International Women’s Day and Water.org

Tomorrow, March 8, 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, which is a day to honor women’s political, social and economic accomplishments. So, I thought in honor of one of the themes of my blog: helping women and children around the world, I would tell you about how some people honor this day with Join Me On the Bridge events. I had never heard about these type of bridge events until I was doing a story for AOL’s City Best St. Louis website about International Women’s Day and came across this event in St. Louis at the Chain of Rocks Bridge.

Basically, on March 8, women and men around the world will join together on bridges for peace and to take a stand against violence towards women. This event started in Africa in the countries of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo when country directors from Women for Women programs stood together on a bridge between the two countries. When you stand with at least one other person on a bridge, you are supporting the theme: “Stronger Women Build Bridges of Peace.” To find events in your area, go to the website through the link above. If you can not stand on a bridge, which I know many of you cannot because you will be teaching or with your kids, then you can look into other ways to do something special for women around the world on March 8. You can blog about it like I am, tweet about it, write it on your Facebook page, or how about donating to water.org?

I learned about water.org helping women and children around the world when I saw Matt Damon on the Ellen show. He co-founded this organization, which is helping to bring clean water to ALL people in the world. As he said on the Ellen show, it is ridiculous that there are still people dying from drinking dirty water when we have known forever how to purify it and make it safe. He talked about some water bottles you can buy for $25, which is how much it costs to give someone a lifetime’s supply of clean water. Anyway, I went on the website to find these water bottles and show you a picture, but they are currently on back order. You can donate $25 there, however. Matt Damon is not just another pretty face.

So, how will you celebrate International Women’s Day? I just had another thought. You can celebrate it by calling a girlfriend who is down in the dumps and building her up, giving your mom a kiss, or offering to help out your sister. You can do a big thing for the world like stand up for peace or a small thing for the women in your family. It doesn’t really matter. Just be aware that tomorrow is the day to honor women (and make sure the men in your life know it)!

PS: I am reading an amazing book right now about the sex trafficking problem in Russia (and the world). It is a fiction book, but it is excellent. Please check it out.