The Salem Award Foundation presents Fahima Vorgetts on November 5

FAHIMA VORGETTS

REPORT FROM AFGHANISTAN

Women, Children and War 

Presented by

The Salem Award Foundation for Human Rights and Social Justice

& The Salem Athenæum

 

Friday, November 5, 2010  ·   7:00 PM  

At the Tabernacle Church, 50 Washington Street, Salem, MA 

 

Fahima Vorgetts, winner of the 2004 Salem Award for Human Rights & Social Justice, returns to Salem to share her experiences from a life's work spent helping to improve the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan.  The lecture will be followed by a reception.

 

Fahima walks a path beset with obstacles to her work.  She faces personal security threats in Afghanistan, as well as threats to the women and girls with whom she works.  Several times each year Fahima travels to Afghanistan where she has opened new schools for girls and literacy classes for women; created income-generating projects for widows, helping them become self-sufficient; and arranged for the shipment of medical supplies to Herat's women's hospital. She has distributed clothing and school supplies to refugees in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Her efforts have touched the lives of thousands of women of all ages and ethnicities.

  

She has committed her life to improving the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan.   In her own words, "Afghanistan haunts me. It is my country, and my heart breaks for my sisters who undergo daily oppression and hardship...My passion and life's work is to reclaim and rebuild the country so that women can be free and equal, and can live a life of dignity, literacy, and financial stability."  

Fahima Vorgetts heads the Afghan Women's Fund, a program of Women for Afghan Women womenforafghanwomen.org. She is an honorary member of Afghanistan Organization for Human Rights and Environmental Protection.  She has addressed the United Nations and traveled widely speaking to university conferences and religious organizations. She has appeared on national and international television and radio stations, including BBC and NPR.

  

Tickets 

$15 for adults; $5 for students; $10 for Salem Award donors, Salem Athenaeum & Tabernacle Church members. The Tabernacle Church is located at 50 Washington Street and is handicapped accessible.

Reservations

Online:  salemaward.org or by mail: The Salem Award Foundation, PO Box 8484, Salem MA, 01971.  For more information, call the Salem Athenaeum at 978-744-2540

NPS presents: "To Claim Justices: Charles Lenox and Sarah Parker Remond in their own words"

Charles Lenox Remond and Sarah Parker Remond were in their time among the most important African Americans in the world.

Their father, John Remond, rose from penniless ten year old immigrant to grocer, restaurateur, leading caterer of Salem, and early member of the American Antislavery Society, while their mother Nancy worked with her husband as cook and business partner. Charles was the first African American hired by the American Antislavery Society. Sarah was one of the first female abolitionist lecturers. In their lectures and pamphlets, they spoke out against slavery across the United States, England, Ireland, Scotland, Europe. They fought for equal rights for all people of color, for all women, in Salem, in Massachusetts, across the United States. They helped preserve and forever change our city, our state, and our nation.

On Valentine’s Day, discover these heroic siblings with park ranger and storyteller Merrill Kohlhofer. Along with Park Ranger Deanna West, Kohlhofer will relate the stories of their lives, in their own powerful and moving words.

Lecture: To Claim Justice: Charles Lenox and Sarah Parker Remond in Their Own Words
Date: Sunday, February 14
Time: 2:00PM
Place: National Park Service Salem Regional Visitor Center,
2 New Liberty Street, Salem MA 01970
FMI: 978-740-1650, nps.gov/sama

Maritime Lecture Tonight - Wednesday

Have you ever seen a Friendship Sloop gliding gracefully along under a full press of canvas? Ever wonder about her design, or what it’s like to sail one? If so, attend a presentation by Friendship Sloop owner/builder Charles Burnham of Essex this Wednesday, December 3, at 7 PM.

Through use of both new and historical photographs, Charles will discuss the history, characteristics, and special sailing qualities of this workhorse turned yacht. Also discussed will be the resurgence of popularity in recent years, fostered by the Friendship Sloop Society, and the undiminished enthusiasm such a beautiful sailing vessel can inspire.

St. Joseph Hall, 160 Derby St., Salem.

The Hall is handicapped accessible.

Directions: Derby Street runs along the Salem waterfront, from Pickering Wharf where Fame is located, through the National Maritime Historic Site where the Custom House and Friendship are located, down to the power plant, whose stacks are visible from a great distance. St. Joseph’s Hall is a three-story brick building on the landward side of the road, immediately after the small gray West India Goods Store and before the Witches’ Brew and Pig’s Eye Pubs. Enter through the gray door on the street and go up the gray stairs to the second floor.

Parking: There is legal parking all along Derby Street, but it may be difficult to find a space. There is two-hour parking on Pickering Wharf and a parking garage at the corner of Derby & Congress Street.

For more information, call 978-729-7600 or 978-740-1660.

Pictured: Friendship Sloop "Resolute", launched 1973, built by Charles Burnham.