The practice of domination and subjugation of one individual by another, which we call slavery, did not come to an end in most places around the world because the status quo in these societies was sympathizing with the slaves. The same argument could be made for the women’s movement in America. The women’s movement in this country did not come to light by spontaneous generation, nor did it because society wanted to be gracious, sympathetic and understanding toward women. It did because women decided to take matters into their own hands.

Women are abused everywhere on the globe; it happens in the United States, Sudan, Venezuela, China, Haiti, etc… No one country on earth can claim immunity over abusive behaviors perpetrated against women. The statistical figures that are out there, showing the levels and types of abusive behaviors women have been subject to, can attest to that. They are horrendous and staggering. So the issue should not be about how widespread such a social disease has become; it should, rather, be about what are we going to do to eradicate it.

It has been proven that most women who have been abused are so by individuals whom they have some degree of closeness to and who have used a pattern of abusive and coercive behaviors to maintain power and control over them. We must never forget and constantly be reminded that any woman should be made slave of another human being.

We must stand on principle against women being abused –physically and emotionally -and unjustly treated as second class citizens in this male-dominated society of ours. To do so, we must use a systematic, comprehensive and smart approach -we must not be telling or teaching the women to be rebellious, but empowering them through education, financial independence and self-reliance.

There may be other grassroots organizations on the ground working to improve the lives and conditions of our women, but this new organization named FANM VANYAN FOUNDATION really caught my attention.

What’s in the name FANM VANYAN? In the Haitian culture, when a woman is said to be a FANM VANYAN, this is a woman you really do not want to mess with. And that in itself is not because she is rude, disrespectful, or anything as such. She is, rather, a woman who is very strong-minded, liberated, independent, educated, self-sufficient, self-reliant, respectful, loving and caring. Some men, the ones fighting the lack of self-confident disease, are afraid of them because they defy their prototypes of women. She is someone any real man would want to have by his side as a partner or a battle buddy to fight and prosper on the battlefield of life.

The organization is headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It is a newborn non-profit organization with a very ambitious vision. The name is Haitian, but its reach goes beyond the boundaries of the Haitian community at home and in the Diaspora. They believe that one woman’s problems are problems of all women. In other words, the problems the Haitian women are dealing with in society can be found everywhere and anywhere on the globe.

They aim at reaching down and uplifting, enriching, educating, inspiring and empowering women from various walks of life. They also “work diligently to increase self-love and self-esteem by providing the tools necessary to assist each individual and their families in rebuilding a new life.” They focus on women issues, but the core of the movement is love for all humans regardless of gender, nationality, religion, creed, socio-economic status. And the reason for that is because they believe that fighting for the rights of women is fighting for the rights of all humans.

They have a clear strategy to fulfill their mission -empowering and encouraging women by funding and hosting programs that foster education, personal growth and self -love.

We need these types of organizations to flourish, especially when young people are taking on these battles. But, like most of the organizations that did not last to see their first birthdays, if they do not get your moral and financial support, they will not get far. So it’s important for you to support them with your small monetary donations and your volunteering spirit. For further information on how you can support their agenda, you can visit them online at their soon-to-come site: http://www.fanmvanyan.org. They need you to stay alive; you can send them a check payable to:

FANM VANYAN FOUNDATION INC.

P.O. BOX 618398

ORLANDO, FL 32861