Johnny Appleseed and Nancy Drew

PLANTING THE SEEDS

Whenever I think about Johnny Appleseed, I think about how he spent his life planting seeds. In the Disney version of John's life and work, John is discouraged as he watches the wagon trains head west. He's too small to tame the West, he says. But what he learns is that he has his part to play. And so he heads West alone taking what he knew how to do - growing apple trees - and uses that skill, that passion to plant apple orchards all through the West. A "small job" done in a big way, that changed how people lived.

I've recently shared with many of you the impact the book HALF THE SKY is having on me. It's written by Nicholas D. Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn. They won a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the violence at Tienmann Square. So they are no strangers to the hard choices people make in the world.

Now they are telling us - in a fact based, compelling, pragmatic, you can do something about this way - the story of women in the world. The title comes from a Chinese proverb - "Women hold up half the sky." The book reports that 100 million women are missing in the world today. Missing. Here in America, I've always assumed that in every culture there were more widows than widowers, but it's not true. Why? Because in poor countries, girl fetuses are aborted, baby girls are left to die, little girls don't receive medical treatment, and young women are sold into slavery. Real slavery.

Kristof and WuDunn recognize that it's easy for us to think these events are tragic, but not changeable - at least not by us. But they tell us, that is what Western Europe used to think about slavery in the Americas. But then in 1780, a few indignant Britions, led by William Wilberforce, decided that slavery was so offensive it had to be abolished. And it was. And the authors say "Today we seek the seed of something similar: a global movement to emancipate women and girls."

Seeds. Learning which seeds will grow in the different soils. Preparing the earth. Planting the seed. Ensuring the seeds are fed and watered and teaching others to do the same.

When girls are educated and protected, economies improve, wars end, people prosper. Isn't it amazing that something as simple as sending girls to school could end war. But it does.

And we can be part of planting those seeds of change. Change occurs when people realize they can't tolerate past practices. The need for change becomes personal. I'm hoping that like Johnny, you'll choose to make it personal. I am. And I'd love to hear your perspective.