The Book as a Whole: Changing Women's Lives

[Jessica]

Oprah has recently opened a new school for girls in South Africa. She has said, "Women are going to change the face of Africa," and "If you change a girl's life, you change families, communities, nations."

Do you agree? Why? How do you think we can play a role in this change?

---

Reply to this message to discuss any of these topics. Or start your own new topic by clicking "New Message."

Note: This topic refers to the book as a whole.

[ande]

So many of you have made excellent points about making the world a smaller place through fostering community -- caring for others near and far. And many of us probably think it's terrific that Oprah has made a $40 million contribution to girls in South Africa. But one of the messages of MONIQUE AND THE MANGO RAINS is that it doesn't take a tremendous amount of money to save lives and, more generally, make life significantly better for people with few resources.
Kris -- and the rest of you, too -- could you give us some examples of this both in developing countries and in your own hometowns? For instance how much does it cost to keep a child free of malaria and properly hydrated? Closer to home, what does it cost to feed a dozen homeless people a day?

[KrisH]

It certainly doesn't take a lot of money to make a huge difference in people's lives. $100 pays for a year of schooling in Mali. $300 pays for a year of midwifery training. $15,000 builds a basic clinic. Our money has so much impact overseas.

You brought up malaria. I was reading on a foreign policy blog that malaria kills about 7,000 children per day. According to Jeffrey Sachs, it would cost about $3 billion to have an effective malaria control program for all of Africa. To put this in perspective, the current U.S. administration is asking for $142 billion in additional war spending for the next fiscal year alone. It's not that we don't have the money. We just need the will! Thinking and acting as global citizens is critical.