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8th out of 80 books
—
124 voters
A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman
Lisa Shannon had a good life — a successful business, a fiancé, a home, and security. Then one day in 2005, an episode of Oprah changed her life. The show focused on women in Congo, a place known as the worse place on earth to be a woman. She was suddenly awakened to the atrocities there — millions dead, women being raped, children dying in shocking numbers. It was then th...more
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
March 16th 2010
by Seal Press
(first published 2010)
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This is the best book that I have read on the struggles in the Congo. I'll admit that I am biased, because I sponsor a woman in the Congo through Women For Women Int., and participate in the annual Run For Congo Women in Tempe, AZ each year. However, I believe that Lisa did an excellent job of sharing the true story of the conflict in the Congo and it's impact on people - even when it meant showing her own weakness/embarassments/mistakes as she attempts to change the way that women are treated i...more
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I have difficulty reading memoirs of Western women experiencing the reality of violence in the global South. I have no right to say this, mind you. I am a Western woman...a white woman on top of that. I tread lightly in what I am about to say, mainly because I know that I could be labeled a hypocrite. With that danger in mind, I will proceed to trumpet the efforts and determination of Congolese women. I have been to the eastern Kivu provinces and while I learned much, what I learned most of all...more
Many cringe on reports of genocide, starvation, mutilation, etc. Their sympathy/empathy might be engaged, but few do anything about it. Upon learning of the plight of the women of the Congo, Lisa Shannon made a commitment to do something to help them.
After organizing marathon fund raisers in the US, Lisa went to the Congo. I was thrilled to see that the money she raised went right to the needs since it appears that Women for Women has almost no administrative costs. That this charity is working...more
After organizing marathon fund raisers in the US, Lisa went to the Congo. I was thrilled to see that the money she raised went right to the needs since it appears that Women for Women has almost no administrative costs. That this charity is working...more
While A Thousand Sisters is a book about women in the Congo, it is also a book about the author Lisa J. Shannon. It is a memoir about a difficult time in her life after her father died and after she watched an Oprah show about the difficulties which the women in the Congo face and how Lisa used that show to give meaning to her life and help the women in the Congo.
Lisa was 29 years old at that point, and like many 29 year old women in the United States, she lived a comfortable sheltered life, but...more
Lisa was 29 years old at that point, and like many 29 year old women in the United States, she lived a comfortable sheltered life, but...more
This book is worth reading simply to get educated on the horrors happening in the Congo. For some reason it seems like the Congo, which has been called the worst place on earth to be a woman, does not get the publicity that Sudan or other places get. There are very visible movements working to fight AIDS and human trafficking but Congo's needs have not been as visible. Thus we should be grateful to Lisa Shannon for reporting on the Congo. The stories she tells are heart-wrenching.
The only flaw i...more
The only flaw i...more
Lisa Shannon traveled from Portland Oregon to Democratic Republic of Congo to encounter and attempt to change the lives of women. The tales of rape and torture that she reports are mind numbing and horrible. It is hard to doubt that this is indeed one of the worst places on the planet to be a woman. The story itself is very readable and very engaging. In the end we can't help feel, with the author, uncomfortable about her role as a rich (compared to the women she works with) patron. She tires of...more
A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to be a Woman, by Lisa J. Shannon, narrated by the author, produced by Audible Inc., downloaded from audible.com.
Publisher’s note says it all:
Lisa J. Shannon had a good life: a successful business, a fiance, a home, and security. Then, one day in 2005, an episode of Oprah changed all that. The
show focused on women in Congo, the worst place on earth to be a woman. She was awakened to the atrocities there - millions dead, women raped and...more
Publisher’s note says it all:
Lisa J. Shannon had a good life: a successful business, a fiance, a home, and security. Then, one day in 2005, an episode of Oprah changed all that. The
show focused on women in Congo, the worst place on earth to be a woman. She was awakened to the atrocities there - millions dead, women raped and...more
It is said that the “worst place on earth to be a woman” is in the Congo and after reading A Thousand Sisters you’ll have a complete understanding of why.
