I wrote this for extra credit in my English class. I find it super interesting and motivating:
After visiting the
Women Hold Up Half The Sky exhibit
at the Skirball Cultural Center, it is easily noticed that girls and
women are treated extremely different throughout the world. Being in a
safe environment and receiving the healthcare when needed is definitely
not something every country can say they have the benefit in having so.
More than 60 million women who should still be alive today are defined
as “missing” because of the violence or other forms of gender
discrimination. A woman dies every ninety seconds due to complications
during childbirth. One example is when a woman, by the name of Delfina,
went into the hospital in her home country, Bolivia, to seek medical
attention during her pregnancy. She went quite regularly but when she
was given medication for high blood pressure, the access to doctors
became limited. After six months, she visited the hospital again after
attaining a headache. It was too late. She was diagnosed with eclampsia.
Delfina fell into a coma and baby daughter died three days later. This
is a somewhat rare disease that is mostly found in pregnant women and
suffer from high blood pressure. If the doctors were more proactive in
assisting with this medical issue, it could have been treated properly
and the lives of these innocent souls could have been saved. This is a
fine example of how many women are treated due to the lack of guidance
found within the health-system.
Around the world, a total of
1.4 billion people live on less than $1.25 a day. An additional 1.5
billion people live on less than $2 a day and when combined, this is
almost half of the world's population. Sixty percent of the poorest
people on the planet are female. But when women and girls are given the
opportunity, they have been known to become powerful and ambitious for
change in society. When women participate in the economy, the household
incomes increase, making it possible to invest in health care, better
foods, education, and organizing a better foundation for social changes.
For example, Goretti was given a $2.00 microloan from CARE's economic
empowerment program. She was able to earn $7.50 on her potato crop.
Goretti returned the loan which cost her $2.30, and is then used for
another woman within Goretti's association. The remainder portion of
Goretti's earnings were used to buy bananas to start her banana beer
business. From CARE's program, 17,000,000 people were able to increase
their household incomes. Educating girls has been recognized as one of
the most effective ways to fight poverty.
Not all women are given this opportunity, and suffer from violence. Nicolas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, authors of
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,
traveled to eastern Congo and asked to speak to a rape victim within a
campground full of displaced people. One victim was brought over. But,
to ensure her privacy, she was taken to a tree away from the other
people, but after ten minutes of chatting with the victim, a long line
of women formed nearby. “What are you all doing here?” the woman asked.
“We're all rape victims,” explained the woman in front. “We're all
waiting to tell our stories, too.”
Many women have little
control and want their word out so people from around the world are
educated with their story. Being recognized is something that many women
lack and to speak freely is so inspirational. When visiting the
exhibit, the opportunity was given to donate either shelter, food, or
clothing to any country in the world on the provided iPads. Although it
may seem like a small impact on such a large issue, it quickly adds up
from all the visitors and gives girls and women a second chance.
