 Hello everyone. We'd like to give a big welcome to everyone who's watching from around the world. Today we're going to have an incredible program hearing inspiring women's stories and we're going to talk about how you, wherever you are in the world, can have your voice heard, how you can connect with incredible women from every region of the world and create change. My name is Yensina Larson and I am the founder and CEO of a global network called World Pulse. We are powered by a network of 50,000 women from 190 countries who are speaking out and women who are speaking out, who are connecting, who are using sometimes internet cafes, sometimes cell phones, their own personal computers to log on and share their messages with the world. And today we are very, very fortunate to have three of these extraordinary women with us. These are three women community leaders, women who are also citizen journalists who are using the power of technology and digital media to create change in their own communities. So we're going to have a great discussion. You'll have a chance to submit your questions for us and I would like to first introduce to my left here the incredible Neyma Namedamu from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Welcome. Thank you so much. Then we also have a hummingbird who is here with us from Syria and Stella Paul from India. Thank you. For those of you who are not familiar with World Pulse, you can find us by logging on at worldpulse.com. You can do a number of things once you get there. You're able to have a safe space, particularly as a woman where you can tell your own story. You can share your own experiences in your homeland. You can immediately collaborate and connect with women and men from around the world who support your efforts. You can also share resources or your needs and exchange opportunities to access awards and scholarships and things you might not have known existed before. But generally connect to a community and not feel alone. The other thing is that World Pulse will listen to the stories and when great stories come onto our website we channel them to bigger media outlets like a CNN or Reuters and other outlets including forums from the State Department to the United Nations on issues that are important to you. And then the last thing that World Pulse does is training. We conduct a six month intensive women's citizen journalism and empowerment training program which gives you the skills to become a stronger voice and messenger for your community. How to use all the social media, how to use the Twitter, the Skype, how to use your cell phone and how to do ethical journalism as well. And that program you get matched with a mentor. We do it annually. Hundreds apply from around the world and it's a great opportunity for you to just hear many, many stories and have the opportunity to apply for such a program. And each of our three women leaders who are here with us have been graduates from the program as well. It's an incredible moment in history as women globally. It's a time when one woman's voice, whether you're living in the jungle, whether you're in a city or urban area can reach the world. You can change policy, you can change your society, your community and technology is giving us the power to do that. But there are still many barriers and there are still many questions for how we can come together in a collective force, support each other and have a larger global voice. And that's what we'll be discussing today. Each of our correspondents will share a brief introduction, share her personal message and inspiring vision that she has for the world and then we'll have a chance to do some question and answers. And I might add that that's been a whirlwind national tour across the United States that we're coming to the end. And you have all been in New York City, you've been in Portland, Oregon, now here in Washington, D.C. and next to Atlanta, at CNN and many other events. So I know that it's been a big journey, but we're so glad that you're here. We'd love to start with you, Nema, and just have you give a few words about your life and your vision. Thank you so much. My name is Inema Nama Demo. I'm from Odea, Congo. I'm here to talk about my country and my vision. My country, everyone who talk about Congo, who write about the Congo say Congo is lost cause. But I'm here to say to tell the whole world Congo is not lost cause. And that's because I see how my country is like my life. When I was baby, I born, I get poly when I have two years old. And everyone in neighbors, relatives, cousin, talk, I'm lost cause. And my mom, she say, no, my daughter, she's not lost cause. And that is not easy to be women with disability to live in my country, Congo, big and good country. But everyone is like shame to be women with disabilities. It is like punishment from God, women with a disability. But my mom, she refused to be, my life to be victims, but to be solution. It's why I'm here to talk about my vision, how we can be solution for everyone, for women with a disability around the world. And now I have this vision to be solution, not to be victims, but to be solution about my life, about my country. And I have a vision to connect. And when my mom, she was telling me when I got polio and go back every day at school, in Habaki, tell me. And she was told me everyone born by purpose and with some gift vision. And this purpose was every time come in my mind to say how I can be solution for my country, for Africa, for world. And that, I see that like with technology. Because with technology I had vision to connect women, to connect women around the world to be solution, to build the network, to connect my countries. And now I get some cybercafe in my region, Bocavo, to build how to connect women, how women can tell stories to change the world. And that I connect women around the cybercafe and the phone about video, to talk stories how to change the world, how to change our future, how to change our national future for our children, for our national Congo country. And that we have a new Congo in our mind, women. And that is through the technology. Because through technology women is around not have economy to buy. When you go to do visa is money. Ask you how much money you have in your account. Well, this problem is like to have. But with technology I don't have barrier. I have access to opportunity to information and no ticket. When I am sitting in my town in Bocavo, I have my computer. I turn around the world. One second I'm in America and I'm in Europe and I'm everywhere. And that technology is like our mom. We care us to be everywhere we are. And to help all women around the world and women with disability to have access to information, to have access to education. It's why I have a vision to connect our Congo to connect. And we can have education online because we can have access. Is that I'm here to talk about my vision about my country. And together when we are connected, when we're talking about our challenging together, we can get a solution. Thank you so much for giving this time to be with you. Thank you, Naima. And so I love what you're saying. You're talking about your mother used to carry you on your back. Yes. On