Skip to main content

Half the Sky

How do we work to empower, rather than oppress, women and girls worldwide? The answer to that question, and its impact on addressing global poverty, is the basis of a new book, “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide”.


Did you know …

girls between 1-5 years old in India are twice as likely to die than boys?

… women account for only 1% percent of the world’s landowners?

… that approximately 1 million children are currently in the sex trade in Asia?


Access to and emphasis on education and health care can work to change these conditions.


The Women’s Crusade” essay by the book’s authors in the Sunday New York Times Magazine told a powerful story about a Zimbabwean woman named Tererai Trent who was drawn to education at an early age. Her father would send her “indifferent” brother to school, but would not send her, the child with a thirst for knowledge. Married off at a young age, her husband also thwarted her efforts to practice her self-taught reading. But Tererai was inspired to hope by an American economic activist who brought cattle to her village. Her hope was to get an education.


Specifically, Tererai wanted a college degree, a master’s degree and a PhD. Tererai has succeeded in getting her bachelor’s and master’s degrees and bring her 5 children to the United States. She returns to her village after each achievement. She is currently working on her PhD dissertation on AID programs for the poor in Africa. This is what education can provide – impact on health and the economy for successive generations.


Why is this issue, some which might say is “only” a women’s issue, so important? Actually, it is a universal issue that affects national and global economies. Bill Gates made a brilliant point when responding to an audience member in Saudi Arabia who mentioned that the country’s goal was to be a Top 10 tech country by 2010. His response to the gender segregated audience, “Well, if you’re not fully utilizing half the talent in the country you’re not going to get too close to the Top 10.”


Do you want to get involved and make social change a reality? Check out these links to learn more about the issue and how you can work to address it.


For more resources:
CARE: Defending Dignity. Fighting Poverty.

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” (2009), by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

KIVA: Loans that Change Lives

White House Council on Women and Girls (source: “The Women’s Crusade” New York Times Magazine, August 17, 2009)


This post was written by Leslie Marie, a volunteer blogger with the Literacy ‘n’ Poverty Project. Leslie lives in New York City and has done outreach and research for the Ad Council. For the past year she directed the marketing and recruiting efforts for an alternative teaching certification program run by a national education consulting organization. Please leave your comments or send us an email with your questions.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What is the Literacy Rate of the US?

The World Factbook , prepared by the CIA , states that the US literacy rate is around 99%. This means that around 3 million people in America are unable to functionally read and write . That is equivalent to the entire population of Mongolia! As if those numbers weren’t enough to make you sit up and think, there is some dispute about the 99% - the actual figure could be lower, depending on the various definitions of literacy used. Jonathan Kozol, in his book ‘Illiterate America’ states that the government based the 99% literacy rate on interviews and written responses to Census Bureau mailings from a small portion of the population. Of that portion, if the responders or interviewees had completed fifth grade they were considered literate. About 5% had not completed fifth grade , but 80% of those were subsequently considered literate, and so the Bureau reached a conclusion of a 99% literacy rate. In 1993 a new study was released . Over 5 years, and $14 million spent ( the largest lite

We Stopped Blogging and Got Serious About Our Future

It's been over four months since we last posted to this blog! While it breaks our heart to have been out of touch for so long, we had good reason. You see, our blog is run by volunteers of the Literacy 'n' Poverty Project. LnP is a social initiative I started that addresses multiple aspects of literacy - health, reading, writing and financial - to empower the poor and low-income adults to lift themselves up out of poverty . But, if you've been keeping up with our blog which we know you all have :), you can see that adult education has not been the focus. And rightfully so. How We Got Started Make Social Change A Reality was created as a venue to discuss various issues concerning the broader concept of social change from the environment to women's issues to healthcare to youth development . As a startup with goals of becoming an international social enterprise, we felt that y'all deserved a place of your own to learn, engage and share information and resources

The Meaning of Social Change

All around us, there are changes happening; the calendar changed from 2008 to 2009, a new president was elected, and for many us, we have decided to do things differently and make changes in our diet, our lifestyles, or in our overall well being. Social change is something that I plan to be involved with this year in many different ways: volunteering , reading, attending events and sharing ideas. Social change means different things to different people. To me, social change means being involved in making things better for your community. Doing something instead of just saying something. Raising money instead of just donating to a cause. Working with others to make sure that the change we desire is attainable. I have been involved with a variety of organizations that make social change a focus of their organization. This is important to me because I am a firm believer that through social change and helping each other and supporting one another, we as a people can right all