To view a copy of WWL April 2010 News online, click http://lightpages.net/lp/news.cfm?login=463647

Ways Women Lead April 2010 Newsletter

A critical moment of potential transformation … petals of a rose unfolding … with an ancient root of the sacred feminine … and a deep connection to the land and its mysteries … creating fields and celebrations of roses … ancient sacred dances calling the honey bees to the fields …
Empowerment in alignment with spirit … Paneurhythmic dances encircling the seven sister lakes … the statue of Sophia, Wisdom, replacing the statue of Lenin in Sofia … more women participating in government. … no genetically modified seeds on the land … weaving spirit and technology into a new future …
      -The Call of Sophia’s Rose, described by Ways Women Lead team, March 2010

When we asked ourselves about the call we were hearing at Ways Women Lead, about our journey to Sophia and Beyond, each of us heard different words.  But taking the words as brush strokes of a larger painting, we could see that working with our sisters in Bulgaria is a profound invitation into a new way of doing things, grounded in the earth and our mysterious relationship to it, creating our future one step at a time with coordinating guidance from within each of us, bringing a new and beautiful pattern forward.

At this point in the journey, Ways Women Lead is poised to bring east and west together in person, first in Varna, Bulgaria and then in Sofia, Bulgaria, the ancient crossroads of connection between east and west.  We are taking a stand against sex trafficking and for the dignity of women.  And we are developing partnerships in Africa and North America. 

This is not a linear path, but one filled with aliveness and the edges of our own evolution. As the larger pattern emerges from each of us and unfolds around us, we are excited to find ourselves engaged in a process of organic collaboration among women from many organizations, and ready to facilitate that process in every way we can.  To do so, Ways Women Lead is asking for the right partners and the right resources we need to take our next steps.  Are you called?  Can you help?

Please find below…

• The plans that have emerged through those of us co-creating this leg of the journey
• Our request for collaboration and support
• Out of Bulgaria, a passion for women’s rights as human rights in the Declaration “We the Women…”
• The wave that is emerging against sex trafficking and for the dignity of women worldwide

With gratitude for all that you are and do to bring our new future clearly into form,
“The Collaborative” at Ways Women Lead
Jeanie DeRousseau, Ann Smith, Penny McManigal, Sharon Doctor, Catlyn Fendler, Judy Grosch, Suzanne Simmie-Stier, Donna Hadjipapov, Elka Krasteva, Nadezhda Savova, Rozalina Nikolova, Caroline Usikpedo-Omoniye, Linda Stillman, Martha Paquin, Basia Christ, Bonnie Kelley, Julie Raymond

 NEWS

 Ways Women Lead in Bulgaria – a journey of collaboration

Through experience, we understand that convening and facilitating events, small or large, evokes leadership in women.  When events, in turn, are comprised of conscious leadership practices that encourage each woman’s unique gifts, it becomes possible for women to grow as individuals, together, into more effective leadership.  When events are followed up and connected by supportive networking, it becomes possible for networks of “leaderful relationships” to provide a framework for a new culture of collaboration and trust.

Building on these understandings, WWL’s Leadership Program for and with Bulgarian women is a multi-phase collaborative process that includes:

• A Training-of-Trainers event with approximately 40 Bulgarian women, coordinated with Bulgarian partners, learning from one another, about self-esteem, authentic communication, and team, community and network organization.  Ann@wayswomenlead.net
• Local training events convened by Bulgarian Trainers, and community projects initiated or catalyzed by the training program.  These will be linked and encouraged by in-country and international support via Internet and telephone, and build both local and international relationships.  Jeanie@wayswomenlead.net
• An international event co-convened and hosted by Bulgaria women and girls, showcasing “Best Leadership Practices” within Bulgaria, inviting leaders from around the world to exchange their wisdom. 

We believe that this series of events and projects, featuring conscious leadership practices and international support, holds the possibility for exponential connectivity of women’s wisdom, between women and girls within Bulgaria and between Bulgaria and other participating countries.

The Journey to Sophia is an opportunity for women and their organizations to step into a new phase of self-organized collaboration, where we do what women do.  We notice what is needed, we step forward where we are called, and we work together to make change happen.  There is so much to do, to build this better world.  Please consider bringing your gifts to this part of the journey with Ways Women Lead, as we open to manifest our event series in Bulgaria.  We need you!
Read more detail about the program:  www.lightpages.net/mydocuments/invitational_letter_with_budget_3-22-10.pdf  

Participate in the next leg of the journey to Sophia and Beyond

Some specific requests:

• Can you connect us to other women’s organizations, particularly focused on women’s empowerment, in eastern Europe, particularly in the “cultural corridors of southeastern Europe”, http://www.seecorridors.eu/?w_p=23&w_l=2,  … including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey?  Beautiful collaborative work continues around the preservation of culture in this region.  See http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=45679&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
• Are you called to act as liaison to any eastern European country and the ways women lead there?
• Can you support our launch in Bulgaria financially or connect us to funding sources that may be particularly matched to our outreach there … “to support and connect women and girls in leadership for the common good”? 
• Do you know of other women’s organizations that focus on the issue of human trafficking?
• Is someone called to anchor a global video campaign to show women’s unity against sex trafficking and for women’s dignity of Being?
• Can you connect us to resources that will help give developmental support to our partners in Nigeria, another developing organic collaboration with the Niger Delta Women’s Movement for Peace and Development, Founder and President Caroline Usikpedo-Omoniye, sophia2010africa@yahoo.com .
• Would you like to invite our organic collaborative process into your community or organization?

Have a general conversation with Ways Women Lead’s team: 
Write to Ann@wayswomenlead.net or Penny@wayswomenlead.net to connect or collaborate.
Write to Sharon@wayswomenlead.net to open a fund-raising conversation, become a sponsor or donate in person.

