Venus Rocks, The Party!

2006-03-12T19:45:00.000-08:00

The fundraiser on 2nd March brought in Rs.200,215.46!!!

The money goes straight into the shelter and will help make a difference in these women’s lives.

Thanks again to everyone who bought tickets, turned up at the party and gave generously to support the cause. Your support meant everything.

2006-03-08T10:25:00.000-08:00

It's International Women's Day.

This is a heartfelt, albeit slightly late, post by which we wish to express our one common dream : to see all women live free from fear and opression. Our dream is sincere and the desire to do our part to make this dream a reality, even more so. We hope that with this year, and the others to follow, with each passing Women's Day, that more and more of us see the importance of assisting women on their path to freedom and equality.

Poem - Simon Armitage

And if it snowed and snow covered the drive
he took a spade and tossed it to one side.
And always tucked his daughter up at night
And slippered her the one time that she lied.
And every week he tipped up half his wage.
And what he didn't spend each week he saved.
And praised his wife for every meal she made.
And once, for laughing, punched her in the face.

And for his mum he hired a private nurse.
And every Sunday taxied her to church.
And he blubbed when she went from bad to worse.
And twice he lifted ten quid from her purse.

Here's how they rated him when they looked back:
sometimes he did this, sometimes he did that.

We wish that, one day, every woman, everywhere, will want and be able to celebrate Women's Day with joy and pride, and that Women's Day will be a symbol of happiness and not of the fight for rights women deserve anyway.

2006-03-07T16:59:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous response on Thursday night! We sold all the tickets and Zanziba was packed... we really couldn't have asked for more.

The music was great and the crowd had a really good time.

A big 'thank you' to everyone who came to support the cause and stayed on to have some fun...

On a more serious note - we should have details of how much was collected on the blog by 12 March 2006.

2006-02-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

We've had an incredibly positive response from everyone out there, and it has been encouraging and strengthening to find that there are so many of you willing to support us. While there have been vows to help us make this party on Thursday the biggest success possible, we've also had people inquiring on how to make a more long-term difference and how they can continue to support this cause, even in the future.

We too intend on supporting this shelter not only in the immediate present, but also in all their developments and endeavours in the future. It will be a long journey, but we are prepared to stand by them through it and ensure that they have our help and commitment at any given time. At this stage, the funds raised from this party will be used to (literally) put a roof over these women's heads and set up a fund to help the women get back on their feet. We have plans of making our efforts more large scale in the future, thus ensuring that the outcome will result in bigger changes, like the development of branches of the shelter outside of The Western Province, so that we eventually reach women everywhere. We would like to initiate and maintain programmes that help these women in more than a temporary and financial way; we would like to arrange for them to be taught various skills so that they may find jobs and become self sufficient, independent and strong, because this is the kind of life we believe every woman needs to live. Needless to say, our ultimate goal would be to make a measurable impact on society in erradicating violence and discrimination against women altogether. We will work towards making education our key to success in teaching people to understand the importance of harmony and respect between human beings. This could take much longer than we anticipate, but we will continue to strive towards the creation of this new society which respects and accepts women for who they are. No matter how difficult the job, we know that our attempts will not be in vain. We hope that you feel the same burning desire to put an end to violence against women as we do, and we hope that you will see the importance in supporting a cause like our's.

Every great journey begins with one tiny step, and the party on Thursday is just this for us. We have grand plans of changing some of the ways in the world we live in, and we start enacting our plans on the 2nd of March 2006. We hope you will be there to witness it, and participate in making history, and a difference.

2006-02-22T22:12:00.000-08:00

Below is the pledge card for the use of anyone who wishes to help.

I wish to contribute to the Colombo Women’s Collective and support an end to violence against women.

Name of donor/ organisation:
______________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________

____________________________________________

Email ID : ___________________________________________

Contact Telephone No: _________________________________

Please use my contribution to
a)repair the roof at the shelter and
b)set up the fund to help abused women get back on their feet

I would like to contribute Rs. ________________towards this initiative.

Signature:________________________________

Date:___________________________________

2006-02-22T21:40:00.000-08:00

Cartoon by feminist cartoonist, Jacky Fleming.

2006-02-22T10:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, there was a comment left on our blog questioning the sincerity of our intentions in throwing this fund-raiser. We cannot however, blame the author of this comment as he/she is more right than many of us realise. There are lots of money-minting scams carried out under the guise of being charity and it is tragic that people are unable to place their faith in even the most genuine attempts to do something truly worthwhile.

We wish we could divulge the name of the shelter we have pledged to help because this would make our efforts seem more credible. The most important reason why we are unable to tell you where the shelter is and what it does is because there is only one location and to talk about that would be to compromise the security of the women within. We could not possibly do that to women who have already been through so much. The issue of security is also one of the reasons why the shelter has been unable to publicise its need for funds and financial support, choosing instead to remain a discreet source of strength and support to women who have been abused within their own homes.

What we can do however, is tell you a little bit more about the situation at the shelter - to help give you a better picture of what kind of support is required.

