen, zu dem die Stadt unter dem Motto 'Frauen
International - Dialog der Kulturen. Wir feiern - Wir fordern'
eingeladen hatte. 'Niemand darf Frauen daran hindern, sich frei zu
entfalten und zu bilden', sagte Bürgermeisterin Elfi Scho-Antwerpes in
ihrer Eröffnungsrede. Vor allem um die Förderung von Mädchen und Frauen
mit Migrationshintergrund sollte es in den einzelnen Foren gehen. So
referierte Faize Berger über die Stärkung von multikulturellen
Unternehmerinnen, die Psychologin Azra Pourgholam-Ernst stellte das
Gesundheitserleben von Migrantinnen in den Fokus, außerdem wurde die
Chancengleichheit in Ausbildung, Bildung und Beruf diskutiert. Die
Ergebnisse der einzelnen Foren sollen in das Integrationskonzept der
Stadt einfließen. `In Köln leben 159 000 Frauen mit
Migrationshintergrund`, sagte Petra Engel, stellvertretende Leiterin des
Amtes für Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern. `Es wird dringend Zeit,
sie mehr ins Blickfeld zu rücken.` Engel findet es bedenklich, dass
einerseits die Erwerbsquote von Migrantinnen wesentlich geringer sei als
bei deutschen Frauen; die Beschäftigung der Frauen in privaten
Haushalten als Reinigungskraft oder Pflegerin aber deutlich zunehme.
`Die Talente und Potenziale dieser oft sehr gut ausgebildeten Frauen
liegen brach`, ergänzte Scho-Antwerpes.

Köln hat als erste deutsche Stadt 1982 eine Gleichstellungsstelle
eingerichtet - auch dieses Jubiläum sollte im Rathaus gefeiert werden.

Internationaler Frauentag Köln 2008

2008-03-09T08:15:00.001Z

Internationaler Frauentag 2008
Frauen International - Dialog der Kulturen
Wir feiern - Wir fordern!
8. March. 2008
Cologne Rathaus

Vicky, Elsa, Elda, Edwina, Mary Lou

Marilou, Gul, ML, Lena, Yvonne, Elsa, Elda, Helen

Babaylan Germany (philippine women`s Forum e.V.) participated in
this year celebration of International Women's Day organized by the
Office for Equal Opportunity for Women and Men-Amt für Gleichstellung
von Frauen und Männern
www.stadt-koeln.de

Program

Empfang des Oberbürgermeisters am 08.03.2008 im
Historischen Rathaus
Multikultureller Infomarkt im Atrium und Stehcafe
Begrüßung
Elfi Scho-Antwerpes, Bürgermeisterin
Petra Engel, stellvertretenden Leiterin des Amtes für
Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern
Chor `Tonquelle´

Foren
Porentief gleich?
Ein Blick auf Frauengesundheit und ihre Nebenwirkungen
Femina politica - politisch aktiv, aber wie?
Ressourcen stärken, Barrieren abbauen- Chancengleichheit
in Ausbildung, Bildung und Beruf
Erfolgreich, weiblich, multikulturell-Stärkung von
Unternehmerinnen und solchen, die es werden möchten

Modenschau der afrikanischen Frauengruppe Mwangaza

Schlussplädoyer mit Kernaussagen aus den Foren mit
anschließender Übergabe an die Politik

Get-Together im Atrium
Moderation Daniela Milutin
Fotoausstellung InnenweltenAußenwelten von
Jane Dunker und 17 Mädchen von Lobby für Madchen e.V.

A Forward: A Letter from Feminists on the Election

2008-03-04T21:44:00.002Z

A Letter From Feminists on the Election
The Nation Posted February 27, 2008 (March 17, 2008)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080317/feminists

Two days after the Texas debate between Hillary
Clinton and Barack Obama, a group of old friends
brought out the good china for a light breakfast of
strong coffee, blueberry muffins and fresh-squeezed
orange juice. We were there to hash out a split
that threatened our friendship and the various
movements with which we are affiliated. In some
ways it was a kaffeeklatch like a million others
across America early on a Saturday morning - but
for the fact that this particular group included
Gloria Steinem, a co-founder of the National
Women's Political Caucus; Beverly Guy-Sheftall,
director of the Women's Research and Resource Center
at Spelman College; Johnnetta Cole, chair of the
board of the JBC Global Diversity and Inclusion
Institute; British-born radio journalist Laura
Flanders; Kimberlé Crenshaw, professor of law at
Columbia and UCLA; Carol Jenkins, head of the
Women's Media Center; Farah Griffin, professor of
English and comparative literature at Columbia;
Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority;
author Mab Segrest; Kenyan anthropologist Achola
Pala Okeyo; management consultant and policy
strategist Janet Dewart Bell; and Patricia
Williams, Columbia law professor and Nation
columnist.
It was a casual gathering, but one that settled down
to business quickly. We were all
progressives but diverse nonetheless. We differed
in our opinions of whether to vote for Hillary
Clinton or Barack Obama - our goal was not an
endorsement. Rather, the concern that united us all
was the "race-gender split" playing out nationally,
in which the one is relentlessly pitted against the
other. We did not want to see a repeat of the ugly
history of the nineteenth century, when the failure
of the women's movement to bring about universal
adult suffrage metastasized into racial resentment
and rift that weakened feminism throughout much of
the twentieth century. How, we wondered, did a
historic breakthrough moment for which we have all
longed and worked hard, suddenly risk becoming
marred by having to choose between "race cards" and
"gender cards"? By petty competitiveness about who
endures more slings and arrows? By media depictions
of white women as the sole inheritors of the
feminist movement and black men as the sole
beneficiaries of the civil rights movement? By
renderings of black women as having to split
themselves right down the center with Solomon's
sword in order to vote for either candidate? What
happened, we wondered, to the last four decades of
discussion about tokenism and multiple identities
and the complex intersections of race, gender,
sexuality, ethnicity and class? We all worried
that the feminist movement's real message is not
being heard, and we thought about how to redirect
attention to those coalitions that form the bedrock
of feminist concern: that wide range of civil
rights groups dedicated to fighting discrimination,
domestic violence, the disruptions of war,
international sex and labor trafficking, child
poverty and a tattered economy that threatens to
increase the number of homeless families
significantly. We thought of all that has
happened in just seven short but disastrous years
of the Bush Administration, and we asked: how might
we position ourselves so we're not fighting one
another? Our issues are greater than any
disagreement about either candidate. We all know
that there is simply too much at stake. On the
one hand, we celebrate the unprecedented moment in
which a black person and a female person have risen
to the lead in the Democratic race for President of
the United States. On the other hand, both of them
are constantly pressed to deny their race or
gender, to "transcend" it, to prove by their very
existence that misogyny and racism no longer exist.
This, even as both are popularly and reductively
caricatured in perniciously stereotypical ways.
Clinton as a woman with balls, Obama as
"unqualified" and "grandiose,"Chelsea Clinton
being "pimped" by her mother while Bill O'Reilly
declares that Michelle Obama should be "lynched."
How do we resist such a toxic Punch and Judy show
of embattled identity, to the degree that many
women feel that a vote for Obama "cheats" Clinton
of her chance to break the glass ceiling, and many
blacks feel that a vote for Clinton is a betrayal
of the chance to break the race barrier? We
agreed that everyone needs to refocus on the big
picture. All of us know that another Republican
presidency would effectively bury the gains of both
the civil rights and the feminist movements of the
past fifty years. Judicial nominations alone could
upend decades of hard work.How, therefore, to
reclaim a common purpose, a truly democratic "we":
we women of all races, we blacks of all genders, we
Americans of all languages, we immigrants of all
classes, we Latinas of all colors, we Southerners
of all regions, we families of all ages, we parents
working three jobs without healthcare, we poor who
sleep on the streets, we single mothers whose homes
are being repossessed, we displaced New Orleanians
whose neo-Arcadian epic of displacement has yet to
resolved. "Can't we all just get along?"
could have been the mantra of this power breakfast
though certainly not forever, nor for all
purposes. Just long enough to roust the Republican
rascals: the oil barons and Enron fraudsters and
pre-emptive warmongers and sadistic torture-masters
and trigger-happy antiabortionists and Blackwater
mercenaries and the tribal extremists of various
religious stripes who seem to look forward to
Armageddon finally segregating humanity into true
believers and recalcitrant, disposable trash. In
the confusion of this triumphalist but precarious
moment, therefore, it is important that the
alliance between a now global feminism and a now
global civil rights movement not be turned against
itself and ultimately defeated. Obama and Clinton,
each a complexly archetypal "role model,"
represent, at their best, a new kind of American
possibility. If we could get over our fixation on a
fantasy that many of us hoped to see realized in
our lifetimes, maybe we could finally turn to the
issues that each of them brings to the table. We
cannot remain tangled by stereotypes that demean
with their sweeping divisiveness and historical
cliché. As we gathered up the empty plates, we
recommitted ourselves to further joint discussions
about how to attain that collective better future,
however many early mornings, late nights and urns
of coffee into the future that may take. We hope
women across America will choose to do the same.

