Woman of the Week: Eve Ensler

Its been a challenging  past few weeks for the world. With all the disaster and tragedy, unrest and violence occurring all over the place it has been hard to focus on something so minute as blogging. So this week I have decided to honor a woman who has been acting how many of use wish we could in times of huge global crisis, and pinpointing a small way to help that makes hugs waves.

Photo Credit: randomhouse.org

Name: Eve Ensler

Age: 58

Occupation: Playwright, Activist

Why she is making waves: Aside from writing her witty, controversial, eye-opening play The Vagina Monologues, recently Ms. Ensler has been working with something a little more hands on. She has started what could be termed a "women's center" in the Congo, called the City of Hope. This center was built with the full purpose of being a place where local women who are the victims of violence and rape can come to work, share their stories with one another, and to heal. It also focuses on educating the women with the hope that they can then turn around and work to fix their government and their broken communities. The New York Times recently wrote a very thoughtful article on the mechanics of the City of Hope which can be found here. I agree with the Times when they reference the project as "gutsy", considering many of these women are illiterate and "un-educated". However, the idea that educating women about their sexual and domestic choices can lead to safer and stronger communities is not new, it is just that up until recently the rest of the world hasn't thought to share the greatness of this idea with under-developed and struggling countries. I don't think it is "gutsy" to try this idea out on un-educated women in Africa, I just think its gutsy to have been one of the first to actually do it instead of talking about it. So cheers to you Ms. Ensler for having the guts to build a feminine community and incite hope where there is often so little. 

**An organization that contributes strongly to a cause just like that of the City of Hope is called "The Girl Effect". More on this at a later date, but if you are interested please click here for more information: http://www.girleffect.org/video.