Women changing the world

I was doing a marathon catch-up of my recorded shows (nothing worse than being told you are running out of space and your next show to be recorded won't fit!) and on Oprah the topic was about women in those "bad places," who had risen above.

Really risen.

One story was about a woman named Terarai in Liberia who as a young girl wanted to go to school. That is all she wanted, and every day she did her brother's homework because her desire to learn was so strong. Eventually the school teacher realized that she was an avid learner and convinced her parents to let her attend class. But then, at the age of 11, she was married. This is how it is done. Women have no time or place to get educated; they have their roles as caregivers and baby makers.

When she was 18 and already had three kids; a woman from Heiffer International came to visit her village and collected the women in a circle and spoke to them. She told them that they should record their dreams on paper. This was the first time that Terarai had even contemplated the thought that you COULD have dreams. Considering that her life was one of being told what to do and her own inclinations and wants were never factored in; I suppose that makes sense. She was also beaten by her husband. Daily.

She wrote down her dreams on a piece of paper and buried them under a rock in a meadow. And then she got busy trying to make those dreams come true. She wanted to go to college; she wanted to receive her Masters and she wanted her PhD. She achieved the first two and this year she will realize the last. It is an inspiring story beyond words, really. A woman who has come sooooooo far. Makes me feel so insignificant. So pampered and damn lucky.

The stories continued and I was completely hit with the knowledge that we CAN help. Through microloans, these women are able to often create jobs that eventually end up supporting their families. The premise is fairly simple: For the most part, the men of these families can't work for whatever reason and so they beat their wives and let their children starve because they are helpless. Let's see -- they are given all the opportunity as children due to their penis status. And these women are told from the get-go they are NOTHING. But it has been found that when a woman in a country like the Congo is provided with a small bit of money and opportunity, she can spin it into gold.

These are rape victims, burnt and beaten and whom have lost children to tragic circumstances. And yet ... and yet ... they prevail. They are such a testament to the human spirit. They all made me feel so inspired.

Then they showed a shot of the women who sit in long, long lines hoping to get a sponsor. Because without one, they are still in the same position they always were. A sponsor is someone like you and me who spends $27 a month and basically buys a life for a woman in the Congo and other countries. A woman who has never had any opportunity before.

The Sponsorship Program links women in the US with women in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Rwanda and Sudan, who have survived war and conflict. Individual sponsorships are a direct, personal, hands-on way for women in the US and elsewhere to help marginalized women in post-conflict countries. The sponsor provides $27 in monthly financial support that provides direct financial aid, training and other services to women participants. In addition, the sponsor and the woman exchange letters. For a woman who may have lost everything or who feels isolated from the world, letters of support and encouragement help renew her hope for a better future.

There is a woman who lives locally who created a program called the WomensTrust, and she provides microlending to a village in Ghana. I just spent some time researching that -- trying to decide where help is most needed. My gut tells me that I need to begin with sponsoring a woman in the Congo. Women for Women International on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

For a little over $300 a year I can change the lives of so many people. (One woman is able to provide for her family and then send her children to school and so on.) One act can completely alter the path for many.

For the cost of a couple pairs of shoes;

or three dinners out;

or a plane ticket.

I'm in.