attention to the incredibly worthy causes some of the leading
candidates have fought for, I have listed below some of the favorites.
Denis Mukwege - Opened a clinic treating rape victims in the Dem. Rep.
of Congo. Has helped over 21,000 women during its 12 year war, working
18 hour days.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Mukwege
Sima Samar - Afghan Human Rights worker. Has fought for women's rights
in Afghanistan and is currently the head of the Afghanistan
Independent Human Rights Commission. She's also the United Nations
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sima_samar
Hu Jia / Wei Jingsheng - Chinese Human Rights workers. Both have been
jailed for government opposition. Hu Jia also has worked on Chinese
environmentalism and the Chinese HIV/AIDS epidemic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu_Jia_(activist)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wei_Jingsheng
Of course, there are many other worthy candidates.
The prize does have a tendency to get very political (Yasser Arafat's
inclusion in 1994, or Al Gore over Irena Sendler, for example -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irena_Sendler), and rumor has it Obama's
been nominated, though nobody's quite sure on what grounds - maybe the
call for nuclear disarmament? Anyway, these heroes may or may not get
the recognition they deserve. I include them here in the hopes that
perhaps it will increase their exposure, just a little bit.
As a side note, I've been looking for a way to donate to the Mukwege
clinic. Does anyone know where I can do it?
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