Women's Media Nation | Social, political, and cultural issues relating to women

Run for Congo Women

posted by Pretty Tough | Girls Who Are Fun Fierce & Feminine
Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 4:22pm CDT

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This is pretty good.

A few weeks ago, the New York Times Magazine highlighted a number of individuals as part of a series about grassroots work being done worldwide to help others in need. One of the women profiled, along with her mission, caught our attention.

Lisa Shannon’s life changed in 2006 while watching an episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” on which Women for Women International founder and CEO Zainab Salbi was explaining the crisis facing women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

“I learned about Congo, widely called the worst place on earth to be a woman,” Lisa said. “Awakened to the atrocities—millions dead, women being raped and tortured, children starving and dying in shocking numbers—I had to do something.”

Moved by DRC survivors’ stories, Lisa took action, sponsoring two women in the DRC and starting a program called Run for Congo Women.

Lisa began running alone, raising nearly $28,000 on her first run. The movement has since expanded to runs and walks throughout the United States. Run for Congo Women participants have raised more than $600,000—enough money to sponsor 1,444 women in the DRC.

Now, volunteers work hard planning Run for Congo Women events in communities across and beyond the US. These events raise local awareness about the Congo while raising funds for the program. If you want to participate in this global run/walk movement benefiting Women for Women International’s Congo program, be sure to visit the Run For Congo Women website.

P.S. If you don’t see a Run for Congo Women event near you, plan your own!

Keep up with the cause online

To learn more about Lisa and women in the DRC, check out her book, A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman
or visit the website at www.athousandsisters.com.