Hello, friends and family!
This July, I am going to use all of my vacation time (and way more than all of my vacation savings) to travel to Tanzania and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise money and awareness for victims of sexual violence in the Congo and Uganda.
Here's why I'm going: Unthinkable things happen to the women in these countries every day. Because of my work at Glamour, I have to think about these atrocities--write about them, meet women who have lived through them--every day. I can't do this job effectively if I don't know I'm doing something, however small, to help.
This story will help you understand what I'm talking about:
http://www.glamour.com/magazine/2007/08/rape-in-the-congo
And here’s a little bit about the amazing woman I'm going to be climbing with:
http://www.glamour.com/magazine/2008/07/cindi-letter
I am going to climb this mountain. There's a decent chance I'll get altitude sickness and have to slide down on my bottom like a ninny (read: like Ann Curry.) But that's OK because you kind people are going to help me raise money--and that money is going to save lives no matter what kind of mountaineer I turn out to be.
Thank you, as ever, for your continued love and support—and don't forget to forward this to anyone you think might want to donate, too!
Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts. Every little bit will make an impact and makes an impact in someone's life, so thank you for your support!!
Below is a whole bunch of information about our climb and the direct ways it will help women in children. If you have more questions about the program (or, better yet, if you want to join us in the climb!) please email me at genevieve.roth@gmail.com
ABOUT THE CONGO AND UGANDA:
These two countries have been torn apart by civil wars, of which women and children are the greatest victims. In Uganda, a 21-year civil war has left an estimated 1.6 million displaced, many of whom have been victims of rape and gender-based violence. During the conflict, the Lord’s Resistance Army forced approximately 66,000 Ugandan children to become soldiers or sex slaves.
In the Congo, war has taken the lives of approximately 5.4 million people, more than any conflict since World War II, and left another 3 million homeless. The Congo wars have also produced some of the most horrific cases of gender-based violence in the world, with more than 56,000 women reporting being raped since 2004 alone. This estimate, reported by the UN, is likely to be quite low as many rape survivors choose not to come forward.
Climbers are asked to raise $3,000 in sponsorships to support International Medical Corps’ gender-based violence prevention, nutritional, and mental health care programs benefitting] the women and children in these two war-torn countries.
One of the programs you will support through this climb is the construction of a new reproductive health center in the Congo that will train physicians and nurse anesthetists in complicated gynecological procedures and improve women’s access to quality medical services. Currently, there is only one hospital in the country that specializes in helping victims of sexual violence (the one that Glamour wrote about), leaving many women at risk of not receiving any care at all. In a country where as many as two-thirds of women have been raped, the new reproductive health center is a critical addition that will protect the health of thousands of women and children who otherwise may never have received care.
For more information on International Medical Corps visit:www.imcworldwide.org