Issue #0

Women and the environment

Plot

ReviewWomen and the environment have a vast, rich history together, and up until the Industrial Revolution, our connectedness wasn't an issue but a natural way of being. This symbiotic relationship is slowly being torn apart, and nowhere is this more evident than in the Third World countries across the globe. In Women and the Environment this connectedness is looked at primarily through the eyes of the women whose lives are most profoundly affected by problems such as overgrazing, desertification and soil erosion. To walk four hours a day, three or four times a week, to gather enough fuel to cook the meals or heat the home is not something that many of us have had to face. With the help of very expressive photography, this book not only examines the effects that environmental degradation will have on us all, but also highlights what we as women all over the world can do to help heal our life-giving planet. -- From The WomanSource Catalog & Review: Tools for Connecting the Community for Women; review by Amy FletcherProduct descriptionBook by Rodda, AnnabelExcerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Almost as soon as they can walk, small girls go with their mothers and older sisters to the well or river. The tin they carry grows bigger as they get older, starting out no larger than a fruit juice can and ending with the four-gallon earthenware jars or brass pots of their mothers. Carrying water is so integral to their lives that it is scarcely something to grumble about. Yet in some parts of Africa, women spend eight hours a day collecting water. The journey is exhausting, eating into the time and energy they have for other things. And continual water bearing can distort the pelvis of young girls, making recurrent cycles of pregnancy and childbirth more dangerous.