• In Afghanistan, the Afghan Institute of Learning has created a Women's Learning Center that is helping thousands of women and girls catch up on their education and income-generating skills, and providing basic healthcare services. Our funds will also provide the tetanus toxoid vaccine for more than 35,000 Afghan women through UNICEF's Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Campaign, protecting mothers and their babies from this deadly by preventable disease.
• In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the STAR Network of World Learning is conducting a groundbreaking project to strengthen the capacity of Bosnian women to lead their communities in preventing trafficking of women and girls, and to generate the involvement of local health officials, police, teachers, cultural workers, religious leadership, and youth in this effort to raise awareness and influence national policy on this growing issue.
• Through UNIFEM's project in India and through ZISVAW projects around the world, men, women and children are learning and working together to eliminate violence against women.

Last month Zonta Issues and Programs were listed:

• Education, Leadership and Youth Development
• Preventing Violence Against Women
• International Service

• Nearly one in four women will experience sexual violence by an intimate partner at some point in their lives.
• Psychological violence often occurs in cases of physical violence.
• There is a correlation between how a community responds to violence and overall levels of violence in that community. A comparative study of 16 societies found that societies with the lowest levels of partner violence provided support services to abused women and enforced sanctions against the abuser.

Through the Zonta International Strategies to Prevent Violence Against Women (ZISVAW) program, Zonta International is dedicated to preventing violence against women through service, education, awareness and advocacy. Zonta is positioned on both the international and local levels as a catalyst for relationship building and information sharing. On the international level, Zonta works to raise awareness and promote collaboration among individuals, organizations and governments working toward the common goal of a world free of violence against women. At the grassroots or community level, Zonta Clubs participate in service projects and advocacy initiatives that support violence prevention strategies.

Here are the thank you notes from the Mighty Muse creative writing workshop participants on November 20th at Full Circle. These wonderfully responsive women wrote:

Dear Ladies of Zonta:
Thank you for this enlightening gift of an incredible evening of giving and sharing. It was exhilaratingly freeing. Addy

Thank you for the wonderful time and insight you shared with us recovering addicts tonight. Keep on shinin' your light! Love, M.K.

Thank you for making this enjoyable evening possible. I am at a crossroads in my life right now and this is what I needed. Zonta, thank you! Pammy R.

Dear Zonta, Thank you for helping in my being able to express myself and my feelings. J. G.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to open up and find beauty. I found beauty within myself. I feel better and now remember so many things that I love about myself. Thank you! M.H.

Dear Zonta Members,
Thank you for helping to get my creative juices flowing again. and thank you for the beautiful journals. H.

Thanks for a powerful evening. D.O.

Thank you for the start to my new life. D.D.M.

Thanks for letting me see a little bit more of myself, and giving me a night of smiles and laughter. M.P.

Thanks for lightening my load and making me laugh, Zonta. Thanks! C.

Dear Zonta, The one thing that is most imoprtant to me is to find myself. I think you gave me my first real look tonight. Thank you so much! K.N.

This workshop was a most wonderful experience for me, too. The women want us to return to give more workshops, and Rebekah and I hope to do that. We have 3 Intercept workshops scheduled for January and February.

Betty R. Edwards has a varied background, which is the basis of her interest and abilities in the volunteer world. As a military wife she lived in many states and was fortunate to live eight years in Europe (England and Belgium) where she learned basic French conversation. Her husband, Lowell, is retired from the Air Force, and their three married children, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild are scattered about in Utah, Texas, and Maryland.

Education included a business degree from Florida State University and an MBA from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Management was her focus for 16 years at Colorado Interstate Gas Company (CIG).

Following early retirement from CIG, she did training and consulting work as the owner of Edwards Resource Company. During this time she also served on the adjunct faculty at Regis University at Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak Community College.

Volunteer activities include Past Board President of the Women's Resource Agency, and 2000-2002 District 12 Governor for Zonta International. Betty is currently the District 12 Nominating Chairman, a member of the Zonta Club of the Pikes Peak Area and the American Association of University Women. Her newest challenge is researching a book on volunteerism.

Her volunteer passion is focused on improving the status of women. What Zonta is contributing world-wide and in our local community is very gratifying and contributes to her continued commitment to the Pikes Peak Area Zonta Club and District 12. The women in Zonta are inspiring in their dedication to improving life for women and Betty considers her interactions with women locally and internationally as awe-inspiring.