A Question Answered?

For those of you who are wondering about the Vagina Monologues and why I'm doing it...here's one of the reasons...our Director works with numbers of young women...read a bit of her story (This is who we are giving the money to from ticket sales):

I am at the shelter right now and am sitting here thinking about this huge endeavor we are all taking on. I just realized yesterday that I think a huge root of the pain that our girls are feeling is being unseen and unheard. We treat them like ghosts, so for alot of them, that is what they become to themselves. They come from so much pain and horror that it seems like an impossibility for them to pick themselves back up again.

I have to admit that I have been feeling very scared and burnt out myself lately; questioning why I am still here at Safe Haven and feeling desperate to see the girls get what they deserve from their lives. It is a very heartbreaking struggle most of the time. But, I want you to know that hope DOES exist here. Girls do overcome addiction, laugh at loud at the worst of times, and become children again when we make gingerbread houses or dance to cheesy radio music. They reach out for a hug even after they have been mistreated by every single person in their life. This is true courage. This is why I stay. You will make a difference in their lives.

Please know that even if we didn't raise one single penny from this play that every one of you is changing the future forever. We will be radiating energy and knowledge that can never be destroyed or tampered with. No one, and I mean no one, walks out of that theatre unchanged or unenlightened. We are an army and no one can defeat us. Our weapon is love.

Educate yourself on teenage prostitution and violence against women and girls. We have the power to stand up and say "Wake up! Teenage prostitution is slowly killing young girls in our city." I am sure that you, like myself, always felt almost "powerless" to do anything to change violence against women. You are living that opportunity RIGHT NOW. Take it and stand up for every women and child you know that has been bruised, ridiculed, tortured, and undervalued. Do it for the small girl inside of yourself who so desperately wants to heal. Free her.

Never ever underestimate your power. You are a Goddess and a Warrior. You have survived the unthinkable. We all have. Stand with your head up and your shoulders strong. You are strong. You are magnificent.

Live it. Love it. Be it.

Marsha Ellen Meidow