April 12, 2011

What Happened?

Our dear friend, Dr. Sunitha Krishnan was selected as one of six international women leaders who are making a significant positive difference in the world. The Vital Voices organization was started during the Clinton administration by then-Secretary of State Madeline Albright and First Lady Hillary Clinton.

This April 12th event was the 10th year of the Vital Voices Awards. It was an amazing and moving experience with 2500 in the audience of the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C..

The speakers were incredible with significant, meaningful and deeply touching remarks. Among them were Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, Sally Field (VV Board Member), Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R, TX), Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (Nobel Laureate) via video, Cokie Roberts (NPR), Wolf Blitzer (CNN), Dr. Ngozi Okonja (Managing Director, The World Bank), Michele Norris (NPR), Diane von Furstenberg (Business Owner).

All honorees were equally worthy and true servants to our world. Hearing of their service in their own countries, made us realize just how many worthy and usually unsung on-the-ground leaders there are who help to serve and develop a world that works for all. Sure, it's not there yet, but the intention is clear as these women work daily to make a positive difference.

Our deep respect and love for Sunitha filled our hearts as we listened to her words to this cheering crowd. She spoke totally from the heart, with no prepared remarks. Her voice was strong, with deep, surging emotion and horrific life events informing her words.

A video excerpt of Sunitha's remarks are on YouTube at this link.

What did I learn?

Carol:

I was seated in the second row, directly in front of where Sunitha chose to stop on the stage. Without prepared notes, and too short for the podium, she simply came to a stop immediately in front of where I stood cheering her on. When our eyes met, she stopped and gave the lovely gesture so often used in India, "Namaste." This is said to mean, "I recognize that which is in you that is also in me." As our eyes met, I was once again transported to Hyderabad, India, to our last meeting with the 30 women and girls from Prajwala about which I wrote in November, 2010.

All of the significant incidents in Sunitha's life that she has been willing to share with us, I felt in that minute: the times she has been beaten or raped by those who want to stop her work; the attempted rescue of a 3 year old baby girl, raped brutally by a group of men, then left to die on a railroad track, unable to be saved; the challenge of building the new facility that will be the world's single largest rescue and rehabilitation home for victims of sexual slavery and trafficking, but stopped in her tracks now due to severe increases in construction prices that keep her from opening the new center on the promised date.

I heard her voice, strong and clear, speaking out to the 2500 in the audience, saying what she had told Tim and me on that significant day in October, 2009, when we committed to continue to witness and share the truth. She said, "Each one of us is a part of the problem because of our silence and our tolerance . . . we encourage a perpetrator! We need to question ourselves . . . have we done enough? We must create a world with zero tolerance for violence." Her words flowed through the opera house, up into the fourth tier until the crowd was standing and applauding, while yelling, "Yes, yes!" and her name, "Sunitha!" She was our Hero!

I learned that although my commitment to speak out has been filled with many hurdles, pain and accusations against me, I have done the right thing. I promised myself once again, I will not remain silent. I was born to use my voice for what is right and against that which is wrong.

For those who ask, "What business is it of yours? I must remember it is my business and I share some kind of guilt if I know about it and do not speak up!

Only recently on TV, I heard about a national string of prostitution houses across cities in the US. In those houses, thousands of sexual slaves, both women and children, are sold by the hour (or less), 12 hours/day, sometimes 30 times/day each. Even the neighbors where these houses are located, did not want to admit this.

We must not live in denial. We must live with the ugly truth and act to change this truth when it hurts our hearts and souls. I pledge to do this and ask you who read this to find your way to share this truth. It is not easy, but now we know it and cannot allow others to live in ignorance and denial. We must speak out for the millions of victims!

Tim:

The time for transformation of global society is nearer than I thought and felt. I understood that Vital Voices was an NGO started by Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and former Secretary of State Madeline Albright that gave awards to amazing women. And it is and does.

What I hadn't realized were:

• The scope of the work of present and past honorees. They are making amazing progress in their respective areas despite great odds. I wish that all Americans could hear the stories of just the six awardees for 2011. Coming from Afghanistan, Burma, Cameroon, Haiti, India, Israel, they are doing things for children and women that have the potential to change global society.
• Vital Voices Global Partnership is the preeminent non-governmental organization (NGO) that identifies, trains and empowers emerging women leaders and social entrepreneurs around the globe, enabling them to create a better world for us all. Their international staff and team of over 1,000 partners, pro bono experts and leaders, including senior government, corporate and NGO executives, have trained and mentored more than 8,000 emerging women leaders from over 127 countries in Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East since 1997. These women leaders, in turn, have trained over 500,000 in their respective communities.

The ceremony was perhaps the most moving I have ever experienced. I felt a kind of female energy and power that was incredible. If only that energy and power could be spread to American women across the United States, we would soon have a much better country.

When I see the difference the women honored by Vital Voices are making in their countries, I feel as though I have done relatively little in my life. The sacrifices these women have made and the risks to their physical safety are awe-inspiring.

It may not be too late to change the United States, but it will require the energy, passion and commitment of American women that is like that of the women I saw honored on April 12. They were: Dr. Sunitha Krishnan of India, Fatema Akbari of Afghanistan, Kah Walla of Cameroon, Liron Peleg Hadomi and Noha Khatieb of Israel and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma.

What will it take for American women and men to work together for the healing and future health of our country?

What will it take for more American women to have the courage to lead that healing?

What role can I play in all this?