Wake Up Call: Melody Munz - Port-au-Prince, Haiti

IRC environmental health coordinator Melody Munz at a camp in Port-au-Prince where people displaced by the January 12, 2010 earthquake are living.

Photo: The IRC

From California to Congo, women and girls face unspeakable violence and abuse.  Yet each day women and men are fighting to boldly reimagine a safer world.  Find out what keeps them going despite incredible obstacles — check back next Wednesday for a new story from our recently-launched Web site, The Wake Up Call.

"I think that women can play a significant role in the long-term recovery of this nation. Based on what I've seen in our own staff and in the people that we see in the camps, they are capable, they are thinking, they are sharp — and they want their lives to improve. They've all indicated that they want to have a louder voice in decisions that are made inside their camp, and I'm sure that will extend to their communities."

- The International Rescue Committee's Melody Munz, describing how she sees the women of Haiti moving decisively through disaster toward recovery and a better future.

Watch and listen to Melody's story, and share your own wake up call.