Women's Group Visits DC's Zoolights

Hot chocolate in hand and decked in winter coats, hats and gloves, over twenty woman congregated in the Suburban Washington Resettlement Center's conference room as their children entertained themselves by coloring snowflakes. After the success of October's women's picnic, the women reunited on Friday November 30th in even larger numbers for an adventure to  Wasington D.C. for the National Zoo's 2013 Zoolights.

                 
 
After a long week of work, unsuspecting passengers on the metro and passerbyes on the street  were bombarded with positive energy as the women wore smiles from ear to ear, chatted loudly in French, Amharic, Tigrinya, Arabic, Burmese and laughed in a universal language the entire way from Silver Spring station to the illuminated  Zoo entrance gates and beyond. Confused by what united these individuals, clearly from all over the world, a stranger asked, "What exactly is your group?" The simple answer came without hesitation and was enunciated with pride, "we are women."

The night was a huge success.  Both young and old enjoyed spotting the many animals, some seen for the first time and others well recognized, and all enjoyed the festive decorations. More importantly, however, while the group greatly expands outward in size, it  simultaneously strongly pulls the women closer together.

The next meeting for the Women's Group will be January 15th at the Suburban Washington Resettlement Center, where leaders within the group will be identified and the next steps and direction of the group will be determined. Stay tuned...