her back. Yes. Back and forth to school. Yes. But for you technology is like being carried on the back of your mother. Yes. Because you can travel everywhere. Yes. Wow. So right now you are, and for those of you who don't know, the Democratic Republic of Congo is known as one of the most difficult countries in the world for women. Yes. Over 6 million people have died since 1996 there. Yes. And you're organizing women with disabilities and other women for this new Congo. Yeah. But you've also done something else besides the cyber cafe. Would you tell the audience what else you've done? Yes. And when I was have a cyber cafe in my region, I have women fighting around the computer. I have only 12 computers to be connected. And all women like three or four women on one computer. And if I think, oh, let me also tell my stories. Let me also tell my stories. And I say, oh my gosh, my mind was like troubling. And I say, oh, like, let me go ask license, telecommunication license. And I can have more connection to women around the world to connect the Congo between Congolese. And I went to Kinshasa to my country and I got a license for telecommunication or Congo. Wow. And now I went for my vision to be through. Wow. Wow. So you have a license from the government. Yes. Democratic Republic of Congo for telecommunications network. Yes. And what will that do? That will bring easier cell phone access, easier internet access so more women can connect in the Congo. Exactly. Absolutely. That's the license I had for to connect all Congo, between Congo himself and adults also. Other women around the world, they can know where it's going on Congo. And our vision I had, how we can change our nation through technology and through women. And we can have access to information. You can help, you can ask help through technology. For example, when we have a phone, women with a disability, for example, blind women, around the world is asking me how we can get to have connection, to have access to information. And opportunity also. Women doesn't have opportunity to have access. But with technology, we have access. We have a competition for everyone. Yes. And I know how difficult the access is in the Congo. Like many parts of the world, it is a big barrier. But you are leading incredible change and changing that for the people of your country. So thank you for your work. Thank you so much. Next, we'd like to hear from Hummingbird, who many of you have been reading the headlines about the extreme violence, the massacres that are happening across Syria, where no one is spared. And at a time when her country needs her the most, here is a powerful, a rising voice. I'm Hummingbird. And I came here to talk about change in my country, to talk about the freedom and dignity that I want to take them back home with me. The freedom and dignity that many people around the world enjoy but not us. Well, when I was a little girl, I spent much of my time in a small treasured village in the mountains of Syria. I used to walk barefoot among olive trees and climb fake trees. And at that time I felt so free. But remembering that now, it seems so, so far away. It seems something like a dream, the freedom that I sensed once before. In the 70s, a military coup took over my country. And a brutal regime came. Many human rights violations took place. And traditional social, negative social traditions were not changed or they were rather reinforced like on our crimes. No law protected my grandmother when she went through a forced marriage or my mother. And somehow I fell into the same experience. But one day I couldn't take that I wanted my long-forgotten freedom. And I just packed my life in a suitcase and decided to leave. And after a while I left Syria. At the beginning of 2012, people decided to rise and regain the rights that they were denied from for so long. But we did not expect what we will see, the brutality that people would see next after that. In the last two years, my life was a endless waiting and praying and hoping that I don't receive bad news telling me that one of my loved ones or friends had passed away or that I don't see a familiar face on news or on YouTube. Like once I saw my uncle after he was shot in the street by a sniper. I have a vision that I want to carry out in Syria. I would like to use social media for a healing process and reconciliation among Syrians in my country. I want to bring them together to talk about their fears, to talk about what they want from the future and how do they vision the future. I came here to break the silence regarding Syria because there are many people talking. There is talks about it, but many people feel confused, feel like they don't know what is going on there. And I want to say that don't let your confusion freeze you from not doing something about it, from not talking about it, talking to your friends, tweeting about it, write about it, ask your officials to take a firm stand against what is going on because this cannot be left like this for a long time. Many people are dying. Could you share some of the statistics with us for those who aren't familiar? Official statistics reported that about 250 Syrians displaced outside Syria in neighboring countries. There are, as statistics say, from one to two million people displaced inside Syria and they are in desperate need for humanitarian aid, especially medical aid. And they say that 30,000 people were killed. I believe that the number is much higher because only in August there are 6,000 people lost their lives. And there is no number about the people who are injured. They also say that about 200,000 people are in prisons now. And I don't know how many people lost their limbs and need continuous medical care. Hummingbird, you've talked about your personal journey of discovering your voice and leaving a marriage that wasn't working for you and becoming a writer. Could you share what that's been like for you, the process of finding your voice to speak out about these issues, and then now I think you've even gone to the refugee camps? Yes, if you could explain that journey and what it's been like, what you saw in the refugee camps as well. I went before they established a refugee camp to Jordan, but I saw refugees and I talked to them. My journey was, I just wanted to break the fear. And all my life I worked hard to create a better reality for myself and my loved one so that I don't feel helpless if I want to do something, if I want to save someone, if I want to support someone, if I want to support myself and seek what I want. But in my life I just bumped into many disappointments. And so every time I feel that I am going to get out from this stage of not able to do something and a stage of a paralyzing situation, I just bump into a disappointment and go back to my first place. Because it's in my personality that I could not endure a certain situation that I am not feeling free or feeling myself, feeling the enemy. So I always managed to find a way to get out from a situation. I could not endure being freezed and being helpless. So my journey, when I started writing for World Pulse I was a little bit afraid and scared for all kind of reasons, social and somehow political. But through writing I