Tuesday, December 01, 2009


Tonight, Nick & I watched today's Oprah. She had the author's of Half the Sky back on - I've been talking to Nick about the book since I read it. The stories in the book are depressing because its hard to imagine people can treat each other so inhumanely. The stories are depressing because the lives of so many women around the world are seemingly worthless. The stories in the book are empowering because they depict how one voice can start to change a culture of oppression and violence against women.
One of the charities our school supports is COEEF - it's an organization that helps girls in Africa attend school. They choose to support girls because 1) boys are typically provided with an education and 2) when you educate a girl, you educate her children too. Gender issues in the United States sometimes pit one sex against the other, but learning about COEEF & reading Half the Sky emphasizes that global gender equality is not about taking away from men, but ensuring that girls are given a chance to survive.
Reading the book, it's hard not to imagine your wife, sister, daughter, niece in the place of the women in the stories.
It's hard to imagine choosing to feed your son or vaccinate your son, but not your daughter. It's hard to imagine turning your daughter out of the house because she was the victim of an unspeakable act of violence. The book lists several organizations that are helping women around the world.
As you struggle to make your holiday list for those hard-to-shop-for family, friends and neighbors, consider sharing this book or making donation to help save a life (donations start at $5). I liked this video because it somewhat follows one of the true stories in Half the Sky.

1 comment:

Stephanie said...

That was so powerful. Thank you for sharing that.