Ramblings

...if I was a woman in Iraq, I thought to myself as I applied my minimal stay-at-home makeup this morning. Just so I don't look like a ghost, when at home I apply a little undereye cover, some lip gloss and a bit of powder blush, and that's it. If I were living in Iraq, that WOULD be it, for me. I'd lose a hand or two, a foot, have my face mutilated, if I was allowed to keep my head at all. I was thinking about this because of an article I read at CNN.com yesterday.

The war in Iraq was supposed to bring freedom to the people there, and women were to particularly benefit. But things are now worse for women than ever. How can we respond to this? What can we do for them? Can we improve things for them at all?

A few years ago I learned of an organization called Women for Women International, where women in countries such as ours provide financial support to women in conflicted and post-conflict areas. The "About Us" section at their website tells in more depth how these women, not only in Iraq, but in several particular world trouble spots, are helped by their program. They state on their website that 120,000 women have been helped through their program. The organization's vision and success record is laudable, of course, but so many women are being and will continue to be lost...

My heart hurts for these women today...if we'd been born in a different time or place, it could be any one of us...