MAY 2019| The Australian Women’s Weekly 89
whenshewastrappedin anabusive
relationship.Shewasyoungandher
boyfriendwascontrollingwitha “sick
power”overher.It’shardtoimagine
Melindain sucha situation,whichis
exactlywhyshepluckedupthe
couragetowriteaboutit.
“Ilostmyvoicefora very,verylong
time.I wouldsayit’sonlybeenin the
last 10 yearsthatI havemyvoicefully
back,”shetellsme.“That’swhyI
advocatesostronglyonbehalfof
women,that’swhyI’msoagainstany
verbalabuseorworkplaceharassment
andI speakoutmuchmorestrongly
thanI did.Youknowthat,in theUS,
80 percentofwomen
leavetheirjobswithin
twoyearsif they’ve
beenharassedat
work.Theylosetheir
voiceandthenthey’re
putmoreandmoreaside.
“Itwasveryhardformetowrite
about,butI wroteaboutit because
I wantedpeopletounderstand,I
wantedwomentounderstandthat
I’vebeenthroughit aswell.I know
whatthatjourneyis and I know
howhorribleit is.”
Actionstations
It wasona triptoZanzibarin East
Africaa yearbeforetheymarried
whenBillandMelindahadtheir
lightbulbmoment,andit’sa moment
thatregularlyplaysonMelinda’s
mind. “We hadn’t established the [Bill
&MelindaGates]Foundationat that
pointandwedidn’thaveanyidea
howtoinvestmoneytoimprove
people’slives,”writesMelindain her
book.
“Itwasthefallof 1993 andwe
werehostinga tripwithseveralother
couplestoAfrica.Wewentonsafari
andwelovedtheanimalsbutit was
thepeoplethattouchedus,”shetells
me.“Irememberdrivingoutsideone
ofthetownsandseeinga mother
whowascarryinga babyin herbelly,
anotherbabyonherbackanda pile
ofsticksonherhead.Shehadclearly
beenwalkinga longdistancewithnoshoes,whilethemenI sawwere
wearingflip-flopsandsmoking
cigaretteswithnosticksontheir
headsorkidsat theirsides...Wejust
keptthinking,‘myGod,shouldwedo
somethinghere?’”
Melindasaysthatthey“already
knewthatweweregoingtogiveaway
partofMicrosoft’sresourcesbutit
wasonthattripthatwebecame
committed.Wedidn’tthinkwe’dstart
theFoundationrightaway– we
thoughtthatwouldbelater– butwe
gotsoengagedduringthistripthatwe
startedtheFoundationrightaway.”
Back home, Melinda read the WorldDevelopmentReport.“Childrenin
poorcountriesweredyingfrom
conditionsthatnokidsdiedfromin
theUnitedStates.”It madenosense
andsetbothMelindaandBillonthe
onlycoursetheyunderstood...action.
“Bythistime,we’dtravelledto
KenyaandTanzaniaandZanzibar.
TherewasnowayBillcouldhave
startedMicrosoftin Kenyaor
Tanzania;therewasnowayI could
havebeena girlandbeeneducatedin
thosecountriesbackthen.Sowehad
benefitedbybeingluckyenoughtobe
bornin theUnitedStates.Weboth
grewupin verymiddle-classfamilies;
we’ddonequitewellin termsofour
workethicandgoingtocollege.And
wedon’treallybelievein hereditary
wealthandsotherightthingtodo
wastouse[ourfortune].Wefeltlike
thesevastresources[themoneyfrom
Microsoft]camebecauseofluckof
birthandit really
shouldgoback
tosociety.”
WhenMelinda
foundoutshewas
pregnant,shequit
worktobea stay-at-homemum.And
whilethismayseemat oddswiththe
empoweredwomanwhowasstanding
tallin herman’sworld,it was
completelyonsongasfarasMelinda
wasconcerned.Inthebooksheis
quicktodefendmotherswhochoose
toworkbutforherthepathwasclear.
“YouhavetorememberBillwas
theCEOofMicrosoft,”sheexplains.
“Iknewthespeedat whichthat
companywasmovingandI sawwhat
it tookforhimtodothatjobevery
day.It wasnotan8 to5 or9 to5 job.
Notevenclose.SoI feltif wewanted
to have kids and we wanted tobe→Clockwisefromleft:TheGates
family,Bill,Jennifer,Rory,Phoebe
andMelinda,whowasa stay-at-
homemum.TheGates’ 1994
wedding;onstageinWashington;
changing women’s lives in Africa.“If you change one life that
can have a ripple effect.”