Half the Sky...or More
Several years ago, a prominent writing couple, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, wrote a book entitled Half the Sky, in which they made the statement that women hold up half the sky, meaning that, in spite of having less power in most countries, in spite of the gender bias and misogyny which exists in so many places, in spite of unequal pay for equal work, in spite of often-incredible violence against them, women are consistently the ones who keep things going...the ones who are responsible for family survival...the ones who make it possible for life to go on. Yesterday, I was privileged to meet with twelve women who are indeed holding up their share of the sky...women who, in their fifties and sixties and seventies, are determinedly working hard and creating a community of support in which they are being able to care for their AIDS-orphaned grandchildren with wisdom and courage and strength. The Ebenezer Nyanya grandmothers of Mount Kenya are phenomenal women and the way...