Hello, my name is Mrs. Tomone Kawai, the Deputy Director General of Diamonds for Peace (DFP).
I am one of the founding members of DFP. I heard about the vision of DFP from Chie Murakami in August 2014. Summer reminds me of the first time I heard about it.
DFP was established to help solve issues of diamonds such as labor issues (child labor, forced labor) and financing conflicts. However, when we started our activities, the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) spread in Liberia. We decided to do something about that first. Through those activities, we got support from and worked together with many people who got to know about DFP.
When EVD settled down, we started activities to help tackle issues of diamonds, which is DFP’s original aim. All the DFP members are unpaid volunteers while they have their own jobs. Even though they have limited time, DFP has been gradually expanding its activities such as awareness raising campaigns, fundraising, and research.
I am a mother of three children. I feel that to start an NPO and develop the organization is similar to raising children. Things do not go as planned. You need to do daily routine work and make small steps. It requires patience and fortitude; however, you would have new findings, meet new people, and have emotional experiences.
It has been two years since DFP started its activities. Just like a two-year old child, it is still developing, so I would like to raise it with love. It is said that it is good to get support and help from many people when you raise kids. The same is true for a NPO. I hope to raise DFP with many people’s support and help. We welcome volunteers any time.
You can support DFP in variety of ways. I hope you decide to join us so that we can “raise” DFP together.
Photo: DFP steering committee members