Day-of Raffle Items for Team Congo PDX's Group Walk/Run

RAFFLE, RAFFLE, RAFFLE

Each participant who registers for our charity event, which takes place on International Women's Day and benefits Women for Women International's Congo program, will automatically receive 2 raffle tickets so that they can enter to win one of the below day-of-event raffle prizes donated by our generous supporters and sponsors.  Participants may purchase additional raffle tickets for $2.00 each, 3 tickets for $5 or 10 tickets for $10 & all raffle proceeds will be credited to our event online fundraising page: 

Foot Traffic Gift Cards 
(4 available)

Print of Alpine Meadows by local photographer Joshua Johnston

Equal Exchange Congo Coffee
(Congo Coffee Project)

Women for Women International Lunch Tote (2 available)

Women for Women International pen & pen holder set (2 available)

Women for Women umbrella with logo & key chain 

(2 of each available)

Handmade Quilt by local quilter Becky Bent

(Ms. Bent's work will be on display all through May 2014 

at Common Grounds Coffee in Portland, OR)

1 Hour Aromatherapy - Spiritual Healing Session with event sponsor Kevin Putnam

Make sure to check back as we will add items as they are donated. See you on March 8th! 

Team Congo PDX's Group 10K & 5K Walk/Run - 3.8.14 Top Tier Raffle

We are just over a month out to Team Congo PDX's Group 10K & 5K Walk/Run, and we are excited to announce that this year we have 5 awesome incentive items (we have 2 of each item) donated by Women for Women International (WfWI) to offer to 10 supporters to raise $100 or more via our online fundraising page with (WfWI).  All proceeds will benefit their Congo program. We also have 1 special item donated by the local Portland Equal Exchange Co-Op, as well as free entry from Foot Traffic for their all women's training program. 

Here's how it works:

• To enter the raffle, set-up an online fundraising page here: http://wfwicongo.kintera.org/teamcongopdx (if you set-up your own team, please email the event organizer by 3.7.14 with the url to your team page: amandapdxrunforcongo@gmail.com);

• Raise $100 or more by 3.5.14 from family, friends, colleagues (funds raised must be posted to online fundraising page);

• Then, on event day (3.8.14) we will draw 10 winners, and each will win one of the following items donated by Women for Women International: 

Yes, it's that simple! 

Gem Stone bracelets made by Afghan women enrolled in WfWI's program.






If you Knew Me You Would Care by WfWI founder Zainab Salbi.

Run for Congo Women 

Stainless Steel Water Bottle

            Half the Sky DVD 

Bracelet & Necklace made by 

Rwandan Women enrolled in 

WfWI's program:

African Gift Box from Equal Exchange 

(This gift box supports Panzi Hospital in Eastern Congo)

Comp entry to Foot Traffic Women's Academy 

(begins 3.8.14, but okay to miss the first session)

Well, what are you waiting for?  Get out there & fundraise!

Team Congo PDX Cause + Event Rundown

On Saturday, November 16, 2013 Team Congo PDX participated in Cause + Event Portland, a local running/walking event which benefits the charity of the particpant's choice.  Team Congo PDX brought 47 team members to the event, and had participant's entered into both the 10K and 5K run, as well as the 5K walk and virtual walk/run.

Group photo!

$10 of each Team Congo PDX member's registration fee was a direct donation to Women for Women International's Congo program.  In total we raised$545, which is enough to sponsor one woman for one year, plus 40% toward a second one year sponsorship.  This amount represents each team member's registration fee and donations ($470 fees / $75 donations).  

Women for Women International's one year program in Congo provides women (mainly from the east) with job training skills, as well as trauma counseling as most women have been victims of sexual assault/violence, and upon graduation are given a micro loan in order to put their newly learned job skills to use.  (Team Fundraising Page).

It was truly a fun day, and the event was well planned. About 5 months prior to the event Team Congo PDX entered into a friendly side-challenge with Team Angel MS Warriors to see who could bring the largest team.

Team Angel MS Warrior Captain Charlie & Team Congo PDX Captain Amanda

The losing team was to complete an exercise of the winning team's choice. Although Team Congo PDX lost the challenge, The Angel's were great sports & did the 80 some-odd jumping jacks with us pre-race (a great way to get warmed up)!  Rumor has it the challenge is on again for next year (Save the date: 9.13.14 Cause + Event!)

