In 2005, Lisa Shannon  had one goal: to run the 30.16 miles  of the Wildwood Trail and raise enough money to sponsor 31  Congolese women, one for each mile, rounding up.

The Portland woman had learned about the terrors endured by these women on an episode of "Oprah" and how Women for Women International offered them financial assistance, education and counseling for as little as $27  per woman per month.

Shannon finished her one-woman race, raised almost $30,000  and sponsored 80  Congolese women.

But that wasn't enough.

In 2006,  she opened her Run for Congo Women to other runners and hoped eventually to raise $1 million.

Five years later, she's still working on that million, but she's exceeded all her other expectations. The Run for Congo Women is duplicated in 11 cities. More than 4,000  people have raised $650,000, enough to sponsor 1,400  Congolese women through Women for Women International.

By Esti Symonds

When I moved to Dubai I never imagined that my life would turn out the way that it did.  Being a free spirit and never taking anything for granted, I lived my life to the fullest, and waited for the next surprise around the corner.

Never worrying about the future and what would happen next I normally just jump into situations and go with the flow.

I started as a waitress and I believe that this taught me a lot about people and myself, to have enough patience to listen and to make sure that everybody was happy at the end of the day.

Studying cosmetology, nutrition, aroma therapy and reflexology didn’t serve me well when I first arrived in Dubai, but I was fortunate enough to know someone and got a job working for Red Bull. What an entertaining year!

I met so many people and lived a hectic life every day and was both sad and glad when the year ended.  I then moved into construction and interior decoration and took my life in a totally different direction. I met my future husband while working part time as a hostess for Harley Davidson and another journey started.

Susan notes: this is a wonderfully told animated story narrated by Kakenya, the young woman whose life it depicts. Kakenya, who was betrothed at the age of five, cleverly used tribal traditions to find a way to get what she wanted: to become a teacher.

She was the first woman in her village to go to college. At the time this video was filmed, she was just finishing her Phd.

Kakenya went back to her village and built its first primary school for girls, a place she says, where they "can dream."

Thanks to Vital Voices for making Kakenya's story, and those of other changemakers around the world, available to inspire us.

Related links:
Vital Voices
More About African Women on AWR

For Somaly Mam, laughter is as strong a weapon in her fight against human trafficking and sexual slavery as her own harrowing tale.

Born into extreme poverty in Cambodia and forced at age 12 to work as a sex slave, Mam has refused to let her horrifying past sour her present, and made it her mission to reach out to young women and girls broken by similar plights.

"Life, you have to laugh," she said Friday after recounting her story to DePaul students and faculty at the school's Lincoln Park campus.

Mam, who will make a commencement speech Saturday at DePaul's School for New Learning, heads an international organization based in Cambodia dedicated to rescuing women held as sex slaves across Southeast Asia. She's also the president of the Somaly Mam Foundation, which raises money to fund her efforts.

Mam claims to have saved about 4,000 young women and girls since starting her agency in 1996. Her work has the attention of actresses Susan Sarandon and Angelina Jolie, and last year, she was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People.

Jessica Herrera’s high school resume is as impressive as any teen in the country, but it’s her experiences outside the classroom that might set her apart.

The 18-year old recently graduated from Coral Gables Senior High School’s prestigious International Baccalaureate program with a 5.5 GPA. She scored a 1270 on her SAT.

And she’s been homeless much of the year.

“My senior year was always the year I looked forward to. But this year, things got really super hard at home,” Herrera said. “I just didn’t want to give up.”

Because of her perseverance, Herrera was accepted into Florida International University and will be attending the school for free thanks to a few scholarships she was recently awarded. She plans to major in psychology and wants to work with children.

A short time ago, the dream of attending college would have been nothing more than that – a dream.