The shelter accommodates approximately 20 women at any given time and helps women get back on their feet, financially and emotionally after they have walked out of violent situation. The shelter is required to self-fund itself and it does so admirably well, channelling the proceeds of its fund-raising activities towards meeting basic needs, such as food and utility payments. The down-side of this system is that they are unable to provide for any other requirements the women may have and this is where we would like to step in and help. Our fund-raising efforts, will be for the shelter to have what it needs most now; a repair to its roof and finances to meet the women's miscellaneous expenditure.

Remember, that a woman is rarely prepared when she walks out of a violent situation and invariably leaves with little, other than her clothes and possibly her children. The shelter does what it can to take these women in and to support them, by providing medical and legal aid which has, for the most part, been provided free of charge. Quite apart from this basic assistance, we believe the shelter should also have a fund that provides women with finances to meet the costs of bus fare and stamp duty on legal documentation. We would also like to be in a position to offer partial funding to help women who are ready to move out of the shelter rebuild their lives.

We hope this gives you a clearer picture of what we've set out to do. The project needs your support and we're going to have pledge cards up on the blog soon. Fill out a pledge card or else, just email us at venusrocks@gmail.com and let us know how you'd like to help. Please support our cause and let us know if you're interested in getting involved over the long-term.

2006-02-21T10:12:00.000-08:00

Tickets are confirmed to be out on Friday at the following places!

Finomenal : G17, Crescat Boulevard, Galle Road, Colombo 03.
Arena : 303, Duplication Road, Colombo 03.

Email us at venusrocks@gmail.com or alternatively s.menike@gmail.com for further questions regarding the sales of tickets.

If you wish to help with the sales of tickets, please contact us so that we may provide you with ticket book/s. If you wish to reserve tickets in advance, please email one of the two aforementioned email addresses and we will do our best to accomdate your needs.

Please give us your fullest cooperation. Spread the word, tell all your friends, buy as many tickets as you can!

2006-02-20T23:41:00.000-08:00

Venus Rocks, The Party is about women. Its about women who care, and women who want to act on their concerns. Its about women who want to change something for other women. Its about women who look around, see the unnecessary discrimination and suffering of other women and want to do their bit to change the way the world can be. Its about powerful women who want to have fun.

Despite the various diversities we see within the group of organisers itself, we believe that differences are an advantage and not a disavantage. We long to see people made aware of all the violence towards women around them. We want people to care.

In this modern day and age, it seems appalling that there are still women getting beaten up and discrimintated against, simply because they are women. It seems almost absurd how little all of us do to stop this continuing pain around us, simply because it does not affect us directly. It seems to tip the scales of believability when you hear about how many women are violated against on a daily basis, and how little is done to help them, to speak for them, to defend their cause.

The proceeds from this party will be directly sourced to a shelter for battered women (of which the name is being withheld intentionally due to privacy and security reasons) which not only offers women who come from a violent background a roof over their heads, but also medical aid as well as counselling and legal advice. It moves us, motivates us, and angers us even, to see how little people know about women in situations like this, and how little is done to support shelters like this.

We wish to not only raise money to improve the living standards of the women at this shelter, but also to create awareness amongst the educated and the able, those of us who are capable and willing to help, but don't, simply because we don't know how to. We want to publicise our cause, so that more of us can take our own initiative to help battered women in our own way. So that we don't have to stand around waiting for others to get their act together in order to make a difference.

Please support our cause. Be at our party. Spread the word. Show that you care.

2006-02-20T22:42:00.000-08:00

So, there have been some changes to the initial plan. Venus Rocks, The Party! which is on the 2nd of March has been moved from H2O to Zanziba (next to Holiday Inn, at the Galle Face roundabout) due to extensive administrative reasons. Those of you who haven't been to Zanziba before, this is just the right excuse. Widely known for its good music, great food and intimate atmosphere, Zanziba has been a hit since it opened its doors to the Colombo people. We're also huge fans of the Ladies' Night at Zanziba, so we're pleased with the change of venue.

It's a great party for a good cause - what more do you need than that?

The programme for the night will include a stand-up comedian, poetry readings, a very special guest performance by the sizzling local talent that has gone international many times, Ashanthi and Randhir, and of course the rocking resident Zanziba DJ to have you on the dance floor all night long.

Tickets out on Friday!

2006-02-16T08:22:00.000-08:00

What happens when a bunch of women with different qualities, traits and lives but with one thing in common- the sheer love for fun - come together for one cause? Watch this blog over the next couple of weeks, and you'll find out...

Sitting together some time ago, some of us were already friends. Some of us were meeting for the first time. Some of us were colleagues, some of us strangers. We were, amongst us, students, swimmers, teachers, lawyers...and feminists. We met so that we could come up with a way to raise funds for battered women in Sri Lanka, to contribute in our own little and original way, in time for International Women's Day on the 8th of March this year. To try and help make a change, make a difference. After randomly throwing around ideas of performances, skits and readings, we decided the best shot we had was to merge all of it into ONE BIG PARTY.

So, come the 2nd of March, we will be throwing the biggest fund raising bash you have seen yet. From surprise guest performances, raffle draws and give-aways, to all night - one on one partying, H2O will be the venu to a party we promise will be worth attending (literally worth it!). Come one and come all (so long as you're over 18!), for a night, starting at 9 pm, that will change the lives of those we wish to help, and ensure that you have the perfect night-out, all at the same time!

Watch this space for information on tickets (which should go on sale next week) and other details.