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ProfileIssue: Pisces 08

Nobel Prize Winner Wangari Maathai Helps Create a Path to Peace in Kenya

Ethnic clashes are easily triggered because of the deep wounds left behind by the colonial government and their inequitable distribution of land upon departure. According to Ms. Maathai, “In Kenya’s highly competitive political landscape, land has become the battleground.”

Ms. Maathai has become a beacon of light and reason for her country during this dark time by imploring the ruling elites of Kenya and Africa to devote time, energy, and resources to ensure security by making the perpetrators of the violence accountable for their crimes and by ensuring justice through the equitable distribution of resources. Her connections to the international community through her Nobel status as well as her work with the United Nations and many environmental and women’s organizations around the world make her a respected and compelling voice for change.

Wangari Maathai’s example of strength and leadership during such a difficult time is an inspiration to all women and all people of the world who strive for peace and fair governance.

I urge you to learn more about this fascinating woman and her extraordinary journey from rural Kenya to the international stage in her very captivating memoir, “Unbowed.” Her brave struggle as a highly accomplished woman in a highly male-oriented culture will provide you with proof of the power of being yourself at all cost and standing your ground for what is fair. Her book also gives insight into the political environment in Kenya that has laid the groundwork for recent events. Please also read about the great work of the Green Belt Movement at www.greenbeltmovement.org. dots

by Ann Janda

Profile Archives (total entries: 38)

Leo 09 - The Leadership Issue

Rebecca Lolosoli Provides Safe Haven for Vulnerable Women in Kenya

polaroid_rebecca_lolosoli_181Rebecca Lolosoli is much more than the matriarch of Umoja Village, an all women's community located in the Samburu District of Kenya. She put herself on the line for others…her life has been threatened for going against the indigenous Samburu traditions and culture. What started in 1991 as a group of 16 raped women, denounced and outcast by their families, on a patch of sun-dried, neglected land, granted to them by the Kenyan government at the behest of Rebecca is today a unique group of 50 flourishing, happy women and girls, orphans and widows and even a few beloved goats. (read more)

Aries 08

Nina DiSesa Shares Uncensored Tactics for Winning at Work in Her Book “Seducing the Boys Club”

ninadisesa_165Why are there still so few women in top management positions in the corporate world? Nina DiSesa, Chairman of McCann Erickson in New York, thinks it is because women don't understand men and tend to follow the rules and this doesn't work. She explains that women need to learn how to handle men in business in much the same way we do in our personal relationships - through what she calls S&M, seduction and manipulation. Nina says this has nothing to do with sex, and that in the end, everyone wins. In her book "Seducing the Boys Club" she gives the rest of us who think that all we need to do is work hard to get ahead, a swift kick in the butt!

Cancer 10

Linda Furiya Writes About Growing Up Japanese in the Midwest

linda_furiya_150“Many of the meals I ate at home in rural Indiana were Japanese. My mom used what ingredients she could get her hands on then put it out on the table effortlessly. The sensual aspect of Asian food and Mid-west sustainability is ingrained in me. Those are the basic roots of why I love cooking, “ says Linda.

(read more)