San Antonio or Bust

After a week of storms, complete with power outages, hail, thunder and lightning, My Invented Isabel is back.


I asked Isabel for something blog-worthy and she told me about her upcoming trip to Texas to speak on behalf of the Women & Girls Development Fund. The organization must be pretty special, because this trip is one of the few she’s taking during her yearlong sabbatical. What she writes about makes me want to travel to San Antonio just to learn more:


March 26 I will be in San Antonio to speak at a wonderful event: The Women & Girls Development Fund’s Poetry Slam Luncheon. The Fund’s mission is exactly that of my Foundation: to empower women and girls. It is a proven fact that the best possible investment in fighting poverty is to provide women with education, health and protection from violence. If you give a woman a small loan, she will spend it in her family or start a small business, such as buying a couple of goats. Soon she may come out of extreme poverty and her family will do better. The same loan to a man would allow him to buy something that gives him status, like a bike. Empowering women benefits the family, the community, the village and eventually the nation. The most backward societies in the world are those in which women are held down. Yet, for every $20 that most governments and philanthropies spend on men’s programs, only $1 is invested in women’s programs.  Less than 2 cents of every development dollar goes to girls, and 9 out of 10 programs are aimed at boys. The good news is that there is a new generation of idealistic and generous young Americans willing to correct this appalling disparity with their contributions and their work.


The event will be a luncheon. Please Google it and if you are in the area, try to attend. It will be fun!


Here are a few links about the event in San Antonio:
San Antonio's Home page
San Antonio Area Foundation