The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates (2019)

I have always admired the Gates Foundation, particularly for what they have done in Latvia, and I never have had the animosity towards Microsoft that I have seen in some of my friends. Bill Gates seems like a much more benevolent figure talking about solving world issues, though he also made a huge difference in the world by developing computer programs for us all and that I use every day.

Now I got to know Melinda Gates and fell into deep admiration for her. She shares her journey and growth throughout her life, but mostly in her work at the Gates Foundation. While trying to solve the world's health and poverty problems, they almost always returned to the issue of gender inequality and how improving the lives of women would improve the lives of everyone. This can be seen in fertility control, which makes for healthier children and fewer deaths at childbirth, in education, stopping the practice of child brides, agriculture, and unpaid work of care-giving, maintaining households, growing food and fetching water.

Melinda has visited many of the world's impoverished areas and really listened and slowly understood the issues and looked for sustainable solutions. The hardest seems to be making the cultural changes, especially where strong religious beliefs have made women second class citizens or even property. I was amazed that some men in these cultures were willing to play role reversal and see how hard their women worked and were will to start sharing household duties.

There were many heartbreaking stories, but also many hopeful ones. She not only pointed out the problems gender inequality raises in developing countries, but also our own. The "moment of lift" is when the forces pushing us up are greater than the force pushing us down. This phrase came from her childhood, as her father was an aerospace engineer and she was thrilled by the moment of liftoff at space launches. There are many moments of lift, especially when people lift each other up by sharing stories, giving others a chance to better themselves. Melinda has a thoughtful way of approaching the world, the diversity issues, by encouraging people to come stand besides her.  She is one of the few famous people I would like to meet.