In occasion of Women's Day on the 10th of March, 11 magicians decided to dedicate a special show to help raise funds for Clitoraid, a non-profit association that is building a Hospital in Burkina Faso (West Africa) that will provide free surgery to FGM victims. The show was organise in Torti theatre in Bevagna (near Perugia) and it turned out to be a wonderful evening!
Thanks to local advertising and a few newspaper articles that were published to announce the event, the theatre was fully booked to its maximum capacity, that is 250 people. Imagine our surprise and joy!


Marilena Sangiorgi, leader of the Clitoraid branch in Italy, opened the evening by explaining the purpose of Clitoraid and the progress the association has made so far. Recent articles have been published with details on the website .

The show was a great success and at the end Andrea, the presenter, called Marilena on stage to hand her a transparent bag containing all the public donations collected during the evening, a grand total of 1,000€, a real magical moment!

The Clitoraid team would like to thank all the people who donated to our cause, the wonderful team of magicians, our special friend Giovanni Ottaviani and also a huge Thank You to Andrea Paris, the professional magician who made the effort to organise all the details of the show, from advertising, direction, preparation, and everything else!


When Magic happens everything is possible!

On March 6, in Los Angeles, Marina Cocolios represented Clitoraid during an event organized by Stephanie Hunter (see photo), artist specializing in erotic art and head of the Feminist Club of Antioch University. The women who attended were truly passionate about the cause and completely at ease with their body and sexuality. They immediately understood the importance of spreading such values among other women in general and in particular to those who are genitally maimed and who are seeking clitoral repair surgery. During her 30 minute presentation, Marina gave the complete scope of Clitoraid's project founded by Spiritual Leader Rael who initiated the revolutionary project to enable as many FGM victims as possible to have access to free surgery in the Pleasure Hospital that Clitoraid is building in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

The attendants felt inspired by Clitoraid's cause and Stephanie volunteered to do a Clitoraid fundraising event during a Dominatrix presentation that Antioch University will organize during the summer. Stephanie even offered to be a speaker for Clitoraid at other universities if need be.

At the end of the presentation, the girls donated to the Clitoraid project (www.clitoraid.org) and the next day the word spread around on campus about Clitoraid creating much curiosity. We'll be glad to give Antioch's students a second chance to hear about Clitoraid at a later time!

In the meantime, Stephanie Hunter has contacted a radio talk host show in Los Angeles who will hopefully dedicate an entire evening to Clitoraid. Lara, the head of Clitoraid in the USA, will be the guest speaker to talk about the history of Clitoraid and all of the advancements since 2007.

A U.S.-based, nonprofit organization’s fight against female genital mutilation (FGM) enters a new and expanded phase today, according to a statement released this morning by Clitoraid (www.clitoraid.org).
The organization was launched by Rael, who founded the International Raelian Movement (www.rael.org) nearly 40 years ago and still serves as its spiritual leader.

“FGM is extremely prevalent in many African countries and there are an estimated 130 million FGM victims living today worldwide,” said Nadine Gary, Clitoraid’s head of operations. “About 228,000 of them live in the United States, and we’re happy to announce that our head surgeon, Dr. Marci Bowers, is not only performing restorative clitoral surgery on four such victims today in San Francisco, but is also training other doctors to perform the procedure developed by French surgeon Dr. Pierre Foldes.”

Gary said Dr. Harold J. Henning, M.D., of Fulton, New York, is assisting Dr. Bowers in today’s surgeries and will complete his training at this time.

“Although these surgeries are taking place in the United States, Clitoraid’s focus is on the millions of African victims, since the vast majority of them can’t afford the procedure,” Gary said. “That’s why our fundraising emphasis is on opening our new dedicated clinic in Burkina Faso, West Africa, as soon as possible. Hundreds of victims are already on our waiting list to have the procedure performed there free of charge by our volunteers.”

Dr. Henning, a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist who is also a member of the Raelian Movement, is among those volunteers. He has been in private practice since 1986, and currently lives and practices in the small city of Fulton, New York, near the eastern end of Lake Ontario. Born in Kansas, he completed his medical training in that state and later earned a Ph.D. in reproductive physiology.
“I’ve been doing gynecologic surgery for about 30 years and did obstetrics for 20 of those years,” Henning said in a recent interview. “My experience is working with women and women’s issues.”

With the completion of his training under Dr. Bowers today, he will be ready to perform the restorative surgery at Clitoraid’s new facility in Burkina Faso, unofficially dubbed ‘The Pleasure Hospital’ by volunteers. Henning plans to attend the opening later this year and is donating equipment to the project.

Asked what steps need to be taken to reduce the prevalence of FGM and assist more victims, Henning stressed the importance of community awareness, both here and in Africa. He said that while he was previously aware of FGM, he had never seen an FGM victim while practicing medicine in the American Midwest.

“But many FGM victims here in the United States, including some on the East Coast, want to have their sense of pleasure restored, so I’ve made plans to do this for them in Upstate New York,” he said, adding that he had learned of these patients after they contacted Clitoraid.

“Restoring the sexual pleasure that has been taken away from such victims is the beauty of what we’re doing, and I look forward to helping them by doing the corrective surgery,” he said. “After joining the Raelian Movement, my eyes were opened to issues that plague women throughout the world, not just in my local community.”

Gary said Henning’s new contribution on the East Coast of the United States is important to Clitoraid’s efforts, since Bowers covers the West Coast.

By Nadine Gary

" This morning, on the eve of Valentines Day, I tried a new yoga class on the lovely Island of Coronado just a bridge away from San Diego.

At the end of the class, I was invited to briefly introduce Clitoraid, passed out flyers to those who wanted it. One lady in particular collects a "bouquet" of worthy charities she donates to monthly and said Clitoraid would certainly be part of it!

I don't know her name but what a blooming gesture on her part."

By Abibata Sanon, coordinator of Clitoraid in Africa

Clitoraid volunteers in Gabon and Burkina Faso have mobilized in support of the international day of struggle against FMG on February 6. Events were organized to promote the cause and inform people about the Hospital Kamkaso (Pleasure Hospital).

In GABON, the actions lasted a week, from Saturday 4 to Sunday, February 12. The first day, volunteers went to the big market of the city of Libreville, where large crowds of citizens of West Africa practice circumcision. They held placards claiming "No to FGM", "Yes to Science" or "Yes to the restoration of the clitoris," they distributed information leaflets to passersby who approached to ask questions. Some even wanted to help promote the cause. In total, more than 500 flyers were distributed specifically to women. During this week of action, Clitoraid team was invited to participate in three national and local media, including the broadcast of Zero FGM on Africa No. 1. They were able to transmit messages that are so dear to the heart to all the volunteers of the association: the fight against FGM and the promotion of the Pleasure Hospital.

In BURKINA FASO, volunteers noticed that the population showed great interest for the cause of Clitoraid. The actions began Saturday, February 4 and have been constant to this day.
- In Ouagadougou, four brothers and sisters braved the dust storm that reduced visibility to bring news to the townspeople of this wonderful restoration technique of the clitoris.
- In Bobo, a dozen volunteers toured the city to raise awareness on the consequences of FGM and the hope carried by the final phase of construction Kamkasso Hospital.Two wonderful sisters have registered to be restored and offered their help to promote the cause.