June 2022 Newsletter: I want to show you the impact your support makes possible

Before I share this month’s news and blogs with you, I want to quickly remind you that on June 16, AHA Foundation is hosting a live film screening of The Bush School, a sobering documentary about FGM in Liberia. You can read about the film in our interview with the director here and sign up for the screening, which will be followed by a Q+A with the director, here.

This month, I want to share with you some news about the vital work done by the team at AHA Foundation and the impact it is making in the lives of the women and girls we help—both of which are only possible because of the generosity and commitment of supporters like you.

As you might already know, last year AHA Foundation received a 3-year federal grant for a program to combat female genital mutilation (FGM) in Chicago North Side. In our first blog this month, Oluwadamilola Alabi, the program coordinator, shares what drives her passion for her work and what she has learnt from training professionals in the area. Thanks to your help, Oluwadamilola and others are making a real difference to women and girls on the ground, right now. You can read the blog here.

In our second blog, we spoke to Sean Callaghan, a PhD candidate at the University of Leicester in the U.K. whose research, supported by AHA Foundation, focuses on patterns of female genital mutilation (FGM) among immigrant communities in the United States. Read about his fascinating and surprising findings here.

I was delighted to see that a bill to ban child marriage in Massachusetts, which AHA Foundation has been fighting for for over 6 years, has passed the MA House of Representatives. Read more about that news here. This is a great achievement, and we will continue to fight to push the bill over the finish line in the full legislature.

Our progress in Massachusetts, the work in Chicago, and Sean’s research are only possible because of the commitment of supporters like you. Your support allows us to persist in this work every day of the year. Later this month, we will provide another anti-FGM training in California and, with the American Public Health Association, we will provide an in-person training in Washington, D.C.

Thank you for empowering us to do all that we can,