Dear Sisters in the Malaysian World Day of Prayer Committee,
Dear Shakuntala,
how are you? we hope you are fine and we wish you all the best for a blessed year 2012! This year will be a special one with the order of Worship coming from Malaysia. Women in Germany are very much looking forward to celebrating your liturgy, sing the songs you suggested, work with your wonderful cover picture and join you in prayer in action.
Thank you again for your gift and for everything you shared with us through this order of worship. Thank you especially for helping us to become aware of the many ways in which especially women working as domestic workers suffer from unjust conditions.
Dear Sisters of the Malaysian Word Day of Prayer Committee – because you helped us focus on their situation – in Malaysia as well as in other countries e.g. in Germany, too and to find ways to support their political struggle for justice – I would like to inform you today that WDP Germany and the Malaysian human rights organization Tenaganita have started a petition together. Tenaganita, the human rights organization founded by Irene Fernandez and made known internationally through your liturgy is also a partner organization of the German WDP-committee. So thank you very much for introducing us to Irene Fernandez and to Tenaganita!
Our campaign aims at prompting the Malaysian government to improve the situation of domestic workers, to ratify ILO-convention No. 189 and to implement its provisions. Within the scope of the World Day of Prayer 2012, WDP-women in Germany can support the women of Tenaganita by signing the petition ‘Ratifying ILO Convention No. 189 and implementing its provisions in Malaysia’.
By now, the translated versions of the petition and the background information are finished. Please find them attached to my e-mail. This campaign will mainly take place in Germany but we have also informed neighboring Committees and the International Committee.
Our partners at Tenaganita informed us that they were planning to start a very similar kind of campaign in Malaysia, too. This campaign will be promoted as part of the political action which accompanies the International Women’s Day at 8th of March.
Dear World Day of Prayer Sisters in Malaysia – we are very much looking forward to celebrate World Day of Prayer and we hope the this campaign as an expression of “prayerfull action” might support the struggle for justice of migrant domestic workers not only in Malaysia! God Bless!
Warmest regards,
Petra Heilig
Executive Secretary
Women’s World Day of Prayer – German Committee
Deutenbacher Str. 1
19th January 2012
