Another piece of exciting news:

http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/articles/mag-bj/peeps/my-peeps-paige-melvin-building-opportunity-support/
City Weekend game is a great write-up in the May 8th edition.

Hope to see you there!
These are some more events that we have coming up! If they apply for you or loved ones, please come!

Wednesday March 19, 2008, April on-every 3rd Wednesday; 7pm- English Speaking Eating Disorder Support Group
At Sandglass Cafe on Nanlouguxiang across from number 88
Bus lines near it: 701, 823, 118, 850
Cafe phone: 6402-3529 in case you need directions from the owner. (Check the website in April to verify)

March 23rd, from April on, every 3rd Sunday 10am- Support Sister: General Women's Issues Group
At Sandglass Cafe on Nanlouguxiang across from number 88
Bus lines near it: 701, 823, 118, 850
Cafe phone: 6402-3529 in case you need directions from the owner. (Check the website in April to verify)

I just wanted to reiterate to you all how important it is to get tested for HIV/AIDS and STDs.
This alarming article in CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/11/teen.std.ap/index.html

Also, and article on thecervical cancer vaccination:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/family/03/07/hfh.gardasil.parents/index.html

All in all, it is better to be prepared for whatever happens in life. Do not necessarily trust life to always take the safe and prepared path, and prepare yourselves for anything that may happen.

On a more positive note, we are starting our Support Groups this month.

Eating Disorder Support Group (English)
Sandglass Cafe in Nanluoguxiang (across from #88)
Wednesday March 19, 7pm. (Every 3rd Wednesday of the month)
Support Sister: General Women's Issues Group
Sandglass Cafe in Nanluoguxiang (across from #88)
Sunday March 23, 10am. (From now on, every 3rd Sunday of the month)

We also have our open house coming up:
Le Petit Gourmand
Saturday April 12, 4-6pm

For more information contact us at info@bowsforgirls.org

Expanding the entrepreneurial talent and managerial pool in developing and emerging economies – especially among women – is one of the most important means to reducing inequality and ensuring more shared economic growth.
Happy International Women's Day! In honor of today, there are many different organizations that work with and for women that I am going to list. Please take a look at each of these companies, organizations and women, in Beijing and abroad. There are great opportunities available!

85 Broads: 85broads.com
A women's networking organization all over the world. Check out the website, and the blog that Janet Hanson, the founder, writes.
Also, check out this link to some more info about Janet and what is going on in her life and how strong she is:
christainnewyork.blogspot.com/2007/12/note-from-janet-hanson-of-85-broads.html

Women in Beijing: A great link that talks about influential women in Beijing last year (2007).
 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/citylife/2007-03/08/content_822906.htm#

Erin Weed:
A woman who has started her own organization and travels around the US speaking for women's issues. Check out all of the different things she is doing on erinweed.com

Women for Women International: Works with women in conflict that have lost everything and have no resources. They have a variety of programs and initiatives that continue to support these women.
womenforwomen.org

National Organization for Women: http://www.now.org/
"NOW is the largest, most comprehensive feminist advocacy group in the United States. Our purpose is to take action to bring women into full participation in society — sharing equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities with men, while living free from discrimination." Really cool news: One of our BOWS team member helped set up a chapter of this organization at Texas A&M University! Go Samantha!

10,000 Women-A Goldman Sachs Innitiative: 10000women.org
This inititiave hopes to increase the number of underserved women receiving a business and management education and improve the quality and capacity of business and management education around the world. "Expanding the entrepreneurial talent and managerial pool in developing and emerging economies – especially among women – is one of the most important means to reducing inequality and ensuring more shared economic growth."  http://www2.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/10000women/index.html

Global Fund for Women: http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/cms/
"The Global Fund for Women is an international network of women and men committed to a world of equality and social justice. We advocate for and defend women's human rights by making grants to support women's groups around the world."

The past couple of weeks has been a huge growing step for BOWS. Not only have we added on to our team, but we have partnered with another Beijing based organization, Better Being. Better Being works with those suffering from eating disordered, through a monthly support group meeting. While currently this organization is only Chinese speaking, they are branching out and this is where we come in: we can help! As we are hoping to work with more Chinese women in Beijing, as well as continue working with the ex-pat base that is so developed here, our two organizations are a perfect fit.

We have not officially welcomed the new members to our team yet, so I would like to welcome Pam, Amanda, Esther, Marta and Debbie to BOWS, Beijing. They are a great group of women-- brains and beauty! They have a whole new set of things they are working out, so March is going to be our best month yet!

Also, BOWS has a sister organization, Women Who Wine. WWW is a group that was started in Denver 10 years ago. Over the years, the Denver chapter has grown to over 500 women (with about 40-50 women showing up each month). There is also a chapter in Boston, and after much thought, we have started the Beijing branch of Women Who Wine.
 Women Who Wine has always been a place to meet new friends and network. Look our for our events coming soon!

After writing a couple of these and having the window mysteriously closing on me, hopefully this works.

BOWS coming up with some great things right now, and if you aren't already involved, and would like to be, contact us--we want you!

Our website it going to be changing a bit, we will add a programs page so that you can see everything we are up to, or trying to get up anyway. If you have any comments, love it, hate it, we would love to hear about it.

We are getting a handle on this whole blog thing, some how, and while we will periodically be putting up special news, or various interesting items, if you have something to share, send us an email with what you would like your post to be, we  post it for you, naming you the author!

*We welcome all submissions, but we have the final say in whether or not it is made available on this website. If we think that it would discriminate or cause unececary personal issues for the person/people involved, we have the right to not prink it. However, we will leave the comments section unedited until there is a demonstrated need for it. We welcome your opinions!!!

Quote of the day:
"Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got." -Janis Joplin

This is the first post for the BOWS blog, Ribbons of Thought. In the December 2007 issue of That's Beijing, it mentions the entrepreneurs in the non profit sector in Beijing. There are so many men and women, from all corners of the globe that are involved in a variety of organizations that foster awareness and bring people together to help those in need.
Looking around Beijing, you can see a lot of people that need help, whether in the form or teaching, clothing or just money. These changes that we are all working towards are not an  overnight miracle. As they say, Rome wasn't built in a day, however as each organization is able to reach more people, influence a change in practice or thought, we are all  slowly taking a step in the right direction. Alex Wang, of the China Environmental Law Project at NRDC said, "I'm generally a pretty optimistic person-here you can't not be. You don't see the changes ever day, but since ten years ago, you can see a lot of changes."