Award-winning journalist talks about making a difference

Both students and professors packed into College Hall 200, which quickly became standing-room only, to see journalist Sheryl WuDunn deliver a speech.

WuDunn, who earned a Pulitzer Prize for her work reporting on Tiananmen Square, recently published a book titled Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.

At the beginning of her speech, WuDunn stated that leaving one’s comfort zone is the first step toward making a difference. She promised to take her audience “on a couple of journeys,” travelling quickly through Africa, Cambodia and India. She paused to tell stories about the women she interviewed for her book.

According to WuDunn, women in developing countries face three main issues: sex trafficking, domestic violence and risks associated with childbirth. To demonstrate the results of these problems, WuDunn regaled her audience with stories.

Each story followed a similar trajectory, from squalid beginnings to happy endings. However, there was no fairy godmother in any of these stories. All of these women received help from the United States.

This small amount of aid allowed a true happily ever after: as WuDunn explained, each woman she talked about in her speech has since devoted her life to “giving back” and acting as a solution to the problem she once faced.

WuDunn backed her arguments with facts, touching on issues like the health care provided to women in developing countries and the effect of including women in the workforce. In WuDunn’s words, educating women is a “natural investment” that could solve the poverty that many third-world countries face. According to WuDunn, aid is the first step toward education.

However, WuDunn also provided her audience with a “reality check.”

“Things don’t always work,” she told the crowd. “It’s not easy [to help].”

Ultimately, however, WuDunn was confident that progress can be made if you know what you’ve tried and remain willing to try something new.

“You can make a difference,” WuDunn told the crowd. “You can create a movement.”

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.