You may not have been thinking about treating yourself this Halloween - but we suggest you do!

 

Read A Path Appears, the latest book by the Pulitzer-prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.

 

You will raise your global citizenship quotient, and enjoy yourself at the same time!

 

Kristof writes an op-ed column for The New York Times.  The husband-wife pair previously authored Half the Sky examining the worldwide repression of women.   

 

The title is taken from Chinese essayist Lu Xun's statement:  

 

"Hope is like a path in the countryside.  

Originally, there is nothing - but as people walk this way again and again, a path appears."  

 

Global Grandmothers is in the book! And Nick Kristof exclaimed he "loves the idea" as he signed Diana's copy.

 

There's a reason why these two win Pulitzer prizes - they can write! For instance, did you know that the San Francisco Giants claim to have more team members born with club feet that any other professional team? In the US corrective surgery is routine and results in complete recovery. But in the developing world a baby with a club foot often lives as a disabled adult who begs for a living. (A Path Appears, p. 19.)

   

2) It's informative. It has some sad facts, but also some encouraging ones. For example a majority of children in many developing countries have parasites in their intestinal tracts. Treating this, for as little as 50 cents per student per year, can raise school attendance by 25%. (A Path Appears, p. 37.)

 

3) It's motivating. Yes, your help may be a drop in the bucket. But change comes from many drops. In hundreds of villages in Africa and India, 20 or more women bring 10 cents to the weekly meeting of their savings society. Women members then borrow to start a business. (A Path Appears, p. 42.)  

 

Treat yourself to this book and have a wonderful Halloween.

 

Diana McDonough

President

Global Grandmothers