The degrading, humiliating, shocking and tortuous rapes the women of Congo are forced to suffer through is utterly devastating. These women are often left with a life-long issue of leaking urine or feces from being raped with anything from a broken bottle to a piece of wood to the rifle end of a gun.
A lot of these woman end up pregnant and/or w...more
The degrading, humiliating, shocking and tortuous rapes the women of Congo are forced to suffer through is utterly devastating. These women are often left with a life-long issue of leaking urine or feces from being raped with anything from a broken bottle to a piece of wood to the rifle end of a gun.
A lot of these woman end up pregnant and/or w...more
This memoir, which documents Lisa Shannon's attempt to raise awareness of the plight of the woman of Congo, is outrageously inspiring. After hearing about the conditions in Congo on Oprah, Shannon founds an organization called Run for Congo Women, completes a solo 30-mile run to raise funds, and then travels to Congo to meet the women she is sponsoring. I can't even imagine having the kind of heart and courage Shannon has. I am putting down this book humbled and scanning my brain for ways I can...more
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I admire Shannon's drive and desire to effect change in the lives of many women who remained hopeless after a war that tore apart their families, ravaged their homes, and did unspeakable damages to their psyche. To read about people still living in terror of the Interwahme on an everyday basis gripped my emotions in a stronghold and made me more determined to raise awareness of these atrocities to anyone that would listen. Although I have followed the stories in the news about the ravages of the...more
I admit it: Sometimes I can be a bit of a cynic when it comes to "helping narratives." I have seen first-hand what can happen when "do-gooders" charge in and do more harm than good, and I don't have much patience for self-congratulation. But I loved this book, more even than I thought I would.
Lisa Shannon is the founder of Run for Congo Women, which raises money for Women for Women International. (I organized a RfCW 5K this summer, so obviously I'm already sold on the cause. The Congo conflict...more
Lisa Shannon is the founder of Run for Congo Women, which raises money for Women for Women International. (I organized a RfCW 5K this summer, so obviously I'm already sold on the cause. The Congo conflict...more
When Lisa Shannon returned from the Congo and was delivering a speech, one woman broke down sobbing and left the room -- and later, the organizer told Shannon she needed to tone everything down because her speech was "too dark."
But how do you "lighten" up a discussion about Congo once you've been there and seen firsthand how the women have suffered?
Just last year, Nicholas Kristof wrote in his column about how he'd learned some new words from the area.
He writes, "I’ve learned some new words....more
But how do you "lighten" up a discussion about Congo once you've been there and seen firsthand how the women have suffered?
Just last year, Nicholas Kristof wrote in his column about how he'd learned some new words from the area.
He writes, "I’ve learned some new words....more
I have mixed feelings about this book. It does a terrifyingly good job of illustrating the horrors of women's lives in the Congo. Unlike others, I don't mind the inclusion of personal information regarding the author's life. What I don't like is that Shannon's activism appears to be a response to her own depression and the one dimensional representation of the women she meets. Shannon presents their personal tragedies - rape, deaths of husbands, children, etc. and even writes things like, "She r...more
It's about a women who watches Oprah, sees a sad story. Takes it upon herself to read more about the situation in Congo (Africa). Takes it upon herself to try to raise money and get more awareness out there regarding the situation in Congo and she even goes a step further and travels to Africa with Women for Women.
