Today I'm going to talk about the organization called ODW, or OD in Norwegian.
ODW means Operation Day's Work, and in Norwegian it means Operasjon Dagsverk. What we do in ODW is to work for a day, and earn money, and then we send the money to ODW so that they can invest the money in their yearly projects. We have ODW once a year, and it's voluntary.
This is what ODW is based on, according to ODW () :
In summary, ODW bases itself on the following:
■ The principle of solidarity in which equality between all groups is central
■ Working on the ODW Day is voluntary
■ ODW supports educational and training projects in Africa, Asia or Latin- America.
■ ODW always supports and concerns marginalised groups and contribute towards girls and boys having equal rights to education.
■ ODWs projects are always carried out through local partners in the South.
■ ODW-supports long-term projects
■ ODW is always targeting youth and the campaign is always carried out by youth.
This year's project is Malawi and Etiopia. Malawi and Etiopia is this year's project, because ODW wants to secure girl's rights. Girls in Malawi and Etipia meet a lot of challenges when it comes to independence and education. The fact that they are girls becomes the reason to not give them rights that boy's have, and therefore ODW is fighting for equality in these countries.
ODW-project 2014 will ensure that:
- Girls complete primary school
- Girls have education
- Girls have job and income
- Girls' rights are respected
- Youngsters take care of the environment
- Youngsters are involved in taking decisions that will affect their future
Why are Ethiopia and Malawi this year's project?
Ethiopia and Malawi are this year's project, because the literacy rates (% of people ages 15 and above) in Ethiopia is 39 and in Malawi it's 74,77 (Source: , but 53,6% of all the illiterates in Malawi are female and 57,3% illiterates are females in Ethiopia. These are just numbers. Researches show that girls are forced to stay home only to get water, make food and to clean the house, while boys are allowed to attend the school, even though the numbers don't disclose that there are more boys than girls who go to school, because some of the boys who go to school are illiterates.
Why? Do boys have special rights?
Not at all! All humans are born with equal rights regardless of religion, nationality, sex, language, location, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.
ODW wants to make people understand this fact in Malawi and Ethiopia so that the illiteracy rates sink, because if the illiteracy rates sink in these countries it will be beneficial for the populations.
Why is it extremely important to be educated?
1. Overcoming Superstitions
2. Keeping up with the world
3. To have good knowledge about healthcare and diseases (major problem among illiterates)
4. To be respected in the society
5. To understand the world we are living in
6. To know the difference between right and wrong
7. Gain confidence
8. Unwritten rules of the society
9. For economic growth of the nation
10. Saves one from being fooled or cheated
11. Turns your dreams into reality
12. Makes you self dependent
13. Equality
14. Money
15. For a happy and stable life
I hope that I have made people more aware, and that more people know about this organization called ODW.
So, if this post, somehow, has made you believe that everything is possible, then spread the word, because it's possible
-Ritika Jaswal
