come yoga with me!

i have a wonderful friend who is amazing and has the biggest heart! she is a dedicated wife and mother of five beautiful girls. and she is dedicated to making a difference in our world. i was honored when she asked me to be apart of the event that she is putting on to raise awareness and money for women across the world she has never met. i will be documenting the event in photographs and i invite you all to join us! i know it's going to be wonderful and you will come away not only having made a difference but also feeling a difference in yourself!!! i would love to show up with a carload of girls up to golden with me for this event!

here is a little from ann about the event....



Hello friends!

I wrote to many of you some time ago, telling you about the Yoga for Congo Women event that I am putting on. While I know it was lengthy, it was dear to my heart, and I hope that you have had some time to think of joining us next month!

Yoga for Congo Women is only a month away! I am thrilled that it is coming up, because it means that soon, we will be able to help some women who dearly need it.

I'll try to keep this email shorter, but please allow me to share with you, briefly, a few facts about the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
It is the deadliest war since WWII, and also the most ignored.
5.4 million dead as of January 2008, with 45,000 more continuing to die each month.
Innocent women are used as weapons in this war: warring militias compete to be the most brutal, and thus the most feared.
Thousands of women (ranging from ages 3-80) are gang raped each month.
Women are forced to watch as family members are kidnapped and killed.
(YES, this is actually happening, right now!)

But the most important bullet point:
YOU can do something. In one hour, you can change the life of a woman who is hurting.
100% of the proceeds will go towards sponsoring Congolese women survivors through Women for Women International. Women for Women is an established and well-vetted organization that works with women survivors of war world-wide. They provide:
emotional assistance to heal from the trauma they have been through
rights and health awareness training
literacy training
skill-specific training, including business management
seed money to start her own small business upon completion of the one-year program
One woman, Honorata, who has been through the WfW training said, "This program has dared me to hope of having a house, of living in peace, of reclaiming my dynamism, my dignity...to be someone of value again."

Yoga for Congo Women will take up one hour of your time. One morning, if you count traveling to and from. That's it. One morning for you...the rest of her life for her.

Allow me one more bullet point list? Some quick facts about the YFCW event:
You'll feel wonderful.
The yoga will be beginner level.
Almost all of the other people coming are new to yoga, too. Some have never done it before.
You'll save lives.
You'll never be the same again.

And one last one! There will also be an inexpensive ONLINE broadcast! Anyone in the world, no matter where they live, can join in the broadcast at any time that is convenient for them. (http://yogaforcongowomen.org/yoga-for-congo-women-online/) So if you have friends that might be interested in helping, but who don't live in the Denver area, please forward this email on to them!

Please, please come. I promise, no one will stare at you, no one will laugh at you. Come feel the power of standing up and doing something!

"One woman can change anything, but many women can change everything." - Christine Karumba

These women are real, and they're hurting, and I'm just not okay with that. I say we give this "changing everything" thing a try. Who's with me?

Yoga for Congo Women
September 18, 2010
Golden, CO

Learn more or register at: http://YogaforCongoWomen.org

Love,
Ann