Strong Women Create Strong Nations

For the second year in a row I have had the honor of attending the Women for Women International Women of the World Awards Gala. Last year I was a guest, and had only just become familiar with the work of the organization. This year I attended still as a guest, but also as a staff person, someone who has seen some of how the proverbial sausage is made, and who continues to be astounded and impressed with the work. I cannot recall ever feeling so proud to be a part of something as I was tonight, hearing the words of a woman I have only begun to get to know in the last couple of months.

Yes, my job causes me stress and sometimes makes me fantasize about running away and working as a food service person on an Amtrak train, but events like tonight, seeing the way people come together to support our work, hearing the words of celebrities, board members and lay people speak about the phenomenal work that I am a part of, gives me resiliance and is a powerful reminder of why I have chosen to pursue the life that I have.

Tonight Zainab, the CEO of Women for Women International, remarked that she does not know if we live in an age of war, but that it is war that seems to dominate our lives, our politics and discussions and sometimes even our families. She said that in such times it would be easy to get depressed, to give up and lose hope, but then she thinks about the women she has met in her work, women who have been violated and brutalized and who continue to g et up every morning, who have hope for the next day, and the one after that.

I have never viewed pride as a particular valuable or good emotion, but tonight, sitting in the room and hearing the words, I was proud of myself for being a part of something that is doing so much good. I am proud of myself for following my dreams, for knowing what I want and for figuring out how to achieve it. I am happy to know that I am capable of making these things happen in my life, and it gives me faith that I can achieve some of the good that I want to in the world.