Health by All Means: Women turning structural violence into peace and wellbeing - Tapa blanda

The quest for gender equity and the eradication of violence against women is pervasive and a significant aspect of cultures around the globe. To be sure, indigenous feminisms exist in most patriarchal contexts, even, presumably, in the least likely places. HEALTH BY ALL MEANS: WOMEN TURNING STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE INTO HEALTH AND WELLBEING is a remarkable and rare case study of the possibility of an egalitarian, respectful partnership between a U.S. university and rural villages in Kenya as they engage in a variety of women's empowerment strategies that are sustainable over time. The book is a riveting exploration of the joys of "feminist emotion" as a tool for radical social change.

Beverly Guy-Sheftall

Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Comparative Women's Studies at Spelman College and the co-editor of Words of fire: an anthology of African American feminist thought.

The stories and achievements from this book have inspired the trajectory of my own future. The efforts by the women of Lunga Lunga and Kwale county have created a sustainable way of making a holistically healthy life more accessible for all, while tightening community bonds and providing them with a strong sense of meaning and capability. The book details an incredible example of the power of indigenous knowledge, and the im-portance of humility when working cross culturally. The Health by All Means work serves as an invaluable example to forming a sustainable bridge to the brightest attainable future for oppressed women. The powerful lessons in this book are essential to all areas of life and conflict that we deal with today. This is something that all people aiming to work in global health need to read!

Grant M Klausen

Former Director University of Oregon Students for Global Health.

This compelling book combines feminist theoretical rigor with applied research, a heartwarming story of multicultural understanding and collaboration, and astute pointers for effective community action at home and abroad.

Margarita Benitez

Executive Director Puerto Rico Endowment for the Humanities.

Health by All Means documents the transformation of a community with, for, and by women who experience gender-based structural violence. It can be experienced as a story, a philosophy lesson, a walk with a treasured friend, and, at times, a song, and much dancing. The program was initiated in the context of a university partnership by a faculty member and students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison --including the Department of Gender and Women's Studies, the Global Health Institute and the 4W Women and Wellbeing Initiative. The Nikumbuke Health by All Means story is told in two parts. In Part I Araceli Alonso tells the story of women, often in their own words, from seven villages of the Kwale County, the most southeastern county in the Coast Province of Kenya that borders with Tanzania. In Part II, feminist scholar Teresa Langle de Paz, accompa­nies Ara on her journey with the lens of a philosopher and theoretician.