WOMEN HELPING WOMEN

In 2004, I watched a PBS Frontline show called Ghosts of Rwanda. Then I read some books and information online about the genocide in Rwanda. Two organizations that I support are Rwanda Partners and Women for Women. Learning about the story of Rwanda, motivated me to get involved in ending genocide and specifically as a Darfur community activist leader with Save Darfur and Genocide Intervention which includes Stand Now.

I sponsor a Rwandan sister each year through Women for Women. This means I give $27 monthly to her and we exchange letters and pictures. It usually takes 3 months for the letters to get back and forth with the original letter and a translation. Last week, I received a letter (which was written November 21, 2008) from Odette, my sister, which reads:

To my beloved sponsor,

To my parent that I love and wish (you) to be with God's peace.

Sandra, are you fine? We are also fine. I was happy after seeing your (emotional) support. The love you loved me without knowing me - caused me to love you this kind of love that has no end. Now I wish to see your face.

I am also a mother of four children, three girls and one boy. I am a farmer. Now I do Cassova, g-nuts, soghum, potatoes. I am preparing for Christmas, so greet for me your family and tell them we wish them Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank You.

The one who loves you,

Odette

These words touched me tenderly and are most precious to me.

Odette, has no education, cannot read or write. And her house has no electricity and the main source of lighting is by kerosene lamp. There is no water in the house. And the reason two of her four children do not go to school is lack of funds. Whenever I feel sorry for myself, I think of Odette. And it puts my life in perspective. Many of the young women of Rwanda are raising orphans. Remember many people were killed during the 1994 100 day genocide.

Within days, I received another letter. For some reason, it was delayed in its coming as it was a letter written by my sister from last year, Immaculee, which was originally written July 25, 2008 to me:

Dear Sponsor,

How are you? Let me hope that you are fine. I am also fine and doing well with all my family members and they all send you their best regards.

I have purposely written to you to say good-bye. I thank you for the support you have given me for a year, now. My wish has always been to see you, though it has not been possible. But I hope one day we shall meet. Through, your support, I have been able to build myself a house.

Did you receive my photo? I, who with my son, my mum and my neighbor. I request you to one day come and visit Rwanda. Maybe, we could meet. If you love to still write to me, I have sent my address to you. Send my regards to all your family members.

God bless you.

Immaculee

In 2005, I received a letter from my first sponsored sister, another Odette. And would like to include it here as well:

To my dear sponsor, Sandra. What is your news? Mine is fine and we are praising God.

I and my children, the orphans that I bring up, and my real mother referred to as mother number one and you being mother number two. I can't easily explain this unless God helped us to meet face to face.

Let me first say sorry, please forgive me, bear with me. I will send my photograph to you next time.

You required to know how I joined Women for Women International Rwanda. We were in a group of women with variable problems of being widows, and victims of H.I.V. AIDS. We had been grouped together by the Vice-Mayor of the locality. Personally, I have been a victim of H.I.V. AIDS for three years, and yet a widow. Then we were made to join the very organization.

Among my needs, I desire to see you face to face. I do request for your prayers, as it's very hard to bring up the children.

I was born in 1976. I am the first born, my father died and my mother is still alive and present with me. Please try to write to me frequently for it does good to me.

Thanks.

Odette

My other sister from Rwanda was Patricie. And I sponsored a sister from Iraq, Mariam, however for security reasons we were not allowed to exchange letters.

WomenForWomen.org
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Rwanda is moving forward
Uploaded by AegisTrust February 18, 2009

I met Edwin and Edward Mutanguha from Kigali, Rwanda a year and a half ago. They are in their second year at Salve Regina University here in Newport, Rhode Island. Both were keynote speakers at Rhode Island's Torch Relay Ceremony in 2007. Their mother, Odette Mukazi Mutanguha, who is pictured here with them, was a guest speaker at the Pell Center in Newport, RI, September 17, 2008. Her presentation was:
"Build a Better Africa: Working for Women, Human Rights, Education and Peace"

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Call President Obama at 202-456-1111
or 1-800-GENOCIDE
and pressure him to immediately take steps
to ensure the protection of civilians in Darfur!