Within her travels she tells stories of women. Women being taken from their homes, women being cut up, women being raped, women witnessing their child or husband being killed infront o...more
Within her travels she tells stories of women. Women being taken from their homes, women being cut up, women being raped, women witnessing their child or husband being killed infront o...more
When young 30-something Lisa Shannon spoke as the final keynote at a three-day fundraiser's conference in D.C. this June, I was awed by this former high-income photographer's passion and single-handed efforts to launch "Run for Congo Women" and start a political movement after watching an episode of Oprah. Her first-hand tales and photos of her Congolese Sisters' suffering and joy brought the whole audience to tears; we gave a standing ovation. (One co-host addressed the group afterward and said...more
Lisa Shannon was watching the Oprah show when a report by Lisa Ling described the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the “worst place on earth to be a woman”. With no real experience in international development and with little more than an overwhelming urge to do something, Shannon made helping Congolese women her life’s passion. Her work is fascinating because she brings such a human face to war’s most forgotten victims but also because she accurately highlights the complex difficulties in in...more
Lisa Shannon actually does more than the feigned attempt most of us give to a crisis, “oh, how I wish we could help!” is often the refrain. After watching an episode devoted to the crisis in the Congo on Oprah (leave it to Oprah!), Lisa is determined to make a difference in the lives of women who have been tortured, beaten, raped, mutilated, by the hands of invaders as well and their own countrymen. She runs marathons, she raises money, and she travels to the Congo in hopes that she alone can ma...more
A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman by Lisa Shannon contains shocking information about the rape and injury to women in the Congo. Shannon learns about this on Oprah and founds the National Organization Run for Congo Women. This book is the story of her trips to the Congo and how her concern for women there has changed and influenced her life.
From the Forward by Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a grassroots international human...more
From the Forward by Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a grassroots international human...more
I simply can't watch horror movies or read Stephen King books but I can and do read books about real people and real events that are far more horrifying than fiction. The tears they bring remind me that I am still human - one very, very lucky human."A Thousand Sisters" is not a long book but the story is moving, sad and, hopefully, inspirational.
Reading"Half the Sky" which laid bare the atrocities women around the world are suffering and the work that is being taken on by NGOs spurred me to spon...more
Reading"Half the Sky" which laid bare the atrocities women around the world are suffering and the work that is being taken on by NGOs spurred me to spon...more
When Lisa Shannon saw the interview Oprah did with a woman from the Congo, she was inspired to take it upon herself and raise money for other women in Congo by running 30 miles for sponsors. But when running isn’t enough for her conscious, she decides to go to the Congo and visit her “sisters” (people she donates money to) and listen to their stories. While she is there, she learns many things that have happened because of the war including the daily rapes, destruction of wildlife, and kidnappin...more
This book was very poorly written and didn't seem to go much of anywhere. The author was looking for a cause and evidently invested her life in it because nothing in her life was very exciting or worthwhile. She had adventures in the Congo, but it all seemed surreal, rather than the hell that it was. It shed light on ugly and brutal wars and warring factions in the Congo and how they destroyed the lives of thousands of innocent people, especially women and children. It also convinced me that I N...more
This book was really detailed, giving voices to some of the Congo women and children who have to live with pain and "cultural" norms (looting, militia, rape, attacks, instability, etc.) throughout their lives. Shannon opened up and shared about her own life as well, but didn't dwell on her first run, which really became an impetus for Run for Congo Women. Most of the book focused on her experiences in Congo, interactions with the Congolese, perspectives, questioning, and stories. I loved the fac...more
I found this book took a long time to read, not beacause of the difficulty of the text (the author wrote in a very accesible style) but because of the content. I found I had to set it down frequently and digest what I had read. With that said, it isn't necessarily gory, but shocking in it's brutality. We need to be aware of what is happening to people in other parts of the world. I can't fathom why we accept the evening news reporting on celebrity gossip (Tiger Woods, Michael jackson, Anna Nicol...more
So dark the side of man whose heart is ruled by hunger's fangs...
I took me longer than expected to finish this. I must admit to a degree of numbness. Shock is probably the better word. I am opting not to talk about the horrors, heavy in its gravity, contained herein. I think its easier to talk about it, especially since the reader is blessedly given the gift of distance, since we humans are naturally attracted to train wrecks.
