Just days before coming across this movie I'd been part of a lengthy discussion, in my women's studies class, asking "what can we actually do to make a difference?". There were the full spectrum of opinions but for most of us the possibilities feel limited. Who can afford to walk away and joining the Peace Corps or volunteer for an NGO? Not me I have pets, and bills, and too many responsibilities to walk away, the economy is bad so how can I walk away from my job, and many other selfish excuses.
But these women found a way to impact other women, across the world, who had also lost husbands on 9/11. These two women were able to make time in their daily lives to make a lasting contribution. The pessimist in me has to say however that these ladies do seem to be very well off giving them an advantage over the average middle-class citizen. But nonetheless it is a powerful story.
The following film synopsis is from the Beyond Belief website.
Susan Retik and Patti Quigley are two ordinary soccer moms living in the affluent suburbs of Boston until tragedy strikes. Rather than turning inwards, grief compels these women to focus on the country where the terrorists who took their husbands' lives were trained: Afghanistan.
Over the course of two years, as they cope with loss and struggle to raise their families as single mothers, these extraordinary women dedicate themselves to empowering Afghan widows whose lives have been ravaged by decades of war, poverty and oppression - factors they consider to be the root causes of terrorism. As Susan and Patti make the courageous journey from their comfortable neighborhoods to the most desperate Afghan villages, they discover a powerful bond with each other, an unlikely kinship with widows halfway around the world, and a profound way to move beyond tragedy.
From the ruins of the World Trade Center to those of Kabul and back, theirs is a journey of personal strength and international reconciliation, and a testament to the vision that peace can be forged... one woman at a time.
