December 16, 2010
Dear Friends,
Each year during this Advent and Christmas season, survivors of torture give thanks for another year of life as we remember our families back home. But while we wait for the time when our families may be reunited, we have found a home here at TASSC, the Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition, founded 12 years ago by our fellow survivor, Sister Dianna Ortiz, OSU.
TASSC has had one of its most challenging and yet productive years in its history. We have celebrated moments of joy and sorrow. This year, for the first time, we conducted our first human rights training with over 40 survivors, and we now have an active speakers’ bureau and expanding education programs; we have been blessed, too, with a new home to help shelter survivors.
We also mourn the passing of one of our greatest allies and supporters, Patrick Rice, a fellow survivor from Argentina who conducted the human rights training; and we read with sorrow a former President’s memoirs of pride in using water boarding as an interrogation technique.
With all the ups and downs that come while working to end torture and to help those who have suffered so much, I carry hope throughout by watching the people we are able to help. For at the end of the day, it is all about helping people. And, I can honestly say that at TASSC, in one way or another we are helping people.
But We Need Your Help! Let Me Tell You a Story.
In 2002, when Aida was just 17 years old, she was drafted into compulsory military service of the Eritrean Army, to spend months in a brutal war and lose contact with her family for two and a half years. Recruitment of child soldiers is against all International standards and has resulted in trauma for many children in many wars across Africa. A year into her forced service Aida was injured receiving multiple bullet wounds. She was taken to a clinic near the border of Sudan for treatment.
Aida and a friend planned their escape from the violence they faced on the battlefield. On their first attempt to escape the clinic, the Eritrean military caught Aida and she was detained and brutally tortured. After being forced back into the military, still suffering from her torture, Aida succeeded in infiltrating the Western border of Sudan and began to make her way through the desert. She walked for three days in harsh conditions, at mortal peril from dangerous animals before being caught by the Sudanese army. The Sudanese Army placed her in an Eritrean Refugee Camp, where Eritrean officials were searching for defecting recruits.
Aida managed to secure a false European passport and enter the United States. Almost immediately, INS arrested her and placed her at the Virginia Detention Center. On her release, friends of Aida referred her to TASSC. On the date of her first interview, Aida did not speak any English and had a 4th grade level education.
TASSC was able to provide Aida with pro bono medical treatment, surgery, and counseling from local torture treatment clinics for the wounds, both mental and physical, she sustained during the war. In 2008, after receiving pro bono legal services Aida achieved asylum status. She was then able to find a small job using TASSC’s job training volunteers. And just this last week (December 1, 2010) she received permanent residency. Aida has been taking English classes at TASSC and can now read, write, and speak at a high school level. She plans to take her GED exam soon and wants to study to become a nurse.
Aida volunteers regularly around the office, and helps other survivors resettle in the United States. She has recently opened her home to a fellow survivor. Aida is a model of service and perseverance and has become an invaluable member of the TASSC family.
Your Help Provides the Beacon of Hope!
Make no mistake. Your help and support make a huge difference in the lives of torture survivors. Thanks to your generosity the story of Aida is repeated over and over at TASSC. However, with the cuts in UN funding, TASSC will be strained to help people like Aida. Just today I received some shocking financial news that will affect torture survivors across the entire western hemisphere.
The United Nations Fund for Victims of Torture provides the largest source of funding to TASSC. We have just been informed that every torture assistance organization in the western hemisphere will lose 20% of the pledged money from this fund next year.
This is just devastating to TASSC and to survivors of torture. The loss of this income represents over 8% of the annual TASSC budget. While UN representatives tell us they fully believe in TASSC and what we do, member states are not making their pledged contributions and every organization’s funding is being cut.
Once again, I must turn to you, our small group of supporters and donors to ask you to help us make up this loss. You have given so much this year and your generosity means the world to me and to survivors. I hope you will understand that I must ask you find it in your hearts to give again to help others that need us so much.
Without TASSC, hundreds of torture survivors simply have no place to turn. And that’s why I hope you will once again be as generous as possible. I want to share a few statistics with you to show you how important your help is to survivors. In 2010 alone:
- 67 survivors were granted asylum.
- 31 survivors have been trained in public speaking and regularly go on speaking engagements. Educational programs were conducted in 13 states so far this year.
- 6 survivors were reunited with their families and given assistance in resettlement.
- 4 survivors were released from detention centers thanks to TASSC support.
- 11 survivors who used to live with friends of TASSC have moved into their own apartments.
- 110 survivor students have attended the volunteer led TASSC English classes and 15 have completed the TOFEL exam preparation class offered by volunteers TASSC.
- 54 survivors registered with our volunteer job training/resume assistance program. 27 have found jobs ranging from kindergarten teacher to airline service personnel.
Our biggest challenge is the sad truth that countries around the world continue to use torture to silence their citizens and therefore, the demand on TASSC and treatment centers continues to rise. This fall, three of our pro-bono legal and medical providers left the area this year so we are looking to replace those volunteers. And area torture treatment centers continue to be overwhelmed resulting in delays in medical services. As we look to next year, we know the need will continue but the financial support from governments via the United Nations has decreased. We will have to look to you for our continued support.
Please give as generously as you can to help the individuals that are the heart and soul of this organization. I know people say it all the time, but it is true—you CAN make a difference in someone’s life.
We continue to campaign very hard to end torture around the world. We continue to speak out across the country to educate the American public. We continue to hold rallies and protests. But, most of all, we continue to provide hope to people. Hope for people who have survived the unthinkable, people who now face starting all over again with a destroyed soul, and sometimes a destroyed body too.
But, for as long as I am able, I will never give up and I will never turn away a fellow survivor in need. And by your acts of generosity I know you share the same commitment.
So, please, at this special time of the year stand with me once again.
With my warmest thoughts for the holiday season and all good wishes for the New Year,
Sincerely,
Demissie Abebe
Executive Director
PS:
I want to share a note I received last week from David, a survivor from Uganda.
Dear Demissie,I am writing this email to notify you of my asylum approval.I wish to thank TASSC International for the assistance so far extended to me in these very difficult times, where I have been living in uncertainly but with hope. I am extending a hand of appreciation specifically to you Demissie and Orlando for the unwavering support in form of assistance for food and transport at the times when things seemed difficult for me.
Your generosity from the small organizational resources in these difficult economic times are indeed humbling. I wish to pledge my commitment to TASSC and its activities, but most importantly to the greater call of fighting against torture whenever it occurs. I am hopeful that your resilience and unwavering love for others is graciously rewarded by the Almighty. God Bless you.
David