Add your energies and prayers online at http://lightpages.net/lp/welcome.cfm?login=463647:
[Contact Jeanie@wayswomenlead.net for assistance getting online, or networking your organization.]
Share your wisdom about women’s leadership or the Journey:  click the link “My Ways”.
Add your voice to the organic collaboration conversation: click the link “Bulletin Board”.
Contribute a small or large donation:  DONATE HERE

The Fruits of Collaboration:  “We the Women” Declaration against sex-trafficking and for the dignity of  womankind

We are so honored to be collaborating with Elka Krasteva, Director of the Board for the Association for Human Rights, Step by Step, centered in Varna, Bulgaria.  It seemed like spontaneous combustion, how together we generated a Declaration, that begins “We, the Women…” around Elka’s passion to do what needs to be done to eliminate sex trafficking and take a stand together for the inherent dignity of Being. 

The Women’s Declaration was read in unison by over 100 people attending the workshop on sex-trafficking co-sponsored by Ways Women Lead at the UN CSW.  It has now up on www.thepetitionsite.com to invite our unity AGAINST the use of women and their children as things to be bartered and sold, and FOR the inherent value and dignity of each woman, each child, each human being.  We anticipate more collaboration that will increase awareness of the sacredness of women, and of all life, as we move forward.

Our Declaration begins:
“We, the Women of the World,
Representing the great diversity of humankind, united in a global sisterhood of empathy,
stand together for the dignity, respect and equality of each woman, girl child, and boy child in the world….”

Please join us at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/we-the-women-of-the-world-declaration to read the entire Declaration/petition, and add your energy signature to a unified stand for positive change, against trafficking and for the inherent value of each living Being. Download a copy to print or share at http://lightpages.net/mydocuments/we%20the%20women%20declaration%202-24-10.pdf . Join our campaign to gather locally on Mother’s Day in the U.S., May 9, 2010, and read the Declaration aloud! See http://www.wilsoncenter.org/ondemand/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.play&mediaid=40069551-933B-DED5-3685663710DC857B for more awareness about modern day slavery and the sex trafficking of women and children. 

Also please be aware that Ways Women Lead Conscious Leadership Program for supporting and connecting women’s leadership, is a vital strategy for activating and exponentializing each woman’s potential to bring positive change where it matters most to her.  Our program grows the human potential available to collaborate around such issues as sex trafficking, and is part of what is needed to shift the culture of our world toward a positive future.

A wave of intention rising to shift culture for the good of women and children

As our own collaborative initiatives grow, we have been noticing a larger wave of positive intention to stop the terrible misuse of human beings as commodities and to recognize that women’s rights are human rights.  Below are some of the initiatives that have come our way…

Fighting the rape trade with global response
http://www.avaaz.org/en/ .  This global organization has focused world opinion on climate change, peace, and other issues, bringing international pressure to bear on local issues of global significance.  Imagine the potential impact of each of our signatures through their newest campaign against the rape trade, voted as important this year by over 90% of their membership…

Networking efforts against human trafficking worldwide since 1988
http://www.catwinternational.org/campaigns.php .  As an NGO with consultative status at the United Nations, the Coalition against Trafficking in Women brings together initiatives from all the major world regions as a worldwide network against trafficking and prostitution.  Their pioneering work continues to grow and focus efforts both locally and globally on these major human rights violations of women and children.  Imagine people everywhere becoming aware of the tremendous loss in human dignity and Spirit from these industries, and acting at all levels to shift the system.   

Requiring that governments pay attention and act
www.asafeworldforwomen.org.  This is the latest initiative by the organization Women for a Change to “connect, support, and empower” a million voices by March 8, International Women’s Day of 2011 around the issue of safety for women everywhere.  Imagine our endorsements communicating to local and national governments the deep priority of safe environments that foster the growth of women and their children.  "Women bear and care for our children.  In much of the world, they plant the crops that feed us.  They weave the fabric of our societies... Violence against women destroys health and perpetuates poverty."  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Connecting survivors and activists to eliminate human trafficking.
www.survivorsconnect.org.  Using the latest in communications technology, this group of dedicated people is connecting trafficking information to anti-trafficking groups that can help.  One of their projects uses technology called Ushahidi (“testimony” or “witness” in Swahili), which maps email and twitter reports  provided by the public for use in crisis response. Imagine the empowerment potential when a cell phone / Internet message can become part of the information flow to track what is needed, and focus responses there...

Providing safe spaces on the ground and new options for women
www.courtneyshouse.org.  Founded by Tina Frundt, herself a survivor of child sex trafficking in the US, Courtney’s House provides a long-term safe space for child sex trafficking victims in the Washington, DC area.

www.crossovermission.org.  Marita Vilorio, Executive Director, with her team of volunteers, offers a ministry of  ”friendship and acceptance to women that society views as outcasts”, bringing education, skills and supportive community, empowering women to change their lives in the red light districts of Baguio City and Cabanatuan City, the Philippines.

 Imagine the local nurturance of these two projects extended through other projects around around the globe.

And posted on the WWL petition site
Nurturing one child victim at a time, using sophisticated technology and human compassion
www.endangeredchildren.org.  David Glen of the USA points us toward an incredible philanthropic, medical, and caretaker collaboration to help children who are victimized, often ill, and alone.

Each one of us empowered to take a stand
www.thepetitionsite.com/1/close-down-free-porn-sites.  Catherine Gaspard of Belgium demonstrates the power of the Internet to reach out for positive change.

Together the many initiatives are moving toward a new pattern for humanity, bringing an acute awareness of what needs to change, offering steps on the journey, and attracting each of us to where we can be of most service while we grow our own potential. 

Coming full circle
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