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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2007)
16 lUStOUt JUNE lb. 2W>_____________ northwest Run for Dignity Portland woman's compassion reaches the Congo by Andrea Shanafelt t may be cliché the way it all began: with sort of sentiment that has been echoed in the inter Oprah Winfrey, of course. But the way it national community. With our silence, we’re saying turned out is anything but clichéd. On the that their lives are worthless. To do nothing would contrary, it’s a surprising story of how one [ be making that statement. I needed to find a way to woman’s sudden and unexpected need to act make the opposite statement, to say that these lives transformed countless lives—including her own— matter." and started a global movement. Her solution? To run 30 miles along Portland’s Portlander Lisa Shannon, a photographer and Wildwood trail and raise enough money to sponsor independent filmmaker, three years ago found herself 30 women for one year through the charitable shaken to the core by an episode of Opro/i. It focused organization Women for Women International. on the war in the Democratic Republic of Qingo and A sponsorship for one woman costs $27 a month, the devastation it was wreaking on women and chil which provides discretionary income, seed money dren. She heard stories of women whose lives had for small-business development and human rights been shattered by myriad forms of violence and of and leadership training. children who didn’t live to see their 5th birthdays. As Nobody joined Shannon that first year. shocking as these stories were, Shannon found it Nevertheless, she raised enough money to sponsor even more disturbing that rhe atrocities weren’t being 80 women and caught the attention of the media, covered in the mainstream media. and in 2006 a Run for Congo Women was held in She learned more about Congo. The violence 10 states and four countries. The movement had began in 1998, initially spreading across the border developed a momentum of its own. after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The conflict, Nobody was more surprised than Shannon. dubbed “Africa’s first world war,” escalated as “I think I was shocked, actually. I really thought various groups vied for control of the country’s rich 1 would do my run my first year and that would be natural resources. that,” she says. “The fact that it’s taken off |shows| It was the effect of the war on women, though, when people know what’s going on, they do care.” that continued to haunt Shannon. One story in Nancy Glass can be counted among the people particular, about a woman who had been attacked who heard Shannon’s message and stepped up. She and was begging for her life, stood out from the rest. divides her time between Baltimore, where she is “She was told basically that she wasn’t human, an associate professor specializing in intimate part that she was like an animal and nobody would care ner violence at Johns Hopkins University School if she was killed,” Shannon says. “For me, that’s the of Nursing, and Portland, where she maintains a home with her partner, Oregon Health & Science University employee Lisa Wood. Glass was the first person to sponsor a Congolese woman when Shannon began fund raising for her solo mn in 2005. In 2006 she went the extra mile— or rather, 30 of them. An experienced ninner, she was one of only six to com plete the entire race that year. She won’t be in town to participate in this year’s run; instead, she’ll be in Washington, D.C., attending an international con ference hosted by the Institute of Medicine. The topic? “Prevention of Lisa Shannon hugs Congolese expatriate Jacky Mwana- Violence in Developing Countries." Nteba after the 30-mile fund-raising run in September 2006. i Become a watt watcher! Spending more time indoors increases electrical demands. Become vigilant. Cut unnecessary usage. In most households, 75% of the electricity needed to power electronics is consumed while the devices are turned off. If we all unplugged, we could save over 18 million tons of carbon dioxide from spewing into the atmosphere. Safeguard your real estate. Save your planet. L " ~xl E lise C ampbell 0— t Service is the key... it s that simple. ELISE CAMPBELL BROKER, GRI, ABR, ePRO 503-307-1353 EliscfaEIiseCampbell.com www. EliseCampbcll com Compass Realty, Inc. Lisa Shannon interviews three teens in February in Kaniola, Congo. The girls had been abducted by the Interahmwe militia group but were rescued by the Congolese army. Although Glass can’t run this year, she and Nevertheless, there is much to be positive about. Wixxl each sponsor a Congolese woman. “I'm sure Both Shannon and Glass have received letters from we’ll continue to do that as long as we can,” she says. grateful Congolese sisters who are rebuilding their Clearly, the situation in Congo resonates with lives through Women for Women International. Glass on a number of levels. Not only is it of pro Rape carries such a cultural stigma in Congo that fessional interest, but in the early 1990s she lived many women who have been sexually violated— in Congo (then Zaire) as a Peace Corps volunteer, and, as a result, abandoned by their husbands— focusing on women’s repnxluctive health and child cannot get married again even if they want to. health education. She calls Congo “a wonderful Instead, they are learning to support each other. place,” noting that the music is some of the best in They are entering into business together. They are Africa and that the people remain gracious and reclaiming their dignity, their womanhood and their spirited despite their hardships. status as human beings. These victories, says Furthermore, from a perspective of basic human Shannon, “are not necessarily quantifiable.” But it rights, she sees an overlap between the queer definitely feels like success. struggle and the struggles faced by Congolese In 2007, Run for Congo Women continues to women. “I think a woman should have the right to grow. This year, the Portland run/walk will be held choose her own destiny,” Glass says. “And the right June 23, with several options in running between to chose who she loves is part of that.” one and 30 miles. Shannon is expecting about 250 Of course, Glass is quick to point out that in runners, up from approximately 100 last year. As Congo, a woman’s inability to shape her own life is the movement expands, she is less fiKused on how complicated by a tangle of factors such as race, much money they will raise. poverty and class. But at its core, the request of “This year I’m not setting fund-raising goals,” Congolese women is a simple one: to be accorded she says. “A lot of people do that, but it is every bit the dignity that is their right as human beings. For as much about the statement people are making Glass, that basic demand is where the two move- ' when they participate.” ments align. Lisa Shannon has made her statement loud and Regarding queer issues in Congo, Shannon—who clear. Nancy Glass has made hers. And so can the visited the country earlier this year and interviewed rest of us, when we decide that a Congolese woman ’s life is worth running for. © numerous women about their experiences—deftly puts this topic in perspective: “If a woman only want ed to have two children instead of six, that would be For more information about the R un FOR CONGO a huge problem for her. For a woman to come out as W omen visit www.runforcongowomen.org. gay in Congo would be a very significant threat to her safety." Glass concurs, adding that in a recent A ndrea S hanafelt has a master’s of fine arts visit to neighboring Uganda she was careful about degree in creative writing. She is pursuing a career in discussing her sexual orientation. education.
