by Sarah Wyatt
- USA -

In a largely neglected crisis, dogs and cats in Greece are struggling to survive due to overpopulation, apathy, and abuse. Sterilization is underutilized and sometimes rejected, and education about and support for the humane treatment and care of animals is lacking.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
- Malawi -

The very survival of women and children in Africa may depend on the newly-launched Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA). According to latest estimates by the African Union (AU), over the next ten years there will be 2.5 million maternal deaths, another 2.5 million child deaths and 49 million maternal disabilities in Africa alone if urgent actions are not taken.

Around the world, a woman dies every minute from pregnancy-related causes. Globally, there are more than 500,000 maternal deaths per year, the majority of which are in Africa where in many places the maternal mortality rate (MMR) is as high as 1,000 deaths per 100,000 live births. And these death threats are only increasing: one in every 16 African women faces the lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy and delivery-related complications, particularly those from marginalized communities and those living in poverty.

by Lisa C. Kaczmarczyk
- USA -

Talking to my friend Nevada Flores* about her decision to leave her comfortable engineering job reminded me of one of our scary trips into the Cuyamaca Mountains outside San Diego. An avid hiker, she once suggested that we follow a dubious side trail down a steep canyon. In play as in work, Nevada is always ready to rationally assess the possibility of advancement versus failure. On the trail as on the job, her primary concern is to rapidly identify and neutralize the largest challenges – environmental on the one hand, cultural on the other. And as an assertive woman of mixed Mexican-American heritage in the very White male field of high technology, she always faces cultural challenges.

by Jessica Mosby
- USA -

Martin Strel does not look like an athlete. The overweight fiftysomething is an alcoholic, a flamenco guitarist, and a one-time professional gambler. But this Slovenian long-distance swimmer has swam the Mississippi, the Danube, the Yangtze – and now, the Amazon.

by Kimberly N. Chase
- USA -

In ancient times, warriors could look one another in the eye on the battlefield. War was fought with minimal weaponry, a person-to-person test of bravery and strength. Battlefields were clearly demarcated, extending only as far as an arrow could be shot or a stone could be slung.

But as the centuries advanced, so did the strategies and equipment used in human conflicts. Since then, humans have developed greater firepower, bomber planes, chemical weapons and the A-bomb, each making war at once more destructive and more distant.

by Constance Manika
- Zimbabwe -

It has been a year since I last wrote for The WIP and it’s really good to be able to share what has been happening in our country.

Every weekend for the past eight months, my husband and I have been forced to make the 20-kilometer trip by road from our home in the high-density suburbs of Harare to the affluent suburb of Belvedere to fetch clean water. In the early morning hours while our little angels are still fast asleep, we load up into the car empty 20-liter plastic containers for refill.

We have tap water where we live, but it can hardly be said to be safe for human consumption. When you pour the water into a clear cup or container and let it sit for a few minutes, a green, sewage-like substance settles to the bottom.

Although this journey is cumbersome and costly for us, it is has become a necessary expense for us to stay alive.

by Jessica Mosby
- USA -

"Daddy, how come I don't have good hair?"

That question, tearfully posed to comedian Chris Rock by his young daughter Lola, was all it took for Rock to travel the country (camera crew in tow) to find out what it actually means to have Good Hair, particularly in the African American community. From local barbershops and the Bonner Bros. International Hair Show to scientific laboratories and an Indian religious temple, Rock and director Jeff Stilson investigate the cultural messaging that has built a $9 billion industry.

by Nancy Sleeth
- USA -

In the next twenty-four hours I’ll be interviewed on three national radio shows. I’m feeling a bit nervous. Okay, terrified. But that’s what these interviews are about—walking out in faith, despite the terror. Doing what you are called to do, even if you look loony to the rest of the world.

My book, Go Green, Save Green, just launched. It’s filled with four hundred pages of stories about how my family has saved money while caring for the planet.

Sharing our faith and environmental journeys with the world feels a bit like walking into the store naked. On videotape. Broadcast internationally.

It all began with two simple questions.

by Mridu Khullar
- India -

The male vice-principal of a woman's college in Gwalior, India physically assaults fellow female faculty members and students by grabbing them and throwing them against walls. Kalpana Saxena, 37, publishes accounts of women affected by his behavior and he is immediately transferred, ensuring that he will never work in a woman's college again.

A six-year-old girl playing in an empty field is raped by a local dhobi (Hindi for a person who launders clothes for a living), and eventually dies as a result of her injuries. Sandhya Kaushik, 26, chances upon her story and finds that months later, the rapist still walks free. She writes about the details of the case and the girl's family is able to renew their fight for justice, this time with the media on their side.

by Emily Rose Herzlin
- USA -

I’ve never been able to remember my parents’ ages. I wrote my dad a birthday poem one year that began:

Dear Dad, don’t be blue,
Just because you’re 53 or maybe 52.

He taped it to his fridge next to my crayon scrawled sketches of Pocahontas. My father is having another birthday this year. So is my mother.

Everyone in my family except for me has had cancer. Even as I say this I worry that I am tempting the fates. Father: skin cancer. Sister: non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Mother: breast cancer. I wonder when it will be my turn, and what kind it will be, and what part of my life I will have to put on hold when it happens.

by Jozefina Cutura and Hope Lozano-Bielat
- USA -

Kristina was at Google before the Internet giant became a household name. She worked as a training specialist for six years, taking pride in her job and enjoying Google’s famously easy-going environment. But with the economy tanking, her division froze hiring, even though the workload kept increasing.

by Katharine Daniels
Executive Editor, The WIP
- USA -

The WIP launched in 2007 on International Women’s Day, a commemorative day that marks the centuries-old struggle women have faced to participate in society on equal footing with men. The WIP was created to balance the under-representation of women in media and as a platform for women writers to share their stories in a global forum. I am thrilled to announce that The WIP is hosting a special Community Chat to discuss women in media with Carol Jenkins and Patricia DeGennaro.