The race course itself was brilliant in that it consisted of several out & backs and so you got to pass by & high five your fellow team mates as you passed by them.  A great way to recharge your running/walking spirit! 

The after-race celebration was also upbeat & much fun.

Team Congo PDX members warming by the heater pre-race

 I enjoyed being able to say hi and thank you to as many Team Congo PDX members as possible, and was inspired at the cross section of our team: co-workers, running friends, fellow activists, high school classmates...

A special thank you to the Never Again Coalition for helping to recruit Team Congo PDX members, and of course the the Cause + Event volunteer race committee, and in particular Race Director Amy Little.

If you'd like to support Team Congo PDX, you can join us for our annual charity group walk/run on International Women's Day (3.8.14): Click here to register.

Wonder Woman Syndrome

It's been a while since the blog muse has hit me, but I've been hit smack dab with it tonight, and so here I go.

This week while expressing my feelings of doubt, my consoler launched straight into a pep talk about how wonderful and strong I am....and I immediately put the brakes on the trajectory of this well-meaning pep talk, because my more vulnerable feelings do not negate my strength or self confidence.  It's okay to just feel and let your guard down.

Source:
http://shirtoid.com/5701/wonder-woman-logo/ 

 

And this got me to thinking.  It's a misconception that to be a strong person means that you never have moments of doubt, and that if you do you are somehow weakening or belittling yourself.  This is particularly true for self-confident women.  

While I appreciate that we live in place and time where it is more possible for women to blossom into their confident and strong selves**, I do believe that many succumb to Wonder Woman Syndrome, in that they feel it is a sign of weakness to express doubt, fear and even disappointment.  

This syndrome name just came to me tonight (hey I've been a Wonder Woman fan since I was knee high to a grasshopper), and I while it's admirable to be dubbed a wonder woman, I just want to put it out there that it's more than okay to doubt, fear, and let your guard down. To do so does not make you any less strong or self-confident. In fact, I would argue it's quite the opposite to do so.  For it takes a confident person to acknowledge their feelings, and frankly confident and strong people need to be able to have moments where they aren't the reliable ever resilient rock.  

Wonder Woman herself said it best,

You must let go of your arrogance. You may need help more than you realize. 

And so, to all of you strong, confident women (and men) out there, remember that moments of doubt are not moments of weakness.  They are moments when you let go of the arrogant belief that you can be completely 100% self-reliant.  We all, from time-to-time, need a rock of our own to lean on, and it takes a strong person to recognize that. 

**I must acknowledge that gender inequality is still prevalent in our world, however, the time and place within which I live has allowed me to become the woman I am today.  A woman who confidently uses her voice. 

Team Congo PDX & Cause + Event Portand

We are now less than a month out to Cause + Event Portland's charity walk/run, and as of today's date, Team Congo PDX has 43 members, which means that simply by joining our team, our members have raised $430 for Women for Women International's Congo program (half of each team member's registration fee is a donation to our cause)! 

Our team is multi-distance: 10K or 5K run or 5K walk. The race starts at 9:00 am (individual event start times TBA).  Our team members need not worry about their individual pace affecting our team, as each team member will run or walk their own race—it’s just about numbers and raising funds & awareness for good causes (over 40 charities, including Women for Women International, will benefit from this event). 

Why Congo?  Over the past 12 years just under 6 million people have died due to violence fueled over who controls the mineral mines in eastern Congo, leaving women & children vulnerable.  There are 4 main minerals which are sourced from eastern Congo which are necessary for our every-day electronics to function properly: cell phones, computers, digital cameras, etc.  It the goal of Team Congo PDX to educate others about the conflict in the region, their inadvertent connection to the conflict, and provide positive & proactive ways to affect change. 

Perks of joining our team?  Each member of Team Congo PDX will receive a free Run for Congo Women t-shirt (if they don't already have one), and will receive an invite to our Facebook group so that we can better coordinate for race day. Also, doesn't everyone want to be in the group photo on race day with our Run for Congo Women banner?

Photo taken by Alexa Brandt of Fatman Productions

Team Congo PDX members will also have an opportunity to win a free entry into our 2014 Group Walk/Run which is held on International Women's Day. The team member who raises the most funds for our cause via our official team fundraising page will win the free entry!