started to feel more empowered, more confident and I started to raise my voice and I was doing that. I was not only helping myself, I was also helping other women around the world who are reading my stories and fighting in them a call or a mission or a voice that talks to them and talks to their situations. So it's been an uplifting process for us all, me and other women around the world. Till one day I reached this phase and I said, okay, I can't take this anymore, I want to do whatever I want. I want to seek the call and the mission I want to do. So I packed my, I packed again, I packed a lot. I packed and went to Jordan and talked to some refugees there, Syrians who went outside the country to seek medical care or to be safe, to be away from the situation, the violence inside. So I heard a very heartbreaking stories. But what was amazing for me is that they were very strong and confident and they all wanted to go back and stand by their loved ones. And I thought that I would go there and give them some comfort and I found them comforting me and encouraging me. And they are the one who went into very horrible situations. Some people attack to a man who is not able to walk anymore. And people who lost many members of their families, lost their homes and can't go. But still they feel hope and they gave this hope to me. These are the kind of stories that we need to hear now. And thank you for the work that you're doing to bring those stories to the world. I mean, it's very rare for us to hear directly from women or hear from the voices of the refugees themselves right now behind the headlines. And you're doing that. So thank you. This is what will bring awareness to the world about what's happening in Syria. It's urgent. Thank you. Next, let us hear from Stella Paul, who is a major change maker across India training other women to tell their own stories in the second most populous country in the world. Thank you. Namaste. My name is Stella Paul and I'm from the northeast region of India. It's a region that borders China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan. I should not have been here today. When I was a baby, I and my brother were sick with diphtheria and my brother died. And then my relatives said that I should be just left alone to die because I was a girl child and a girl child wasn't saving, wasn't worth saving. But my mother, who refused to take that, she picked me up in her arms. She just ran out of her house. She found a doctor on her own who performed a very crude surgery that saved my life. And since then I lived and I've been living with a scar on my throat, the result of that crude surgery. And this scar reminds me every single day what girl children in my country undergo and also how lucky I am to be that girl who survived. I'd like to share some statistics on this. Every single day in my country, which is also the largest democracy in the world, 1600 girl children are killed in their mother's homes just because they're girls. So I am very lucky to have survived and to have grown up into a woman as an unwanted girl child because it helped me understand the need and the difficulties that girls and women in my country face. And it also helped me to find a way to deal with that, to help those women deal with that situation. So here is how I do it. I'm an environmental journalist. I report on issues like climate change, food security, drought, land degradation, deforestation, etc. And I tell these stories to the global audience, to the eyes of women in my country. These are mostly women from the vulnerable communities and the extremely marginalized communities. And I also train these women. I train them into basic internet. I train them into cellphone journalism. I train them into video journalism. And these are women who are largely invisible. They are trash pickers, they are sex workers, they are daily wagers, they are farm workers. And I train these women and I report on them because I believe there is tremendous power to bring change in each of these women. To me, each of them is a symbol of my mother, who was also a very ordinary woman but had the courage to challenge the bad norm in the society and save my life. So I am actually a chain builder. I build chains of women who are empowered, who can change society. And I do this with the help of technology. And I believe each one who are watching us here today can also be a chain builder. You can build a chain of empowered women across the world in your respective countries. And there are two simple ways to do that. First, you can listen and share the incredible stories of ordinary women doing something good and bringing change into our world. And you can share those stories with at least 10 people around you. And then they go on to share those stories with another 10 people. And this way you are going to build a huge chain of inspiration around you. It is connected to my vision. My vision is a similar one. I visualize my country to be in a stage where there are millions and millions of women who are empowered. And I think, this is how I am going to make that happen. I am going to train 10,000 women in India who then go ahead and train another 10,000. And then there is again a huge link in a huge chain of empowered women. The other thing that you can do is support and invest into programs and organizations that bring women of the world together. Give them the access to technology, technology that they can access easily and use it when they are in trouble, when they are in a situation that demands urgent action and they can take action for themselves. And also help women to talk to each other, find solutions to their problems and contribute to making this world a much, much better place. So my appeal to you today is come, be together and each one of us can be a chain builder in this world. Thank you Stella. And as your work as a chain builder, you are also focusing quite a bit on the power of mobile phones. If you wouldn't share with us some examples that you found that work with women and empowering them through phones. Yes. India is fortunately for us a huge, huge emerging market for cell phones. In cases where our women do not have access to any other form of technology have access to a cell phone. And we are having different models of cell phones coming into the market every day. Many of these cell phones have inbuilt applications through which you can do much more than just talk to somebody. You can send text messages to a group of people, you can take picture, you can send a picture to someone and you can also record voices. So you can do live reporting from the field just through the use of a small cell phone. And I am using a cell phone to help women deal with mostly in crisis situation because I work with women who are in extremely vulnerable zones and in a situation in the society. And it is a big help and I would like to share an example of how this helps. Two months ago I had trained a young woman on how to use internet through her cell phone and how to use a free web based texting service where you can send one text to 150 people at a time. And the woman was trafficked and then sold into a brothel. And using a cell phone she could actually send that text