An example of your phone call text can be found below.
It is encouraged that you make it personally your message. *

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And call the USA Secretary of State

The USA State Department public comment line works 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Please, call as soon as possible.

Call the State Department's public comment line 24/7 at 202-647-6575

The White House (9 AM - 5 PM EST weekdays) at 202-456-1111

or 1-800-GENOCIDE with a similar message as the one below.

If you have called already, please call again:

* I'm calling to ask President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton and Ambassador Rice to protect innocent civilians in Darfur in the wake of Bashir's arrest warrant. Please issue immediate warnings to Bashir and the government of Sudan specifying consequences of attacks on civilians. Please also prepare an emergency response plan to address further violence and appoint a full-time senior level envoy. Lastly, please stand firm in support of the ICC indictment and veto any delay in the prosecution of Bashir.

Call your Senators and Representative Today!

Find your elected politicians contact information at this link:

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
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Genocide Ends

When Enough of Us

Stand Up Against It

JOIN US
1-800-GENOCIDE
www.savedarfur.org
www.genocideintervention.net
www.standnow.org

www.miafarrow.org


Write President Obama
www.whitehouse.gov
You can also call or write to the President:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Comments to President Obama: 202-456-1111

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IF NOT,

THEN,

YOUR SILENCE

CONTRIBUTES

TO

ANOTHER

GENOCIDE.

www.savedarfur.org/content

A WEAPON OF WAR NEVER IN A MILITARY BUDGET

I have sponsored sisters through www.womenforwomen.org
for years. It is an annual commitment to sponsor her so that she can improve her life, her children's lives and her community ~ and therefore improve the world.
Letters and pictures are exchanged. If you can offer some help, please do.

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WAR
Edwin Starr
Uploaded by cooyah

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Uploaded by WomenforWomenIntl
Women Used as Weapons of War

Remember Darfur
www.darfurolympics.org

CONGOLESE WOMEN WHO ARE FULL OF GRACE AND RAPED BY MANKIND

HBO airs The Greatest Silence

I watched this excellent HBO documentary tonight. I wrote about it before We Are Given Love to Give It. It will air repeatedly. Please see it. As sad and demoralizing as it is, it is also a tribute to the women who show the rest of us their strength, humanity and grace. Also, there are some heroes in the film who are men. The women are speaking out when it would be the "normal" thing to curl up and die. So, we must listen. It takes a mature person to watch this story and get out of it what will benefit these people and the rest of us who are only mere parts of humanity. But it is the "mere parts" that make the whole. And we so need to be whole.

I took the text below from the HBO page on this documentary. Tomorrow night at 9:30 p.m. you have the opportunity to be on a conference call with the filmmaker and others who can tell you what you can do to be part of the solution. There is a link for this call below.


Shot in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this documentary feature explores the shocking plight of women and girls caught in the sexual crossfire as this giant African nation enters its second decade of internal conflict. Since 1998, a brutal war has ravaged the DRC, killing over 4 million people. Over the same time, tens of thousands of women and girls have been systematically kidnapped, raped, mutilated and tortured by soldiers - both from foreign militias and the Congolese army that is supposed to protect them. Emmy®-winning filmmaker Lisa F. Jackson, herself a survivor of gang rape, travels deep inside the DRC to understand what is happening and why. Her resultant film features interviews with survivors, activists, peacekeepers, physicians and, most chillingly, two groups of rapists who are soldiers of the Congolese Army. Above all, it highlights first-person accounts of dozens of rape survivors, who recount their stories with pulverizing honesty and immediacy. Heart-wrenching in its portrayal of the grotesque realities of life in Congo, the film also provides inspiring examples of resiliency, courage and grace, while serving as a call to action for anyone with a conscience.

The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo is a shocking exposé of a decade-old epidemic of kidnapping, rape and torture of women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Often carried out with impunity by gangs of armed militias, these atrocities leave survivors traumatized and isolated - shunned by society and their families, and suffering lifelong health effects, including HIV.

