Great opportunity to get involved in global health!

Hi All,
Two years ago I read a book called Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Cheryl WuDunn. It primarily focuses on the education and empowerment of women around the world. Much of the material Kristof and Wudunn present directly addresses the issue of sex trafficking. After reading the introduction, I had to take a full week break from reading and employ all my de-stressing techniques: cup of tea, chat with a friend, etc. Chapter One was easier and as I continued reading- though the situations are grim and the stories can be so discouraging- I noticed a thread of hope and empowerment connecting all of the stories together. In May of 2011, I got the hear Kristof speak in McMinnville (he is from Oregon, folks! So there is a chance you could catch him speaking sometime). Since reading Half the Sky, I have become a huge fan of Kristof and WuDunn and learned about a contest that Kristof offers every year. He selects one winning essay and takes the winner with him on one of his trips to some of the most remote, impoverished corners of our world. There he takes pictures, interviews people, and uses his column to shine a spotlight on these important issues and provide a platform for the poorest of the poor to speak and have their voices heard. It looks like we just barely missed the deadline for his most recent contest, but he offers it every year. And if you follow this link, you can learn a little more about it. Kristof and WuDunn are so encouraging. They model and suggest a host of ways that we can get involved even if we don't win a trip with one of the authors.

The readings this week really spent some time exploring the challenges in global health. I am always left with an antsy feeling from material like this. I want to know what I can do about it. As we learned, sometimes setting out to do something results in unanticipated inefficiencies, mistakes, misunderstanding of the problem, etc. To that end, I know there is a lot to be said for learning about these problems and trying our best to understand them well before attempting to implement change. In the meantime, however, there are some amazing organizations and individuals willing to take us under their wings and show us some of the strategies they have found to be useful.

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/win-a-trip-in-2013/