I just discovered this site tonight and was riveted...I seriously spent all night reading, learning and grieving...and yet I couldn't help but find some hope and joy in the work that this organization is doing in some of the most difficult places in the world. I would really really encourage you to take a look at their website - it is very informative, very humbling, very sad in a lot of ways. But like I said, there is an element of hope and of promise to it as well.
I have been challenged in these last few days with the words of the Father as he urges us in places like the book by Matthew chapter 5 to put others before ourselves, to look out for the poor and the downtrodden. Isaiah also talks about this. I heard not too long ago that there are 2000 references in our Holy Book to the Father caring about the poor and downtrodden...I guess He means it huh? I have been challenged lately by this quote by Steven Colbert
“If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we’ve got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition — and then admit that we just don’t want to do it.”
And so I leave you with that quote and some sobering facts from the Women For Women International site.
WHY DO WE WORK IN AFGHANISTAN?
Each time you vote, you fear for your life.
Your legal system does not protect you from violence and rape.
If you try to go to school, you risk being attacked.
This is today's Afghanistan.
In recent years, a resurgence in Taliban forces, human trafficking and armed warlords have destroyed the status and safety of Afghan women. But they have hope — and the determination to strive — for a better future.
The average salary is just 48 cents a day
On average, Afghan women give birth to seven children
In a 2008 survey of 4,700 Afghan women, 87.2% had experienced at least one form of physical, sexual or psychological violence or forced marriage in their lifetimes
85.1% of women have no formal education
74% of girls drop out of school by 5th grade
Only 1% of girls in rural communities attend school
Nearly 79% of women are illiterate
WHY DO WE WORK IN BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA?
Women for Women International exists because of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In 1993, Women for Women International Founder and CEO Zainab Salbi heard reports of wartime atrocities against women in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Compelled to act, she visited the country herself.
She spoke with women who'd been imprisoned in rape camps, endured daily mass rapes by soldiers and had lost their entire families to ethnic cleansing.
When she returned to the U.S., she founded Women for Women International to help Bosnian women.
Although the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was more than 15 years ago, it toppled the economy and shattered lives, and women are still struggling today: to heal, to recover and to reunite.
During the war, nearly 33% of all hospitals were damaged or destroyed.
During the war, 60% of all homes were bombed.
During the war, 50% of all schools were destroyed.
During the war, 60% of livestock were killed.
Today, 32.9% of women are unemployed, making them easy targets for prostitution or traffickers.
Today, leftover landmines make farming deadly.
WHY DO WE WORK IN DR CONGO?
Imagine that you never feel safe, not even in your own home.
You are perpetually at risk of violence, rape, theft, famine and disease.
You, or someone close to you, has been the innocent victim of an endless, senseless and brutal war.
This is today's DR Congo.
45,000 people in DR Congo are expected to die each month – some from military action; most from lack of safe access to food, clean water and medical treatment.
50% of all deaths in DR Congo are children under the age of five.
200,000 Congolese women are rape survivors.
5.4 million people in DR Congo have died since the start of the war.
76% of DR Congo citizens have been personally affected by the war, or suffered its wider consequence.
More than 5.2 million children in DR Congo receive no education.
WHY DO WE WORK IN IRAQ?
Iraq is plagued by controversial leadership and a lack of infrastructure, transforming the situation for women from one of relative autonomy and security before the war into a national crisis. Violence against women has radically increased: Female Iraqi professionals are targeted for abduction and murder.
Two wars, an authoritarian regime and U.N. sanctions have crippled Iraq, and today, most Iraqis struggle to meet their most basic needs. Many women are widowed and most live in poverty.
Of Women for Women International-Iraq program participants surveyed, 70% cannot afford daily, basic necessities.
Of Women for Women International-Iraq program participants surveyed, 51% are unable to pay for medical care.
Of Women for Women International-Iraq program participants surveyed, 90% are not engaged in productive work.
Of Women for Women International-Iraq program participants surveyed, 57.5% cannot read or write more than their name.
Of Women for Women International-Iraq program participants surveyed, more than 50% have no access to electricity or water.
WHY DO WE WORK IN KOSOVO?
Kosovo was the site of ethnic cleansing, mass rapes and looting during the Balkan Wars in the 1990s.
