Several months ago, I watched an Oprah show that impacted me in a profound way.  She highlighted a story about a woman who lived in a rural African village who, through the help and support of an international organization for women, managed to come to America, and achieve the highest academic honor: a doctoral degree.  Tererai Trent’s story is an extremely powerful and poignant one that many women in this country never experience let alone understand.  All too often secondary education in this country is taken for granted as a rite of passage.  In places like Africa, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe, it is an unattainable aspiration for many women. Oprah has said many times, “We are lucky to be born in this country!” She is right indeed.

As I watched stories of women in Kenya, Bosnia, and Afghanistan, I sat, teary-eyed, ashamed that just before the show began, had been indulging in my own pity party.  This year has been difficult financially for many people and, in my own family, it has been no different.  So moved by Tererai’s story and the organization that helped her, I felt compelled to join the cause to help women – my sisters – across the world in a way that could possibly change their life.  My life is one of luxury and advantage, a life that many of these women have never known.  Women for Women International helps women transition from victim to survivor to be an active participant in their own education. W2W provides financial assistance through sponsorships from people like me as well as job training, rights awareness and leadership education for their local area.  I am especially excited because, as a sponsor for $27 a month, I am paired with a woman in a country where the need is the greatest.  I will be able to communicate with her, support her, and applaud her progress over the next twelve months as she works through the program.

Before the Oprah show was over that day, I signed up in anticipation of making a difference in a woman’s life.  I allowed the organization to find the woman (you can request a specific country) and, just last week, was introduced through a letter to my sister across the miles.  Exhilarated, I opened the package from W2W and read about Shakila Nawroz, the woman with whom I will be corresponding.  She lives in Afghanistan and is 35 years of age.   The letter states she is married and cares for five children.  She is a survivor of a war-impacted village and, because of the cultural differences in our respective societies, I may not “know” her for awhile.  The process of understanding each other will be slow yet heartfelt on each end.  I am looking forward to learning about her and from her about how she copes with issues in her life.

Tomorrow, I will send my first letter to her with pictures.  I am told it may take several months to receive a return letter from her.  In the meantime, I will study about her country, her language (Persian “Dari”) and specific challenges they face.  And also, I will wait in anticipation for my first correspondence from Shakila.

(** The image of young Sharbat Gula on the right was made famous on the cover of National Geographic magazine in 1985.  Can you guess her age in the second picture?  If you guessed 40, your are wrong.  She is 29 years of age but looks to be about 40.  The average life expectancy for women in in Afghanistan is about 44 years.)

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