message that reached a large number of people that included two NGOs who then went into that brothel and rescued that woman. And today she is training to be a trainer so that the chain is actually building like this. And I believe that there are so many conflict zones in my country. There are also very remote and risk areas where women work. And for them sometimes it's very difficult to carry around big devices, big computers. They are also traditionally dressed a lot of times. It's very difficult for them to carry a very big bag. A cell phone is something which is extremely portable. It's very easy to hide into their blouse if there is a situation like this where they have to run and they have to hide. And at the same time they can do so much. They can call people, they can take a very quick picture and they can just text it to maybe TV stations, to police, to a lot of people who can quickly come and respond to their need. So the cell phone journalism has huge potential in my country to help women. Well, many of you may be starting to think of questions so we're going to go to questions in a minute from the audience. We have some advanced questions though and I'd like to start with that. Many of you are talking about this technology as a tool of liberation for women. But we want to know how difficult is it really for access for women to the technology and how can we actually reach women who are illiterate and who have no access in your communities? Does anyone want to tackle that? I think in our country we have many barriers. We have first barriers culture and women doesn't have this freedom to use this technology. Secondary economics, women. When you say women don't have the freedom to use the technology, what do you mean, what happens? No access, what happens in no way. Women doesn't have the capacity because first things, no access to education, how to use technology. It doesn't know how to write or to read a different language around the world. That is number one, no access to education. Secondary also women are majority poor. To have access to internet or computer or expensive phone to use internet is not easy for women around the world. And also like I say culture also women doesn't have this in mind to go to Cibercafe and sometimes to be with men. We still have many barriers how we can get those women online. You were talking before how sometimes it's the men who might often control some of the technology as well, is that true? Of course. And all things about technology or about information, how to access to information. For example, in my village, in my country, in my territory where I live, women have no women who can have radio. No women who can have access to television. If my country, my territory is no television, no phone. And only we have radio and only it's for men. And after many listening to news from around the world and put somewhere is only something for men only. But we will try to put down barriers women can have access to radio. Because it's only one thing in my country, in my territories, my village where I live, my community is only things we can use. So how can we change that? You found a way, you got access against all odds. How can we change that for other women in your community? I think we have three ways we can change that. For example, my country and my community and my tribe, women doesn't have access to education. Women doesn't know to read or writing. And I want to use video, video camera. We can, everyone he can talk himself where he need. He can change through cameras. He can have somebody who can interpret where he need, how he can need. Secondly, the women who can have access to technology, we can use computer online, we can use intranet. And three things when I think about mobile phone for women who lives around. For example, for women with disabilities, for example, women blind, when you have some violence, because we live in a country, we have a difficulty sometimes with gang, with trouble with rebel. We can call, I need help. For example, I can't move quickly and I can call taxi and I have some to turn around. That is big help for us, for technology to use. And we have a different need with different level, with different understanding. And we also culture in how we can use, how every women, every category of women in our country, Africa, in the world, around the world, I think women have the same issues. And we are here to talk about our issues we exchange and how we can have solutions together. Okay, so, and I hear you saying, talking about the mobile phone, as Stella was saying, it's also the emergency help lines for women, especially women with disabilities. And having more access to education online and having more internet cafes, would you say like you actually bringing the technology into the communities? Yes, exactly. And then video. Yes, and it's also right for everyone have access to information. Right. For example, when I say about video is blind, deaf, people who live, have no access to information. And how we can do test message, CMS is a short message for to help, for to ask help. Right. And that everyone is right around the world. Everyone who created the buy, he needs to have access to information. Yeah. And you can find opportunity also. Yes. And that text can be so simple but have such a big impact in a woman's life. Yes, exactly. Video? Yeah, I would like to add that. I think there is, first of all, the economic barrier. Yeah. Because when I think about how someone in a rural area who cannot find his food for the day can have a phone or can go to an internet cafe. So this is when the community leaders, NGOs and the government can go inside and help certain community to be connected, to reach aid. Even community leaders or NGOs who cannot help and can connect them to others who can help, who can come and see what they want and provide the necessary services. For women, there is the cultural barrier. Like before the uprising, I found it somehow difficult to go to an internet cafe because there are sometimes harassment happen there. But after the uprising, there was a boom in using social media. Still, although there are many beautiful, brave women, are using the social media to send a message to the world. But this usage by women is not as much as the use of men. It is dominated mainly by men. And we have a few couple of famous women voices talking about it. But we can't see it from the inside, the society, a movement from inside society to also share and be a substantial part and basic part in this vocal uprising. Stella? Yes. So in my country, we have very specific barriers, cultural barrier. And it's not very different from what my sisters here, they face. A woman is not expected to, mostly in the rural and semi-rural regions, they're not expected to move on their own. They're expected to be escorted by men. And it's not always easy to happen. Men are busy so women can't go and access internet in a cafe. Sometimes the internet cafes work in the morning and in the evening and that's when a woman is busy doing her household chores. So she doesn't have the time. She's free during the midday when the internet cafes are closed. So there are cultural barriers like that. Then we have technical