This book examines rural African women's educational experiences in Kilome, Kenya, providing testimony on the cultural, historical, social, economic, and political factors that have shaped, and continue to shape, women's educational and economic opportunities there. The author, a Kamba woman who grew up in rural Kenya and received an education in metropolitan cities of North America, presents these women's stories not simply from an insider's perspective, but as one who has shared experiences of the issues discussed in the book. Highlighting the struggles these women face to provide their children, particularly their daughters, with educational opportunities, the book draws attention to the gender and power issues that limit women's participation in the public sphere and illustrates how women in Kenya have been largely absent at the national level where educational policies are formulated. The book is divided into the following chapters: (1) "Introduction"; (2) "Education and Women's Equity: Framing the Context"; (3) "Research Sites"; (4) "Grounding the Methodology of Study"; (5) "Analyses of Education- and Development-Policy Documents"; (6) "Kilome Women's Educational Experiences"; (7) "Factors Limiting Girls' Educational Opportunities"; (8) "Intensification of Women's Labor To Educate Their Children and Its Implications"; (9) "'Help Me So That I May Help You': Women's Self-Help Movement"; and (10) "Women's Educational Experiences: Private and Public Discourses on Education in Kenya and Implications for Policy." Contains notes for each chapter and an extensive bibliography. (BT)