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MADRE Speaks: Summer 2006

From the Executive Director, Vivian Stromberg

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Summer 2006 issue of MADRE Speaks. As the crisis in Iraq continues to intensify, I am proud to tell you about MADRE’s newest campaign: The Underground Railroad for Iraqi Women. As you may know, violence against women has risen sharply under US occupation. With MADRE’s support, our partner, the Organization for Women’s Freedom in Iraq, is responding to this crisis and standing strong against both foreign occupation and the homegrown religious reactionaries unleashed by Bush’s war. Our sisters have asked MADRE to help them create an escape route and support network for women threatened with murder in the name of family honor. I invite you to read more about this lifesaving campaign.

As you’ll see in this issue, MADRE’s many other programs are going strong. Thanks to you, we are steadily expanding our work in support of women’s efforts to create decent living conditions and build brighter futures for their families and communities. Our sisters in Darfur, Colombia, and Iraq face wars in which they and their families are the battlegrounds. In Kenya and Nicaragua, our sisters face an AIDS pandemic and grinding poverty. Wherever MADRE works, we are there because women have resolved to confront these threats head-on. The women of our sister organizations draw the strength to take action from one another and from their own hearts, but they have the means to take action because of your support. Thanks to you, the women of our sister organizations are, day by day, expanding the circle of people who are benefiting directly from MADRE-supported programs.

We know that your support of MADRE rests on your confidence in our ability to manage resources wisely and effectively as we take concrete steps towards realizing our vision of a better world. We value your confidence tremendously, so I’m pleased to tell you that 92 percent of any donation you make to MADRE goes directly to our programs. These programs are generating victories of determination over despair. Thank you for being part of these victories.

Sincerely,

Vivian Stromberg