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Women’s rights are
human rights?
Stephen Henry Lewis,
United Nations’ envoy for HIV AIDS in Africa, 2006, said:
“[Women's rights have] never been made real, and so long as men control the levers and bastions of power… it never will be real. The demeaning diminution of women is everywhere evident… where freedom from sexual violence, the right to sexual autonomy, to sexual and reproductive health, social and economic independence, and even the whiff of gender equality are barely approximated. It’s a ghastly, deadly business, this untrammeled oppression of women in so many countries on the planet.”
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Watch this segment,
“War Against Women”
on CBS 60 Minutes Program,
Sunday (today), January 13, 2008,
6:00 PM CST (with Anderson Cooper).
See more information on how to
help women of The Congo.
Left and Right
(Dedicated to Trisha Green, et al, The Boys & Girls Club of Bandera)
When I was facilitating a Unity study group on Sundays and A Course in Miracles class on Wednesdays in my home in Bandera, we often formed a circle and held hands for opening or closing prayer. I had learned long ago that the energy supposedly flowed better in the circle if each person’s right hand was palm “down” and the left hand was palm “up.” To help everyone remember the proper placement of our hands, we would say, “If it’s left up to me I’ll get right down to it.”
I have many fond memories of those who attended and participated in our lively discussions. In fact, during those years, I met and came to know more folks in the tiny community of about 1,000 people in which I lived than I had met and gotten to know in the big city of approximately 3 million from whence I had come! This realization amazed me, and yet I eventually retired and re-located again, leaving these good friends a short distance of 30 miles away.
As we all tend to do, I got busy with my new daily routine and filled the hours with tasks, chores, and commitments. My contact with them became less and less as I got busier and busier. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel as happy and content as I had before moving away from my ‘extended family.’ I thought of them often, the good times we’d shared, and felt guilty about not making new friends in my new location.
The more I isolated myself, the more time I had to study and observe human behavior. The more I learned, the angrier I became about the deteriorating condition of human relations and human rights (especially women’s) in our world. It seemed there were no good people left—they were all fighting, or lying, or not caring, or grabbing for more than their fair share of Earth’s abundant gifts. I was ready to give up on all but a few of the 6.6 billion currently inhabiting our planet.
Then, last week I received a phone call. I didn’t recognize the phone number on my caller ID screen and almost decided to ignore the ringing. I’m so glad I didn’t, and answered instead.
A voice from the past identified herself as Trisha, the Director of The Boys and Girls Club of Bandera. My immediate thought as to why she was calling me was that she was going to ask for a donation to the club, as so many non-profit organizations do at the beginning and end of each year.
Unbeknownst to me however, she was about to give me a gift I hadn’t remotely considered necessary or possible—a gift I never would’ve thought to hope for. She gave me back the faith I had once had in good, kind, honest, caring, and trustworthy people. Our conversation went something like this:
Trisha: “Remember when you were moving from your ranch you donated a bunch of items you no longer wanted to The Boys and Girls Club?”
Me (hesitantly): “Yes, I do, even though that was a long time ago—about five years?”
Trisha: “I don’t remember exactly, but one of the items you gave us was a small safe that no one knew the combination to.”
Me: “Oh yeah—that old clunky thing.”
Trisha: “Well, we never got around to using it because we couldn’t get it open, and after the 2002 flood, it didn’t look like it was worth spending money on it for a locksmith.”
Me: “Can’t blame you for that—I know the flood was horrible.”
Trisha: “It was! But we recovered and got back to normal in a few months. We’ve been cleaning out the storage areas in our building this week, and I decided to have one of the men volunteers see if he could pry it open before we hauled it to the dump. We found some things in it that you probably would like to have back.”
Me: “Oh, really—like what for instance? Nothing incriminating, I hope.” (Jokingly)
Trisha: “Well, I don’t think so. There are some old coins and some cassette tapes and some old papers with your name on them. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have known who the contents belonged to, because we’d forgotten who donated the safe. We didn’t listen to the tapes or read the documents, but I think you’ll want to take a look at the coins….”
Me: “Oh my goodness! I can’t believe this is happening!”
Trisha: “Do you not remember putting the items in the safe? The coins look like they may be valuable. Did you not miss them?”
Me: “I guess not, but that move was a crazy time in my life…I guess I just assumed the safe had been emptied long before the combination was forgotten. There were so many items to get rid of….”
Trisha: “Well, you’ll probably remember the items when you see them. The men who opened the safe are heading your way this afternoon to do some electrical work for one of their customers—would you like to meet them somewhere and pick up the items?”
After asking her if the men were trustworthy, and upon hearing her affirmative answer, I happily agreed to meet them. We finalized the arrangements for the later rendezvous and said goodbye.
As it turned out, the coins were indeed valuable. The delivery guys refused to take any money for their trouble or for the truck’s gasoline usage. I thanked them over and over again, and then went straight to the bank to open a safe deposit box for the recovered treasures.
The highlight of this experience was not the value of the old safe’s contents. I hadn’t remembered it or missed what was inside of it. I vaguely remember looking for the coins once, but assumed I had given them to my children before the move.
If Trisha and the men had decided to keep the items, I never would have known that either. But worst of all, most likely I would have continued my erroneous thinking that there aren’t any good people out there and would have held on to my downward spiraling lack of trust in humankind.
There are good people in the world, and if it’s left up to them, they’ll get right down to it—down to doing the right, the honest, and the honorable thing, no matter what. Kind humans are our only hope in surviving what seems to be a dazed and deluded human family.
I’m so glad, so appreciative, and so fortunate to have been deeply and lovingly touched by three of billions of ‘good’ ones. Thank you, Trisha, Mike, and Nathan for your priceless and memorable gift.
#0042
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