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A Personal Message From Eve

6/13/2010

A Personal Message From Eve

Dear V-Day Activists,

I have been waiting for the right time to share something with you. I was recently diagnosed with uterine cancer. I was fortunate to have excellent doctors and a very successful operation. My prognosis is excellent.

This has been both a difficult and truly transformational time. Cancer has a way of stripping away that which is not important and leaving what is. What remains with me is all of you - your dedication, your commitment, your open hearts, your healing ways. I have learned so much in these two months about care and what it means to be cared for and to care for others. It requires time, attention, stillness and patience. That is the work of V-Day. So, if you truly want to help me now, continue to care, continue to stand up to end violence and work harder than you have ever worked before to make sure women and girls are safe and free, and that men and boys are embodied with their girl cell.

Know that I am taken care of and am focusing my time on resting for the next few months so I can be back with you all in the Fall, stronger than ever.

I love you all and I believe in you. You have been in my heart each and every day. You have been my deepest inspiration throughout this journey.

Love,


P.S. What follows is my first commentary piece since my diagnosis that I wanted to share with you, the piece is entitled Congo Cancer and will first appear in The Guardian newspaper in the UK on Saturday, June 12:

Congo Cancer by Eve Ensler

Some people might think that being diagnosed with uterine cancer, followed by an extensive surgery that lead to a month of debilitating infections, rounded off by months of chemotherapy, might get a girl down. But, in truth, this has not been my poison. This has not been what pulses through me late at night and keeps me pacing and awake. This has not been what throws me into moments of unbearable darkness and depression. ..

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Following is an urgent news and action update around our work in the DRC. Now more then ever please continue to support this work.

V-Day Joins UN, Amnesty International In Calling for Immediate Investigation Into The Death of Congolese Activist Floribert Chebeya Bahizire

V-Day was distraught to learn that Floribert Chebeya Bahizire, Congo's leading human rights activist was found dead on Wednesday, June 2, following repeated threats on his life. He was the Executive Director of one of Congo's largest human rights organization Voix des Sans Voix (VSV). His body was found in a car after he was due to meet with a top police official. Chebeya had faced harassment from police and government officials for his work against corruption and state-backed killings. The UN rapporteur for extrajudicial executions, Philip Alston, says Chebeya's death "strongly suggests official responsibility" from the DRC government.

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TAKE ACTION! Help Strengthen Public Law 109-456

Call on President Obama and your Representatives to strengthen and apply fully Law 109-456 (The Democratic Republic of Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act) and to commit to ending the atrocities being committed against the people of the DRC.

PL 109-456 was signed into law in 2006 by President Bush, however has never been properly funded or implemented. The law has, for four years given the U.S. government the authority to take decisive, meaningful action regarding the Congo.

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READ more about V-Day's work in the Congo >

DONATE to V-Day's Congo Campaign >

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