i just need to get a couple things off my mind...

I NEED TO FIND MY PASSPORT, BECAUSE I'M GOING TO NYC IN LESS THAN A MONTH & NEED IT!!
urgh urgh urgh...

Something's been on my mind a lot. Last Thursday, I attended a Congo teach-in info session on violence against women in the Congo.
It broke my heart.
The closest thing I've experienced to gender-related assault is having my Hallowe'en candy stolen from me when I was 12.
Comparatively, many, many women in the Congo have FISTULAS from being brutally raped USING WEAPONS as a tool of WAR. it leaves them unable to control their bladder & continuously leaking urine.
I thank God tonight, that I don't have a fistula.

The more I progress through life as a woman,
the more I realize,
I AM SO F*ING FORTUNATE.
TO HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED
RAPE.

here's a quick quote from a survivor in the DRC:

Towards midnight, I heard the crackle of gunfire all around the village…As I was trying to escape with my children, seven soldiers broke down the door to my house, threw me down to the ground
and raped me. I lost consciousness till the next day...When I walk I have to hold my abdomen with my skirt, because it hurts so much. I cannot walk very far now and as the soldiers took everything, I can hardly manage to look after my children.

“Who knows more about oppression? Those who teach it or those who live it?” -sakamoto & pitner                [what the bleep do i know?]