An article I would highly recommend

In my last post, I mentioned that one of the reasons I wanted to start this blog was to envy things like Kristof's "latest comments on girls and education." Well -- I will admit that there was a reason this example popped into my head. The topic of the current NYTimes magazine is called "Saving the World's Women: How changing the lives of women and girls in the developing world can change everything." Inside is an article by Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, titled "The Women's Crusade." The article highlights how women and girls are the solution to fighting poverty and extremism. It talks about what would have been much more practical ways to spend the money that has gone into Pakistan since 9/11: efforts to iodize salt, eliminate obstetric fistula, and educate girls. Kristof and WuDunn also chose one of my favorite quotes, a quote by Larry Summers that I used in my personal essay when applying to grad school last fall, that states: “Investment in girls’ education may well be the highest-return investment available in the developing world."

In case you are interested, here is the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&em

And for those of you who would prefer multimedia presentations rather than text alone, the article was accompanied by fantastic photos and Kristof's (nerdy but charming) voice:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/08/20/magazine/kristof-audioss/index.html