Notes February 2010
Congo Action Now
Democratic Republic of Congo Committee
February 28, 2010
Present: Coleen Houlihan, Jean Miller, Peggy Barrett, Pat Aron
Congo Action Now met on February 28, 2010. We missed a number of people who weren’t able to attend, but we were happy to welcome Peggy to our group. The meeting began with check-ins. Jean just returned from a wonderful trip to Rwanda. Pat shared a flyer sent by Linde Rachel of our French partner Ensemble pour les femmes - it will be sponsoring a weekend that includes an art show, a presentation by a Congolese journalist, and a showing of The Greatest Silence.
Pat showed everyone business cards she had ordered (free from VistaPrint) with Congo Action Now’s website. The group thought we could use the cards for outreach. Coleen and Pat will do leafleting one day in April with the cards and our flyer.
The group discussed the February 7 house party that was hosted by Kelley. We had followed the same format as at our first event at Jackie’s home (including The Greatest Silence and Samba’s presentation). People felt the house party went very well. Attendees were enthusiastic and had a lot of questions. Comments on the questionnaires were positive and they included useful suggestions including that we show the entire film. We had stopped the film before the section on men who rape and several people had questions about the men. A number of people felt that more historical context for the current conflict would be useful. People were unclear about the connections between governments, militias, the mineral trade, corporations, and widespread rape.
Samba’s PowerPoint presentation was inspiring and people were happy to have an organization identified (VICO) that is helping women in the DRC. A number of people made donations. It was suggested that VICO obtain tax-exempt status. Peggy raised the question of the purpose of house parties (what we want to achieve). The group agreed that we want to raise awareness of the situation in the DRC and we want people to take action. We will develop a concise list of actions people can take – it will be distributed at the end of each house party. Coleen suggested that someone blog about the last house party on our website. We’d like to schedule another event in May. Peg Nylen had expressed interest in hosting a house party so Pat will contact her.
Pat reviewed the status of conflict minerals legislation, the Congo Conflict Minerals Act in the Senate and the Congo Conflict Minerals Trade Act in the House. CAN will continue to distribute letters for people to send to their legislators urging them to sign on as co-sponsors. The International Violence Against Women Act has been introduced. Pat will draft a letter to legislators for our next meeting.
The group reviewed the list of 2010 Congo Action Now activities we’d revised at our January meeting. Coleen suggested that we consider cable television programming as an opportunity for education and outreach. The group decided to add this item - exploring local television programming - to our list of 2010 activities.
Pat has learned that Boston WILPF doesn’t have funding available to committees. She revised our 2010 budget to reflect in-kind contributions and presented this budget at the February WILPF meeting. WILPF offered to advance funds for the purchase of tee shirts. CAN may also apply to the national office for a mini-grant once we identify a major event. Coleen will develop a budget spreadsheet to track CAN’s income and expenditures. She will also look into the possibility of opening a PayPal account.
The group discussed the purchase of CAN tee shirts to be used for visibility and fundraising. We brainstormed possible designs and wording. Jean will ask at next week’s WILPF meeting if anyone has experience with design. Peggy will find out where the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center had tee shirts made. Pat has emailed Maman Jeanne to ask what company the Shalupe Foundation used.
The group discussed our decision to ask the Boston City Council to pass a DRC resolution similar to the one passed by the Cambridge City Council in October 2009. Pat will look up resolutions Boston has passed and who introduced them. Peggy thinks the Boston City Council may have decided not to consider this type of resolution. If Boston isn’t a possibility, we will try to approach a smaller city (possibly Quincy or Somerville).
Kelley had sent an email asking if CAN would like to participate in the International Women’s Day march organized by Code Pink for March 7. Jean said the Raging Grannies will be performing. Pat will email Code Pink for more information.
The WILPF pot luck with Congo Action Now will be at 5:00 on April 25. CAN will meet at 4:00 before the pot luck. The group discussed ideas for a short program. One suggestion was that Coleen read from her work. Coleen thought we might want to have readings from Ruined – she will look for the play online. Other possibilities include reading our statements of fact, presenting the Cambridge City Council resolution, and introducing Samba for a presentation. We may want to list the group’s accomplishments. April will be the first anniversary of the group - Jean noted that we have done a lot.
The next meeting of Congo Action Now will be on Sunday, March 28, 2010, at 3:00 at Pat’s house in Jamaica Plain.
