Update From the V-Day Montpellier Team

V-Day Montpellier 2009 was exceptional because of the presence of Eve, who came first in August 2008 to see the famous and scandalous painting in the Montpellier Musée Fabre: L'origine du monde. Ever since then our city is called "La cité du Vagin"!

So it was really easy after that to organize a formidable representation of The Vagina Monologues. The event turned out to be a great success with over 2000 attendees in the Opera Berlioz standing up to end violence against women and girls and applauding the actors: Malika Mokeddem (an Algerian writer), Laurentine Milebo (a Congolese actress), Madeleine Attal (our wonderful senior actress), and Ilène Grange and her young Compagnie de L’Âtre actresses: Chloé Albert, Lucie Lalande, Erkia Zouine.

Eve read the Spotlight Monologue, Baptized on stage, and there was a great emotion palpable among the people in the Opera. We heard through her voice the tragic situation of Femicide in Democratic Republic of Congo, and we are sure that all the women and men in the Opera will help the Congolese women.

Read Monologue Pour Ensler, “le vagin n'a pas de frontière”:
http://www.midilibre.com/articles/2009/03/27/20090327-MONTPELLIER-Pour-E...

During the V-Day Montpellier, Eve was asked to meet the activists of the Planning Familial de l’Hérault and women of the popular suburbs in Montpellier, La Paillade, most of whom are immigrant women facing difficult situations such as homelessness, domestic violence, rape and arranged weddings. It was a warm and interesting moment when Eve spoke with these women, empowering them and telling them about V-Day and the millions of women and men worldwide who are working to end violence against women and girls.

Eve then attended a second meeting, a special "Café des Femmes" with people in the Montpellier Emile Zola Library, where she debated with Moïra Sauvage, Hélène de Chabert, Marie-Cécile Renauld and Dominique Perrin. Tears were in Eve’s eyes when she recalled Noëlla, the young Congolese girl she hugged in Bukavu.

V-Day Montpellier 2009 generated $17,575 euros to end violence against women. It will be donated to the following French organizations: Le Planning Familial de l'Hérault; Le CIDF Montpellier and V-Day’s 2009 Spotlight Campaign on the women and girls of the DRC.

THANK YOU! And V-Love!

The Montpellier V-Day Team:
Dominique Perrin
Hélène de Chabert
Ilène Grange