Seminar: Machos on the Loose? "Maennlichkeit" und Entwicklungszusammenarbeit - ein blinder Fleck?

2008-02-01T15:11:00.000Z

Machos on the Loose?
"Männlichkeit" und Entwicklungszusammenarbeit-
ein blinder Fleck?
Das Beispiel Philippinen
Samstag, den 8. März 2008
Haus der Evangelischen Kirche
Adenauerallee 37
53113 Bonn

Darum geht es...

Gleichstellung in der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit heißt oft noch
Frauenförderung. Nicht nur in den Philippinen richten sich
Programme zur Gleichstellung von Männern und Frauen meist
ausschließlich an das weibliche Geschlecht.
Die Berücksichtigung von Männern bei der aktiven Veränderung
der Geschleschterverhältnisse ist da eher die Ausnahme, so heißt es oft,
seien reformresistent und durch ihre kulturell antrainierten Rollen
bestimmt.
Ohne die Benachteiligungen, denen Frauen weltweit ausgesetzt
sind, negieren zu wollen, wollen wir in unserem Seminar aus oben
genannten Gründen den Fokus auf 'Männlichkeit' und 'Männlich-
keitskonzepte' in der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit legen. Die
Philippinen sollen dabei als Beispielland dienen.

Das Seminar will...

Einen Überblick über Männlichkeitskonzepte in der Genderdebatte und der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit geben
Kulturelle geschlechterspezifische Rollen und deren Entwicklung in den Philippinen thematisieren

Beispiele von Projekten in den Philippinen geben, bei denen männerspezifische Komponenten beinhaltet sind

Programm

9:30 - 10:00 Begrüßung und Einführung
10:00 - 11:00 ''Alles Gender oder was''?
Einführung in die Genderdebatte in der Entwicklungs-
zusammenarbeit, Birte Rodenberg
11:00 - 11:15 Kaffee und Tee
11:15 - 12:30 ''Living the machismo way of life'' -
Männlichkeitsvorstellungen in den Philippinen
Jun Naraval (Philippinen)
12:30 - 13:30 Mittagessen und- pause
13:30 - 15:30 Arbeitsgruppen

1. Mr. Gender and Development (GAD), Vorstellung eines
Programms in Davao, Jun Naraval
2. Wie haben sich die Geschlechterverhältnisse durch
(Arbeits)migration verändert?
Jack Catarata und Mary Lou U. Hardillo (mit einem
Input von Birte Rodenberg)

15:30 - 16:00 Berichte aus den Arbeitsgruppen und Abschlussrunde
16:00 - 16:30 Kaffee/Tee
16:30 - 18:30 Mitgliederversammlung

Eine Veranstaltung des philippinenbüro e.V. im Asienhaus

Tagungsbeitrag:
Euro 15- für Vollverdienende
Euro 10- für Studierende, Auszubildende, Geringverdienende

Das Mittagessen sowie Snacks und Getränke sind im Tagungsbeitrag
enthalten.

Bei Bedarf wird eine Kinderbetreuung angeboten.

Eine Fahrtkostenersttatung ist bei Bedarf für Fahrtkosten
innerhalb Deutschlands möglich (bitte Kostenbeleg mitbringen).

Nach der Anmeldung verschicken wir eine Anmeldebestätigung
mit der Kontoverbindung für die Überweisung des Tagungsbeitrages.

Anmeldung bis zum 25. o2. 2008 an:

philippinenbüro Im Asienhaus
Bullmannaue 11
45327 Essen
Tel. 0201.8303828
Fax.0201.8303830
Email: grabowski@asienhaus.de
Bitte so früh wie möglich anmelden!!

Das Seminar wird gefördet durch Misereor.

Podium Discussion: Cosmobile Putzfrauen auf dem unsichtbaren Arbeitsmarkt

2007-11-23T21:08:00.000Z

Frank John, Maria S. Rerrich, Emilija Mitrovic and
Mary Lou U. Hardillo-Werning in a podium
discussion about situation of domestic workers in
Germany in KultWerk West, Hamburg-Altona
Demand from Babaylan-Germany/ Philippine Women's
Forum e.V.:
Regularization of irregular migrants and recognition
of domestic work as proper work with full and
non-descriminatory employment rights and social
protection.

Veranstaltung "Cosmobilen Putzfrauen" Podiumsgespraech

2007-11-19T08:53:00.000Z

Podiumsdiskussion von Le Monde Diplomatique
Veranstaltung "Cosmobilen Putzfrauen auf dem unsichtbaren
Arbeitsmarkt"
Frauen aus aller Welt putzen Wohnungen in Deutschland.
Sie verlassen ihre Heimat und ihre Familien, um hier
Geld zu verdienen. Maria S. Rerrich fuehrte fur ihr Buch
"Die ganze Welt zu Hause"in Hamburg und Muenchen
interviews mit cosmobilen Putzfrauen und ermoeglicht
einen Einblick in das Leben der zum Teil illegal hier
lebenden Frauen. Kultwerk-Gespraech in Zusammenarbeit
mit Le Monde diplomatique und der Hamburger Edition
mit der Autorin und Soziologin Maria S. Rerrich, Peter Bremme
von der Dienstleistungs-gewerkschaft Verdi und Mary Lou
U. Hardillo-Werning, vom Babaylan-Germany/Philippine
Women's Forum e.V.
Moderation: Frank John
Termin: 22. November, 20.00 Uhr
Ort: Kultwerk West, Grosse Bergstrasse 162
Hamburg-Altona
Eintritt 3Euro

Babaylan Europe Conference in October

2007-10-02T20:21:00.000Z

In Celebration of its 15^th Year, Babaylan Cordially Invites to

a Europe-wide Conference of Filipinas
Theme: Gender Dimensions of Migration and Development*
Empowering Filipinas in Europe – their Participation in
Development Processes in Europe and in the Philippines
October 26-28, 2007
Jugendherberge Köln-Deutz
(Köln-Deutz Station/Deutzer Freiheit)
Siegesstraße 5
Cologne, Germany

Friday, October 26

Ab 15:00 Arrival of Participants from other European Countries

Registration/Getting to Know You/Network Updates/Books Presentation

Saturday, October 27

9:00-12:30 Opening of the Day/Panel DiscussionSpeakers:

Ambassador Delia Domingo-Albert (invited)

Ellene Sana from CenterMigrant Advocacy,

Philippines (invited)

Bernice Campos Roldan, Unlad Kabayan, Philippines
Mother Irene Dabalus OSB (invited)

Parallel Workshops
· Development Projects in the Philippines
· Gender and Literature in Cultural Context
· Gender and Spirituality
· Developing Filipina Migrant Agenda in Europe
· Putting up Cooperatives
· Organizing Migrant Domestic Workers

20:00 Cultural Evening, Barcelona Hall in DJH, Jugendherberge Köln-Deutz

Sunday, October 28
Plenary Session – Babaylan Network
11:00 to 12:00 Closing Ceremonies

*Gender Issues: How we as migrant women are affected not only in the
familial context but also in the social, cultural and economic aspects as
can also be seen in the development discussions. Paano ako bilang
babaeng migranteng nakakatulong sa ikauunlad ng Pilipinas at sa
pamumuhay natin sa Europa.

