by Lisa Shannon
Therese
Thomas, Kelly: Baraka trip; Congo visit; grassroots activism; Panzi Hospital visit; post-Congo activities; sister visits
Trail of Tears
traumatic fistula
tropical forests
Tutsis
Twa
U
Uganda
UNICEF
United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR): Kaniola visit; military conflicts; Pakistani Army; presence in Congo; refugee camps
United Nations peacekeeping forces
V
Vikram, Major
Voss, Susan
W
Walker, Alice
Walungu, Congo
Wandolyn
War Child
Washington D. C. visit
“When We Stood Close” (Munch)
Wildwood Trail run
Winfrey, Oprah
witchcraft
Women for Women; See also Christine: Baraka; country directors; enrollment process; headquarters visit; Run for Congo Women events; sister visits; sponsorship program; Walungu visit
worst wedding day
Wyden, Ron
Y
“You and I Are Disappearing” (Komunyakaa)
Z
Zaire
Zanzibar visit
Zimbabwe
FIND YOUR OWN FURAHA
WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR CONGO RIGHT NOW
BEFORE YOU PUT this book down, check your email, make dinner plans, or remember there was one more thing you meant to do . . .
1. Sponsor your own Congolese sister. (3 minutes, $27 per month, www.womenforwomen.org)
2. Run (or walk or bike or swim or whatever) for Congo Women. Ask 12 friends to join you on a short run, each of you pitch in $30 and—ta-da!—you have enough to sponsor and change a woman’s life. Or dedicate a solo run to women in the Congo. Or register for a Run for Congo Women near you. (1 hour-6 months, starting at $30, www.runforcongowomen.org)
3. Join the Raise Hope for Congo Campaign. (1 minute, www.raisehopeforcongo.org)
4. . Start a book club. (1 hour to organize, 2 to discuss)
5. Purchase a copy of Lisa F. Jackson’s film The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo. Host a screening in your home, then ask your guests to sponsor a woman in Congo. (2 minutes to order the film, plus 2 half-days to plan and host the gathering, $29.95, www.wmm.com)
6. Protect Congo’s forests. Offset your carbon footprint through Eric’s North American partners Zerofootprint. (1 minute to calculate your footprint, 2 minutes to pay online to offset that footprint, www.zerofootprint.net)
7. Urge President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to craft and implement an intelligent, comprehensive, diplomatic strategy to permanently deal with the Interahamwe, a.k.a. the FDLR. (2 minutes, www.whitehouse.gov/contact)
8. Friend me on Facebook. I post the latest news from Congo daily. (2 minutes)
9. Visit my website, which contains links to all of groups and organizations mentioned above. (1 minute, http://athousandsisters.com)
10. Dream up something new, like I did.
SELECTED TITLES FROM SEAL PRESS
For more than thirty years, Seal Press has published groundbreaking books. By women. For women. Visit our website at www.sealpress.com.
Check out the Seal Press blog at www.sealpress.com/blog
HOMELANDS: WOMEN’S JOURNEYS ACROSS RACE, PLACE, AND TIME, edited by Patricia Justine Tumang and Jenesha de Rivera. $16.95, 978-1-58005-188-0. An insightful and thoughtful collection of essays on what “homeland” means for women in search of a deeper connection to their cultural pasts.
INTIMATE POLITICS: HOW I GREW UP RED, FOUGHT FOR FREE SPEECH, AND BECAME A FEMINIST REBEL, by Bettina F. Aptheker. $16.95, 978-1-58005- 160-6. A courageous and uncompromising account of one woman’s personal and political transformation, and a fascinating portrayal of a key chapter in our nation’s history.
TALES FROM THE EXPAT HAREM: FOREIGN WOMEN IN MODERN TURKEY, edited by Anastasia M. Ashman and Jennifer Eaton Gökmen. $15.95. 978-1-58005-155-2. Female expats from different countries describe how the Turkish landscape, psyche, people, and customs transformed their lives.
VOICES OF RESISTANCE: MUSLIM WOMEN ON WAR, FAITH, AND SEXUALITY, edited by Sarah Husain. $16.95, 978-1-58005-181-1. A collection of essays and poetry on war, faith, suicide bombing, and sexuality, this book reveals the anger, pride, and pain of Muslim women.
ES CUBA: LIFE AND LOVE ON AN ILLEGAL ISLAND, by Lea Aschkenas. $15.95, 978-1-58005-179-8. This triumphant love story captures a beautiful and intangible sense of sadness and admiration for the country of Cuba and for its people.
THE MATERNAL IS POLITICAL: WOMEN WRITERS AT THE INTERSECTION OF MOTHERHOOD AND SOCIAL CHANGE, edited by Shari MacDonald Strong. $15.95, 978-1-58005-243-6. Exploring the vital connection between motherhood and social change, The Maternal Is Political features thirty powerful literary essays by women striving to make the world a better place for children and families—both their own and other women’s.
A THOUSAND SISTERS
My Journey Into the Worst Place on Earth to be a Woman
Copyright © 2010 by Lisa J. Shannon
Page 225. Komunyakaa, Yusef. © 1998
“You and I Are Disappearing,” from Dien Cai Dau.
Reprinted with permission by Wesleyan University Press.
Published by
Seal Press
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
1700 Fourth Street
Berkeley, California
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers who may quote brief excerpts in connection with a review.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shannon, Lisa, 1975-
A thousand sisters : my journey of hope into the worst place on earth to be a woman / by Lisa Shannon.
p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-580-05346-4
1. Shannon, Lisa, 1975- 2. Women and war—Congo (Democratic Republic) 3. Women refugees—Congo (Democratic Republic) 4. War victims—Congo (Democratic Republic) 5. Civil war—Congo (Democratic Republic) 6. Humanitarian assistance, American—Congo (Democratic Republic) I.
Title.
HQ1805.5.S53 2010
305.9’0695082096751—dc22
2009025391