At FairFight, we believe that martial arts is a unique and effective road to women’s empowerment, and a shared language we can use to build trusting relationships with their communities. Martial arts is about far more than physical exercise or even fighting skills, it’s an ethos and a way of life that teaches confidence, discipline, respect and perseverance. These are life skills that can really jump-start our girls’ path towards empowerment, despite the difficult circumstances of their early lives.
But it’s not enough: in order to achieve empowerment, the girls need the support of their communities. The great asset of martial arts is that there is already a world-wide network of practitioners who share the values that we believe in.
So we searched and found the right martial artists in the communities where our girls live, and we were immediately able to start sharing and building together as fellow practitioners. One black belt to another, we knew we could speak the same language, even if we didn’t alway understand each others’ words. Building on that trusting relationship, we reached out to the girls teachers, support workers, families and other important people in the girls’ lives to bring them on board on our journey. Our attachment to community-building is what makes FairFight not just another charity project, but a sustainable commitment to women’s empowerment.
FairFight works in with local martial arts trainers and their dojos in partnership with local organisations and schools in the community to help empower underprivileged girls through martial arts in Zimbabwe and India. Our long-term goals are threefold:
But it’s not enough: in order to achieve empowerment, the girls need the support of their communities. The great asset of martial arts is that there is already a world-wide network of practitioners who share the values that we believe in.
So we searched and found the right martial artists in the communities where our girls live, and we were immediately able to start sharing and building together as fellow practitioners. One black belt to another, we knew we could speak the same language, even if we didn’t alway understand each others’ words. Building on that trusting relationship, we reached out to the girls teachers, support workers, families and other important people in the girls’ lives to bring them on board on our journey. Our attachment to community-building is what makes FairFight not just another charity project, but a sustainable commitment to women’s empowerment.
FairFight works in with local martial arts trainers and their dojos in partnership with local organisations and schools in the community to help empower underprivileged girls through martial arts in Zimbabwe and India. Our long-term goals are threefold:
- Listen to our girls and all our stakeholders, help them reach their goals, guide them towards empowerment through martial arts.
- Support local martial artists with equipment, funds, training, skills development opportunities and friendship so they can be the best teachers they can be for our girls.
- Bring on board the local community through dialogue and friendship, develop local support to make the projects self-sustaining.