For Details: Call: Babaylan Germany 02234.965733/35,
Email: babaylanes@gmx.de

Workshop in Hamburg: Migrant Domestic Work

2007-09-05T21:40:00.000Z

Workshop: Organising between autonomy and care crisis
Migrant domestic work: Critical review and perspectives of collective action

7 – 8 September 2007 in Hamburg, Curio-Haus

Who is cleaning and ironing at home and takes care for children, granny
and the cats? If the nation’s key players do not accomplish this work
migrant domestic workers step in. It is talked of a future growth industry.
In Germany today there are about four million employments in private
households. This boom is borne by the workers:Their frequently informal
status produces a high risk of exploitation and vulnerability. Under these
conditions defence seems difficult – but still domestic workers have
developed tactics and strategies of resistance and have in other European
countries even found trade union like interest groups.

Meanwhile even in Germany diverse research projects have brought to light
the hyper-precarious modes of existence in the field of migrant domestic
work and care work. However, it has become silent around the political
networking and public actions among other things by migrant self-
organisations which engaged in this topic some years ago. We again take
this as a course for rethinking forms of organisation and intervention. The
workshop is therefore aimed at persons and groups who work or have
worked socially, politically or culturally towards an improvement of the
situation of domestic workers. Starting from the different approaches of
migrant self organisation,we will discuss the contradictions between the
fight for rights, the interests of domestic workers and institutional agency:

Which topics are in the focus of self organisation? How does the question of
interest representation in the field of (domestic) work relate to other areas
of life? Which political perspectives and claims are there? Which alliances
are regarded possible? Does the discussion about precarisation open up
new spaces or are specific conditions of domestic work or care work (again)
not taken into account? How does the claim for global social rights and
legalisation relate to the necessary redistribution of essential societal work?

The organiser's backgrounds and orientations are different: They come from
scientific and activist projects; their standpoints are feminist, focussed on
migration and/or work policy. Some of them hope for a discussion on
precarisation and the networks developing from it. The others are wondering
why there is no relevant feminist movement critically encountering the
devaluation of care work.
The marginalisation of care work is an outcome of capitalist locational
policy. But in which practices does this result? We are curiously looking at
discussions within trade unions, in which they articulate their interest in
those workers who do not count to their traditional clientele. The workshop
shall contribute to thinking and acting outside one's movement's boxes.

The workshop can and should be the start for further local, federal
and/or European networking. A registration for the workshop is requested.

* The workshop is a co-operation between three projects: The project
„Precarisation and Collective Organising“ („Prekarisierung und kollektive
Organisierung“ funded by the Rosa-Luxemburg-Foundation) and Preclab
Hamburg and the European project „Integration of female migrant domestic
workers“ (Sabine Hess, University of Munich and Mone Spindler,
Institute for Social Infrastructure, Frankfurt am Main)

Programme

Friday, 7 September 2007
19:00
Individual capacities of action and collective organising – contradictions and
perspectives in local initiatives
- Mujeres sin Fronteras (Hamburg)
- Luzenir Caixeta (MAIZ, Linz)
Afterwards Buffet and
- Clips from the documentary film „Haus – Halt – Hilfe“ (Petra Valentin, 2006)
- Documentary "Ibasura! Down down!- Philippine women working as
domestic helpers in Hong Kong" (Antje Grez, 2007)

Saturday, 8 September 2007
10.15 – 12.30
Global social rights and redistribution of essential societal work?
Experiences and perspectives of self-organising and in institutions
- Respect Berlin
- Respect Europe
- Mary Lou U. Hardillo-Werning (Philippine Women’s Forum e.V. BABAYLAN)

Coffee break
12.45- 14.15
The state’s and others’ interests in good care and integration
- Barbara Thiessen (German Youth Institute, DJI, Munich): Critical reflection
of so far attempts to regularise house and care work
- Helma Lutz (University of Muenster, Germany): The new European market
for migrant domestic work. Requirements for a gender and migration aware
analysis
- Hannes Heiler (Selbst e.V., Frankfurt): Contradictions between movements
of disabeld persons and the fight for rights of domestic workers?

Lunch break
15.15 – 16.45
Perspectives of organising within and outside trade unions
- Janette Vallejo Santes (AMIC-UGT, Barcelona)
- Emilija Mitrovic (ver.di-AK undokumentiertes Arbeiten, Hamburg)
- Kate Roberts (Kalayaan, London)

Coffee break
17.00 – 18.30
Repolitisation of domestic work and care work. Where are possible alliances?
- Zagas Berlin (PILOT-Projekt)
- Efthimia Panagiotidis (euromayday, organizing, Hamburg) etc.

Please register until 29 August 2007 via email or fax with:
Mone Spindler, ISIS Institut fuer Soziale Infrastruktur
Kasseler Str. 1a, D-60486 Frankfurt am Main
Tel.: 0049-(0)69-26486514, Fax: 0049-(0)69-26486519
Email: spindler@isis-sozialforschung.de

Registration for the workshop:
Organising between autonomy and care crisis
Migrant domestic work: Critical review and perspectives of collective action

7 – 8 September 2007
Curio-Haus, Rothenbaumchaussee 15 (backyard), 20148 Hamburg, Germany

Internationales Begegnungsfest in Bonn

2007-09-02T13:02:00.000Z

"Would you like to taste exotic food, hear foreign music and
learn about unknown culture? Then come to this ' learning
by playing' international festival in Rheinaue in Bonn on
September 1, 2007," reads the invitation to this
yearly international summer festival in Bonn.
Some 90 associations including NGOs and institutions
participated in this year festival of food, cultural
shows and information at the Freizeitspark Rheinaue Bonn
on September 1, 2007.
And as in every year, the most represented country
is the Philippines with stalls and stands of food offering
fingergoodies from from grilled tilapia to lechon.
"A taste of home, once a year", commented one Pinay
while searching for delicacies to go and found chicharon
(cracklings) and bought one plastic glass of halo-halo,
pichi-pichi and a serving of rice with sisig.

Cooking with style!

Eating Tilapia ala Kamayan

Were you looking for our booth?

Philippinen-Forum NRW Sommerfest 2007

2007-08-26T11:46:00.000Z

The first Philippinen-Forum NRW Sommerfest was
held in Düsseldorf-Gerresheim at the Evangelische
Gemeindezentrum of Gustav-Adolf-Kirche on August 25, 2007.
An ecumenical service led by Rev. Joy de la Cruz and
Fr. Jun de Ocampo, SVD started the day activities.

Rev. Joy de la Cruz

Fr. Jun de Ocampo, SVD

I would like to share with you the prayer of celebration
for this Ecumenical Service.

Call to Celebration:

Leader: We have gathered to rejoice in our oneness in Jesus
Christ. Each of us experiences faith and life in a unique way.
People: Yet we have one God, one faith, one baptism and one
Spirit who unites us all.
Leader: Let us lift our hearts as one, in songs of praise, in
prayer, in listening to God`s Word and be united in this
celebration as we light this candle that symbolizes God`s presence
in our midst.

Song: "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty"

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty the King of Creation
All my soul praise him for he is your health and salvation
Let all who hear now to his temple draw near
Joining in glad adoration..

Praise to the Lord, who uniquely and splendidly made you
Gave you good health and strength and in your daily walk led you.
All your need, God in his mercy who would meet
Under his wings he would shade you.

Praise to the Lord, who will prosper you and defend you
Surely his goodness and mercy shall daily attend you
Ponder anew, what the Almighty can do
If with his love he befriends you.

Call to Repentance:

Leader: Let us join in our prayers of Repentance to God:
*Forgive us Lord, that our actions have not matched our words.

People: Have mercy on us Lord and hear our prayer to you.

