Nicholas d. Kristof quotes:

“More girls were killed in the last 50 years, precisely because they were girls, than men killed in all the wars in the 20th century. More girls are killed in this routine gendercide in any one decade than people were killed in all the genocides of the 20th century. The equivalent of 5 jumbo jets worth of women die in labor each day... life time risk of maternal death is 1,000x higher in a poor country than in the west. That should be an international scandal.” ― Nicholas D. Kristof, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

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“In the nineteenth century, the central moral challenge was slavery. In the twentieth century, it was the battle against totalitarianism. We believe that in this century the significant moral challenge will be the struggle for gender equality around the world.” ― Nicholas D. Kristof, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

Text 3. Nicholas Kristof Saves Another Woman

September 16, 2011 from AFRICA IS A COUNTRY By Dan Moshenberg

H e’s ba-a-a-ack! After a decade or so of “saving” South East Asian sex workers from “slavery”, sometimes by actually purchasing them, Nicholas Kristof has found Africa, Kenya, to be specific.

Kristof tells the story of Jane Ngoiri, a 38-year-old single mother of two, former slum dweller (= a person who lives in an area of a city where poor people live and the buildings are in bad condition), now “slavery-turned-businesswoman.” With the help of a group called Jamii Bora, formed initially by 50 “street beggars”, Ngoiri developed skills, learned to save, grew.

Then “catastrophe struck” (to strike = to attack, to hit suddenly). Ngoiri’s daughter was in an accident. The amount of money for medical service was large. She had to take her son out of school. Fortunately, Kristof was there! He collected money, and without having to use “street begging”, and Ngoiri’s son is now back in school.

But what is Kenya? From Kristof’s point of view, it’s just another Third World site of sadness, degradation, and fallen women waiting to be saved.

Kristof’s article couldn’t come at a more ironic moment. In Kenya, this past week has been described as “a week of tears.” A pipeline exploded, killing a lot of people. It turns out, experts had warned about this very possibility. And who dies, or better who is killed? The poor. And who is guilty? The oil and gas companies and the State do not care about safety measures.

These past couple days in Kenya have seen fires, violence against girls, drought (drought /draʊt/ = a long period of time during which there is very little or no rain). And more …

Kenyan farmers run small farms. They are at the front of African agricultural development, as they take part in the various battles to fight climate change. And who are those farmers? Women. Women like Wayua Mwanza, 36-years-old, and a mother of three. Kenyan women farmers teaching and learning from … Kenyan women farmers!

As Somali women refugees move into Kenya, and in particular Dadaab, known by some to be the largest refugee camp in the world, many of them experience clinics for pregnant women and their unborn babies for the first time. That treatment in these clinics is provided by Kenyan women, as well as by non-Kenyans. Kenyan women teaching and working with … Somali women!

refugee /rɛfjʊ’ʤi:/: someone who has been forced to leave a country because of war or for religious or political reasons ▪ Thousands of refugees have fled the area. ▪ refugee camps

Earlier this week Cecillia Ng’etich, a candidate for public office in the Rift Valley, argued actively for women’s right to return to school, and for their partners’ responsibility to support them in that attempt.

Life for the working poor, and especially for low- and no-income women, is always fragile … everywhere. And women cannot and are not waiting for some prince in shining white armor to come and rescue them. Women are organizing, at home, in the streets, in the shops, on the farms, in the refugee camps, in government, everywhere. Tell the story, but tell it right.

frajile /’fræʤajəl/ = easily broken or damaged:▪ the flower's fragile petals ▪ Her health has always been very fragile. ▪ fragile bones ▪ an artist with a fragile ego ▪ He is in an emotionally fragile state. : very delicate ▪ her fragile beauty : not strong ▪ The two countries have formed a fragile coalition.

* And, yes that is Kristof with an African tribesman. It’s from his own collection.

T ext 4. Kurt Schork is a Journalist You Can Admire, and Honor

Kurt Schork (1947 – May 24, 2000) (Курт Шорк) was an American reporter and war correspondent. He was killed in an attack while being on an assignment for Reuters in Sierra Leone together with cameraman Miguel Gil Moreno de Mora of Spain, who worked for Associated Press Television. Two other Reuters journalists were injured in the attack.

(assignment = a job or duty that is given to someone, a task someone is required to do ▪ My assignment was to clean the equipment. =They gave me the assignment of cleaning the equipment. ▪ The students were given a homework assignment. ▪ The reporter's assignment is to interview the candidate. ▪ The reporter is here on an assignment. ▪ The reporter is here on assignment).