Mobilizing Women

There’s a Chinese proverb that says, “When sleeping women wake, mountains move.” Idelette McVicker encourages us to wake up and take on the mountains of our world. There’s something you can do.

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Rape a “Weapon of War” in Eastern Congo

An epidemic of brutal sexual violence plagues the region where women are being raped with impunity. “It’s a strategy of war,” says Justine Masika who works for a Goma-based NGO that helps victims of sexual violence in North Kivu.

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Iraq’s Orphans Face Uncertain Future

Politicians in Iraq are calling for better care and support for the growing number of orphans. Most orphans are taken in by family members, but due to Iraq’s weak economy and high inflation many of those families barely make ends’ meet themselves.

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Be Careful What You Wish For

“Perhaps Afghanistan is best appreciated from afar, where the daily danger and discomfort are magically transformed into romance and adventure,” writes Jean MacKenzie in Kabul. “This, at least, is the explanation I have devised for my increasingly contradictory relationship with this fascinating and maddening country.”

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Mission to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

What is it like to live in one of Canada’s poorest neighbourhoods? What is it like to experience homelessness, hunger and poverty? What is it like to be a woman caught in the cycle of prostitution and addiction? Invest one week of your life to live in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and experience the challenging circumstances these women face daily.

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Human Trafficking 101

Shirley Love Rayburn introduces us to Human Trafficking, the horror of modern-day slavery. “The key statistic that compelled me to action was that 80 percent of people trafficked are women; 50 percent are children. Those numbers woke me up and I was hungry to learn more.”

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