DC IN BLOOM
March 23rd, 2009
with Maria and Alyse
Washington DC, the magnolia trees are in bloom… my room at the Hay Adams has a view of the White House.
I am in DC for the Vital Voices 2009 Global Leadership Awards at the Eisenhower Theatre at Kennedy Center. Ben Affleck, Sally Field, Candice Bergen, Maria Bello, Dr Ngozi Okonjo, Nicholas Kristof and myself are the presenters. The evening is very emotional…watching the movies telling the stories of honorees: Sadiqa Basir Saleem from Afghanistan, Somaly Mam from Cambodia, Marceline Kongolo-Bice and Chouchou Namegabe Dubuisson from the Congo, and Temituokpe Esisi from Nigeria. Watching their incredible courage, strength and dignity is so humbling and inspiring!!! Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, co founder of Vital Voices receives the Global Trailblazer Award and her speech is very sincere and powerful. The audience is full of powerful people in Washington and we all feel so proud to be part of such an amazing organization.
The next morning I go to my first VV Board meeting and once again am impressed by the caliber of the people on the board. After the meeting I escape to the Adamson Gallery to see a show of the very talented Martin d’Orgeval. The show is called Touched by Fire, it is fantastic and I immediately am enthralled by a large photo. I cannot go to Washington without going to the National Gallery, where there is an important show of Robert Frank, The Americans…and since I am there I go and pay homage to Matisse and his decoupages!!
