Our book club recently read Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn and were inspired by this wonderful book to get involved in a project which would help women and children in another country. My sister, Marilyn Martin, lives in State College and told me about Carol Falke's involvement in building a school for children in Rwanda, Africa. It was an opportunity for us to help with the actual buying of desks and bookshelves for the school. We liked the idea of contributing to a school, since we all have been involved in education (teachers and therapists) in some way over the years, and we liked the idea of the personal connection with Carol since she would be sending us pictures and updating us about the project.
Also, Carol sent us the book, Mama Miti, to sign with a message for the children at the school. We read the book out loud during one of our meetings and inscribed this message in the book: "We are 8 women in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, who love to read books and talk about them. We also believe strongly in peace and ecology. We enjoyed reading this book about Mama Miti and hope you will too. Wangari (Mama Miti, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 and is from Kenya) studied at the University of Pittsburgh at one point so that makes this book a special connection from us to you. May you have many happy hours of learning together in your new school. We wish you peace and friendship." We also included a picture of the Cathedral of Learning from the University of Pittsburgh. Some of us studied there and one of our members is a professor there.
Our book club has been together for 10 years and during that time we've read a wide range of novels and memoirs from all over the world. Many of the books we've read have been by women authors or about women characters. Half the Sky was a little unusual for us since it's a non-fiction book. But we found it to be one of the most powerful books we've read. Also, we read it around the time that the PBS documentary Half the Sky was being aired on PBS. Both the book and the documentary moved us to want to help women from more oppressed parts of the world. We're happy to have found Carol Falke and this worthwhile project of building a school in Rwanda.
Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya by Donna Jo Napoli
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