Recently for another class I have been reading the book Half The Sky, by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The book basically highlights the heartbreaking experiences of women on a global scale. It addresses sex trafficking, poverty, abuse, and cultural and religious practices that are harmful, degrading, and dehumanizing towards women. It follows specific women and tells their stories of overcoming obstacles that in nearly each story seem to big and too horrible to be real. In so many ways it connected to the book that I was assigned for our group projects in this class called, Homeless Mothers, by Deborah Connolly. This book specifically addressed the issues that white women in poverty in the United States face as mothers. It covers addiction, abuse, poverty, childhood trauma of nearly every form, and all of the ways in which those aspects of these women’s lived experiences have effected their roles and obligations as mothers. I saw so many parallels between the women describes in both books. Of course differences existed due to cultural, societal, religious etc. differences, however there were themes present in these women’s lives and emotions that connected quite frequently. One of the most apparent similarity was the ways that these women care for their children. At times their legitimate parenting tactics are not always agreeable, yet, they all express this extreme desire to provide a “clean slate” and opportunities for their children that they didn’t have. Regardless of how they felt on an individual level about motherhood, these women for the most part seemed committed to making sure that their children did not have to live as they had. While the women in Half The Sky were debatably more motivated and in some cases seemingly more invested in overcoming their situations, I was overall incredibly inspired and impressed by the overall resilience of women who are faced with such appalling life circumstances. I was also shocked at how often financial insecurity played a role in the cause for these women falling into these situations. My perceptions of motherhood have changed significantly after reading both books and I encourage everyone to at least read one of them. It is truly unbelievable what women are capable of overcoming even when they have nothing. I am excited to continue reading and learning about poverty and homelessness because it seems to be so closely related and responsible for so many of the ways in which people struggle and suffer today.