Women for Women International is a non-profit organization
dedicated to providing opportunities to women in war-torn areas of the
world. Women are often the forgotten
victims of war; they are usually not active participants, but their lives are
disrupted in significant ways. Their
husbands are often killed or away fighting.
They become refugees when their villages and homes are destroyed. They are brutalized by that most terrible of
war tactics, rape.
Most of these women are responsible for the care of one or
more children; usually their own, but often those of extended family or
neighbors. With war disrupting the local
economy – and many of these regions already in dire economic straits – the
usual means of supporting one’s family are gone.
Women for Women helps women in these areas through
and sponsorships. Sponsoring a woman
gives her a little money each month to support herself and her children: to
purchase food, to pay school tuition and hospital bills. Another portion of the monthly sponsorship is
set aside in a savings account that she receives at the end of the one-year
program. The remainder is used to
provide educational programs in healthcare, basic rights, reading and math, and
small business skills. The goal is for
the woman to have a more solid footing in life and a means of supporting
herself and her family.
I have been sponsoring one woman each year for the past
three years. Women for Women works in Nigeria,
Kosovo, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Sudan,
Afghanistan, and Iraq, and I chose the Congo.
My current Congolese sister is Pascasie Shakuru Ntaganda. I have just been matched with her and don’t
know too much about her yet, other than she is married and is caring for three
children. Besides monthly monetary
support, sponsors are encouraged to write to their sisters. It is awkward at first, because you feel it
is bragging to describe your vastly more comfortable life to a person who has
so little, but W for W assures us that the women enjoy hearing about us and
seeing photos. Mostly, they want to know
that someone out there is thinking about them and cares about them.
Please visit their website and consider sponsoring a woman
in need.
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