PORTLAND, OREGON
Lisa Shannon

In January 2005, I watched a segment on Oprah in disbelief. Four million dead. Widespread rape. What? Multiple militias. Wait, wait, the militia responsible for the Rwandan genocide are still out there killing people? Oprah said, “They are hoping somebody in the world will hear their screams for help.” Could I be one of those people? A few hours later, I go to the computer and sponsor two women through Women for Women International before it became one more thing I meant to do. The women’s faces stayed with me. So I did a 30-mile run to raise money and awareness, asked others to join me, and ending up launching Run for Congo Women and a movement for Congo. What were my credentials? An ordinary tv watcher, that’s it. And now we’ve directly aiding 66,000 Congolese women and children. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about our Congolese sisters. They inspire me. You inspire me. And I trust—no, I know—that the reverberations will be far greater than anything you or I can measure in our lifetime.