akhuseby 's review for:

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Sheryl WuDunn, Nicholas D. Kristof

5.0

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If I could give a copy of this book to everyone I know and compel them to read it, I would. It's that important. This book could be for international women's aid issues what other books have been for abolition, feminism, and suffrage. Loaded with anecdotes of women in countries around the world (Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Rwanda, Congo, Phillipines, etc.) who have survived gang rapes, been threatened with "honor" killings, burned with acid, refused an education by parents and husbands, beaten, raped with objects, suffered obstructed pregnancies and subsquently fistulas, a reader would have to be made of stone to not be heartbroken and outraged while reading this book. I'd heard of many of these issues before but never in such a personal and compelling way. Kristof and DeWunn also provide contacts to dozens of aid groups that they endorse and discuss in the book, so readers can immediately find a way to be involved. Start now. It's as simple as sending $1 to one group. Or you can join Kiva and start giving out microloans of $25. For us, that's a week or two of coffee at Starbucks. For a woman in Mongolia, it might be the salvation that turns her life from ignorance, violence, and fear toward one of hope, productivity, and dignity. Please read this book. Please make a small change in the way you view the world. Please find a way to be involved. Please help.