Summary

Kristof and WuDunn write that Saima Muhammad of Lahore, Pakistan, was beaten by her husband every evening. The family was so poor that Muhammad had to send her daughter to live with relatives because they didn’t have enough food. Kristof and WuDunn write that when Muhammad had a second daughter and a relative advised Muhammad’s husband to marry another woman so he could have a boy, Muhammad was naturally upset prompting her to join a solidarity group organized by the Kashf Foundation.

Muhammad was given a small loan and she started a successful embroidery business. She was able to pay off the family debt, bring her daughter back home and renovate the house. They were the only family in the community to have a TV. Her husband was content to loaf around the house and even happily accepted a...