Message from the Chair
I hope all our PAWA friends managed to get some rest and recreation over summer. The PAWA team was thrilled with the success of the PAWA Challenge 2021, the fundraising campaign we concluded in July. We reached our target of £20,000 thanks to the efforts of so many enthusiastic teams (142 people took part in the Challenge) and the generous donations we received. These funds will go a long way toward helping our projects, whose work continues to be substantially hindered by the pandemic.
A big shout out to our top 5 fundraising teams: Beverley Sisters, Battersea Bonhomie, One step, Fun Loving Ladies and PAWA2021. It was very close between them!
If you still want to contribute toward the campaign, do consider purchasing a PAWA Challenge 2021 t-shirt from https://www.sabremerchandise.co.uk/product/pawa-challenge-2021-t-shirt/ . A portion of the sale price will go to PAWA.
As we look towards autumn, we are planning a couple of events so keep a look out for notifications. First up will be a Zoom event to mark the International Day of the Girl on October 11.
It will be a lunchtime discussion on how to address the learning deficit created by the closure of schools and the implications for girls from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Our next instalment of the Inspirational Asian Women series will be out soon. This time, we are looking at the achievements of social entrepreneurs who have, through innovative methods and sound business practices, created lasting social change for their target groups.
And finally, I’d like to pay my respects and offer my thanks to a family that has suffered a great personal tragedy and has had the generosity to give hope to others. Serena Janssens was stricken with bone cancer at 16 and passed away at 19. She lived bravely and with joy, and in her memory, her family have set up the Serena Janssens Memorial Fund, of which PAWA is a grateful beneficiary. Close to £40,000 has already been raised — if you would like to contribute, you can do so at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/serenajanssensmemorialfund
Thank you
Kamalakshi Mehta
Chair, PAWA Management Committee
Ongoing Projects Update
JMB Educational Fund (Nepal) applied for extraordinary funding for the purchase of 5 laptops to facilitate online learning during the lockdown and for educational use after the pandemic.
PAWA supports 5 girls who stay at Aruna Bhawan, St Xavier’s Social Services Centre for Girls in Kathmundu.
The centre provides a home for orphans, single parented children, abandoned children, children at risk and differently abled children from various districts of Nepal.
In Memoriam
Serena Janssens Memorial Fund
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/serenajanssensmemorialfund
Serena was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer, at the age of sixteen and a half.
She underwent an aggressive chemotherapy regime and a knee replacement surgery for nearly a year and a half. During this time, she went back to school when she was able and managed to sit the first part of her International Baccalaureate, despite missing the majority of her schooling in years 11 and 12. Sadly, her cancer came back when she started her final year, and she passed away just after her 19th birthday.
Serena loved her time at Godolphin and Latymer, a private all-girls school in London. Her main
interests were Maths, Philosophy, Economics and Italian. She was passionate about the Model
United Nations, and was politically active — attending demonstrations against Brexit and Climate Change. Serena also loved her food and had a keen fashion flair. She maintained a positive outlook throughout her cancer treatments, facing adversity with courage and a great sense of humour. In her spare time, she loved attending lectures on political issues, philosophy and she volunteered at charities supporting the elderly and homeless people. Her wish was to attend an American university to study Philosophy and Politics. We hope that the Serena Janssens Memorial fund will be used toward educating teenage girls in
Asian countries, to help lift them out of poverty and provide them with higher education to enable
them to close the gender gap. These girls will help carry out Serena’s dream of changing the world through actions.