*We claim to believe in community, but separate ourselves
from others in our daily life and ministry.
*We affirm our belief in God and the unity of the church,
yet refuse to make the changes needed to accomplish that oneness.
*We proclaim Christian hope yet we are not ready to participate
in the task of transformation in the world which is full of destruction,
injustice and disunity.

Assurance of Forgiveness:

*God has forgiven us through Jesus Christ our sins, Let us walk
with God in faith and thanksgiving.

First Reading: James 1:22-27

Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man
who observes his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself
and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But he who
looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being
no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in
his doing.
If anyone thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but
deceives his heart, this man`s religion is vain. Religion that is pure
and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and
widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
The Word of the Lord.
Halleluja

Gospel: Matthew 12:46-50

While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers
stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the men who told
him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"
And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my
mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in
heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother."
The Gospel of the Lord.
Halleluja

Reflections

Prayer of Intercession:
* for victims of war and calamaties
*for people who are sick and hungry
*for all churches and church leaders
*for the government and its officials
Response to every prayer: Lord, have mercy.

Prayer: Our Father

Song: "Pananagutan"

Walang sinuman ang nabubuhay para sa sarili lamang
Walang sinuman ang namamatay para sa sarili lamang

Ref: Tayong lahat ay may pananagutan sa isa´t isa
Tayong lahat ay pinili ng Dios na kapiling niya.

Sa ating pagmamahalan at paglilingkod sa kanino man
Tayo ay nagdadala ng balita ng kaligtasan.

Sabay-sabay ngang mag-aawitan ang mga bansa
Tayo ay tinuring ng Panginoon bilang mga anak.

The Jubilee Song

It`s a time of joy, a time of peace
A time when hearts are then set free
A time to heal the wounds of division
It`s a time of grace, a time of hope.

A time of sharing the gifts we have
A time to build the world that is one.

Ref: It`s time to give thanks to the Father, Son and the Spirit
And with Mary our Mother, we sing this song.

Open your hearts to the Lord and begin to see the mystery
That we are all together in one family
No more walls, no more chains
No more selfishness and closed doors
for we are in the fullness of God`s time
It is the time of the great jubilee.

It is a time of prayer, a time of praise
A time to lift our praise to God
A time to recall our graces
It is time to touch
A time to reach to those hearts that often wander
A time to bring them back to God`s embrace.

A Photo Reportage

Pfrin. Cornelia Oßwald

Consul Edgar Thomas Auxilian

Participation of Babaylanes Germany,
Philippine Women`s Forum e.V.

Honorarkonsul Heinz-Peter Heidrich visiting
the info table of Butuan Foundation with
Consul Edgar Thomas Auxilian and Carmelita

Kim and Bernd

Nina and Sophia waiting for the Games for Children
Nina: What games do you have for children?
ML: We have pulboron eating games.
Nina: Is that a game for children?
ML: Hmmmm, ah, ah, oo, yes sa Pilipinas, oo.

Eating, talking, watching, applauding part of
the audience

A Number of Visayan Songs

Bärbel of the Mispa Foundation of Mindanao

Part of the Preparatory Team
From left to right:
Jeannette, Carmelita, Tess, Mary Lou with
Rizal

Program
Grußworte:
Pfrin. Cornelia Oßwald (Gastgeberin)
Consul Edgar Thomas Auxilian, Bonn
Fr. Jun de Ocampo, SVD, St. Agustin

Tanz- Wuppertaler Gruppe

Honorarkonsul Heinz-Peter Heidrich, Essen
Bernd Nilles (MGFFI), Düsseldorf
Dietmar Fischer (Eine-Welt-Netz NRW), Münster

Lieder von Esther Briggs und Vater "Bol-anon" Nottuln
Dagmar Eberhard/Film zum Streik der Toyotaarbeiter
Tänze-Bol-anon sa Germany, Nottuln

Tanz - Wuppertaler Gruppe
Beitrag von Philipp Bück/Philippinenbuero, Essen
Lieder - Krefeld

Tanz - Bagobo - Frau Evelyn Gucor
Beitrag von AHW e.V. Beate Steffens, Rheine
Lieder - Larna Steur, Butuan Global Foundation Europe, Duisburg

Beitrag von Mary Lou U. Hardillo, Babaylan, The Philippine
Women`s Network in Europe
Gesang - Medley-Tanz, Düsseldorf

Moderation: Rizal Victoria

Das Vorbereitungsteam:

Susan Sacay-Schröder (Filipino-German Community in Düsseldorf),
Mary Lou U. Hardillo (Babaylan, The Philippine Women`s Network
in Europe), Jeannette R. Hodes (Filipino-German Community in
Düsseldorf), Tessie Wilms (Bohol Hilfe sa Alemanya, Wuppertal),
Carmelita Woitecki (Butuan Global Fondation Europe, Duisburg),
Antje Pannenbecker (Philippinenbuero, Essen), Dietmar Fischer
(Eine Welt Netz, NRW, Münster), Bernd Schütze (Amt für MÖVe,
Dortmund)

Philippinen-Forum NRW Sommerfest 2007

2007-08-23T21:39:00.000Z

Saturday, 25 August 2007
12.00 to 20:00
Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Düsseldorf-Gerresheim
Gustav-Adolf-Kirche
Heyerstrasse 93
Duesseldorf

Programm

Ab 12:00 Uhr - Anreise
Philippinische Erfrischungen
(kleine Speisen und Getränke)

13:00 Uhr, Ökumenische Andacht
mit Rev. Joy dela Cruz und Fr. Jun de Ocampo, SVD
in der Gustav-Adolf-Kirche

14.00 Uhr: Eröffnung des Sommerfestes
mit Grußwortens des Landes, NRW, der philippinischen Botschaft
und den Organisatoren

14:30 Uhr: Zeit zum Kennenlernen
Vorstellung der Aktionstische und Ausstellungen
Philippinische Speisen und Getränke

ab 15.30 Uhr: Kultur und Informationsprogramm mit
Tänzen, Musik and Liedern aus den Philippinen
Beiträge zur aktuellen Situationen auf den Philippinen,
Präsentation der neuen Ausstellung "Armut unter Palmen",
Vorstellung von Nord-Süd-Projekten
Zeit für Gespräche, Diskussionen und Austausch
Lustiges Kinderprogramm

ab 19:30 Uhr Verabschiedung

20:00 Ende des Sommerfestes

Certificate of Recognition for Philippine Women's Forum e.V.

2007-07-14T09:23:00.000Z

A Certificate of Recognition goes to Philippine Women´s Forum e.V.
for its civil engagement. The certificate of acknowledgement and gratitude
was given by Mr. Fritz Schramma, Mayor of the City of Cologne on
June 14, 2007.

Philippine Women´s Forum e.V. a recognized non-profit organization
is the official country member of Babaylan, The Philippine Women's
Network in Europe. PWF initiates another all women migrant group
called Babaylanes Internationales.

If you are interested in joining our network or supporting our
projects, please email or call us. Donation to our Verein/Organization
is tax-deductible: (Spenden an unseren Verein sind steuerlich absetzbar.)
Philippine Women's Forum e.V.
Postbank NL Koeln
Konto Nr. 334368506
BLZ: 370 100 50

For further information:

Email: Babaylanesinternationales@gmail.com
babaylanes@gmx.de

Book Launch In De Olde World:Views of Filipino Migrants in Europe

2007-07-02T11:14:00.000Z

The Philippine Social Science Council
and the
Philippine Migration Research Network (PMRN)
cordially invite you to a
Pre-Launch
of PMRN's 7th Publication
In De Olde World: Views of Filipino Migrants in Europe
Frank Lynch Resource Center
Philippine Social Science Center
Commonwealth Ave. Diliman, Quezon City
on Wednesday, 04. July. 2007, 2:00pm to 4:00pm

Congratulations to Ms. Filomenita Hoegsholm from Denmark for
editing this important book on migration of Filipinas and
Filipinos in Europe. Views are shared by some Babaylanes in Europe
making the book as another important contribution of Babaylan in
in the studies of Philippine women migration to Europe.

