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By Andrea Dujardin-Flexhaug
 | | Tracy Fehr, founder of A Song for Hope. | TRACY FEHR spent much of last month about as far as one
could get from the comforts of home, in the north African country of
Tunisia.
The Summerland vocalist took with her the gift of her
voice, and was scheduled to perform at several embassy-related concerts in
the capital city of Tunis, as well as several informal ones.
But her trip has involved much more than sharing her
musical talent; it has also been a chance to see firsthand how her newly
created mission, A Song for Hope, is going.
“For Tunisia, it’s definitely a musical
tour,” explained Fehr just before she left B.C. “But my
sister-in-law will be doing some speaking and sharing, and she’s
quite a gifted speaker in Kelowna.”
She was referring to Doreen Rosvold who, she
said, has a passion for God, and who is helping promote the mission.
Fehr is a classically trained coloratura soprano.
She attends Summerland Alliance Church, and has had a heart for the
plight of Arabic women ever since she came to know some of them while at
university in Edmonton.
“We lived in an on-campus residence for families
– and it was all multicultural families there,” recalled Fehr.
“Often their husbands were coming to work on
post-graduate studies, and the women were with them.”
 | | Zitouna Mosque in Tunis is emblematic of the fact
that Tunisia is 98 percent Muslim. The country is
also known for religious tolerance. | Fehr recalled teaching one of the women how to speak
English, and telling her about Canadian culture. “That really stirred
in me that this was where God was leading me.”
Fehr also had another sister-in-law who lived in Saudi
Arabia for five years.
“So I think even her experiences there must have
shaped my interest in the Middle East.”
A Song of Hope took shape when Fehr heard a talk about
the plight of Tunisian single mothers, given by a woman who had visited
Summerland Alliance several years ago.
“I heard their stories, and my heart’s been
– for many years – especially with Arabic women, and women who
are marginalized.”
She soon came to wonder how “we could help to
educate them and train them, and offer them new life.”
So far, the project has enlisted 17 people in the
Okanagan as sponsors of these single women – to pay for their monthly
education, and tools to start new businesses.
Several women are in nursing programs, with two others
starting a tailoring shop – and another a weaving business.
Fehr said she and Rosvold would be meeting the women
who are being supported through A Song for Hope.
“That’s a big part of this too, is meeting
the sponsored women,” explains Fehr. “Just kind of making that
Canadian connection with them, so they know people here are caring for them
– and I can bring back news about them.”
Fehr had learned that when a Tunisian single woman
becomes pregnant, she is shunned by others around her.
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“There’s different reasons why they get
pregnant so young, and . . . it’s not acceptable in that
culture,” she says. “So they’re often sent away from
their families. So the girls are living on the street. They’re
sometimes being forced into prostitution just to support themselves and
their babies.”
Fehr is also working with the organization ACT
Development, which has opened a women’s safe home in the southern
Tunisian city of Gabès.
“We are connected with these safe homes because
that’s where the women come and they stay. And then from there, they
are screened for training.”
Closer to home, in Kelowna, A Song for Hope is working
with the new Fullstop Society, which shares the vision to “stop
injustice against women now,” said Fehr.
“They come with a lot of trauma. They’re
very vulnerable, insecure and frightened, and some of them are running for
their lives.”
Fehr has long had a mandate of promoting music among
women in Canada, with her Okanagan based Women in Song project. And she
expressed her enthusiasm for taking the international language of music
with her to Tunisian women.
“It will be just giving them a voice, and giving
them some encouragement to speak for themselves – and music is a very
powerful tool.”
At home, Fehr is a vocal instructor at the Penticton
Academy of Music. She has performed often with the University of Alberta
Symphony Orchestra, and held concerts across western Canada, Ontario and
Central America.
Last November she released her first full length CD, Over My Head – a
fusion of classical, jazz and Middle Eastern influences.
“It’s a little bit eclectic, it’s
just songs that are very special to me,” she said, and the album
includes four songs she has written herself, including ‘Silenced
Voices.
“It was written for people who cannot speak for
themselves, and encouraging us to speak out for them.”
Fehr is the contact person for A Song for Hope. Anyone
interested in becoming a sponsor, making a donation or purchasing her CD
can go to www.tracyfehr.com.
April 2009
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