Eve and the staff brought us up to date on the global work and told stores of what she has witnessed. Many of the board members had their own experiences to add about the work in the Congo because they had been there too, for the ground breaking almost 2 years ago and to witness the first graduating class last January.
During the long and most brutal war in Eastern Congo, women—from very old to as young as 2-year-old—are abducted, and brutalized in unimaginable ways. Many have to crawl back to their villages, their innards falling out, and then are beaten or thrown out by their husbands or fathers because they have been raped.
V-Day’s work in Bukavu, Congo, centers around The City of Joy (COJ) , a place that was built largely by local women themselves with assistance from American architects that worked with them to design the space.
Photo Credit: Paula Allen for V-Day
There, 100 woman who have been brutalized, raped, tortured, can come to heal, physically and psychologically. There are classes in literacy, English, computer skills, therapy, self defense, civil rights, voting, dance, art, horticulture, family planning and job skills, entrepreneurship, . All that is asked of the women is that, when they graduate, they return to their villages and practice the leadership theories, trainings and techniques they learned in order to help the local women turn pain into power through leadership and activism. A number of graduates have started small businesses including farming of maize and other crops. Agriculture experts in permaculture from the U.S. are working to help COJ develop its own farm. I was not surprised when Eve reported that the staff of COJ has decided to alter the selection criteria to take in mainly younger women ages 14 to 25. While older graduates were clearly helped during their time at COJ, they had left their families and children back home and were more resistant to trying new experiences or incorporating new ways of doing things into their lives. In the 1990s and early 2000s, when I was traveling extensively in Africa and elsewhere, I heard the same thing from women activists: “Get to the younger ones before they’ve internalized patriarchal ways. The girls are the true agents of change.”
Photo Credit: Paula Allen for V-Day
The follow up report about the COJ graduates had this to say in summary:” …within 6 months of training in leadership at City of Joy, women who could not talk to anyone, even to their parents, are able to stand in front of an unknown audience, men and women included, and teach them such topics as family planning, gender equality, community-based initiatives, women’s rights, etc, thus widening the vision of V-Day.” The woman who runs COJ is Christine Schuler Deschryver. Christine was unable to smile when I first met her 5 years ago. She seems a different woman today.
With Christine Deschryver Who is Director of The City of Joy
In addition to its work in Congo, V-Day is also in Haiti where it has established 3 safe houses, 7 Justice centers where women survivors of violence receive psychological, legal and medical support and has identified and given support to grassroots groups doing anti-violence work.
According to the U.N., 1 in every 3 women in the world will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. That is more than one billion women. This must end and a global movement is needed to ensure it does. This last Feb 14th, V-Day announced it newest and largest undertaking yet: ONE BILLION RISING: STRIKE, DANCE, RISE. Already many hundreds of organizations around the world are planning for this action, as far ranging as Romania, Lebanon, Columbia and the Philippines. The goal is that on Feb 14, 2013, ONE BILLION women and those who love them will walk out, dance, rise up, and demand an end to gender violence. We know from past experience and actual research, that when enough people gather together to meditate and pray for violence to end, the rate of violence drops–as happened a decade or so ago in Washington, DC. (Any of you watch the film, “What The Bleep Do We Know?”) We believe that if one billion people globally dance, sing, pray, chant all on one day, a change will occur and grassroots activists and many others will be galvanized.
We even have a special song for the occasion. Tena Clark (http://www.tenaclark.com/) has written “Break the Chain.” You’ll be hearing more about this song as top female singing artists will come together Sept 8th to record it. Eve played the song for the board and it had us all on our feet dancing.
Eve Dancing
Pat Dancing
I plan to meet with The mayor of Los Angeles and City Councils of Santa Monica, Culver City, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood to tell them about ONE BILLION RISING and encourage their participation. Think about how you might participate. Go to the V-Day website on my homepage One Billion Rising website, http://www.onebillionrising.org/ and see how you might participate.
After the board meeting we all went to the theatre to see Eve’s new play, “Emotional Creature.” I had read the play which is now been published as a book and I have even performed some of the monologues, so I was familiar with it already, but what I saw was something else again. The play was premiered to sold out audiences in Johannesburg, South Africa and then had a workshop production in Paris (also sold out.) This run at the Berkeley Rep is in preparation for a fall opening off-Broadway at the Signature Theatre. Previews will begin October 26th and opening night is November 12th.
One huge and divine change in the play as I have known it: it has become almost a musical. There are great songs, lyrics by Eve and music by South African composer Charl-Johan Lingenfelder, and the dancing is divine, choreographed by Luam. Jo Bonney has directed all the productions since South Africa.
I invited Mary (Lulu) Williams who has been part of my family since she was 14, to watch the play with me. Both of us were blown away by the production. I laughed and cried and am certain that this play will be as important and powerful for girls as The Vagina Monologues have been (and continues to be) for women. I bet that this play will be performed in High schools in years to come when my granddaughter will see it…maybe even perform in it. Power-ful.
Christine, Jodie and Rosario
Here is a picture of the cast, Eve and the director at the dinner after the play. The man on the far right is the composer. Jo, the director is speaking.
