Dear Susan,

Hopefully you've heard the good news by now – yesterday, because of your fast-acting calls and emails sent to Congress during the final moments before a critical vote on women's human rights, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to make the U.S. Office for Global Women's Issues permanent.

This major victory just proves that when you speak up for human rights, the people in power do listen. It may have taken us a lot of effort to seal the deal, but today, the fight seems well worth it. Because of you, the doors are now opened for major advancements in combating violence against women and improving women's health care, education, and economic stability.

Thank you for taking action to help empower women worldwide! We'll continue to keep you posted as the bill moves on to the Senate before finally landing on President Obama's desk.

In Solidarity,

Katie, Betsy, Chris, Meredith and the rest of the Stop Violence Against Women Campaign team

Related links:
Amnesty International

Susan notes: I have sponsored a young girl in Senegal for the last three years through Plan Canada . This letter from Rosemary McCarney, CEO, of Plan Canada about world hunger struck a chord with me, especially after my visit to Malaysia where food plays such a central role in society. Find more information about Plan International here.

Dear Plan Supporter:

Summer is on its way and in many parts of Canada we’re welcoming the reappearance of local fruits and vegetables at our farmer’s markets. Some of us are worrying about frost, watching for the right moment to plant the backyard or community garden plot or to put a pot of fresh herbs on the balcony. By world standards, relatively few Canadians are worrying that we won’t have food for our families.

The situation is vastly different where Plan works. Last summer, Plan wrote a position paper on the growing global food crisis called “The World is Hungry.” We described a world suffering from an unprecedented crisis that threatened the survival of over 850 million people living in the poorer countries of the globe. We outlined the factors driving it – global distortions in food markets, severe under-investment in agriculture, food diverted for other uses like biofuel, increased energy prices and a changing climate. We proposed a twelve-point plan to address the situation.

Susan notes: I met the beautiful and amazing Ann Njeri at the Initiatives of Change Tools for Change conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in February 2009.

Although still a relatively young (she’s in her mid-twenties), Ann Njeri bowled me over with her confidence, energy, positive outlook and wit. Over a period of three days, I had the pleasure of sharing 12 hours with her and a group of about ten other women from around the world in a Peace Circle led by Jean Brown and Ann Njeri herself. It was a moving and transformational experience.

Several days later I interviewed Ann Njeri on video, but have been unable to extract the footage I shot of her telling her powerful story of personal forgiveness. Luckily, she also had a soft copy, which you can read here.

Ann Njeri sent the email below to her circle of friends, which I imagine spans the globe. It’s a thought-provoking piece from a brave young woman.

Dear friend,
 
The Action for Life programme is now officially finished!

The seven and a half months programme has passed so fast that I feel like it has just been seven days. But in terms of the experience gained, it’s difficult not to think that I have been in this programme for seven years! Talk of inspirations, motivations, enriching, enlightening, challenges and hopes all round the programme. There is no doubt that this is one of the few periods and times of my life that I can never regret. A period that will always stand out in the journey of my life.

I have had the privilege and honour of meeting and interacting with policy makers as well as the policy implementers, street children as well as the children of the state leaders. I visited peaceful people and places as well as troubled people and places. I can not overlook the fact that in the midst of all this, I was living in a very diverse community of 35 people from 18 countries- Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Free thinkers...and what have you!

Susan notes: I have sponsored a young girl in Senegal for the last three years through Plan Canada. I thought this email, which I received just before International Women's Day (March 8, 2009), was worth sharing. Find more information about Plan International here.

Dear Plan Sponsor,
One of the real joys of my work is that I get to meet so many smart, energetic, talented women from around the world.

Many of them are mothers, like me, so it’s usually very easy to find topics of conversation that we can relate to: the constant juggling act of running a household, getting the right balance between sheltering children from harm and nurturing independence, and trying to be a role model and instill strong values, recognizing that our children are growing up in a very different world than we did.