Yesterday I wrote about my feelings of helplessness related to the widespread rape, mutilation and destruction of women in the Congo at the hands of both rebel and government forces. While I would have loved to offer some some answers, I was sure when I wrote the piece that it would be impossible for a woman like me to make a difference in the lives of these women who are suffering so horribly a world away. When I Tweeted the post, my friend Hollie responded that her coworker, Dan Madinabeitia, is running 50 miles in one day for the women of the Congo. I have to admit that I am sometimes skeptical about this kind of fundraising, but I decided to check it out. 

I’m so glad I did. 

You see Dan is running in conjunction with Run For Congo Women, an organization founded by a woman named Lisa Shannon. Lisa knew nothing of the war in Congo or the plight of Congolese women until she watched a program on the Oprah Winfrey Show several years ago and was moved to act. First she started Run For Congo Women. Then she moved from Portland, Oregon to the Congo to provide hands on assistance to the women she’d been helping from a distance. Lisa and the women she works with tell the story better than I ever could in the hard-to-watch clip below. I hope it inspires you to support Dan in his run and Lisa in her efforts to support the victims of the chaos in Congo.