Pages of Empowerment

Zonta Club of Cape Girardeau hosts women�s book club

For the past several months, a local reading group has opened their eyes to jarring truths about women worldwide.

The Zonta Club has sponsored the �Pages of Empowerment� book club for area women since fall 2017. Both members and non-members of the Zonta Club are welcome to attend the meetings, which are held at the Catapult Creative House in Cape Girardeau.

Local women have gathered to discuss essays from the book titled �The Unfinished Revolution: Voices from the Global Fight for Women�s Rights.� More than 30 writers from around the world have contributed to the volume. The writers are former victims, Nobel Prize winners, policymakers and activists who share personal insights into problems affecting millions of women around the world.

Group leader Tonya Wells says the book was chosen because Zonta International has recommended all districts learn more about the plight of women in many countries.

�Zonta Club is all about advocating for women, no matter the issue,� Wells says.

The group meets once a month for an hour to discuss two to three essays from the book.

�This group has been an opportunity for women to get together, share their own experiences and learn how advocacy applies to things we haven�t been exposed to,� Wells says.

Wells, director of marketing for Southeast Missouri State University, says several women who are from Lebanon and Pakistan have joined the group. Their views on the cultural differences from their backgrounds have enhanced understanding for women who are natively from Southeast Missouri.

Naghma Khalid, who was born in Pakistan and raised in The United Arab Emirates, has been a Cape Girardeau resident since 2001, and she is one of those women.

�The diverse members of this book club have opportunities to peek into the lives of globally unfortunate women and children, whose rights are massacred in the name of region, religion, culture and politics,� Khalid says of the value of discussing international women�s issues through the book club.

The women have discussed the differences between women who work in agriculture in Kenya and Midwestern women who work in agriculture. Here, women are free to own land and apply for credit to manage their farms. Some Kenyan women do not have these same opportunities. Their inability to secure property rights due to different customs and government policies puts them at risk for homelessness, starvation and human rights violations.

Khalid believes the group helps spread awareness of issues like these. The group members have brainstormed ideas to stop the violence and judgmentalism through Zonta International�s programs and other missions. She has encouraged members of the group to set aside time every day to grow in their understanding of women�s issues around the world.

Melanie Baxter, a genetic counselor from Jackson, has enjoyed her first experience with a book club. Her perspective has expanded from reading the book and hearing other group members� views.

�In this day and age where our social media circle can quickly become filled with like-minded people who look just like we do, it�s extremely important to step out of our comfort zones and be reminded that the world is so much bigger than us,� Baxter says of the value she finds in the book club.

Reading stories about women who have struggled with different issues has helped her develop compassion.

�I have found that by attempting to see the world through the eyes of someone else who is seemingly so different than me � this is how I am best reminded of all we have in common,� she says.

For women of all ages interested in discussing global women�s issues, the group meets on the last Wednesday of each month from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Catapult Creative House in Cape Girardeau. The schedule is available at semoevents.com.

Wells says women aren�t required to make a long-term commitment to the group. They can come and go as needed, month to month.