The West Point Women for Health and Development Organization is dedicated to tackling the many problems faced in our community through numerous activities:
Economic Empowerment: WPWHDO benefits from strong support of its members. We utilize our membership dues to bolster our Economic Empowerment. The empowerment program is created to help women who are involve in the voluntary services of the org
anization and the community to benefit from skills training, adult literacy and loans. In so doing, these women will be relieved of the many constraints they encountered in the running of their homes. This program will also empower them and reduce the dependency syndrome. Gender Based Violence (and domestic violence): Since the founding of the organization, WPWHDO has engaged in advocacy for the rights of many r**e victims in the community and prosecution for men or women, who are guilty of domestic violence, this includes spousal and parental abuse. We work closely with the Ministry of Gender and Development and the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFFELL) to help push these cases through the court and the judicial system. The organization is involved in the transportation of victims of r**e and domestic violence to hospital and provides care for them while they undergo treatment. We also call on the Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) Crime Unit a newly established division of the Ministry of Justice on most of the cases that involve r**e. Parents of r**e victims are encouragedtaking their cases to court with the women helping in the background. Regular awareness on r**e and domestic violence are being carried out in the seven sub communities or zones of West Point. WAHALA: Conflict Resolution and Mediation: On a daily basis the leaders of WPWHDO are called upon bycommunity members to address domestic conflicts, community and disputes disturbances among the youth. We also work with those that have come out of jail to peacefully integrate them into our community. During the mediation, the opposing parties are given the opportunity to express their dissatisfaction so as to avoid re occurrence. This program considerably reduces the amount of different cases going to the court where unnecessary amounts of money are spent. Health and Sanitation: West Point is the most densely populated (slum) community within Monrovia without any sanitation systems or adequate health facilities. Our community suffers from outbreaks of malaria, cholera and other water born diseases. The WPWHDO is addressing these issues through door to door advocacy and community meetings educating people on how to take care of their drinking water and good hygiene practices. We also use our resources to help women and children receive emergency health care. The health and hygiene promotions are done through awareness. Some of the areas that are focused are: the use of latrines, washing of hands, proper waste management and disposal methods, the improvement of household water, the use of water guard and the setting of the Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) Corners in our center and the community in order to combat diarrhea and other water borne diseases. Temporary Care to Abandoned Women & Children Project: Due to the stresses of poverty and the dense population of our community WPWHDO has noticed high cases of lost or abandoned children. Our Taking Care of Children on a Temporary Basis provides secure homes (with the consent of the police) until the child’s parents are found or given to proper authorities. There are also fathers and mothers who abandoned their families. In an effort to reduce the amount of families that suffer abandonment, the organization is making effort in the following directions:
