"Do not stop until they listen to you"

Like every day at World Council, this day started with morning worship. It's a lovely way of starting the day and I enjoy every morning worship. Every service features a theme, a traditional Thai color, regional and partner contributors and a local host. For example, today the theme was health & healing, the color was pink, Africa and the World Council of Churches were contributors and we were hosted by Catholic women. Throughout the services different women from various ages and regions contribute and it's great to see this diversity present. A service at the World Council always contains these elements: call to worship and action, expression through music, reflection on a biblical text, message from YWCA members and other partners, reflection on the theme of the day and a closing question. Today we heard the story of Tamar from 2 Samuel 13. She was raped by her own brother. Through a dialogue we heard what happened to her and we were encouraged by the narrator of the story to engage actively with this story. The last thing the narrator said was: "Rise up, all women. We have to speak out against injustice and abuse within the family, we have to end injustice and defend women's rights. Tamar is our sister too." The closing question was: "Has the current situation changed for Tamar since her life in the Old Testament? What actions are required by us to be the change that is needed?"

Today the formal Business Meeting was mostly about finance. The treasurer presented her report and a proposal by the World Board was presented to change the formula of the affiliation fees. I compliment the treasurer with the report she presented. It must have been a complicated process. Even though I'm working at a finance department myself, the YWCA is a big organization with lots of associations and to pull all the numbers together to present it as one report is a big job. Like other organizations, the YWCA is struggling with funding. The current situation is that it's much easier to raise money for a particular project than to raise money for operational costs (for example: office costs). This is a situation lots of organizations, especially development organizations, struggle with. In the upcoming period, a lot of effort will be put in fundraising. I'm certain of the value the YWCA has for the world. We are such a unique organization since the YWCA is present in more than 100 countries so we have a big outreach. We reach 25 million women and girls globally.

During the morning and in the afternoon we could follow two workshops. In the morning I went to a workshop about SRHR (sexual and reproductive health and rights) and faith. It was interesting, but not what I expected. Approximately 10 YWCA's presented their projects on SRHR, but because it took a long time to finish the presentations there was not much time left to discuss the combination of SRHR & faith. Still, I learned a lot about the work that YWCA's are doing on this topic. In the afternoon, I went to a workshop with the impressive title "Transforming power structures". In groups we talked about how we can transform power structures within our own YWCA's through intergenerational leadership. Each group had a certain question to answer. For example, our group talked about mentorship models. We explored challenges we're facing and we talked about actions we can take in the upcoming 1, 4 and 20 years. All ideas will be bundled together and will be passed on to the World YWCA. It was nice to get practical and there was a really nice vibe in the room. :)

During the afternoon there was also an interesting plenary session about the Envisioning 2035 process. This session was reserved for theme "Advancing Women's Human Rights and Leadership". I was mostly impressed by Diana Ma'ahoro. She's a disability rights activist and a member of the YWCA Solomon Islands. Diana is paralyzed on her left side due to contracting tuberculosis meningitis when she was 4 years old. This affects her speech and coordination. She told her story and she inspired me to be tenacious and be aware of the power I have as a person. One of the beautiful lines from her story is this: "I know my rights, I know my potential and I have a role to play just like any other human being in my society". Read more about her story here: https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/help-diana-ma-ahoro-get-to-world-council.

We closed the day with a lovely dinner at a Thai restaurant, recommended by one of the Thai participants. I have to say that I think the food is really good. I didn't know what to expect of it before I came here, but from the countries I visited this is definitely the best food. Tomorrow we will be treated to a lovely dinner, hosted by the YWCA Thailand. I'm really looking forward to it! :)