For further info about the book, please email
babaylanes@gmx.de

Grill and Meet Summer 2007

2007-06-24T19:37:00.000Z

One summer ago, we met, grilled, and I posted my first
entry for this Babaylanes Internationales blogs.
This time we planned to hold our meeting for the
invited pwf members but food was so tempting
we ended up chewing and not meeting.
It coincided with the birthday celebration of our
dear Elda who prepared all sorts of grill stuffs
with the help of her sister Elsa and assistance
from Edith and Cora.
Other regular picknickers were missing the summery
fun as some are still enjoying real sun in the home country
or as of writing are still confused how to follow
their navis to the direction of the Schrebergarten
named Hope.
Happy Birthday, Elda!

From the Eat and Meet Women

Babaylan's Basic Women's Orientation Training

2007-06-21T19:33:00.000Z

Babaylan Interim Committee: Malu, Adora,
Nitnit, Marlou. Lina not in Photo.

A Weekend of Basic Women’s Orientation Training in Germany

15 Filipinas representing the different European country member
organizations of Babaylan, The Philippine Women’s Network in Europe
participated in this year’s Basic Women’s Orientation Training held in
Kohlhof near Mannheim, Germany on June 1-4, 2007. The weekend training
was organized by Babaylan Interim Committee.

The participants shared experiences and discussed issues concerning
gender while enjoying some alternative group exercises in determining
factors which influence gender and gender bias i.e. what attributes are
associated with the word BABAE and LALAKE, what is gender
stereotyping, commodification and marginalization of women, reproduction
and production and sexual division of labour.

As a part of the year long celebration of the 15^th anniversary of Babaylan
Europe, the training coincided with the meeting of the country
representatives of the network. They discussed the result of congress and
assessment of the network held in Landquart, Switzerland on
September 22-24, 2006 and planned a series of activities to be carried
both by the local and Europe-wide members for the year 2007-2008.

After the seminar, the participants visited the shrine of Dr. Jose Rizal in
Wilhemsfeld and the city of Heidelberg.

Babaylan Network is planning to hold its bi-annual Conference and
Congress with the theme Gender, Migration and Development this coming
October either in Switzerland or Germany.

For interested Filipinas, please contact local Babaylan in your country or email:

babaylanes@gmx.de

Some Moments during the Kirchentag in Cologne

2007-06-10T13:49:00.000Z

Kirchentag 2007 in Cologne

2007-06-04T22:44:00.001Z

Kirchentag 2007
6 - 10 June, 2007
Köln, Germany
living, active and sharper
(Hebrews 4:12)

Babaylan Europe Country Representatives Meeting and Training

2007-05-31T10:07:00.000Z

Babaylan, The Philippine Women' s Network in Europe is holding
its Country Representatives meeting with a Basic Women's
Orientation Training for network members this coming weekend
June 1 - 3, 2007
in Kohlhof, near Mannheim.

This is a part of Babaylan Europe-wide activities in
celebrating its 15th year of networking with the theme:

Migration, Gender and Development

If interested in membership to the network, please inquire
from your country Babaylan member organizations.
For Germany: please email
babaylanes@gmx.de

Network of the Imaginary Mother

2007-05-13T08:58:00.000Z

Blessed be my brain
that I may conceive of my own power.
Blessed be my breast
that I may give sustenance to those I love.
Blessed be my womb
that I may create what I choose to create.
Blessed be my knees
that I may bend so as not to break.
Blessed be my feet
that I may walk in the path of my highest will.

Robin Morgan

Philippine Election Special

2007-05-09T18:07:00.000Z

30 Foreigners joining poll observer mission

by
Nonoy Espina
Inquirer.net

Manila, Philippines--Thirty observers from 13 countries
are arriving in the country to join an election observer
mission that will visit 13 areas in eight regions where voters
harassment has reportedly been intensifying and where
the probability of fraud was high, organizers said Wednesday.

Among the initiators of the International Observer Mission (IOM),
a statement from the organizers said, were Bishop Elmer Bolocon
of the United Church of Christ of the Philippines, Dr. Edelina de la Paz,
assistant professor of the College of Medicine of the University of
the Philippines; and Ms. Trixie Concepcion, secretary general of
the Advocates of Science and Technology for the People.

The mission will run from May 13 to 15.

This IOM is also supported by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan
(Bayan, New Patriotic Alliance), Karapatan (Alliance for the
Advancement of People's Rights), Promotion of Church People's
Response, Health Alliance for Democracy, and the Health Alliance
for Human Rights, among others.

The mission participants are parliamentarians, lawyers, church
leaders, members of the academe and media, artists, civil
libertarians, professionals, students and human rights advocates
from Canada, the USA, Japan, Myanmar, Korea, Malaysia,
Australia, Norway, Belgium, Germany, Scotland, Venezuela,
and Columbia.

For complete story, please click Inquirer

A short Primer on May 2007 Senatorial and Party-List Elections

2007-05-07T13:31:00.000Z

From the Philippine Embassy Bonn Extension Office, came
today, this mail with A Short Primer regarding the
May 14, 2007 Senatorial and Party-List Elections
for Overseas Absentee Voting

1) When is the election? 14 May 2007
2) For what positions is the Election in May 2007 conducted?
(12) Senators and Party-List Representatives
3) Who are entitled to vote? All Filipino nationals who
are Registered Overseas Absentees Voters (i.e. their
names appear in the Certified List of Overseas Absentee
Voters or CLOAV)
4) How do I know if I am a duly registered overseas absentee
voter in Bonn? You may check if your name is listed in
the 2007 Certified List of Overseas Absentee Voters
(CLOAV) available at the official Comelec website
www.comelec.gov.ph. Or you may call the Philippine
Embassy Bonn Extension Office. The CLOAV is also
posted at the Embassy.
5) When is the voting period for overseas absentee voters
in Germany? From 14 April to 14 May 2007.
6) Who are the candidates for Senators and Party-List
Representatives? The official list of candidates for
Senators and Party-list Representatives are posted
in the Comelec website mentioned above. It is also posted
at the Embassy and will also be provided by Comelec
in the electoral mails to be sent to individual voters.
7) What is a Party-List Representation? It is a system of
representation that was put in place to enable small
political parties and marginalized and underrepresented
sectors in society to have chance to participate in the
work of the Legislature, i.e. House of Representatives.
Only the name of the sectoral party, group or organization
shall be written by the voter on the space provided for
party-list representative in the ballot.
8)What is the mode of voting in Germany?
Postal voting, which means voters can now fill out their
ballots at home and send them to the Embassy via mail.
If they wish, they may also bring and submit personally
their filled out ballots to the Embassy.
9) How will voters be able to cast their vote under the new
system of postal voting? Voters will receive a mailing/packet
envelope from Comelec that contains the ballots and the
envelopes to seal/deliver the ballots. It also contains the
Certified List of Candidates for Senator and Party-List Groups
or Organization as well as instructions which provide the
step-by-step procedues on how voter will be able to cast
his/her vote.
When is the opening time of the Embassy Extension Office
in Bonn for those who want to personally get and/or submit
their accomplished ballot? From 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
(from Monday to Friday, including Saturdays, Sundays and
holidays during the period of election.)

When is the last day and time for submission of ballots at the
Philippine Embassy Bonn Extension Office in order for them
to be considered valid and included for counting?
The ballot must be received by the Embassy not later than
3:00PM (Philippine time) on 14 May 2007 (i.e. 9:00 AM
German time) in order that they may be considered as valid
and be included for conting. Ballots submitted after the
cut-0ff time will be automatically considered as invalid.

For further information: Please call the Philippine
Embassy Bonn Extension Office at telephone
0228.267990 or email:bonn-eo@philippine-embassy.de
pebonneo@yahoo.com

Overseas voting starts April 14

2007-05-07T13:19:00.000Z

Washington, D.C.
The Philippine Embassy has released the
guidelines provided by the Commission on
Elections for overseas Filipino voters
participation in the May 14, 2007 Senatorial
and Party-List Elections.

