As you may know, Lisa Shannon, the founder of Run For Congo Women, was recently on Oprah promoting Women for Women International and Run for Congo Women. The response to the show was huge and now Oprah is interested in doing a follow up show based on A Thousand Sisters, a novel Lisa has written based upon her experiences in the Congo.

The show would also like to feature stories of Women for Women International sponsors and their sisters. Oprah wants to hear how you have been impacted by the sponsorship experience. We need you to tell your stories! We encourage you to click on this link (https://www.oprah.com/plugform.jsp?plugId=3031371&referer=http://www.oprah.com/pluglist.jsp?teamTypeName=TOWS) and share the story of both you and your sister with Oprah!

On Monday, October 26th, join Zainab Salbi and hundreds of other Women for Women International supporters from around the globe for a webchat. The converstation will be called “Our Blueprint for Peace: Safe Havens for Women”.

Through our Women’s Opportunity Centers (WOCs), for the first time in their lives, women survivors of war will have a place to call their own. The WOCs will be more than just buildings. They will be at the very heart of the community filled with women who are learning, growing, gaining new skills, and taking control of their lives.

We want to hear from you, so please feel free to enter in any of your thoughts, ideas, or questions.

Join us October 26th, 3:00pm ET/12:00pm PT. Talk to you then!

Women for Women International wants to invite you to watch “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” October 1^st, 2009 to hear Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, authors of “Half the Sky,” discuss their focus on the global movement to end the oppression of women across the world.

Lisa Shannon, founder of Run for Congo Women, will also talk to Oprah about her mission for the Congolese women.

Be sure to tell your friends to tune in to “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and see how women and men around the world are doing their part to join the movement!

Women for Women International wants to invite you to tune into the TODAY Show Friday, September 25th during the 8:00am and 9:00am hours.

During the 8:00am hour, the Run for Congo Women New York volunteers will be talking about Run for Congo Women.

During the 9:00am hour, Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO of Women for Women International, will be interviewed by Ann Curry.

We are so excited to be featured on the TODAY Show and we hope that you and your friends will have a chance to tune in!

You may have read last Sunday’s compelling article, “The Women’s Crusade,” in The New York Times Magazine.  Authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn wrote about how a renewed focus on the world’s women and girls can lead to the end of many of the world’s ills.  About how “women and girls aren’t the problem, they’re the solution.”

In the article, Kristof and WuDunn tell the story of Claudine Mukakarisa, a graduate of our program in Rwanda.  Claudine had been held captive and raped repeatedly during the genocide.  She gave birth to the child of one of her rapists.  Traumatized and with no skills to support her children, Claudine came to the doors of the Women for Women International offices in Kigali. Claudine was matched with her sponsor, Murvelene, of New York.  After graduation from the program, Claudine took the skills she had learned and began making and selling beadwork.  With her earnings she can now send her children to school and buy the necessities to build a happy and healthy family.

Your continued support helps make stories like this a reality!  To learn more about Kristof and WuDunn’s article and upcoming book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, please click here.  You’ll also find ways to get involved through sharing the messages in “The Women’s Crusade” with your friends and family.

The San Francisco Leadership Circle on behalf of Women for Women International invites you to a screening of the riveting film, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, on the evening of Thursday, September 10th.

When: Thursday, September 10, 2009.  Mixer begins at 6:00pm.  Film begins at 7:00pm, and will be followed by a Q&A at 8:15pm.
Where: The Cowell Theater at Fort Mason Center at the intersection of Marina Boulevard and Buchanan Street in San Francisco.  Parking is safe and easy.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell tells the remarkable story of the Liberian women who came together courageously and nonviolently to bring peace to their shattered country, forcing a resolution after peace talks had stalled.  This is a film that illustrates the perseverance of women and their ability to impact change in their communities and nations.

To order your tickets, which are $25 and include wine and cheese, please visit http://www.fortmason.org/boxoffice/index.shtml.

Proceeds from this screening benefit Women for Women International.  We hope you will join us!

In celebration of the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, Fork Films is releasing Pray the Devil Back to Hell, and is inviting organizations to participate in its grassroots screening. Pray the Devil Back to Hell tells the extraordinary story of a group of Liberian women who united to stop a civil war and to bring peace to their country, and is a tribute to women who advocate for peace worldwide. The film has already been shown by the Council on Foreign Relations, Human Rights Watch, and the World Economic Forum in Davos, and will continue its tour in small venues this September. As part of the celebration of the International Day of Peace, the United Nations hopes to spread the message of solidarity and to inspire those who fight for peace around the world.

For more information about Pray the Devil Back to Hell’s Global Peace Tour, and to find out how you can bring the film to your community, please click here.

To learn more about Women for Women International, please click here.

"The Stoning of Soraya M."

“The Stoning of Soraya M.,” the moving film about a woman wrongly persecuted in a rural Iranian village, will begin showing June 26^th, 2009 in a variety of theaters across the country. This provocative film demonstrates the injustices many women experience in their daily lives, and highlights one woman’s struggle to finally let the world know about her village’s ugliest, most guarded secret. Seeing “The Stoning of Soraya M.” is a wonderful opportunity to witness an incredible story and beautiful filmmaking.

For a complete list of theaters that will be showing “The Stoning of Soraya M.,” please click here.

For more information about the film, please click here.

To learn more about Women for Women International, please click here.

When Kate Lillie first learned about the situation facing Rwandan women back in 2005, she was distraught by the violence and poverty these women were facing. But she was determined to help. She began to host pot-luck dinners at her ceramic studio, Your Plate or Mine in Muskegon Michigan. “Here’s to good women,” she wrote on her invitation to a March 24 potluck. “May we know them … May we be them … May we raise them.” Each woman brought a dish to pass around and donated the money they would have spent going out to dinner to Women for Women International. Kate’s potlucks have made such an impact that Columnist Susan Harrison Wolffis wrote the article, “It’s what good women do”,  published in Muskegon Opinion to highlight Kate’s efforts.

Kate says, “A group of good women armed with good hopes and a little money can make a difference. That is what good women do.”

You can read more about Women for Women International’s work in Rwanda here.

Learn how you can host your own pot-luck dinner or event to help support Women for Women International by visiting our Get Involved! Page.

Donna and Caroline’s Gazelle Truck with WfWI logo

Last year, Donna DeWick and Caroline Boyes, of London, UK trained extensively and participated in The Rallye Aicha des Gazelles (Rally of the Gazelles), a two week, all-women rally through the landscapes and deserts of Morocco. Donna and Caroline used this opportunity to support women survivors of war and raised over $2000 for Women for Women International’s programs. Read more about Donna and Caroline’s amazing journey here.

ESPN recently highlighted this two week competition and celebration of women’s strength and resilience in ESPN Magazine. You can watch the video about the rally on ESPN’s website.

This year’s Rally of the Gazelles 2009 is underway now. Visit their website for clips and updates about the 100 teams of women that are trekking across Morocco in this intense competition