Half the Sky

My heart is so heavy this morning. I just heard on the news that a 14-year-old Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai, was shot in the head by the Taliban in retribution for her efforts to secure education for girls in her country. Here is a link to the video clip from NBC:

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/10/14332088-pakistani-teen-blogger-shot-by-taliban-critical-after-surgery?lite

And here is a link to the blog that Malala contributed to the BBC in 2009. She was in the 7th grade at the time:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7834402.stm

This comes, for me, on the heels of having watched a wrenching documentary on PBS last week called "Half the Sky," which detailed the oppression of women worldwide in forms such as human slavery, second generation prostitution, female genital mutilation, and lack of access to education.  Yesterday the book, on which the documentary was based, arrived in the mail for me, sent by my best friend Debbie, who watched the documentary with me in shock, horror, and sadness.

I feel like the universe is sending me a message with all of these events pointing to the need for women, like myself, in much more fortunate and secure positions, to DO SOMETHING to help those in other parts of the world, like Malala, who are being abused and killed, rather than being allowed to realize their full potential.

Here is a link to PBS where you see trailers for the documentary. There is also a lot of information about the book, as well as organizations that are working to change the future for women

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/half-the-sky/

I welcome your comments on all of the above.