A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity

The words are part of a quote from the Chinese writer, Lu Xan: “Hope is a path on the mountainside. At first there is no path. But then there are people passing that way. And there is a path.” The words are also the title of the book by husband-wife writing team, Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Worldwide correspondents, they have won multiple Pulitzers and witnessed many cultures, seeing both the good and the bad of each and watching how quickly little things can make a difference, especially when it comes to giving, not only monetarily but of oneself by advocating or mentoring. The subtitle of the book is Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity. Their book is a good reminder of what we begin to feel for others if only because we are made aware of just how fortunate we are. Certainly the appeals that flood our inboxes and mail begin to overwhelm us, something the authors mention as to why they undertook the writing of this book. "So many social problems in the twenty-first century seem intractable and insoluable. We started our married life together as foreign correspondents for The New York Times, and we have wondered for years how we can do a better job addressing the needs around us. Not everyone can help fight crime in a city's worst neighborhoods or volunteer in schools, so most of us are left to engage in piecemeal efforts such as a donation here or there. Like many Americans, we have day jobs we need to keep, and we have been busy raising our children; that has left us looking for great causes and people to support in modest ways. We aren't regular churchgoers who focus our giving on a particular religious establishment, and although we wanted to lend a hand, we never knew how to choose among the appeals from nonprofits that inundated us. Basically, we were mystified about how best to assist at home as well as abroad. So we investigated how one can do a better job of making a difference, how one can help institute effective change." This book is the fruit of our labors. The changes mentioned in the book are small but fulfilling, and so spread throughout the world that one is continually surprised at how many good causes and people are out there, people really trying and making a difference, be they dirt poor (a phrase that originated from medieval days when one didn't have enough money to even purchase a mat or some sort of flooring to cover the dirt ground of one's home) to flooded with riches or success. I mention the latter word because of a few sentences in the book. "Successful people often scorn those who are poor or homeless. A Princeton University scholar, Susan Fiske, has used scans to show that the brains of high-achieving people see images of poor people and process them as if they were not human but things." Just one example of the ease of making a difference came from their chapter, A Thirty-Million Word Gap. In this section, studies showed that "a child on welfare heard about 3 million words spoken a year, a working-class child about 6 million words a year, and a child of professionals about 11 million words annually." Hearing such an increased number of words led to higher IQ scores and higher achievement. But more so, "Children on welfare heard two words of discouragement for every encouraging one, while children of professionals received six encouraging words for every discouraging one," often not because they mean to but rather because of the stress of their struggling needs and, for the most part, their own upbringing. Even more interesting was the studies of brain scans showing that babies readily discern the difference between hearing a human talking to them and a television voice talking to them, treating the human voice as "social interaction" and treating the television or computer voice as "random noise." So much for Sesame Street. One simple effort is called Reach Out and Read which pediatricians "prescribe" reading for babies and young children. Says medical director Perri Klass, "For many parents, reading to a six-month-old before she can even speak seems alien. And in so many homes, the only book is a Bible on a high shelf, and you wash your hands before taking it down, and you certainly don't hand it to a toddler." One study of low-income Hispanic children found that "64% of the families reported that they didn't have a single children's book in their home." Reading to babies and pre-kindergarden children is now becoming more and more accepted as the results begin to pour in. Vocabularies and proficiencies are up, as are graduation rates in later studies. Parents enrolled in such programs report that reading to their children is now one of their favorite activities, not only for them as the parents but also for their children. And the average cost? $20 per child. Even business leaders and CEOs of groups such as Macy's and Proctor & Gamble are recognizing the ROI (return on investment) by funding such early childhood reading, saying, "investing in early childhood achieves the best ROI for our country. Currently more than 90 percent of our education dollars are spent after age five, yet 85 percent of a child's core brain structure is developed before age five." Who knew that the age-old (if diminishing) practice of reading a story to child at night (as so idyllically portrayed in the movies) would not only make a comeback, but would prove so valuable? Below are just a few of the many groups the authors mentioned in their book, those advocating for childhood reading and each doing so in its own unique and effective way. And this is but one small section of the book. If you're finding yourself as confused as the authors, sorting through the blizzard of mail and tinkling bells requesting money for the holidays, then you might want to pick up this book and have it bring a bit of joy in your life. The giving is happening all over the world and in ways well beyond that of writing a check! Goodnight Moon is back!

I read this book at the end of the day for many days, and I found myself inspired by stories of how compassionate people have made a great difference in the lives of others. I want my own donations and volunteer efforts to make a difference, and I have gathered many practical ideas of how to help others. At the end of the book, the authors provide a list of all the organizations that they mention and their websites. I will do more research on many of them.