Tuason said, that of the 504,110 OFWs
registered as overseas absentee voters, 191,760
are in Asia, Pacific Countries, 218,260 are in the
Middle East, 27,240 are in North and South America,
and 48,446 are in Europe.

Please click on manilamail for the complete
article.

May 14, 2007 Election

2007-05-07T10:29:00.000Z

"Universal suffrage almost inevitably leads to
government by mass bribery, an auction
of the wordly goods of the unrepresented
minority."
R. Ingrams

Contemporary Indonesian Art Exhibition

2007-04-28T15:26:00.000Z

A collection of Contemporary Indonesian paintings
is on exhibition at the Projectraum, Alte Feuerwache
Melchiorstrasse 3, Cologne
from April 27 - 29, 2007.
Aryaseni Gallery of Singapore is presenting some
works of 8 Indonesian artists.
First painting above by Rudi Mukahar entitled
"Girls` Talk" and the second painting by Zam Kamil,
"Together, One Journey" are part of the
collection together with other artists like
Antoni Eka Putra, Gusti Alit, Marsoyo, Narko Hanjaya,
Suharmanto, Suklu, and Wayan Sudiarta.

Pinay Kaleidoscope: The Week About Children

2007-04-22T19:20:00.000Z

Pinay Kaleidoscope: The Week About Children

Pinay Kaleidoscope: Re-learning Women's Solidarity from the Elephants

2007-04-19T09:04:00.000Z

Pinay Kaleidoscope: Re-learning Women's Solidarity from the Elephants

mgbanal ni Emmanuel Garibay

2007-04-15T11:35:00.000Z

We would like to thank Manny Garibay for giving
us his permission to post some of his paintings
here in our site. For more of his images, please
see www.emmanuelgaribay.com

Friday, the 13th, I am here to say*

2007-04-13T17:48:00.000Z

Friday the 13th

I don´t have a poem for you-
I have an announcement

Friday the thirteenth is a sacred
not a dangerous day.

The rumor of this day´s curse reverses
once again what´s sacred and profane,
one more way that women in this wayward age
are fucked. And it´s not just women out of luck.
also the body you live, in the soil
which succors you, the water which washes
you, the earth cradling your feet.

Regarding Friday the thirteenth, I´m here to say
there´s nothing to fear, do not be afraid.
Do not capitulate to complicity in the
conspiracy of fear fomented by some
shriveled 16th century Christian monks

who devised the idea to name this day
bad luck, campaigning to tame the lusty
country folk and terminate their traditions
honoring the land ("Pagans" the Christians
called them, meaning "peasants," and "civilians" -
not soldiers in the wars of Christ.)

Friday is and was Freya´s day, the Sabbath day,
the day to honor Freya, Earth´s daughter,
Venus of the north, she who feeds us from
the bounty of Her fertile fields, who
warms the hearth, heats our passion,
heartens our home, who blesses our newborn,
makes our babies hale, guides our spinning hand,
heals us with Her seeds and herbs.

Thirteen is Freya´s sacred number-
the number of mooncycles to the year,
the count of times each year a woman bleeds.

Thirteen cannot be conquered, divided,
not compromised. It´s wild, eccentric,
erratic, ecstatic, beyond the tyrant´s
reach, past captivity, a jumping off
place, the threshold from which we tip
over into other worlds. Thirteen is the
triple goddess-maiden, mother, crone-
standing upon the pinnacle often the
power of transformation.

On Friday the 13th, I´m here to say
Do not be afraid. Do not give way
to fearing, or degrading-

woman, moon, body, birth, bleeding, earth.

When you cast us into darkness,
you empower us to haunt you.

*taken from:www.honoringyourbelly.com

*

A Letter of Hope, From a Filipino Chaplain in Berlin

2007-04-08T14:01:00.000Z

Mga Minamahal kong Kababayan,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Una sa lahat ay binabati ko kayong lahat at ang inyong mga mahal
sa buhay ng isang maligayang pagdiriwang ng muling pagkabuhay
ni Kristo! Wishing you all a happy and grace-filled Easter from the
Philippine Community in Berlin!

It is with great joy that I am writing this personal letter to YOU on the
occasion of the Resurrection of Christ-an event full of new life, renewed
vision and promise of lasting hope. Let me share with you some of my
reflections after my meaningful third-year stay as your brother,
companion and chaplain in Berlin.

We are all PILGRIMS. We share the same faith. In this faith, we find our
home. The faith which we have inherited from our parents and relatives
back home grows even beyond the boundaries of our country. It is
consoling to think that we, Filipinos have continued to express our
spirituality even in foreign lands. We are a people in pilgrimage.
We share this same journey with our many kababayans all over the
world. We even inspire other non-Filipinos with our piety and
religious traditions. Indeed, in our faith, we find a home.

We are all MIGRANTS. Many of us have left our beloved country
for economic reasons. You are not alone. We have kababayans in almost
200 countries! Many of them have risked their lives for the welfare of
their loved ones in the Philippines. The Church sees this reality and
shares the problems and uncertainties of many Filipino migrants.
We, therefore, create a community where we could feel that "sense of
being at home." Our community is a place where we pray, share, meet
and celebrate. The joy and hope in our heart always find positive
expressions when we get together.

We have a rich EXPERIENCE. Everytime I go home for vacation and
tell others that I live in Berlin, many of them express their admiration.
"Wow, napakapalad mo naman nasa abroad ka!" Then I begin to realize
how blessed, indeed, am I! I am blessed with the many opportunities that
are not in my home country. It is a great opportunity to see another
world to meet other people. These make me grow as a person and as
a missionary. Let us continue to discover and be thankful for these rich
experiences!

We can enrich OTHERS. Each of us has always something to share.
Perhaps your faith, your time, your services, your love...We only have to
open our heart to those who hunger for God and those who long for
friendship and love. We are a poor nation but our love overflows...
That is something we can share with others. Open your heart to those
who need you. You can enrich this world even with your little good
works and your sincere smile.

We have our WEAKNESSESS. We recognize that we have our
weaknesses and failures. This is the very reason why Christ died for us -
to make us strong in the midst of the challenges in life. In Him, we are
courageous. Together with him, we can do many things even beyond
our human capacity. We recognize our weaknesses but don`t stop there.
We always exert renewed efforts to be a better person-better father,
mother, child, leader or friend.

We are not ALONE. Sometimes, we feel that we are alone, that nobody
understands or cares for us. Life in another country can be so demanding
and depressing. There are times when we feel that we are stranger-that
we cannot simply do the things we used to do at home. We are not free.
Yes, we realize that being in another country, entails sacrifice and even
dying to one`s self.
For some, this means detachment from his or her own family, friends,
culture, traditions, food and security. But in all these experiences,
you are never alone! There are a lot of kababayans who are willing to
help and comfort you. Once a kababayan, always a kababayan.
You can count on us. Find a person whom you can reveal your secrets -
a true friend who accepts and understands you.

We can build a COMMUNITY. One German social worker admires
the organizational talent of Filipinos. True enough, we can easily
form groups and organizations. This shows that we are a people-
oriented folk. There are positive and negative sides of it. But let me
focus on the positive ones. Our community is an avenue where we can
share our talents and bridge our regional differences. Our community
is open to all. We share our colorful Filipino dances, delicious food
and deep religiousity not only to other Filipinos but also to many
non-Filipinos. We always aspire to be open and spontaneous, flexible
and cooperative - qualities which make a community grow and glow.

We open our arms in WELCOME. Our community is a place where
every Pinoy and non-Pinoy feels welcomed and accepted. Hospitality
is one of our many positive values. We open not only our churches
but also our hearts. And we don`t stop there. We continue to
live a truly welcoming community through reaching out to others.
We invite them to come and share their stories with us. We give
space for people to grow and be themselves. We show that we are
a real Christian community in being kind and hospitable.

We are a FAMILY. We show to others that we care for them That
we are ready to forgive. That we are instruments not of division but
unity and peace. Indeed, we are a family and call each other our brother
and sister in faith. We envision our community as a family where
each member respects, trusts and loves each other. Let us show to
others that this is possible! For even if most of us live far from their
families, we can still create a big, happy and harmonious family of God
in Berlin.