barrier like Neema here mentioned. A lot of women, our keyboards are mostly in English. And if the keyboard has some Hindi, which is the predominant, the language spoken. But India is a country of 29 official, I mean more than 20 official languages. There we have 23 and counting and all of them did not know Hindi or English. And we have the computer keyboards only available in this state. The language is only available in this too. So a lot of times women do not use it. They're scared because they just don't understand what's there, how to use it. They also, and the applications on the desktop, icons, they are all in English. So they don't understand which one to click. So this is the technical barrier. And then there is security barriers like a lot of times women who dare to work into a cafe are physically molested, harassed by men. Sometimes they face different kinds of sexual abuse like teased by the cafe owner himself. Sometimes they're looked upon and this affects their self-esteem. The owners, the cafe owners treat like these women don't matter. So those are the barriers. Now how can we actually deal with these barriers and help them overcome? So one of them is to do a very good in-depth need assessment. A woman in one region may have access to one kind of technology and may not have the same kind of need that the women in other region have. If it's a woman living in an urban slum, she has quick access to internet. She can actually just walk out of her house, walk into an internet cafe. But a woman living in a conflict zone in a remote mountain or areas, she doesn't have. She may have a computer but she may not have the power or the opportunity to go to an internet cafe. So are we matching the demand, the character of the need and the supply? So how do we do that? First thing is let's find out what kind of access a woman has. What kind of technology? Is it a cell phone, video or is it a big computer? If she has access to a certain form of technology, is she able to actually use it? The moment I know that a woman is in a position in a place where she has a cell phone but there is no tower, she can't use the cell phone because she cannot recharge, she cannot buy minutes on her phone. We can actually give her a video device where she can capture videos which then she can send, she can travel to the city once and she can transfer them, she can send them to people who can use those videos for her. She can also earn a livelihood through that. That's one. The other one is many a times women have a device. They don't know what to do with that. They think a cell phone is only for making a call. A computer is only for accessing internet. They don't know that you can do so much more, you can write an application, you can actually do so much more with the technology. So translating the technology to those women, that is a very important thing. Which is something that you do in the community as a leader in the community. Yes, which is what I do. So it's like doing a very quick need assessment and then translating, looking at the device, the technology that is existing and then translating and explaining to them in what different ways they can use that technology. In what kind of situation they can use it. Yeah, and it sounds like confidence is an issue as Neymar was saying. Sometimes women don't believe that they have the confidence to do that and they need someone in their community to say yes you can and hear how. Yes, absolutely. Yes, which is what all three of you are doing. And that confidence comes from access to information. The moment we give them the information on the device that they have, how many ways you can use it, what power you have in your hand, they self-esteem the confidence builds up. Yes, yes, so yes you can. Alright, now we have questions coming in already. And this is a great question from Sarah, which is what do you think is the most important issue in your country that you think needs media attention and is not getting that currently? Anyone want to answer that question? Yeah, I think for my country Syria is what people need right now because there is many reports talking about fighting and who used these weapons and how the fighting was going on in some area but they don't talk about the people needs inside and outside Syria, the humanitarian aid, where the aid should go, how much aid should go and the ways to make this aid reach these people because sometimes they just send money and we don't know where this money goes. We need them organizations and media talking about what are the basic needs of the people. What do they want inside medical aid, food, blankets? This is what media needs to focus on. Are you seeing those reports come from anywhere? Is there anywhere that our audience could go for that? They can certainly read your reports on worldpulse.com Are there any other places where you have found that information or is it just doesn't exist right now? I didn't read many of these reports in media probably in their might be in the United Nations or human rights but media don't focus on that, they only want to focus on the conflict and the rebel movements. Anyone else? We have an urgent need to help women from the vulnerable communities to access technology. They are living entirely outside of the digital, on the other side of the digital divide. People think about the victims of sex trafficking, some organizations go a little farther and think about giving them their civil rights, giving them access to a valid government document to citizenship but nobody is thinking to give access to technology to these women. So they will not be forever dependent on others but they can actually talk and stand up for themselves. We need to bring access to technology to women living in the high risk conflict zones. They do not have access to technology even though men in the same zones are having access to technology. Some form of technology. We need to take this technology to women and the other one I would like to point out is that we have an urgent need to support women journalists in my country especially women who are covering issues like environment and development. Women like me, we are the journalists, we keep going, we bring these stories to you by sheer passion and a personal connection. But we are not supported, we do not receive any form of support either in terms of finance or in terms of networking or emotional support. And if we can do that bridge, this gap, we can have a lot more happening in terms of reaching out, reaching the vulnerable communities, bringing out more development issues and bringing out the real picture to the world also getting the whole world connected to the unseen and unheard women of India. Do you have a thought about what is the most urgent issue that the media needs to report on in your country? Exactly, media in my country focus on government and group, group but it doesn't focus on women. And women is foundation for society and that and we are, women are majority in my country because men are fighting all the time and they die and we have majority in my country women and those women need this to have access to information. It's not only to have access to media, social media, no, have access to