Running on a Small Island for a Big Cause

It is Sunday, and it’s time to blog, but I am out of town, in my favorite city of all, New York (and Connecticut). I have pre-written a substantial part of this blog and will add in pictures from the run I am participating in on September 24. That’s the plan anyway.

I ran on Roosevelt Island on September 24. I had read another runner’s blog about running the perimeter of Roosevelt Island a long time ago and thought, “what a great idea!”. So when I began planning this brief visit to the NYC area, I looked for a run and hit the bonanza – a 5K on Roosevelt Island that benefits a great cause — the women of the Democratic Republic of the Congo where, since 1998, 5.4 million people have died and Congolese women have lived through rape, torture and dire poverty. Prior to the race, the organizers told us that an average of 48 women per hour are raped in the Congo.

Some pictures:

The education component of the run included this sign promoting the Women for Women International sponsorship program.

This poster describes a 1 mile run done by Congolese women in 2010.

This is the first race I have ever been in that was led by a Segway!!

Photo Credit: Mary Jane Reilly

According to the Women for Women website:

Since its creation, Women for Women International has given hope to more than 299,000 women survivors of war and conflict and helped them move toward economic self-sufficiency with our year-long program of direct aid, rights education, job skills training, and small business development. We have distributed $95 million in direct aid, microcredit loans, and other program services. Since 1993, Women for Women International has mobilized more than 250,000 women and men in 130 countries worldwide to reach out and support women survivors of war – one woman at a time.

I am grateful to have been a part of “one woman at a time,” running for fun and sport in support of women who must run for their lives, literally and figuratively, on a daily basis.

Paula Kiger

Wife of one, Mom of two, Friend of many. My pronouns are she/her/hers.