There are so many women and men truly changing the world... 3 of them - Jordan's Queen Rania, Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Canadian Artist Sarah McLachlan were profiled on Oprah and even if I did not see the actual show I was so moved by them that I wanted to share their amazing stories in brief. EnJOY and get inspired! :)
Grammy-winning singer Sarah McLachlan performs her socially conscious song, "World on Fire," from the CD Afterglow. After brainstorming different ideas for the music video, Sarah says her director approached her with a groundbreaking idea. Instead of the usual $150,000 or more that it takes to produce a music video, Sarah created the entire "World on Fire" video herself for just $15. Then, she spent the left over money to help more than 1 million women and children around the world. In the video, Sarah spells out exactly how the donated money was spent. See the groundbreaking video at www.worldonfire.ca.
"I love this. … It's about getting every one of us to look inside of ourselves to see, 'What can I do?'" says Oprah, "'How can I be of service to the world?
President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was born in Monrovia, Liberia's capital. She married right after high school and had four sons. Then, she made the difficult decision to leave her children behind to come to the United States for her education. She waited tables to pay for three college degrees, including her Master's at Harvard University.
After graduation, she returned to her family in Liberia determined to help her unstable homeland and worked in the Ministry of Finance. After speaking out against the ruling military regime, she was thrown in jail twice. When Johnson-Sirleaf was released, she was exiled to Kenya and went to work as an economist for the United Nations. She returned to Liberia in 1997 and made her first run for President against corrupt leader Charles Taylor and lost. Then in 2003, peacekeeping troops stabilized Liberia. Johnson-Sirleaf ran for the presidency again and on January 16, 2006, she was sworn in and became Africa's first elected female leader. Her historic inauguration was a celebration for women around the world. In Liberia like in many other parts of the world, women who are victims of rape have little or no protection. To address this shocking reality, one of the first things President Johnson-Sirleaf did for the Liberian women was to pass a law that makes rape illegal.
A businesswoman, a mother of four, an international fashion icon, a woman committed to making the world a better place for women and children—Queen Rania of Jordan is truly changing the world. Rania Al-Yassin was born in Kuwait. Shortly after Saddam Hussein invaded that country in 1990, her family fled and settled in Jordan. After graduating from business school, Rania began working her way up the corporate ladder. When she was just 22, she went to a dinner party where she met Jordan's Prince Abdullah—considered one of the world's most eligible bachelors. He didn't remain one for long after that night. Six months later, Rania and Abdullah had a royal wedding and started a family. And, though they planned for a life as royals, Abdullah assumed he'd remain a military officer for life. In 1999, while on his deathbed, King Hussein of Jordan stunned his country by announcing that his son Abdullah—not his brother—would succeed him as king. That made 29-year-old Rania the world's youngest living queen.
Rania has become famous around the world for her efforts to improve educational opportunities for girls and the rights of women. "In my mind poverty is a 'she,'" Rania says. Helping others is something that Rania says she feels compelled to do. "Once you feel that others are like you, then you want for others what you want for yourself," she says. "And that way you start helping others." Rania explains that there is a direct relationship between increasing education and eliminating poverty. "You can change the course of a nation through education," she says. "One of the most important things you can do for a girl is empower her with her education. Once she has the education, she can then have control over her income, she can change her life, she can have choices."
Rania says that when people focus on differences between cultures—especially stereotypes and things like veils—they fail to realize just how similar all people are. "Once you go beyond the mannerisms, the language, the cultural idiosyncrasies, you realize that you're basically the same, you know?" she says. Rania also wants to break down the stereotypes the West holds about her culture. "I would like to dispel the misconception that Arabs are all extremists, that Arab people are violent, and that women in the Arab world are oppressed and suppressed," she says. The struggle we feel today is not really Middle East against the West, Rania says, but rather it is between extremists and moderates of all religions. "We need to speak up," she says. "The biggest nightmare for the extremists is for us to get along, and that's why we have to get along. We have to communicate more."
In the future, Rania says she hopes for a more open and secure world. "We look at problems happening halfway across the world and we think, 'Well, that's their problem.' But it's not," she says. "When you solve somebody else's problem, you're solving a problem for yourself because our world today is so interconnected." Rania says solving problems that stem from intolerance—like terrorism—require cultural dialogue, education and increased opportunities. "We have to create opportunities for our youth so they have a chance in life," she says. "Whenever you're frustrated and you feel like you don't have a future or you can't get a job, then you're more susceptible to be influenced by terrorism and extremist ideology."
Credits: The Oprah Show and web site
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October 2009 
Joy Bringer
Access: Public