Instead, I will say that if this book is about any one thing it is si...more
I took me longer than expected to finish this. I must admit to a degree of numbness. Shock is probably the better word. I am opting not to talk about the horrors, heavy in its gravity, contained herein. I think its easier to talk about it, especially since the reader is blessedly given the gift of distance, since we humans are naturally attracted to train wrecks.
Instead, I will say that if this book is about any one thing it is si...more
I'm...fairly conflicted about this book, but I think most of my issues stem from the writing style and its deficiencies--I'm hoping some things just don't come across in the reading. I should start by saying that I think this is an excellent book for an introduction to the atrocities of the Congo if you're still uninformed. It is a huge, horrific problem that has not garnered nearly enough international attention and help (perhaps because the Congo isn't known for its oil surplus?). In many resp...more
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This is a chronicle of horrors. Lisa Shannon, a successful filmmaker from Portland,OR, videotaped interviews with Congolese women who have suffered atrocities beyond imagining. Her interviews, translated as the women spoke, were, according to the author's note in the front of the book, transcribed directly from video for this book. Shannon, who gave up a thriving career to plunge herself into a war zone founded RUN FOR CONGO WOMEN. This organization funds sponsorship for Congelese women to retur...more
Not perfect? So what! Enlightening and Compelling
Sure, not the most polished writing. Agreed, not the most enlightened or adept social activist on the planet. However, major respect to Ms. Shannon for her incredibly courageous and life-altering journey and her transparent honesty in the telling of it: full-disclosure whether flattering or not.
I think she's made the right choice in giving us this story in journal form, portraying her own personal growth (and failings) inch by inch. It shows us ho...more
Sure, not the most polished writing. Agreed, not the most enlightened or adept social activist on the planet. However, major respect to Ms. Shannon for her incredibly courageous and life-altering journey and her transparent honesty in the telling of it: full-disclosure whether flattering or not.
I think she's made the right choice in giving us this story in journal form, portraying her own personal growth (and failings) inch by inch. It shows us ho...more
Whew, this is a tough one. On the one hand, you have to admire someone who takes up a cause unrelated to her with her whole heart, throwing family and jobs under the bus...but then you want to know why. Why this cause and not the hundreds of others? She attempts to answer this question by traveling to the Congo - but then seems intent on merely totting up the atrocities. How many of you have lost children? she would ask, pressing for details. For what purpose? An accounting of atrocities to make...more
Bravo, Lisa Shannon, for striving and succeeding to make a difference in this world, despite all of the personal sacrifice that it required. These people are rare and it's truly wonderful to read their stories.
I was really inspired by this book - its a very raw and honest first hand perspective on women's rights and third world politics from an 'average American' viewpoint. As an 'average American,' I found myself strongly relating to Shannon and felt very moved by her attempts (successes and f...more
I was really inspired by this book - its a very raw and honest first hand perspective on women's rights and third world politics from an 'average American' viewpoint. As an 'average American,' I found myself strongly relating to Shannon and felt very moved by her attempts (successes and f...more
I really wish I could rate this book higher because I care so much about the subject matter. Women in Congo are living through horrific times and most of the world is oblivious. I wish for more publicity, more light to be shone upon the atrocities being committed there. Personally, although I've done quite a bit of reading on Congo and have been volunteering with refugees from Congo in my home town, I wanted to learn more, grow more, understand more. This book did none of that. This book wants v...more
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Lisa Shannon founded the first national grassroots effort to raise awareness and funds for women in the DR Congo through her project Run for Congo Women. They have sponsored more than a thousand war-affected Congolese women through Women for Women International. These women are raising more than 5000 children. She traveled solo into Eastern Congo's South Kivu province for five and half weeks in Ja...more
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“I don't know how to stop the atrocities. I don't know how to make people care. But looking into my sister's eyes, we seem to have carved out something between us that none of the madness can touch. Invisible threads.”
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“Nothing is so tiresome as being insincere.”
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