Remember when we read the book by Ann Jones, called War is Not Over When It's Over ? I remember how intense it was to read the accounts of how women were surviving the wars that are fought after open hostilities have officially ended.
We decided to put another book on hold, because it was in many ways very similar: A Thousand Sisters, by Lisa Shannon. The book is the story of one woman awakening to the massive problem of rape and other violence in Congo, and deciding to do something about it. One of our book club members had decided to intern for the summer at Women for Women International, the same organization that Lisa Shannon turned to when she decided to do something to help women in Congo (and, by the way, the Zainab Salbi, founder of Women for Women also has a memoir that is on our list, and she also has an amazing story).
Well, Lisa Shannon is starting to work in Somalia, and she is already getting the word out-- this PRI story came out this week: Rape Hotline Reaches out to Women in Somalia, and you can read more about the project, which is a partnership with a number of other groups, on the Thousand Sisters blog.