information and he can find also opportunity to have access. Where is how another people build country, develop country. If we have this information, education, we can have also to contribute to change development country and we can change our world, we can change my country needs women stand up and work because long, long, many years ago only these women who care about the family, who care about children and men fighting, men have their own agenda to have a position to have some place to have some title and fighting but women show every single day watch how I can get food for children how I can get good food, health for children, women around the world. I think women around the world we have the same issues and we wanted to be connected to know our issues and how to get solution. Yes, so it's a big gap focusing on women and their needs and their solutions. Well I'd like to go personal for a moment and ask you for your advice to anyone who might be sitting out in the audience and feeling perhaps alone or wondering how did you get the courage to speak out about these issues in your community. You're all facing risk and it was not easy, you face many cultural barriers, you face economic barriers but personally as a leader how did you find that courage to speak out and what advice would you give to anyone who's sitting there feeling like I don't know if I can do that. I think with confidence everyone have a gift, everyone have a talent to move around and to talk. When you have somebody fed back, if you speak for example when I get out is through world polls when I was writing sometimes and when I write and when I get I write I'm women with a disability and they say thank you so much and we'll see you tomorrow and nothing can happen but with world polls when I was writing and they say oh I'm women with a disability and oh it's no problem and I get every feedback around the world to oh we are here with you you are not alone and sometimes women will say oh she's crazy women because she talks about women she lives in conflict zone and how she can do that why she doesn't move from that I say no I'm not and every around the world say no you are not alone you are with other women we are with you and they have more energy more powerful to speak out so the community gives you energy so find community would be your advice yes and women around myself come ask me advises oh I'm not crazy I can maybe somebody needs me and many many many women when they also come to cybercafe he called me mom and I have I like my mom because my mom she doesn't know to read and write but she was contributed she gives me life she gives me education that when I see around myself I say oh I'm not crazy and I continue and they have energy to do that every day yes yes and so you're building a local community around you to feel strong but also the global community through world pulse through world pulse we are global community one family one global one global family and one solution yes what about you hummingbird I would say that it's the children the suffering of children in my country who gave me the courage every day to talk about what is going on and to speak to other people and I during this tour in the United States I met many people who are very hungry to know what is going on and to do something about it and many people come and ask me what we can do what and they give me the support and they give me the hope and I also when I met the refugees and I talked to many people who are displaced and escaped from Syria this amazing hope and this great optimism about the future and what they want to do it's also pushing me forward and I found my courage there the first time I found courage to be who I want to be and how I want to move in my life was when I was 15 that was when I found out how I was saved by my mom and I saw a hero in my mom and that personal story of my mother's heroic act gave me the first courage to be something somebody I realized that I was not just another child that I was a special child with a very very special mother and I could not let her down I had to stand up to all that she did was I had to prove that it was all worth it and so I decided that I am going to live a life in a slightly different way I'm going to do something not just not just live for myself but also do something anything that I can in my own small way to make my country a better place so that was my first courage and since then my courage has been doubled and tripled by the impacts that I can bring in my country and my society through my writing, through my training every time a woman is able to use that skill that I give her to free hustle from a brothel every time an activist in a Maoist zone like Chattisgarh can go ahead and win a major international award for rural creativity every time a teenage girl comes and says that I am going to save this environment by being a triplanter that gives me courage because things work when we make a genuine effort and third and finally I get lots and lots and lots of courage and support from World Pulse, my global community that's where I tell my personal stories my stories of struggle and I draw lots and lots of understanding and support and it makes me feel connected and that in terms boosts my self-confidence I hear this in all three of your stories it can start with a small step but it's the connection, the energy you get back from others that keeps growing and creates that cycle of empowerment for you and I also love what you're saying about your mother we've had many dinner discussions about how sometimes our mothers are invisible but the more we learn about the work our mothers have done can give us courage to see the courage that she had I feel that we can actually start to be a change maker by making our mothers visible my mom, what she did, she saved me that was not acknowledged that was not revealed to me until I was 15 and to me, that is a kind of gender violence to deny a woman her right to be recognized as an achiever and if we can make our mothers their courage their work visible, that's a beginning to change the society I'm getting that there's many, many comments of encouragement and thanks that are pouring in from the online audience and one participant says to Neima, thank you for your courage in finding your voice and sharing it with us and a question for Neima from Annette Neima, I'd like to hear more about the license you mentioned does it only serve the women at your cafe? I know there must be huge demand do you have any plans to get additional computers or ad space? Yes, of course this is why I want to Kinshasa to have a natural license and Kinshasa is the capital it's the capital for my country and I wanted there four times to talk about when I was saying I needed to have sometimes education online for women because I see in my community my country is some barrier for women to have access to education and I was wondering to only my region and when I get there to Kinshasa and president for telecommunication in my country say no, you are first woman to ask this technology and they say we give you all, listen for all country and now we are its beginning and we have already partner technology from Israel and I think this is beginning and