The Blue Sweater.

I just finished this book called The Blue Sweater - Bridging the Gap between rich and poor in an Interconnected World by Jacqueline Novogratz, and to be quite honest I am truly sad that I am finished with it! I checked it out from the library weeks ago and I was underlining all my favorite bits with a pencil, so I decided that instead of destroying the library book with my eraser marks I should probably purchase the book with my Barnes and Noble gift card. And that is exactly what I did! This book is about a woman's journey to Africa...a journey where she found her true calling and followed hard after her heart in order to stand up for what she believed in. She shares her joys, pains, triumphs and struggles within the pages of the book and I, as the reader, grew to love, admire and respect this woman that I havn't even met. SO READ IT! and check out the organization she started called Acumen Fund. They raise charitable funds and make careful investments in entrepreneurs who are willing to take on some of the world's toughest challenges.

Some of my favorite parts...

Within the prologue she writes, "I went to Africa to try to save the continent only to learn that Africans neither wanted nor needed saving...Indeed, when I was there, I saw some of the worst that good intentions, traditional charities, and aid can produce: failed programs that left people in the same or worse conditions...the gap between rich and poor is widening across the world, creating a dire situation that is neither socially just no economically sustainable...moreover, my work in Africa taught me about he extraordinary resilience of people for whom poverty is a reality not because they don't work hard, but because there are too many obstacles in their way."

She also writes about privilege within the pages of this book, and it resonajavascript:void(0)ted so very deeply with me. On page 115, she writes about a conversation she has in Rwanda with a friend at a shop as to whether they should buy a bottle of champagne to celebrate. They debated the necessity of it and the extravagance, and ultimately they bought the champagne. She states, "We lived with enormous privilege in all aspects of our lives. We had drunk fine wine at the French embassy's parties and already had traveled the world. Most precious of all were our passports that would allow us to leave the country whenever we wanted and our sense of empowerment that led us to believe we could accomplish the impossible. The challenge wasn't whether to buy a couple bottles of champagne; it was instead not to take our privilege for granted and to use it in a way that served the world and our highest purpose."

Lastly, "How you see where you are always depends on where you have been" (p. 117). Well isn't that the truth!