As I was about to start reading this book, I hoped I would see that there are many good people out there trying to make a change in the lives of people in need. I did.However, I did not know that it would make a change in the way I used to look at pre-school education, despite the fact that I have been a somewhat dedicated teacher of Physics and advanced math for the last 15 years. I always believed good education, especially at high school level, would change a student's outlook on life. when I was reading the chapter that focused on the pre-school education, all I could think of was my 4-year-old son. Every paragraph was full of experimental data that supports the argument that pre-school education makes a huge change in a person's life in the future. I was kinda aware of how important the first six years of a child'd life were, and had been trying to convince my ex-wife to send him to school to no avail. When I finished the book, however, I made up my mind, and changed my entire schedule to take him to school every day. I even quit my full time job because they lived three-hours from me. Now my son goes to school, and I am sure this education will provide him many good skills now and in the future.As for the other parts of the book, it is completely based on experimental data and should be read by all those concerned with the lives of the people we share this Earth with. It is a PERFECT book, and I am sure it has already changed many people's lives so far.

I cannot say I enjoyed this as much as Half the Sky but it rounded out the information contained therein and continued the conversation in a meaningful way. A Path Appears does not have the same level of organization so it seems to meander much more, but most paths do, so perhaps it is intentional. I hope this book becomes as popular for reading groups and book clubs as Half the Sky was. It's writing style is quite accessible for a variety of reading levels so I do believe that this book can be used with youth and students. This last year, I was able to read out loud the Young Reader's Edition of Omnivore's Dilemma to my 7 year old and I think that A Path Appears is a great book to move to next as a jumping off point for important conversations, extension activities and life lessons. At some point down the road, Half the Sky will make it onto that list but A Path Appears is a better choice first given age and maturity.

"A Path Appears" is sort of a continuation (a sequel, if you will) of their first book, "Half the Sky," which I loved. Although both books bring up the mistreatment and social inequities around the world, the chapters are written in such a way that a bright light wells up through each chapter with a story of how such problems are tackled with local and /or global supports.I particularly appreciated their covering education in the USA and the studies down that show the most effective way to help the underprivileged was an emphasis upon early education: teaching mothers about child care and early childhood education for their offspring.I have to admit, I haven't finished the book yet. I had read about half the book (borrowed from the library) and decided this is one to buy & have in my library. (book club, or to share) I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to learn or know more about social issues here and around the world.

Not as good as half the Sky, mostly centered around American problems. Some of the examples are really inspiring but some other views are very simplistic and lack thorough analysis of problems and situations. There is a lot of emphasis on pre-school education for some reason and a lot of analysis and success results based on quantitative methods (facts by numbers are a very American way of proving things). Not sure why they had to put a 3rd--final part on analysis on why we should give along with scientific results that persuade you that giving is a good thing (why one would need so much scientific proof to state the obvious is beyond me but then again this is an American audience they are appealing to). I do recommend reading it because some stories and examples are very inspiring but then again some of the messages were very simplistic to me (eg if you give $5 for a bed net you save a life--well, it's not that simple). It's a great book if you are looking for inspiration to help out and there is a list of organizations at the end of the book if you are looking for efficient NGOs. However, the reader is left with the impression that you can really change the world with small donations here and there. Written by journalists, I would have expected maybe some more insight why things don't work out as easily and what the underlying problems are that perpetuate evils around the world. Nevertheless, if you are lost in a sea of NGOs and you are unsure what to look for in evaluating one, this book is quite helpful.

Being myself active in Help for Tibetan children and Indian children, I am aware of all the traps that westeners can encounter. We collaborate with local partners and only agree to projects that support healthcare ,education and protection of the environment

Yes, I purchased the book. Confession, I haven't actually "read" this one, but I've LISTENED to the audiobook from the library more than once (on my second time through). I bought the book because I want to be able to go back and underline, and find the names of organizations.

I found this book both interesting and overwhelming. It has great background information and reviews of all types of charities and altruistic endeavors, but I think it could have benefited greatly from some heavy editing. The book is so long and includes so many examples and anecdotes that I found myself feeling overwhelmed by the amount there was to read as well as the infinite possibilities of how to be charitable, rather than feeling empowered to help make a change.

Cet ouvrage, écrits par deux lauréats du prix Pulitzer, est d'un intérêt exceptionnel.D'abord, parce qu'il n'aborde que les sujets les plus importants : les moyens les plus efficaces en matière de lutte contre la pauvreté et d'accès à l'éducation et à la santé partout dans le monde.Ensuite, parce qu'il apporte sur ces sujets des analyses à la fois limpides et très documentées, souvent contre-intuitives et parfois franchement déstabilisantes.Enfin et surtout, parce qu'il donne envie d'agir. Les exemples rapportés sont tellement poignants qu'il est difficile de lâcher le livre et tellement convaincants qu'il est difficile de ne rien faire après l'avoir terminé.Evidemment, on pourra reprocher aux auteurs de placer les Etats-Unis au centre du monde et de manquer d'exemples européens, mais franchement cette lecture est capitale pour toute personne désireuse de jouer un rôle utile au-delà de son cercle de proches.