Let me conclude this Letter of Hope by thanking you for being a part of our
community-for the time, service and understanding you have shown me and
our community members. Let us continue to build this OUR community, or
big family in Berlin. Only through your prayer, support and love could we be
a community radiating the hope of the Risen Christ.
This is my and your mission in Berlin!
Mabuhay ang Sambayanan! Mabuhay ang bawa´t Pilipino!

Lubos na nagmamahal at bumabati,

Fr. Don

Thoughts on Good Friday

2007-04-06T12:11:00.000Z

The Sin of Omission
by Margaret E. Sangster

It isn't the thing you do dear,
It's the thing you leave undone,
That gives you a bit of heartache
At setting of the sun.
The tender word forgotten,
The letter you did not write,
The flowers you did not send, dear
Are your haunting ghosts to-night.

The stone you might have lifted
Out of a brother's way,
The bit of heartsome counsel
You were hurried too much to say;
The loving touch of the hand, dear,
The gentle and winsome tone,
Which you had no time nor thought for,
With troubles enough of you own.

Those little acts of kindness,
So easily out of mind;
Those chances to be angels
Which every one may find--
They come in night and silence--
Each chill, reproachful wraith--
When hope is faint and flagging
And a blight has dropped on faith.

For life is all too short, dear
And sorrow is all too great;
To suffer our slow compassion
That tarries until too late;
And it's not the thing you do, dear,
It's the thing you leave undone,
Which gives you a bit of heartache
At the setting of the sun.

Landas ng Liwanag, A San Lorenzo Ruiz Play

2007-04-03T21:08:00.000Z

The Tropa ng Kabataang Pinoy sa Deutschland is presenting a play
on the life of San Lorenzo Ruiz at the Internationales Zentrum,
Stolzestrasse 1a, Köln.
The play is a project of the Tropa ng Kabataang Pinoy sa Deutschland
in cooperation with the Filipino Community in the Archdiocese of
Cologne.

Playdates:
April 13, 2007, Friday 19:00
April 14, 2007, Saturday 19:00

For more information:
0221-560 460

iz-stolzestrasse@caritas-koeln.de
www.caritas-koeln.de

Babaylan Germany Celebrates IWD 2007 with Film Bata, Bata Paano Ka Ginawa?

2007-03-11T22:32:00.000Z

(photo Elda Weiss, ML)
In celebration of this year's International Women's Day,
Philippine Women's Forum e.V./Babaylan Germany
and Babaylanes Internationales sponsored a private
showing of Lualhati Bautista's story "Bata, Bata
Paano Ka Ginawa?" starring Vilma Santos,
Albert Martinez, Ariel Rivera, Raymond Bagatsing,
Carlo Aquino and Serena Dalrymple with Chito
Rono as director on March 09, 2007 at the
International Center Stolzestrasse in Köln.
The all women's gathering was also the start of
a series of planned activities of Babaylan Germany
in celebration of the 15th anniversary of Babaylan,
The Philippine Women's Network in Europe with
the theme: Gender, Migration and Development.
Part of the program was the announcement of the
official launching of the website of Babaylan Europe
www.babaylan-europe.org on March 8, 2007.
A brief exchange of comments about the film followed
with the women agreeing to set an extra gathering to
discuss on the role of women as mother and the importance
of her own identity as individual. It was followed
by a small salosalo and the welcoming of new full
pledged members of philippine women`s forum.

Some inspiring one liners in the film as said by Lea,
the main character in the story played by Vilma Santos:
* What is important is what one has in mind and heart
and not his/her appearance.
* Hindi ikinakahiya ang katotohanan. One should not
feel embarrassed to tell the truth.
* Pag ikinakahiya, hindi dapat ginagawa. If one feels
shame about doing something, then one should
not do it at all.
* Bakit ang dalawang babae ng isang lalake, pag
nagkaharap, nag-aaway? Pag hindi sila nag-away,
parang hindi normal? Pero bakit yun dalawang
asawa kong lalake, nang nagkaharap sila, ako
ang inaway? Nagkampihan sila, inaway ako?
(When two women of a man meet, they claw
each other? if they don´t fight each other, it
does not look normal? When my two husbands
met each other, they ganged up on me!)
* Sa kanilang pagtatalik, nasusudsud sana ng
ari ng lalake ang kaluluwa ng babae. Makita
niya yun lihim ng babae na hindi nasasabi ng bibig.
*If I clung on you forever, I would have lost
myself. How could you live with someone
who has no identity? How could that woman
be a good mother if she herself has no identity?
* The most important question is how would
parents raise their children for them to grow up
to become just, decent and humane beings. For if
they were molded as such, then we would have by
now, a just, decent humane society that we could
proudly pass on to you all.

* Let us reach for the stars and make our collective
dreams come true.

Our thanks and appreciate go to Hans and Vanessa
Zarm for lending us their beamer and cd player for
our film evening.

My deep gratitude to my girlfriend Cecilia Rubio
Apolinario for giving me this CD film Bata, Bata Paano
Ka Ginawa. It has touched many women like she has
touched many lives of migrant women in Italy.
She will be dearly missed by her friends. We will always
keep the beautiful memories we had together as childhood
friends and as migrant women working abroad for the love
of their children.

International Women's Day March 08

2007-03-08T23:30:00.000Z

International Women's Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equity, justice, peace and development.

International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage.

The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialized world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies. Following
is a brief chronology of the most important events:

1909

In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Women's Day was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that month through 1913.

1910

The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women's Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women's rights and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.

1911

As a result of the decision taken at Copenhagen the previous year, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded the right to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.

Less than a week later, on 25 March, the tragic Triangle Fire in New York took the lives of more than 140 working girls, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This event had a significant impact on labour legislation in the United States, and the working conditions leading up to the disaster were invoked during subsequent observances of International Women's Day.

1913-1914

As part of the peace movement brewing on the eve of World War 1, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with their sisters.

1917

With 2 million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian women again chose the last Sunday in February to strike for "bread and peace". Political leaders opposed the timing of the strike, but the women went on anyway. The rest is history: Four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. That historic Sunday fell on 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, but on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere.

Since those early years, International Women's Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The growing international women's movemeny, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women's conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point for coordinated efforts to demand women's rights and participation in the political and economic process.
Increasingly, International Women's Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of women's rights.

The role of the United Nations

Few causes promoted by the United Nations have generated more intense and widespread support than the campaign to promote and protect the equal rights of women. The Charter of the United Nations, signed in San Francisco in 1945, was the first international agreement to proclaim gender equality as a fundamental human right. Since then, the Organization has helped create a historic legacy of internationally agreed strategies, standards, programmes and goals to advance the status of women worldwide.

Over the years, United Nations action for the advancement of women has taken four clear directions: promotion of legal measures; mobilization of public opinion and international action; training and research, including the compilation of gender desegregated statistics; and direct assistance to disadvantaged groups. Today a central organizing principle of the work of the United Nations is that no enduring solution to society's most threatening social, economic and political problems can be found without the full participation, and the full empowerment, of the world's women.

A reprint from UN. Org
Department of Public Information

International Women's Day Celebration

2007-03-04T01:44:00.000Z

(photo: www.partyguideonline.com)

BABAYLANES INTERNATIONALES
Philippine Women's Forum e.V. (Babaylan Germany)

Invite you to their 2007 Celebration of the
International Women's Day (March 08)

with a private film showing of
"Bata, Bata Paano Ka Ginawa?"
starring Vilma Santos

and a small gathering on
Friday, March 09, 2007
from 18:00 at the Internationaleszentrum Stolzestrasse
Stolzestrasse 1, Köln

Auf dem Weg der Befreiung - theologische Ansätze von Frauen in Asien

2007-02-25T21:46:00.000Z

Freitag bis Samstag, 16 - 17. März 2007
Ökumenische Werkstatt Bethel
Bethelweg 72
33617 Bielefeld
Tel. 0521-144-3298
Fax:0521-144-4759
Email:oewe-bethel@vemission.org

Einführung ins Thema:
Christliches Leben in Asien ist geprägt von großem kulturellen Reichtum, starken Traditionen und dem engen Zusammenleben verschiedener Religionen. Frauen in Asien erleben diese Traditionen jedoch oft zugleich als eng und patriarchal.
Am Beispiel der Philippinen und Indonesien wollen wir uns mit theologischen Ansätzen von Frauen beschäftigen. Wie stellen sich diese Theologien den Herausforderungen von Armut,
Gewalt und Ungleichheit?
Welche Wege der Befreiung ebnen sie?
Welche Verbindungen zu den Erfahrungen und Theologien von Frauen in Europa gibt es?

