Book of the Week 1 - Beneath The Pale Blue Burqa

THE BOOK -  Kay Danes 'Beneath The Pale Blue Burqa'

Kay Danes and a group of 'normal' Australian and Americans travelled to Afghanistan in November 2008. Their mission; to help the native women, children and men of the war torn country. This is Kay Danes' story of that time and is personal while highly educational to those Westerners who cannot embark on the same adventure.


With the aid of Rotary and other financial contributors they visited schools, universities, female jails, remote villages and hospitals. They helped in any way they could, including teaching young girls crafts, reassuring the Afghani people that  they are not forgotten and they are cared about, and presenting at a Women's Health Seminar held at a university.


WHY I READ IT


Kay is the mother of a wonderful friend of mine, Jess. The mister and I both have an interest in and yearn to learn more about other cultures including the middle east so we jumped at the chance to attend one of the many book launches held for this book. It was an amazing experience and we learned a lot from many of the influential speakers, including Kay.


Afghanistan should be a country of interest for all Westerners to understand their culture, people, lifestyle and why our countries felt it necessary to bring down the Taliban with force. If you only read one book to gain that understanding be it this one.


Beneath The Pale Blue Burqa has not made me want to go there any less but has made me want to do more to help the Afghani people. The courage these people hold could help anyone, regardless of culture or gender.

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Disclaimer: This is entirely my own opinion. I have not been paid by anyone for this review and have done it because I like the book. I also do not claim to be a writer, reviewer or anything other than a book lover.