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Democratic Republic of Congo Committee
February 28, 2010
Present: Coleen Houlihan, Jean Miller, Peggy Barrett, Pat Aron
Congo Action Now met on February 28, 2010. We missed a number of people who weren’t able to attend, but we were happy to welcome Peggy to our group. The meeting began with check-ins. Jean just returned from a wonderful trip to Rwanda. Pat shared a flyer sent by Linde Rachel of our French partner Ensemble pour les femmes - it will be sponsoring a weekend that includes an art show, a presentation by a Congolese journalist, and a showing of The Greatest Silence.
Pat showed everyone business cards she had ordered (free from VistaPrint) with Congo Action Now’s website. The group thought we could use the cards for outreach. Coleen and Pat will do leafleting one day in April with the cards and our flyer.
The group discussed the February 7 house party that was hosted by Kelley. We had followed the same format as at our first event at Jackie’s home (including The Greatest Silence and Samba’s presentation). People felt the house party went very well. Attendees were enthusiastic and had a lot of questions. Comments on the questionnaires were positive and they included useful suggestions including that we show the entire film. We had stopped the film before the section on men who rape and several people had questions about the men. A number of people felt that more historical context for the current conflict would be useful. People were unclear about the connections between governments, militias, the mineral trade, corporations, and widespread rape.
Samba’s PowerPoint presentation was inspiring and people were happy to have an organization identified (VICO) that is helping women in the DRC. A number of people made donations. It was suggested that VICO obtain tax-exempt status. Peggy raised the question of the purpose of house parties (what we want to achieve). The group agreed that we want to raise awareness of the situation in the DRC and we want people to take action. We will develop a concise list of actions people can take – it will be distributed at the end of each house party. Coleen suggested that someone blog about the last house party on our website. We’d like to schedule another event in May. Peg Nylen had expressed interest in hosting a house party so Pat will contact her.
Pat reviewed the status of conflict minerals legislation, the Congo Conflict Minerals Act in the Senate and the Congo Conflict Minerals Trade Act in the House. CAN will continue to distribute letters for people to send to their legislators urging them to sign on as co-sponsors. The International Violence Against Women Act has been introduced. Pat will draft a letter to legislators for our next meeting.
The group reviewed the list of 2010 Congo Action Now activities we’d revised at our January meeting. Coleen suggested that we consider cable television programming as an opportunity for education and outreach. The group decided to add this item - exploring local television programming - to our list of 2010 activities.
Pat has learned that Boston WILPF doesn’t have funding available to committees. She revised our 2010 budget to reflect in-kind contributions and presented this budget at the February WILPF meeting. WILPF offered to advance funds for the purchase of tee shirts. CAN may also apply to the national office for a mini-grant once we identify a major event. Coleen will develop a budget spreadsheet to track CAN’s income and expenditures. She will also look into the possibility of opening a PayPal account.
The group discussed the purchase of CAN tee shirts to be used for visibility and fundraising. We brainstormed possible designs and wording. Jean will ask at next week’s WILPF meeting if anyone has experience with design. Peggy will find out where the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center had tee shirts made. Pat has emailed Maman Jeanne to ask what company the Shalupe Foundation used.
The group discussed our decision to ask the Boston City Council to pass a DRC resolution similar to the one passed by the Cambridge City Council in October 2009. Pat will look up resolutions Boston has passed and who introduced them. Peggy thinks the Boston City Council may have decided not to consider this type of resolution. If Boston isn’t a possibility, we will try to approach a smaller city (possibly Quincy or Somerville).
Kelley had sent an email asking if CAN would like to participate in the International Women’s Day march organized by Code Pink for March 7. Jean said the Raging Grannies will be performing. Pat will email Code Pink for more information.
The WILPF pot luck with Congo Action Now will be at 5:00 on April 25. CAN will meet at 4:00 before the pot luck. The group discussed ideas for a short program. One suggestion was that Coleen read from her work. Coleen thought we might want to have readings from Ruined – she will look for the play online. Other possibilities include reading our statements of fact, presenting the Cambridge City Council resolution, and introducing Samba for a presentation. We may want to list the group’s accomplishments. April will be the first anniversary of the group - Jean noted that we have done a lot.
The next meeting of Congo Action Now will be on Sunday, March 28, 2010, at 3:00 at Pat’s house in Jamaica Plain.
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom