Hello again from Sones Towers! I have been in the far reaches of Wick today and got back rather late but I though I would log on and say hello. Just finished packing up a parcel to send out tomorrow and sorting out stock lists etc. its a bit problematic keeping track of everything when there is a sale on and sizes are running out.

I shall be bringing two new soaps into the shop next week from Strathpeffer Spa Soap aimed at the Mum's Rose and Cream and Billabong I do hope that you will like them they smell delicious!

Anyway that's my home news! I have been reading about a recent story in The New York Times about womens rights which suggested that advancing women's rights is about advancing human rights. I could not agree more. I have heard an argument put forward that if other cultures mistreat women it's not something we should be concerned about  because it is their business basically. Women and girls are hit hardest when it comes to the world's worst problems: hunger, disease, illiteracy, poverty, violence, displacement and more. So it is not really  suprising that the poorest regions of the world are generally the most behind in women's rights. Authors of the article Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn explain, "In many poor countries, the greatest unexploited resource isn't oil fields or veins of gold; it is the women and girls who aren't educated and never become a major presence in the formal economy. With education and with help starting businesses, impoverished women can earn money and support their countries as well as their families. They represent perhaps the best hope for fighting poverty."

An article that I wrote some time ago recognised that Organic cotton growing could help to empower women you can find it here 

Saima Muhammad from Pakistan is one of several women profiled by Kristof and WuDunn who, while facing poverty and domestic abuse, took out a loan from a local microfinance organization in order to create and sell embroidery. With her skill and resilience she was able to build a steady business and eventually hired neighbors and even her husband to hire her. Muhammad's empowerment is ultimately key to helping bring herself and her family out of poverty. So plese lets recognise that women have an enormous amount of untapped potential and as Hilary Clinton said recently "Democracy means nothing if half the people can’t vote, or if their vote doesn’t count, or if their literacy rate is so low that the exercise of their vote is in question...the transformation of women’s roles is the last great impediment to universal progress."

Linda