Also, this past June Team Congo PDX entered into a friendly challenge with the Angel's MS Warriors team & whichever team brings the most members will get to select which exercise the losing team has to complete on race day & our friendly challenge has caught the attention of the race organizers & so it should be a fun spectacle in front of everyone! And, the largest team will receive $250 for their charity.  

To date Angel MS Warriors have 70 on their team, but we haven't given up yet!  So, please ask your friends and family to join Team Congo PDX on 11.16.13 to support women in eastern Congo! 

Pertinent links:

Team Congo PDX Facebook Page

Team Congo PDX Website

Team Congo PDX Fundraising Page

Join Team Congo PDX @ Cause + Event

Cause + Event Facebook Page

Cause + Event Website

Inspiration Amid Exhaustion

Here it is nearly 11:00 pm, and I'm tired and plain worn out from the past week.  I'm still getting over a nasty cold, work is busy, and I'm juggling several charity projects, all amazing and also another reason why I'm tired, mentally. 

Photo by Marcus Bleasdale (source)

But, now my mind is abuzz after reading the October 2013 National Geographic which features the work of Marcus Bleasdale, a photographer who has been capturing the conflict in eastern Congo for over a decade.  This article compels me to get out of my cozy bed, boot up my computer and pound this out, because it's the only way my mind will ever find enough peace to call it a night. 

I'm inspired, and feel a kindred spirit in Mr. Bleasdale:

"When I first went to the Congo, I realized that a hundred years after Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, nothing has changed.  People were still being exploited, only now it was multinational corporations sucking up all the resources.  A report in 2004 said that more than four million people had died in what is now called Africa's first world war, and I just couldn't believe that no one was talking about this horrific death toll.  That enraged me.  At one point I was spending eight months a year photographing this war, and yet only a couple of international reporters were covering it from Kinshasa.  So I keep bringing back these images because I want to make people as angry as I am.  I want them to know the minerals in our mobile phones or computers or cameras are funding violence.  How can we make the horror stop?  It begins with a photograph." ~October 2013 National Geographic

And, so thank you Mr. Bleasdale for so eloquently explaining why it is that the Congo has changed my life.  I simply cannot bear to live in a world where nearly 6 million people can die, seemingly unnoticed, simply because their blessing is a curse, and where I am an inadvertent cause for the continued curse. Indeed, I want to live in a world where living in one of the most mineral rich regions in the world doesn't mean that you must live amid horrific violence. 

I am honored and humbled to be a part of a movement sweeping across the country, and in fact across the world, to shine a bright light on the situation in Congo, because the fact is that, "...your laptop--or camera or gaming system or gold necklace--may have a smidgen of Congo's pain somewhere in it." (October 2013 National Geographic)

And so, no matter how tired I become at times, I will persist on, and keep working to highlight the beauty of Congo, and to educate others as to the horrors which threaten to snuff out this beauty. 

Support Women for Women International via Foot Traffic Women's Academy!

Attention: Women for Women International supporters! 

Help Women Half a World Away!

Here's your chance to do something good for a fantastic non-profit AND for yourself! Run or walk with hundreds of other women as you train together with Foot Traffic Women's Academy this fall! This all-women's running and walking training program prepares members to complete a 10K (6.2 miles) or a half marathon (13.1 miles). Professional coaching, pace mentors for ALL abilities (many at the beginner level for walkers and runners), weekly group workouts and emails to keep you motivated and on task, guest speakers, technical fabric member shirts, and more await you. Program starts Sept. 14th.

Visit www.foottraffic.us/academy or email laura@foottraffic.us for more information.

PLUS, Foot Traffic will donate $40 of every half program registration and $20 of every 10k program registration to Women for Women International (WfWI)! Simply use code "WfWI" when registering!

LAST, during session I of FTWA (Spring 2013) we raised $60 for WfWI's program in Democratic Republic of Congo via FTWA registrations using our charity code. The $60 was transferred to our online Congo fundraising page last week, which means that the $60 was doubled to $120, because between now and September 30, 2013 all donations are being doubled by one of WfWI's generous group of supporters!

Please spread the word that registration is open for FTWA's Session II (Fall Session): www.foottraffic.us/academy. This go around any funds raised via our charity code ("WfWI") will benefit WfWI's work around the world (8 countries in all).  You can also make a donation directly to our online WfWI fundraising page.