In 2008, the disputed area of Kosovo split from Serbia to become its own country. Although most of the country savors its hard-won independence, tensions between ethnic groups still run high, and the country is struggling to find its way as a new nation.
Bearing the heaviest burdens of post-war reconstruction are Kosovo's women. Many are widows, who must provide for their families alone. Persistent gender inequality coupled with a 44.2 percent unemployment rate makes this nearly impossible. Unemployment disproportionately affects young women and those with a limited education. The per capita income in Kosovo is just $2,500 a year–among the very lowest in Europe.
Kosovo has beautiful, fertile land that goes unused. It has rich natural resources that remain untapped. And its women are desperate to prove that they can contribute to their fledgling nation.
81.5% of Kosovo's women said they have no access to information about the laws in their country and 66.7% said they don't know how to find this information.
62.8% of women are unemployed, making them easy targets for human traffickers.
37% of Kosovo's population lives in poverty, with 15% living in extreme poverty.
44.2% of all Kosovo's citizens are unemployed.
Kosovo imports 80% of what it consumes.
WHY DO WE WORK IN NIGERIA?
Imagine that you are a second-class citizen.
As a child, you weren't allowed to progress beyond grammar school. You were sold into marriage. Your husband is legally allowed to beat and rape you.
Ethnic tension erupts, claims lives and then simmers down in constant cycles. You know you could be left a widow at any time, without any means of supporting your family.
This is today's Nigeria. More than 30 years of military rule created a legacy of violence, ruined infrastructure and wide-scale corruption. But its women have hope for the future.
10 out of 36 Nigerian states have laws allowing husbands to use physical force against their wives.
60% of women have endured genital-cutting–and in some southern regions as high as 100% have undergone the practice.
Women are often forced to marry very young.
Martial rape is not considered a crime.
Hundreds of Nigerian women are sold into human trafficking to "repay" debts.
Among Women for Women International-Nigeria participants, 64% cannot read or write.
Among Women for Women International-Nigeria participants, 38% have no formal education.
Among Women for Women International-Nigeria participants, 87% have no electricity or running water in their homes.
WHY DO WE WORK IN RWANDA?
Imagine you lost everyone you loved in a senseless and terrifying month of violence.
During the massacre, you had a choice: kill or be killed. You saw your friends and neighbors turned into murderers, rapists, looters or torturers.
You cannot forget. But you must continue to live—with yourself and with the people around you. Years later, you still have bad dreams. And your country is still struggling to recover.
You live in poverty, raising a family on your own. You adopted children who were orphaned by genocide and AIDS and raised them as yours, sharing what little you have.
This is today's Rwanda.
During the 1994 genocide, more than 800,000 Rwandans were murdered, and 200,000 more displaced.
During the 1994 genocide, up to 500,000 women and girls were raped and tortured.
Today, Rwanda is more than 70% female.
Today, more than 1/3 of households are run by women; 80% of those are run by impoverished widows.
Among Women for Women International-Rwanda Participants, 64% are illiterate and 38% have had no formal education.
Among Women for Women International-Rwanda Participants, 96% have no electricity or running water in their homes.
Among Women for Women International-Rwanda Participants, 70% have lost a family member due to conflict or war.
WHY DO WE WORK IN SUDAN?
Imagine you live in a country that has been at war with itself for 40 years.
Imagine that your odds of dying in childbirth are greater than your odds of completing primary school. You don't have access to medical care, school or even clean water. Your children are in danger of starvation, disease or being abducted by rebels as sex slaves or child soldiers. Most likely, you live in a refugee camp and are on the run from violence.
You have nothing. You own nothing—especially not land.
This is today's Southern Sudan.
In Southern Sudan, one in six pregnant women die in childbirth.
In Southern Sudan, one in six babies dies before their first birthday.
In Southern Sudan, 90% live on less than one dollar every day.
In the forty-year civil war, 2 million have died.
In the forty-year civil war, 2 million women have been raped.
In the forty-year civil war, 4 million have fled their homes.
In the forty-year civil war, 700,000 people live in refugee camps.
Among Women for Women International-Sudan Participants, 96% cannot read or write.
Among Women for Women International-Sudan Participants, 97% have had no formal education.
Among Women for Women International-Sudan Participants, 99% have no electricity or running water in their homes.
Among Women for Women International-Sudan Participants, 78% have lost a family member due to conflict or war.
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