I think I have more need computer, phone, video and it's frustrating to build towers in different areas in my country and we can every, not only women men also need to be connected to connect to my country, to connect to Congo and everyone cannot, where is going on in Congo where is need, everyone can say I need this for example we need water for drink we need food for children we need roads, we need airports is men need but when you don't be connected to world no one can know your need but when we are connected I think this for me is my vision to have this big, I have big and weak countries and for example when we are connected we have huge lake, Tenganika, four fish and behind the lake no boat for to have fish and children no food are going hungry yes but we have four, four, four, four, four so the technology license it's not just for the internet cafe and not just for Eastern Congo literally for the whole country which is huge yes and you are talking about the communication network will help the world see the need of the people like hummingbirds saying we need to hear the needs of the people now from Syria and around the world and you are just beginning so you are looking for support for more computers to keep the space and support with the license to get it started yes we are in beginning and that with more computer we can connect around it we move from Mubuqab, Goma, Lubumbashiki, Sangani everywhere in my country but also the license need more support more understanding and from there we can begin to have infrastructure and if we have for example roads and we can have to build towers different provinces my country is very big and it's hard for Africa right the communication will help the development exactly okay great well we have more questions coming in and we have a question from Zainab who is a university student and blogger in Pakistan and this question is for Stella how did you go about training the women you speak of in internet usage and mobile technology is there a gathering point where does the funding come from how do you do it the first time I started doing it I was working for a community media organization in India that trains people from urban slums and villages into video journalism so that was a job of mine but last year I left that organization I started to work as an independent journalist and I decided to focus only on environmental issues and development issues and write mostly about women so for my own reporting work I need to do a lot of homework which includes research which are the organizations that are working on this field so for each story of mine I contact six to seven development organizations as well as the government departments that are working on this particular issue when I am talking to the government officials and the development organizations I always try to find which are the communities they are working with if there is a program who are the beneficiaries I try to get as much details as possible about these people and then I go down to these communities I spend time probably more time than actual reporting assignment requires I spend time talking to women and discussing the problems that they have not just regarding to one particular issue but a lot other issues that exist in their society and I not just try to find about the problems but also what they are trying to do about it a lot of times I come to know about solutions amazing solutions that these women have devised but they have no way to communicate they have no way to share those solutions women in India are extremely powerful women they have a lot of wisdom and the intensity to do something and that is an asset and I try to see that this asset this is not lost that it travels from their communities so I go down from one organization to another to one level of district state level to district level to the village level and I talk to the people then when I am coming back it is the same journey back again to the village level organization then to the district level organization I build up my rapport, my relationship it is very very important to build a network build relationships with all the organizations in your area, in the region, in your country because we can do nothing on our own we have to work together and that is what I do So you are going to the communities where they are you are not saying, hey I am here everyone come to me in a classroom it doesn't work that way you go to them and meet them where they are when you go down to them that is when they try to see you they start seeing you as one of their own not as an outsider they trust you with the information and the problems that they would not trust anyone else with we have another comment from a group that is gathered in Pakistan we are learning many new stories from people across the world it is good to know that women from Syria and Congo have worked to raise their voices empowering women in their community and I think that is looks like just a comment which is nice to hear Rashida with GeoTV in Pakistan says women journalists often face many dangers in these situations how can women work to raise our collective voices where access to technology is also limited so a question about security when you are facing dangers as a woman especially as you are talking to communities you are doing journalism work how can we stay connected to protect ourselves and raise our collective voice I think that there is a need to create safe connections safe devices and networks safe online connections and networks so women can go online and talk safely but the risk will always be there especially if a women community leader go to a certain community this is and do not agree with what she wants to teach or what she wants to oppose to them or the stories she wants to report from a certain community but probably being connected to some sort of organization or if she has a support from a place she works in or from another community probably this is the best solution for that I would say that there are two ways which would work us deal with the risks that we have right now first network we need to intensify we need to increase the level of networking that we are doing right now we have a few scattered forums here and there but we need to build a women journalist network at every level we need to have one at the local hyper local level then go to the state level to the country level I know about one or two forums that exist but very very senior level journalists and a lot of times young journalists who are doing more assignments they are in more insecure area in their carrier they do not have the power of network they are not connected we need to create more forums Rashida and if you want to connect with me I would love that we must do that we must build like a chain like a net we have to be connected and stay together the second way is that we have to use access to technology that we have in a very very smart way so before every single assignment we have to keep as many people as possible in the loop a lot of times we do not share this because we are scared of losing our news someone else running away with our ideas but go and share the news with people that you trust with you have to let people know if