Sahiyo Welcomes Elaina Baliner as Our New Development & Programs Fellow
Sahiyo is pleased to announce that Elaina Baliner, who previously served as our Development Intern, has transitioned into the role of Development & Programs Fellow. Elaina joined Sahiyo in July 2024, and her contributions as an intern have made a tremendous impact. From supporting our upcoming Comedy Show & Auction, to assisting with our GivingTuesday and End of Year Giving campaigns, helping to secure grant funds, contributing to trainings through presentations and resource development, and writing articles for Sahiyo’s blog, Elaina has already made a difference in our community. We are thrilled to have Elaina take on this new fellowship role, where she will play an even more significant part in supporting Sahiyo’s Development and Programs teams. We look forward to witnessing the incredible work she will accomplish in the year ahead. About Elaina: Elaina is a recent graduate of Ohio State University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences with a minor in Biology. A passionate advocate for humanitarian causes and global health equity, Elaina actively seeks to maximize positive impact and close health equity gaps. Currently based in France during her gap year, Elaina is focusing on becoming fluent in French before pursuing a master’s degree in Global Health in Barcelona this September. Her goal is to decentralize global health funding to enhance resource accessibility for organizations on the ground. In her free time, Elaina enjoys teaching yoga and being in nature. Elaina is thrilled to work with an organization that aligns with her dedication to empowering individuals and contributing to the movement to end female genital cutting.
Volunteer Spotlight: Development & Programs Intern Tanya Samyak
Tanya Samyak is a junior at Simmons University majoring in Political Science and Economics. She is passionate about learning and working about preventing gender based violence and discrimination in the human rights space. She is excited to work with Sahiyo and contribute towards various interesting educational and awareness programs. What was your experience of learning about female genital cutting (FGC) for the first time like? I remember my first exposure to learning about FGC was in a classroom setting at my University. I felt a sense of loss by the fact that this practice was so widespread and that generations continued it after enduring the harm themselves. I was also very sad for the survivors who have to face the aftermath of this practice, which was done without their consent When and how did you first get involved with Sahiyo? I got to know about Sahiyo from a senior at my college, Catherine Cox, who was Sahiyo’s Programs Coordinator for several years. She encouraged me to apply for the internship. I became involved with Sahiyo as an Events and Programs intern in September 2023. What does your work with Sahiyo involve? As an Events and Program Intern, I support Sahiyo’s various programs and initiatives, including developing educational and informative blog posts and reflection pieces about FGC. I assist with outreach and community engagement programs like Voices to End FGM/C. I am also very excited to organize and coordinate the logistics of an upcoming webinar that will foster discussion on the topic of community engagement with regards to preventing the practice of FGC. How has your involvement with Sahiyo impacted your life? I think Sahiyo has contributed greatly to my professional life. I have learned to be a team player, strengthened my communication skills, and grown in my attention to detail as I have carried out the work that I do here. What words of wisdom would you like to share with others who may be interested in supporting Sahiyo and the movement against FGC? Firstly, I would like to appreciate their interest in working for this great cause. FGC is a very important but underrepresented issue. Not a lot of people are aware of this form of gender-based violence, so I would appreciate their motivation and interest in joining this movement and supporting Sahiyo. I would advise them to enjoy the work they are doing, and find joy in being part of a community filled with people who are working for the same mission.
Farewell to Programs Coordinator Catherine Cox
For the past three years, we have been honored to have Catherine Cox, or Cate as we know her, serve as Programs Coordinator at Sahiyo U.S. In this role, Cate saw Sahiyo’s community education and outreach program, including training and technical assistance, grow and blossom. It is thus with great excitement and some sadness too, Sahiyo wishes Cate success and luck on her next adventure! Cate will be transitioning off of Sahiyo as Programs Coordinator to journey to the United Kingdom, where she will start her Masters at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London with the goal to study Human Rights Law. Cate first joined Sahiyo as a Programs Intern in 2020, while she was a freshman at Simmons College studying International Relations. Being the stellar intern that she was, after her term ended, she was offered the position of Sahiyo’s first ever Programs Coordinator; since then, she has worked to strengthen and expand the many services Sahiyo offers. Though we will miss her dearly, we are glad that Cate will remain active as a Sahiyo volunteer, and look forward to the many accomplishments she will make in the field of human rights law!
Sahiyo releases July 2021-June 2022 Annual Report
We’re excited to release our July 2021 to June 2022 Annual Report and hope you’ll take the time to learn more about how we’ve been working to end female genital cutting (FGC). Over the past year at Sahiyo, we expanded our programs with the support of our staff, interns, volunteers, and Advisory Board. Our survivor-story-centered blog has grown and we launched a new column called Scenarios by Sahiyo that features comic strips based on real-life stories by activists, advocates, and allies working to end FGC. We hosted our 6th Voices to End FGM/C workshop with 9 participants, bringing the total number of videos created by the program to 55 participants from over 19 countries. Collectively, these videos have been viewed over 45,000 times! We are currently hosting our 7th workshop. We also launched a new website where you can learn more about the Voices to End FGM/C digital storytelling project at voicestoendfgmc.org. We received our first grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Victims of Crime in partnership with Asian Women’s Shelter and StoryCenter to create a training curriculum and materials to educate gender-based violence advocates working in domestic violence and sexual assault organizations on FGC so that the overall capacity for care for FGC survivors can be increased We held our 5th annual U.S Bohra Activist Retreat with 13 participants, bringing the total number of advocates trained by Sahiyo to 74! We’ve hosted and participated in 40 different community outreach and educational events, reaching around 2,000 people from across the globe. Our Bhaiyo program has continued to grow, and we now have 15 Bhaiyos working with us to empower men to become engaged in the world to abandon FGC. We’re proud to share our accomplishments from this past year with you all and certainly hope you’ll take a look at our Annual Report to learn more about what our amazing team at Sahiyo has accomplished together!