The book “Mujeres brújula en un bosque de retos” by Isabel Sánchez, Central Secretary of Opus Dei, is currently available in Spanish. The book offers a new version of 21st century feminism, through the example of women leaders engaged in social projects in the five continents, and part of the proceeds of the sales, as desired by the author, will go to scholarships for the training of African women scientists.

Here below the translation of a short interview for Harambee Spain and published on the website: https://www.harambee.es/isabel-sanchez-dona-los-derechos-de-autor-de-su-libro-al-proyecto-de-harambee-becas-guadalupe/

The book recounts numerous initiatives that, like Harambee, were born all over the world thanks to the impulse of San Josemaría. Why did you choose Harambee’s project -Study Grants Guadalupe- as the recipient of the book’s rights?

The idea for the book was born on the occasion of the beatification in Madrid of Guadalupe Ortiz de Landázuri, a Madrid scientist of Opus Dei. The Guadalupe scholarships are aimed at women who seek to be “women of reference” in their environment: African scientists who work for the progress of their countries.

The book collects the experiences of 75 women who work in the five continents in promoting social projects aimed at improving their environment. Some of them are African women who carry out educational initiatives in favor of the very poor women present in their countries. Do you know the African continent well? Do you think that these initiatives contribute to its development or are they just a drop in the ocean?

I am convinced that these initiatives are sometimes the driving force behind projects promoted by Africans themselves. We know that the objectives of Harambee can be found in Agenda 2063. In fact, in the plan for the Development of Africa drawn up in 2013 by members of the African Union, a series of actions are planned to encourage investment in education, technology, science and research so that over 50 years, Africa will appear more prosperous and united.

A scientific career is difficult; it requires talent, enthusiasm, a great deal of dedication and good opportunities. And one of these opportunities, which proves to be fundamental, is research in an institute where experienced professionals are able to enhance the skills of the researcher.  In the book I refer to African scientists from Senegal, Nigeria, Kenya, Congo and Uganda who have already benefited or are benefiting from their period of research sponsored by a scholarship from Guadalupe and I want to collaborate in Harambee’s efforts to help 94 other women.

From a young age you have loved writing and are used to writing articles and giving lectures and conferences. Have you never thought before writing a book?

Not until now, but when they proposed it to me, I realized that I was lucky enough to meet many people from all over the world, who enriched and helped me with their example and that they could also help others build bridges and not build walls.

The book presents a new vision of feminism in which women and men work side by side to build a new model of society capable of facing the challenges of the future.

We are sure that it will be a success and that it will help Harambee to realize the project for the granting of scholarships to 100 African women scientists, so that they can continue their research studies and contribute to the development of their countries in a more effective way, but this requires significant resources.