A Thousand Splendid Suns

This is one of my favorite books.  It is pretty hard to read, but that seems to be a theme around here, right? These are hard topics to learn about.  Harder still to actually live through.  This book follows the lives of two Afghani women as they face the challenges of living in Afghanistan during the past 30 years.

I tried to put myself in these characters’ shoes.  I think I would have buckled under the abuse and pressure early on, yet these women carry on.  I wouldn’t say that the book ends with sunshine and roses in the end, rather a hope of a brighter future and a call to action to assure that other women do not have to endure the same things.

I personally struggle to know what to do to help women in this world.  I wish I knew the answer.  I wish I knew how to put an end to so much of the violence and abuse that women face.  So much of the problem stems from deep rooted cultural traditions.  What are the best ways to address cultural issues that are blatantly hurting women?