By Sonya Bernard-Hollins, editor
Community Voices
KALAMAZOO (MICH)-Why should you care if there is a girl in Cambodia whose eye was gouged out by the owner of a brothel she was forced to work in?
Why should you care that a 13 year old girl in Ethiopia was left to die in the bush after giving birth alone in the bush?
Why should you care that $13 keeps a girl in China from attending school?
Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times Pulitzer Prize-Winning Columnist shared why it is important to care about women across the globe in his book, “Half the Sky: Pursuing Human Rights Through the Empowerment of Women.” Kristof was the featured speaker during the Annual Spring Lecture at Kalamazoo College on May 3. The event was sponsored by Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership.
“We have a perfect record of helping ourselves (Americans) and doing what makes us happy,” said Kristof. “But what one thing do we do to make a difference, engage in a cause larger than ourselves? When we find that out, it will give a new perspective on our own lives.”
As a journalist Kristof has traveled the globe. During his travels he and his wife dedicated themselves to making a difference in the lives of women where they could. His writings led to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton visiting the Cambodian girl Kristof featured on the front page of the New York Times regarding her horrendous life in a brothel. While working in the brothel as a sex slave, her eye was gouged out by the brothel owner (a woman) for ‘talking back.’
Kristof’s compassion for girls in China led to a “Kalamazoo Promise” type scholarship for girls.
“It only cost $13 a year for students to attend school in China. However, because poor families can’t afford to send all their children to school, they would select to send the male child; leaving the g
irl without a future,” Kristof said. His story in the New York Times led to readers donating thousands for the cause. A financial mishap during the campaign led to a bank contributing nearly $100,000 to the effort as well.
Those who attended the event said Kristof’s words were inspiring. Others say they too have made efforts to help other girls as well.
One such philantrophist is Zarinah Iman El-Amin Naeem. As current director of the RACE Initiative, she has her own project to help girls in Africa. Her program, 10,000 Girls, is an educational and entrepreneurial program for young women in Senegal. She has created a calendar which features scraf wrapping techniques which she sells to raise her $10,000 for her nonprofit program.
Another local contributor to international aid is Christina McGrinson. Sales from her book, “My Forever Friend,” about the death of her son, Christopher, aid Haiti, funds wells in African, and educational scholarships in Panama.
Hundreds of people of all ages came out to attend Kristof’s presentation. The attendance overflowed into two auditoriums in Dalton Theater on Kalamazoo College’s campus. A book signing followed the event allowed many to share their own contributions to world issues for women and share how Kristof provided inspiration for them to go out and do more.
Kristof said the education of young girls around the globe in the key to economic stability of the women as well as their communities. He said how one girl in China is now the first in her family to graduate high school, and has gone on to become a financial blessing to the family as an accountant.
He said how the girl, left for dead in a hut in Ethiopia, crawled more than 30 miles to a hospital for help. She is now a nurse there.
Stories like these is something Kristof said many Americans can be a part of if they take the time to share of themselves. He encouraged the students of K-College to expand their horizons through their study abroad programs to do something to broaden themselves and help others.
“There is no silver bullet in fighting poverty,” Kristof said. “But education is the closest we can get to an (solution). Education is one of the low hanging fruits we’re failing to pick.”
