A journalist by training and now a web designer living in Australia, 39-year-old Jenni Baxter grew up in apartheid South Africa, a country that is plagued with issues of extreme inequality, poverty and AIDS. As a white South African, Jenni witnessed the ruinous effects apartheid had on so many people in her community. As violence riddled the country, instead of sheltering their children from the devastation, her parents taught her early on to face these issues – and take a stand against them.
Exposure to the criminal treatment of others left an indelible mark on Jenni, who felt helpless to make a difference for those oppressed by the apartheid system. An issue that still resonates with the now hopeful mother of three is the universal right to education. “White kids took the bus to school while black children had to walk at least 3 km (about 2 miles) – many of them barefoot,” recalls Jenni. It was not uncommon for her father to pick these children up in his van and shuttle them to their classes.
“When I was a child, white people were granted free quality education while blacks were forced to pay for schooling of less quality; those that were able to go to school usually didn’t go on past the age of 12,” she explains. While she has been inspired by people who work tirelessly for others, especially the hospice workers who cared for her father when he took ill with cancer, Jenni never really knew how to make a difference herself. “The desire was there, but I just didn’t know how to help.”
In 2001, TIME magazine featured a cover story about AIDS in Africa, “Death Stalks a Continent”. Reading the article led her to NetAid, which, through a partnership with TIME, offered readers a chance to help by donating to their AIDS projects in Africa and Asia. “My husband Tony and I immediately went online to donate money, and that was my first introduction to NetAid,” she says. “They really inspired me to help others.”
That spark of inspiration, it seems, stayed with her.
Several months later, the tragedy of September 11th and the events in Afghanistan sent her reeling from the devastation. “I knew about the plight of women under Taliban rule, and while I was concerned, I didn’t do anything about it at the time.” As the Taliban’s treatment of women was placed under increased media scrutiny, Jenni rallied to help. After reading an article about the Afghanistan Women’s Educational Center (AWEC), Jenni wasted no time in emailing them to find out what she could to help them.
Started in 1991, AWEC helps Afghani women and children refugees who have fled their country and sought asylum in the streets of Islamabad, Pakistan. The organization offers this marginalized population educational opportunities, health care, housing and food. “I read about the founder, Palwasha Hussein, and was inspired by her belief that education for these women and children is the way for them to have a better future.” Having started a web development business with her husband, she leveraged her own resources and set to work on creating a web site for AWEC, which launched in January 2003. “It was the best experience in the world--the miracle of the Internet--to be able to get in touch with women in a land so foreign to my own, and whom I had never met!”
Volunteering for AWEC has taught Jenni invaluable lessons. “I’ve learned how to be humble. These women have been through so much, yet they are upbeat, they never complain. They’ve given me joy.” What’s more, she now feels a sense of renewed hope. “Volunteering has made me feel that I can, even in a small way, make this world a better place.” Jenni continues to help AWEC by maintaining the organization’s web site on a regular basis.
