Weekly News Article of Note, One day early

Nicolas Kristoff's Sunday column was too good to wait to share until tomorrow. Read and be inspired! Not a victim, but a hero

The Unimaginable

While there are a handful of classic literary heroines to look up to as a child, Nancy Drew, Jo March, etc., arguably the smartest, spunkiest, most imaginative, and most dedicated to social justice is Anne of Green Gables.

One of Anne’s pieces of sage advice that always stuck with me is, “It's all very well to read about sorrows and imagine yourself living through them heroically, but it's not so nice when you really come to have them, is it?"

It is often romantic to imagine sufferning and to imagine us emerging above it, but who would risk the romance for the pain? War in novels and films is often epic and beautiful, but in real life dirty and inhumane. In “Pretty Woman” the prostitute heroine is young, beautiful, and vibrant, seemingly untouched by the horrors of her industry.

And these are the horrors we can imagine; but, what about those that are completely unfathomable? Like the sex slave trade. Although this taboo subject is starting to be depicted more often, as in the extreme violence of action film “Taken,” the reality of the sex slave trade is largely ignored.

Women who are taken as sex slaves are often sold by their families, physically and mentally abused, and never recover.

Organizations like the Somaly Mam Foundation in Cambodia are fighting to help these women rehabilitate, but not without strong resistance. The daughter of Founder and former sex slave Somaly Mam, was kidnapped by traders and raped as a warning.

These are the kinds of sorrows impossible to imagine living through, let alone imagine living through heroically.

This Tuesday, July 28^th in New York City, The Body Shop, in partnership with Somaly Mam, is holding a rally “Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People” from 12:30-1:30 outside of St. Mark’s Church at 131 East 10^th Street.

Go if you can. We can make the unimaginable unable to ignore. As Anne would say, it is not so nice to live these sorrows ourselves, and luckily for most of us we don’t. We need to do our part to ensure that others do not either.

In fellowship and humanity,

CAFW

Weekly News Article of Note, 7.21.09

Each of us have books that shaped our lives, and for many of America's most powerful women, this series was it: Read here, NYT article on Nancy Drew series. 

Photos from Geneva

Photos from Cecilia's Recent trip to Geneva, where she spoke at the American International Club of Geneva.

Weekly News Article of Note, 7.14.09

Ladies--take off those pants, or get flogged: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8147329.stm

Devotion

According to a recent Non Profit Times article, in 2008 giving dropped $6.4 billion, the largest drop on record. Just as more people are appealing to homeless shelters, food kitchens, and other charitable organizations, more people are cutting back on their spending, tightening their proverbial belts.

To most, this hardly comes as a surprise. As Del Martin, Chair of Giving USA Foundation, said, “There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that charitable giving would go down.”

However, Martin goes on to say, “What we find remarkable is that individuals, corporations and foundations still provided more that $307 billion, despite the economic conditions.”

In this light, the glass doesn’t look half full, but it doesn’t look empty either.

If anything can be said about human beings, it is surely that we are remarkably resilient. We can survive heartbreak, war, and depression and come out the other end to recreate our lives. But not everyone makes it through.

And this is why we need to give. Do not see the record drop in giving as discouragement, but as incentive. It shows that however hard we took the economic crisis, we did not give up on each other. We still gave, and we can give more.

One definition of “to give” in the Oxford English Dictionary is to devote. Devotion to a greater cause is what will bring us through tough times dignity intact. Together, we can devote ourselves to our common humanity.

2008 showed us we couldn’t be crushed, 2009 can show us our full potential.

Give. I urge you to. Make a difference in the life of one other person, and start there. 

In Fellowship and Humanity,

CAFW

Nelson Mandela Children's Fund Photos

Photos from Cecilia's visit to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund in Johannesburg, South Africa. 

Weekly News Article of Note, 7.7.09

Check out this innovative program in Tanzania. Programs like this are what inspire us to work. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/world/africa/25orphan.html?ref=africa

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July! I hope you welcomed another year of independence with family, friends, good food and fireworks. 

In this spirit of celebration, I want to take a minute to honor what I see as being the best of America, the best of its character, the best of its essence.

This is the spirit of giving. Consistently, Americans are among the most generous people in the world donating the most money each year to charitable causes.

So what better way is there to honor the Independence of this fine nation than to give? Give to a cause you care about and give so that someone else may have the same wonderful opportunities and quality of life that most Americans enjoy.

To donate to the Cecilia Attias Foundation for Women please visit www.ceciliaattiasfoundation.org/donate