Skoll Lesson One: Cracks Are Where the Light Comes In

It is in the cracks of conflict and chaos where the light can come through and change can happen.

This point was made so powerfully by the women in the session that I moderated called “Victors, not Victims,” featuring Fartuun Abdisalaam Adan of Elman Peace & Human Rights Center in Mogadishu, Somalia; Fahima Hashim, of the Salmmah Women's Resource Center in Sudan; and Christine Shuler Describyer, of the City of Joy in Congo. These are three women working in three of the worst conflict areas and in three of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman, and yet, there was so much light in their collective presence.

These women risk their lives every day to help victims of rape and other violent attacks find safety, healing, education, and training that transforms them from victims to victors. These are the brave women who are letting the light in through the cracks of chaos to create transformational changes in their country.