Finding common ground (UNCSW Day 3)

Keri Reeves '09
2008 UNCSW Participant

By my third day at the United Nations, I was mentally tired. As I headed to another side event, I was feeling a little worn out and a bit less than optimistic.

The session I chose to attend was entitled “The Effects of War on Women and Children.” The main panel speaker was a woman who had traveled to the UN from Iraq. She spoke as a slideshow of pictures played out on the wall behind her. Each picture displayed the sad, broken, and bruised faces of Iraqi children. Immediately I tensed up. I was expecting her to tell everyone how awful she believed the US was because of our presence in Iraq, and to blame us for the suffering associated with the war.

Fighting the urge to leave right then, I decided to stay and hear her out. Before too long, I realized I had been wrong. The speaker began discussing the widows of Iraq and how there seemed to be more of them everyday. I understood that. She explained how these are broken women who are looked down upon by the rest of society. There are thousands of women who need aid, and instead of just handing over money, they want to train the women for jobs. By doing this, the women may be able to help themselves financially and also emotionally by possibly obtaining some self-esteem.

The thing about the Iraqi woman’s message that spoke to me most is how women are in need all around the world. Everywhere there are women in need. In Africa, women are raped by their own husbands. In Thailand, young girls are sold into slavery by their own families. Even here in America, there are women being taken into sex slavery against their will.

Ultimately, today I received another piece of the puzzle of women’s status in the world. Women are in need everywhere. Whether we see it or not, it stares us in the face everyday. It is up to us to hear the cries for help and to seek them out.