A Thousand Sisters

I can't think of anything clever to say about this new book by Lisa Shannon, save that it has captivated me and become the book I'm recommending to all who read. There is no new history here, as the catalogue of events leading up to the current situation in African Congo is well established. From the days of Belgium's Leopold to the current political configurations, Congo has long been what others dub "a vampire state." The corruption is equalled only by the resources that have long drawn outsiders to this heart of darkness.
Shannon nonetheless finds reason for hope in the stories of Congo's women. Subtitled "The Worst Place on earth to be a woman," Shannon's book chronicles her own odyssey of altruism as she organizes regular Run for Congo Women events around the country. She donates the proceeds to Women to Women, an international aid organization with outreach projects in Congo. Shannon's efforts are noble, but what makes the book compelling are the stories of the women in Congo who have endured years of brutality. In a place where there are no old people because no lives to see 50, Shannon manages to showcase the intersection of hope and despair played out in the daily lives of women like Generose, who lost a leg to marauding Rwandan militants. There is also Marie, a girl of only seven, who suffers from traumatic fistula because she was gang raped at five years old.
The power of Shannon's story is not simply the heartbreak of women like Generose and Marie, but in the resilience of others, who proclaim, "I feel somehow a person in life, a woman in life," because of the commitment of those like Shannon.
A Thousand Sisters is a book that belies clever commentary. Instead it encourages personal involvement.