But perhaps the greatest tragedy, and danger, is that victims almost all remain silent about what they have suffered, too afraid and ashamed to speak out. As a result, the world is largely ignorant of their horrific plight and of the political conditions that allow it to continue.

Encompassing interviews with victims young and old, self-confessed rapists, activists, U.N. Peacekeepers, and woefully under-funded local law-enforcement officials, The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo documents Lisa F. Jackson's journeys to the war zones of eastern Congo to find survivors willing to bear witness to their experiences and break that silence. It is a film at once political and profoundly personal for Jackson, who was gang-raped by three men in Washington, D.C. at age 25. As evidence of her commitment to the film and the stories of these women, Jackson traveled alone to the DRC and performed all production functions (producer, director, DP, sound) while there.

The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo challenges audiences to wonder what dark forces are at work in a world that has tolerated such atrocities without offering victims either solace or justice. Greed seems to be one factor; criminal groups appear to be fanning the flames of civil war to perpetuate instability in the region while they plunder eastern Congo's natural riches of diamonds, gold and coltan (a metal used in cellphones and laptops). As many of the interviewees attest, systematic rape is an effective way to destroy the fabric of society. Yet those in power, as well as powerful nations like the U.S., are doing little to prevent this outrage. "Is there something about sexual violence that makes us all turn away?" asks Jackson. "In what inhuman context does rape become intentional, programmatic, a weapon of choice? Where are the voices of the women themselves? If they tell their stories, will others listen?"

Lisa F. Jackson has been involved in documentary filmmaking for over 30 years. Her work has earned her numerous accolades including two Emmy® Awards

Schedule

	Wed 4/9 08:00 PM			HBO2 - EAST
	Fri 4/11 01:40 AM			HBO - EAST
	Fri 4/11 01:40 AM			HBO LATINO - EAST
	Mon 4/14 10:30 PM			HBO - EAST
	Mon 4/14 10:30 PM			HBO LATINO - EAST
	Wed 4/23 12:35 AM			HBO - EAST
	Wed 4/23 12:35 AM			HBO LATINO - EAST
	Mon 4/28 11:15 PM			HBO SIGNATURE - EAST
	Tue 4/29 02:10 AM			HBO - EAST
	Tue 4/29 02:10 AM			HBO LATINO - EAST
	Wed 5/7 10:15 PM			HBO2 - EAST
	Tue 5/13 11:40 PM			HBO2 - EAST
	Thu 5/22 03:25 AM			HBO SIGNATURE - EAST
	Fri 5/30 01:05 AM			HBO2 - EAST

Starting April 9, the documentary will be available On Demand.

You can see clips on the HBO website of this documentary film. The Greatest Silence

Join activists and viewers across the country to watch the HBO premier of The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo, a shocking exposé of a decade-old epidemic of kidnapping, rape and torture of women and girls in the civil war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). ENOUGH, HBO and our partners have teamed up to coordinate and organize home screenings across the U.S. to view and discuss the film together. Screening the film is a great, informal way to gather friends, family, co-workers, students and neighbors to foster discussion around an important issue. Download ENOUGH's Congo card to learn more about the current situation in eastern Congo.

Join a Call with filmmaker, Lisa F. Jackson; ENOUGH Co-Chair, John Prendergast; and Director of Public Policy at the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Kiersten Stewart, the day after the film, April 9th at 9:30 p.m. After you have had a day to reflect on the film, this chat will give you the opportunity to hear from the filmmaker and discover practical ways that you can end violence against women in the DRC. Sign up here to participate in the call on April 9th.

Enough Project

Women for Women International

Coming to HBO Nanking
This gripping historical documentary brings to life the many voices who tried to make sense of one of the lesser-known tragedies of World War II: Japan's brutal 1937 invasion of China's then-capital city, known as "the rape of Nanking." Premieres Tuesday, April 29 at 7pm on CINEMAX.

Alive Day Memories (Iraq Soldiers' Stories)