Heart and Hand Fund

Letter from Marta, November 2011

Letter From Marta

At a Women Donor’s Network Conference recently, I was reminded of Heart & Hand’s first grant to the Balkans.  We all want to make grants that underwrite long time social change and that feel strategic.  I remember clearly, all these 13 years later, when a community organizer told me that she used the first grant made by Heart & Hand grant to buy Kotex, so much Kotex -- $5,000 -- that they had to rent a warehouse space.  While trying to conceal my dismay, my voice revealed my concern.  She replied that she could “not organize women that had blood running down their legs.”

 The second grant went to the same group and they reported back that they had purchased hair cutting scissors and tambourines with the grant.  I swallowed and took a deep breath and asked whatever for.  This was now spring of l999 and these Kosovar women were in a refugee camp in Macedonia after having been forced to leave their homes and country by the Serbian armed forces.  She patiently replied that women want to look nice even when living in a muddy tent.  To get women into the “Women’s Tent” they offered free haircuts, then held a consciousness raising group that ended by dancing and singing. She said, “Everyone knows to dance and sing you need tambourines.”  To be sure, I too now know this.  It is no accident that this same community organizer, Igo Rogova, is the executive director of a women’s network of NGOs in Kosova with over 65 members.  When I visited them this last May, the network was electing a new board member.  Igo jokingly cautioned them to choose wisely. One of their past board members is now president of Kosova, and the country will soon vote for a new prime minister.

Heart & Hand Fund has always had the policy that women on the ground know best how to use the money they receive and that therefore we give unrestricted grants.  I believe that this has proved to be strategic over all these years.  I know that we all receive many, many requests to change the world and I thank you all for the support you have shown these brave women activists over the years.  And I ask you to once again share whatever you can to make sure this unique approach to peacekeeping continues. 

Letter from Marta, November 2009

Whatever trips I missed after my back surgery last year, I packed into six hectic and exciting weeks this year. After visiting grantees in Croatia, Bosnia, and Macedonia, I went to Georgia for a gathering of women’s funds funding women’s groups in Eastern Europe, my first board meeting of Urgent Action Fund in Malaysia and squeezed in a pleasure trip to Jordan with my partner, Kerry.

I approached the trip with some trepidation. My recovery from my surgery, which I expected to be a matter of months, took over a year. In planning this trip, I knew my biggest challenge would be navigating the stairs and cobblestone streets in ancient cities and towns.  My physical therapist recommended that I practice going up and down stairs before I left and that did the trick. I didn’t encounter a stair I couldn’t climb. 

The reward was seeing old friends again, and what a sweet experience it was to be greeted so warmly and treated with such kindness. My joy in being there, however, was tempered by seeing how tired they were—and with good reason. Some of these activists have been working on the same issues for the past 20 years, and they’re worn out.  I often think it’s a miracle that these women choose to continue doing this work. And even more miraculous that they do it with such creativity and caring.

Heart & Hand has addressed activists’ fatigue and burnout in the past, but this trip clinched for me the need to do more and on a larger scale. Encouraging activists to take care of themselves by meditating and practicing yoga is good, but not enough. They also need time to relax, think, and restore their bodies, minds, and spirits. Heart & Hand shares these concerns with Urgent Action Fund and Global Fund for Women. Hopefully we’ll be able to brainstorm ways to sustain women’s activism and, later, engage international activists to work with us in implementing the best ideas.

 

Letter from Marta, November 2008

For 10 years my annual trips to the Balkans have been part of the rhythm of my life. Every fall—and often in the spring, too—I would look forward to visiting Heart & Hand grantees, many of whom have become close friends. But by early summer this year, I knew that my pesky back problems would prohibit my traveling anywhere, let alone taking a long flight overseas. In October I succumbed to the pain and agreed to have major back surgery. The surgeon is pleased with the results and, after a couple of months of physical therapy, I should be returning to my regular routine. Thanks so much to everyone who sent me love and good wishes; your cards and messages sustained me through the worst of days.

