BRAC celebrates International Women’s Day with launch of Courage in the Heart

BRAC joins the 100th anniversary celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2011 with the launch of Courage in the Heart.

Courage in the Heart is an online storytelling platform that features the stories of women in rural Bangladesh who are changing the fabric of society by shifting the consensus about the role of women. Courage in the Heart creators Annie Escobar and Patricia Schneidewind traveled to Bangladesh in 2010 to profile the lives of women who have transformed their lives through BRAC’s pioneering programs.

According to co-creator Annie Escobar, this program “is meant to build solidarity in the fight for women’s empowerment. We hope to create ‘BRAC ambassadors’ by connecting people in the United States to BRAC’s work and further its effort to empower people in situations of poverty, illiteracy, disease and social injustice.”

This platform shares the accounts of women like Rupa, a young woman in Bangladesh, who after being widowed at fifteen changed her life by becoming a community advocate through BRAC’s Human Rights and Legal Services program. Rupa says of her transformation: “before, I was not aware of the legal system, but now I teach a lot of people about the law.”

One additional story will be released each week for six weeks following the launch of Courage in the Heart.

Please join BRAC in celebrating women’s achievements on Tuesday, March 8th for International Women’s Day by visiting Courage in the Heart.

To learn more about Annie and Patricia’s project, read Annie’s blog post here.