I often feel overwhelmed by the feeling that I am so tiny and insignificant to this world, that I can’t possibly make a difference… With all the pain and suffering I read about, it’s sometimes discouraging, to say the least… And then I remember that I don’t have to do it all at once… Sometimes it just takes a single baby step in the right direction…
Well today, thanks to an amazing humanitarian organization called CARE, I was able to take another baby step by exercising some personal agency… CARE is a non-profit NGO that focuses on fighting poverty by utilizing the most under-valued resource in most developing countries… WOMEN. CARE is currently supporting a much needed bipartisan bill called the International Violence Against Women Act (S 2982 and HR 4594)…
James Martineau once said that “we are each of us responsible for the evil we might have prevented.” So don’t let this kind of evil continue unchallenged. Through the CARE website, I was able to send a simple letter to my senators/representatives in support of IVAWA (which I’ve posted below)… And you can too! Consider it a little good-deed for the day… :-)
It’s really simple… Just go to https://my.care.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=471&s_src=redlinkadvo093006pm&s_subsrc=fbadvo&utm_source=redlinkadvo093006pm&utm_medium=fb&utm_term=askrep&utm_content=IVAWA&utm_campaign=sm_redIVAWAask, put in your address and information, and send a letter of support. Just to get the process started I copied the personal letter I sent in below… Good luck!
I will never forget the first time I sat face to face with a victim of domestic violence. Her name was Sarah. We were only a few years apart in age, yet our worlds were wildly different. I was an enthusiastic American biomedical engineering student reveling in the opportunity to provide medical aid abroad; she was a young Kenyan mother of two whose husband thought she had was less valuable than his small herd of cattle. The memory that is seared in my mind is not merely of the massive lashes and scars that covered her back. Over the time I spent holding her hand while a nurse treated her wounds, she never said a single word. Her face, however, told me volumes. It told a story of hardship and neglect; of lost chances and limited choices. And the only thing that I still cannot find the ability to reconcile, is that that could have been me.
As a young American woman, I have been born to incredible wealth and privilege. I have been born into a country that affords me freedoms and protections that I aspire to one day deserve. I am constantly reminded, however, that my good fortune to be born into a loving family and within a free democratic nation is not universal. Sarah was never afforded that option. She did not ask to be born to a society that considers her a bargaining tool for cattle, or to a family that would force her into an unwilling marriage, or to a husband that believes his actions are justified because, as he told me, "she is only a woman." She is not just a woman. She is a human being with hopes and dreams. A person with the ability to feel love and loss. She is member of a global community that has a moral responsibility to protect her if she is too weak to protect herself.
As your constituent, I am writing to strongly urge you to co-sponsor the bipartisan International Violence Against Women Act (S 2982 and HR 4594).
The International Violence Against Women Act, or IVAWA, is a landmark piece of legislation currently moving through Congress that would increase the effectiveness of U.S .foreign policy to address violence against women and girls worldwide. IVAWA would create a comprehensive strategy to address violence women and girls globally, integrating efforts to prevent and respond to violence within U.S. foreign assistance programs and supporting local organizations working to address violence against women and girls.
During these challenging economic times, IVAWA is a smart and critically important bill; it will make foreign assistance programs more effective and efficient, increase transparency and accountability, and set clear methods to measure outcomes and better track U.S. funds.
The time to act is now. Women and girls around the world, like Sarah, are waiting for the U.S. to take a stand with them to prevent horrific acts of violence. I urge you to co-sponsor IVAWA and vote for the legislation when it comes to the House and Senate floors for consideration in the coming weeks.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
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