<p> <p>Want to make a difference in the lives of women in the Congo? Consider donating to my <a href="http://www.runforcongowomen.org/">Run for Congo Women</a> appeal as I run the <strong>Bath Half Marathon</strong> (for the first time ever, gulp!) on <strong>11th March 2012.</strong></p> <p>This may look like a long note (because it is!), but I do hope you will take the time to read it, because this cause has captured my heart, and I am convinced it will yours too I encourage you to pass this information along to your fellow colleagues, family members and friends.</p> <p>Did you know that your cell phone, laptop, digital camera &amp; MP3 player are fueling the ongoing horrific violence in Eastern Congo? I was shocked when I first learned this, and so I've decided to support the Run for Congo Women charity.</p> <p>The Congo is by far the world's deadliest conflict since World War II. Since 1998, 5.4 million people have died there.Women there suffer terribly as rape &amp; torture are used as weapons of war. Some of the stories that have emerged are truly horrific. I was alerted to this situation from an article in Runners World, highlighting the work of Lisa Shannon in setting up Run for Congo Women (<a href="http://www.womenforwomen.org/help-women/a-thousand-sisters.php">http://www.womenforwomen.org/help-women/a-thousand-sisters.php</a>)</p> <p>All proceeds benefit Women for Women International, a non-profit funding education and skills training for women in war-torn countries.</p> <p><strong>Join me on 11th March in Bath as I Run for Congo Women!</strong></p> <p>Learn more about the movement at <a href="http://www.runforcongowomen.org/">www.runforcongowomen.org</a>.</p> <p>All of the funds I raise for Run for Congo Women&nbsp; will go to the Women for Women International Congo program.</p> <p>Women for Women works in areas of conflict and post-conflict, providing women survivors of war with direct financial assistance, job skills training, rights awareness education, and trauma counseling. In the Congo, more than 31,000 women have participated in the program to date. I believe that Congolese women have the power and, through this program, the resources they need to rebuild their lives, families and communities.</p> <p>Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. So please dig deep and donate now.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Here is some background info with regard to the conflict in Eastern Congo:</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal">- More than 5.4 million people have died in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1998. To further put the magnitude of this conflict into perspective, the death toll is the equivalent of an Asian Tsunami every 6.5 months or a September 11 every 2.5 days.</p> <p>- Half of these deaths are children under the age of five.</p> <p>- For women in the Congo, brutal gang rape and torture are a daily reality. Rape is used as a weapon of war.</p> <p>Almost all of us enjoy the use of electronics: cell phones, computers, i-pods/mp3 players, video game systems, digital cameras, etc. Contained within all of these devices are minerals mined from eastern Congo (DRC), mainly: tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold. Militias from all sides of the conflict in eastern Congo fight to control the mines leaving innocent civilians in the crossfire, mainly women and children.</p> <p>The worst violence is committed against women; mainly rape as a war weapon. Rape is used to both control and punish local populations. Most women who are victims of rape/sexual violence are then rejected by their own families and communities, and must somehow rebuild their lives and support their children. Right now every cell phone, laptop, digital camera, and mp3 player you have contains minerals mined from Eastern Congo. The plight of millions of people halfway around the world has a direct connection to our use and demand for these electronic devices upon which we have come to rely so heavily. Although there is a growing movement to demand conflict mineral free electronics, currently electronic companies are not required to make their mineral supply chain transparent.</p> <p>The women of Eastern Congo need our help now, and so that is why I offer to you this opportunity to save and impact lives half a world away, as well as an opportunity to acknowledge how interconnected our lives are to those in peril in Eastern Congo.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: &amp;quot;Trebuchet MS&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;sans-serif&amp;quot;;">&nbsp;</span></p>