Christian Hohmann und Heike Koch

Programm:
16:30 Anreise, Stehkaffee
17:00 Begrüßung, Vorstellungsrunde und Einführung ins Thema
18:30 Abendessen
19:30 "Das Leben lieben" - zur Situation der Frauen in Indonesien und den Philippinen.
Frauenproyekte indonesischer und philippinischer Kirchen
21:30 Abendsegen

Samstag, 17. März

8:00 Frühstück
900 Morgengebet
9:30 "Die Töchter Kartinis". Theologien von Frauen in Indonesien
Vortrag: Sonia Parera-Hummel
10:45 Pause
11:00 Arbeitsgruppen:
Lektüre aktueller feministisch-theologischer Texte aus Indonesien
12:45 Mittagessen
14:00 ""Wege der Befreiung". Theologien von Frauen in den Philippinen
Vortrag: Elsie Joy dela Cruz
15:00 Kaffeetrinken
15:30 Arbeitsgruppen
Lektüre aktueller feministisch-theologischer Texte aus den Philippinen
17:00 Auswertung
17:30 Liturgischer Tagungsabschluss

Mitwirkende:
Elsie Joy dela Cruz
Pfarrerin der Vereinigten Kirche Jesu Christi in den Philippinen
(UCCP) 2003 bis 2006
Koordinatorin der Ökumenischen Wohngemeinschaft der Vereinten
Evangelischen Mission, Bad Oeynhausen.

Sonia Parera-Hummel
Pfarrerin aus Indonesien.
Bei der Vereinten Evangelischen Mission von 2000 bis 2007 Referentin
für Frauen, Jugend und Kinder. Seit März 2007
Referentin für Asien. Wuppertal.

Tagungsleitung:
Christian Hohmann und Heike Koch
Pfarrer im Regionaldienst des Amtes für Mission, Ökumene und kirchliche
Weltverantwortung (MÖWE).

Übernachtung, Verpflegung, inklusive Tagungskosten
DZ mit Vollpension E52, - pro Person
EZ mit Vollpension E62, - pro Person
Studierende, Arbeitslose E42, - pro Person
Beitrag für Tagesgäste
(ohne Übernachtung) 25, - (ermäßigt: E20,-)
Anmeldeschluss: 7. März 2007

The Age of Aquarius

2007-02-23T09:24:00.000Z

I am Searching for My Posting!!!

2007-01-28T18:26:00.000Z

Hallo Women, where are your postings?

Psalm of Discipleship

2007-01-28T14:53:00.000Z

Bless these hands that reach out
and into the lives of so many people,
pausing to touch with tenderness
the hardened heart where hurt
is buried
far beyond all feeling,
where love is four-letter word
that has no meaning beyond the now.

Bless these feet that run
through the day after day
after day without ceasing,
standing firm upon principle,
dancing rings around wanting to quit,
stopping to catch up
with what is important
in the long run, then and now.

Bless this heart that holds within it
far more than it can carry of grief
and the disabling disempowering pain
of multitudes yet knows
that you wold ask of it
no more than it can bear
and so it bows in gratitude
making the most in amazing grace.

Bless this spirit determined to be
an extension of Your Spirit,
with a reservoir of compassion
that is conceived of enough
and of more than enough
of serenity and patience
for all Your cherised children
even if every replenishing source
but You were running dry.

We are your disciples,
may we live for and love another.

Bless our hands to Your service
our feet to Your path,
our heart to Your Purpose.
our spirit to dwell
in the depths of Your spirit
for Your glory now and forever.

by
Miriam Therese Winter
in Woman Word Feminist Psalter and Lectionary

BabaylanesInternationales

2006-12-05T14:07:00.000Z

BabaylanesInternationales

MIGRATION und ENTWICKLUNG

2006-12-05T12:40:00.000Z

Tagesseminar
MIGRATION und ENTWICKLUNG
9. December 2006
Haus der Kirche
Ev. Gemeindeverband
Adenauerallee 37, Bonn
10:30-17:00 Uhr

Martina Backes(FernWeh/iz3w): Die Rolle von Migration in Entwicklungsdebatten und der Einfluss von "Entwicklung" auf Migration
Rolf Jordan (Asienhaus): Geschäfte mit der Migration-"Migrations-industrien" in Indonesien, Malaysia und Singapur
Mary Lou U. Hardillo-Werning (Philippine Women`s Forum, Babaylan): Gender und Migration:"Positionen und Sichtweisen von MigrantInnen-Communities"
Abschlussdiskussion: Das Thema, Migration im entwicklungs-politischen Diskurs

Das Veranstaltung wird unterstützt von der NRW-Stiftung für Umwelt und Entwicklung, und InWent, aus Mitteln des BMZ
Kontakt:
Asienhaus, Bullmannaue 11
Essen
Tel:0201.830.38.38

thoughts on November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women

2006-11-26T13:06:00.000Z

...there are two ways of going about liberation: one, of course, is the political way, changing the laws and fighting for our equalities. There are so many ways of doing it.But the other I stress simply because it is the one I know: the psychological way, which is the removal of obstacles so that you can create your own freedom and you don`t have to ask for it. You don`t have to wait for it to be given to you...women who created their own freedom. They didn`t demand it, they didn`t ask for it.They created it. Something in themselves made them independent women, and this kind of independence I stress. Because the other feeling that has been taught women really is the blaming of society or the blaming of men for the situation in which we find ourselves. Now I found through psychology that when I put the blame on others I felt I was practically saying: I am a helpless, passive victim." And it is depressing thought! So the day I saw beyong that, at a certain moment in psychology, I saw: No, not at all. I am the master of my destiny." When I feel free and independent and behave in a certain way towards a relationship, that affects the relationship. I can have an effect on it:...It is very easy to blame society or to blame the man, but it actually makes you feel even more helpless. Because that means that you are waiting for the man to liberate you, for the government to liberate you or for history. And that takes a long time. It takes centuries, and it`s too slow for me. We have only one life.
Anais Nin

November 25- International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women

2006-11-25T18:24:00.000Z

On the day when it will be possible for woman to love not in her weakness but
in her strength, not to escape herself but to find herself, not to abase herself
but to assert herself - on that day love will become for her, as for man,
a source of life and not of mortal danger.

Simone de Beauvoir

Pahabol na mga pics

2006-06-13T15:24:00.000Z

Eto pa yun mga pahabol na pics, if you have some more, please do share them.

MarieL

One steamy Tuesday

2006-06-13T14:21:00.000Z

Ciao mga amigeras

This is what you could do on one ozone-riched afternoon...nowhere to go and I am having such a terrible headache and won`t dare to leave the flat.
So in between Skyping pals around, I am trying to become a blogger and wait for other chatters to buzz in.
Nope, everything is turning around King Football, even the roads are so empty in the afternoon...the best time to do your shopping or your grocery.
Pero sa ngayon, namimiss ko ang turon with halo halo, siguro mixed na to ng being homesick at depression, hah!

Ciao, ttyl

ML

2006-06-13T14:10:00.000Z

Some of the scenes taken during the grilling...literally grilling...waiting for the grilled stuffs...masarap o hilaw pa?

2006-06-13T13:55:00.000Z

Summer Picnic for Pinays in Barangay Esch, Koeln
This photo is taken from an early all women gathering.