you are going out in a risk zone that I am going there I am traveling on such and such a date carry devices that are smart that are easy small that can help you talk about a lot of people quickly use social media extensively a lot of us journalists we write about social media but we do not use it we talk about blogging we have blog sites we do not update that we can't afford to do that if we have to minimize the risk and be safe we have to start using social media the third one I would say let's get connected to Warpulse this is a huge and accessible and free way to get connected with each other so yes we can adapt this we are talking about the situation a normal situation but we cannot assure the safety of any journalist especially women in conflict zone they have to go there on their personal risk even they are tweeting all the time and writing about it which many of them did and many journalists went to Syria and they were like Mary Colvin who was talking to her friend and writing on Facebook one day before she was killed but in such situation it's very hard to maintain someone's security we can't underestimate the risks that women face who are reporters but also just every day ordinary women in their communities whether it's abuse or being killed in their own families there's always that risk but I do hear a common theme of breaking the silence where possible because sometimes that silence can be more deadly we all have that choice in every working environment but we have to keep trying to minimize them we can't just sit doing nothing and you increase the odds of survival when you have community connection when you are using the technology so people know where you are and what you're doing and can help you we're getting close to the end of our time it's hard to believe it went so fast now we have a final question and we'd like to know if you could all talk about what has been the most important part for you in this experience of sharing your stories what for you has made the most difference what has changed your life the most in sharing your stories maybe you have a specific example or just a general feeling inside yourself this experience for the personal level for me it has a catharsis catharsis process inside me and the cleansing and I had my doubts and my fears but as I was going on with this experience I feel this all these fears and all these doubts are washed by the support love of the people around me, my family friends the people who I met world pulse community and my mentor so for me this is what is amazing for telling this story about keeping it inside and on the other on the other level is encouraging other women to come out and speak come out from the shell and speak about what is going on you will feel better you will encourage other women in your society to rise with their men and their brothers and their sons to build a better reality for you and for your children make all of us cry I'm afraid and for myself I can feel energy to have big support to have somebody who is listening to me is very big to me to have all around the world make a decision where I was in the clinton global initiative everywhere many people listening to me to my story gives me energy I can talk I can still tell my story I see people is not tired with my story and I can help other women also talk stories about where we are and we are not special it's like everyone can be can build and everyone have different gifts to share and we must share our story and other women all we need our story to be together and we can know each other and that gives me energy and the hope and tomorrow we have new world for everyone yes my experience is something very similar to NEMAS since I started sharing my stories my email inbox has been is filled is flooded with emails coming from Malawi, coming from Tanzania Pakistan India, corners of India where women are writing they are telling me their big long stories they want to share their stories so this is one to be able to connect very quickly that gives me a lot of inspiration, motivation second thing it is amazing to see how people across the world in this people across US are longing to hear stories personal stories of impact from the ground reforms what I always believed that demand for good stories positive stories is immense but the supply is very very short and that gives me a lot of courage and good energy to go back and keep doing and what I have been doing and bring in more and more positive stories to the world so more people can be inspired and come and join this this huge efforts of creating what you call a ripple effect across the world I hear so much in your stories that I relate to as well I can say that being a woman with a big vision and starting something that you don't know how it's going to work can be a long journey and sometimes you have a lot of dark days and you feel very alone because sometimes people think you're crazy if you're starting something new like world pulse was when I started about eight years ago and even today when I write a post on world pulse and I get a comment from someone on my personal journal I suddenly feel wow somebody cares about what I have to say someone's listening to me and I founded the world pulse and it still it still affects me emotionally and I could not keep going if I didn't have the partnership of all of you and men around the world who are connecting to us to say to me keep going I believe in you this is possible we can be even bigger we can change the world together so I think for anyone this can be a common experience that feedback from the community happening we've heard many common themes today the power of voice the power of connection the power of community and mobilizing together and these are all things that you can find by connecting to world pulse you can stay connected to each one of these three extraordinary leaders on world pulse and find their profiles and message them individually I think we all do have a common dream as Neymar said time and time again I think we have universal issues we are more alike than we are different and I know that we all want to see a world where no woman no girl has to feel unheard or has to feel alone and this is something that we truly can achieve together so if you are feeling like you have a story to tell or a message to share please share that with us please post your journal the world is waiting to hear your voice and as hummingbird has also said you know when you share your voice you're also opening the door for many many others to come behind you and inspire them and then suddenly you become a mentor for others so don't hold back speak loudly join the vocal uprising it is now time the United Nations, the State Department the World Bank all these big institutions are wanting to hear from you but also in your local community so please come join us on worldpulse.com you can apply for the training you can post for our digital action campaigns we're running one right now on solutions for ending violence in your communities and we'll be channeling those to influential forums so don't hesitate please speak out no one speaks for me I speak for myself so speak for yourself we're so glad that you could join us today thank you