AFP
AFP (Action for Public) is an organization supporting PLHA (People Living with HIV/AIDS) women, their family members, children and youths with vocational and capacity building trainings and income generation programs.
AFP was founded by three socially-minded Community Development and Civic Empowerment Program graduates from Chin Mai University in January 2008.
The vision of AFP is to eliminate poverty among women and youths from grassroots level community and to mobilize their knowledge and opportunities.
The missions are to upgrade the capabilities of women offering knowledge and skill trainings, to sustain better income for women creating job opportunities and to empower women and youths by capacity building trainings.
The target beneficiaries of AFP are PLHA women living in Yangon Division, their children and other PLHA children and youths from rural areas.
The accomplishments of AFP in 2010 were providing sewing training for PLHA women in Yangon Division, setting up income generation programs for their income engaging between the garment industry and their products, supporting micro finance program for those women to be able to develop their small social businesses, conducting youth empowerment trainings and other support trainings for their family members and children for the sake of their educational and social well-being.
Purchasing hand-made accessories and clothes made by the women, donating medicines and in-kind or cash for those needy women and children and volunteering as a teacher or trainer in the training and educational programs for the children and PLHAs are the ways to support AFP.
Any individuals or group who are interested to encourage or observe PLHA women who are walking their lives bravely for their children and themselves without letting any defeatism and the social activists who are devoting in helping those people with hopes, actions and love are always welcomed to AFP.
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Although we did not know each other, I had been familiar with the honor of Ma Kyi Pyar, the founder of AFP via one of my close friends and my Facebook. At the end of 2010, even till the time I received the name list of participants who would attend our one of our team’s trainings from her organization, I had not met her. And then we came across each other at a café shop and my friend introduced me and her. During the training days, although she was not the trainee, she came and joined us very often observing and encouraging her women. We of course talked about our experiences, our passions, and gender and women empowerment, our respective organizations, our works and civil society in Myanmar and the future and we became friends. After working with her amazing women, I had a lot to share.
Sometimes, some organizations ask me to write about theirs. Sometimes, I asked the founders and organizers letting me to blog about their story. I requested Ma Kyi Pyar to let me write about her wonder AFP here, in WorldPulse and she kindly allowed me.
At the moment, our organization is working with PLHA women form AFP in a seven-month-long program focusing on their emotional well-being. What I am achieving from them is beyond my hope. Experiences! Inspiring stories! The strength of female! Love! I have a lot of messages in my heart to be heard around the world. All those could not reached to my finger tips.
Today, I found the brochure of AFP from a pile of papers on my table. Now, Nothing can stop me! I wrote this piece to honor the women I am working now together, AFP and Ma Kyi Pyar from the bottom of my heart.
I am going to write more about my experiences working with them and other impressive organizations from my community.
It’s my pleasure to ask any questions and to receive any comments and suggestions for the development of my personal, my community, my country and the people I am helping.
World of Words 