Fortunately, many activists from the Balkans were in the States in 2008; I was able to meet with them and fulfill Heart and Hand's funding commitments for 2008. After years and years of hard work in the trenches, it's great to see these activists taking a role in international leadership.

In February, I did a presentation on socially responsible investing at a conference in New Orleans. While there, I met up with three activists: Rada Boric, director of the Centre for Women's Studies in Zagreb, Croatia; Danijela Dugandzic, co-director of CURE in Sarajevo, Bosnia; and Sandra Ljubinkovic, co-director of the Anti Trafficking Center in Belgrade, Serbia. They were guests at Eve Ensler's 10th anniversary celebration of Vagina Monologues.  We spent one rainy night laughing together, walking the cobblestone streets of New Orleans, and catching up with one another.

As part of the its 20th anniversary celebration, the Global Fund for Women brought five of its international grantees to New York City in June, including Heart and Hand grantee, Taida Horozivic, founder and co-director of CURE in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Taida later visited San Francisco where she gave a stirring presentation about CURE's work at the Global Fund’s offices. One Heart  & Hand funder was so moved by Taida's presentation that she doubled her grant to Heart & Hand. And, afterwards, another donor sent me a note saying, "Had CURE created just one of the list of
programs Taida described, I would have been impressed. How her team of three has accomplished so much in such a short time is a tribute to their skills and determination. Are Balkan women more intelligent than Americans, or only the ones you fund?"

The following week Lepa Mladjenovic and Tijana Popivoda, lesbian Serbian activists, were invited to be the keynote speakers at the San Francisco Dyke March. They met with donors of Heart  & Hand and the Global Fund for Women at a private home to talk about their work. It was an evening of firsts for them: sitting with donors, asking questions back and forth, and learning a bit more about the strange art of US fundraising.

Then, in September, Jelena Djordjevic, co- director of the Anti Trafficking Center in Belgrade, Serbia, stopped in San Francisco on her way to a board meeting in Boulder, Colorado for The Urgent Action Fund. She gave a workshop for staff members of The Global Fund for Women on how activists can nurture themselves. As a lifelong networker, it was refreshing for me to watch this young woman walk through a day in San Francisco, making connections more rapidly than one could imagine.

There’s hope ahead of us. Now, more than ever, these groups need our support.

Letter from Marta, November 2007

Overshadowing the news from the Balkans is the December 10 deadline that will determine the status of Kosovo. Early this year the United Nations envoy presented a plan that would grant Kosovo limited independence leading to statehood. Kosovo would continue under international supervision, and the ethnic Serbian minority would receive protection and a degree of autonomy. Serbia, backed by Russia, however, fiercely opposes the plan and has threatened reprisals that could destabilize the region.

The Kosovars have demanded independence from Serbia since the end of the war, and they are fed up waiting for others to give them what they believe is theirs. The buildup of emotion is reflected in the Kosovan media. Every television station has a ticking box in the corner of the screen showing the countdown to December 10 in days, hours, and minutes.

Once again, the fragile peace in the Balkans hangs in the balance. Should Kosovo be granted independence or declare it unilaterally, the Kosovars may enjoy only a brief euphoria before Serbia carries out its threats. Should Kosovo not get independence, the frustration and rage of the people will likely erupt in violence.

Against this potentially explosive background, our stalwart grantees continue to amaze me with their creativity, bravery, and determination. This past October I visited Kosovo, Serbia, and Croatia. Usually I spend most of my time meeting with grantees in the cities.

On this trip I wanted to visit two grantees located in rural areas, and I was finally ready to tackle driving on the country roads. The Balkan signage system is confusing to American drivers, so I set two rules for myself: no driving at night or in big cities. Nonetheless, I managed to get ticketed in the middle of nowhere by a Croatian cop. My violation? Driving without headlights in the middle of the day. He fined me 300 Kuna ($60) and ordered me to pay him on the spot. Returning my international driver’s license he said, “You’re from California. That’s in Canada, isn’t it?”