Today’s post is a bit of a departure from the things I normally write about, but I so believe in the power of educating girls, that I am participating in the 2011 Girl Effect Campaign.
Growing up, there was never any question I would go to college, let alone finish middle and high school. No question whatsoever.
My grandmother did not have this kind of support. In fact, she had to leave school when she turned 12. Her father, who himself had very little education, did not support girls going to school. He believed that a woman’s role – that his 12-year old daughter’s role – was to marry, have children, and support their parents.
Her family immigrated to the United States from Mexico while she was still young. In this country, things changed for her. She married later than expected of her. She started a business. She got her GED around the same time her children graduated from high school. She went to college to become a teacher, graduating the same year my mother completed her nursing degree. She taught elementary school, became a journalist, supported her community, explored the world, and encouraged each of us to go to school.
When I was a kid, my grandmother would send me half-filled math and phonics workbooks leftover from her students at the end of the school year. At the time, I didn’t appreciate them for what they were: gifts of learning. Today, I am thankful that she and my parents supported me with so many such gifts, and that my desire to go to school and become what I wanted to be was encouraged.
Not every little girl has the choice to go to school
Around the world, there are more than 130 million out-of-school youth, 70 percent of which are girls that do not have the kind of support I had. That means over 91,000,000 girls are not in school. 91 million!
Can you imagine your daughter, niece, neighbor, or any other precious little girl in your life facing a future with no education? I can, but barely. The girls in my life have been raised by parents that cherish their independence, their strength, and their freedom to learn.
Unfortunately, the problem of little or no education is actually worse than it sounds at face value.
Here’s the thing: without education, young women will marry earlier, have more children, and earn less than girls that stay in school for at least 7 years.
Because women in developing countries often invest more of their earnings (90%) into their families than men do (30%), these lower wages make young mothers and their families vulnerable to poverty, health issues, and hunger.
Education makes girls – and the women they become – stronger, healthier, and better able to support their families. And, they become an inspiration to others.
Want to join me in making a difference?
Here are five things you can do today to help make sure that girls – both at home and abroad – receive the education they deserve and know that they have the choice to do so:
Spread the Girl Effect message
- Give a presentation, plan a party, send a message. Visit GirlEffect.org for resources, statistics, social networking messages, videos and planning ideas for helping you out.
- Share a message or statistic with your online networks
- Link to the website: http://www.girleffect.org
Donate to an organization that supports women and girls’ education
- Sponsor a girl’s education through Empower Women in Africa
- Support Room to Read’s Girls’ Education program
Volunteer
- Become a children’s literacy volunteer in your community by doing a search on “literacy volunteer your city name” or check out Reading is Fundamental.
- Help promote girls’ self esteem and health.
- Get involved in your daughter’s school.
Be a role model
- Stand strong in your own power.
- Never play down your smarts.
- Pursue your dreams.
- Reflect on what school, life, and people have taught you and enabled you to become and share your lessons.
Support the young girls in your life
- Cherish and support the girls in your life; teach them their true worth in this world.
- Talk about the importance of education with them and let them know the value of education – both formal and informal.
- Make education and learning fun, interesting, and even cool!
- Encourage girls, support them in their learning, offer examples of girls and women doing amazing things.
Do you have a story to tell? Please consider sharing it below. Better yet, write your own blog post and share it as part of The Girl Effect campaign any time this week.
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What a beautifully written post. I love your list of suggestions for what to do, and also your grandmother’s own girl effect story!
Tara – thank you for your comment. I’m honored to be a part of The Girl Effect Blogging Campaign and appreciate all the work you’ve done to organize it.
Stormy – this is one of the best blogs I’ve read today. Your story of your grandmother’s plight as a 12-year-old is the exact issue facing all girls worldwide who live in poverty. What a wonderful story. I loved this!
Wow! Thank you, Sherold.
Thank you so much for sharing your personal story of your grandmother as well – it really touched me.
Thanks for the practical list of what we can do to support girls around the world.
Hi Denise, thank you.
Stormy , this is so wonderful ! I love the story about your Grandmother. She sounds like an amazing woman!
And it really brings home the point of how important it is to give these young girls the chance for an education
and thus a life ! Thank you for sharing your story along this wonderful cause.
I appreciate that, Pat! My grandmother was an amazing woman. I’m so glad to have had her as an example in my life.
Stormy, thanks so much for your personal story! I love your grandmother! and it is so inspiring to hear her story. Thanks for sharing her drive, commitment and grace.
Tracy
Thank you, Tracy. She was an inspiration to me, as well.
Stormy, I love your grandmother’s journey of inspiration, thanks for sharing that with us. I was really inspired reading this thinking of my grandmother, who never went past high school, became a nurse and worked until the day she dropped dead on the bathroom floor. And my mother, who had to drop out of nursing school at 19 when she became pregnant with me, after her father refused to support her when she got accepted a top ranked college. She eventually got her PhD when I was graduating high school and it is from her I learned that you can pursue your dreams relentlessly despite the obstacles. My mom knew that education was the way out of poverty, and although I did not experience that personally, the value of it is not lost on me, nor the call to help other thanks to my own education. THanks for sharing!
Laura, it sounds like you have some strong and persevering women in your life. Here’s to them (and you) and the amazing example they set.
Stormy, you come from a long line of strong and smart women! I am so proud to call you my friend!
Thank you, Janet. The feeling is mutual. I am so glad to have had you as a friend all these years!
Stormy, I so loved hearing about your grandmother’s journey. Isn’t it interesting how drawn we are to personal stories? Your post reminds me of so many stories I could tell. It is so easy to take education for granted in the West. Learning is a real gift. I was also drawn to Kidan and Anita’s stories. Thanks for suggesting specific ways to get involved. This is an amazing campaign. So glad to be on the journey with you!
Thank you, Laurie. Personal stories truly make an impact. The statistics shared by The Girl Effect are startling, but remembering the story of my grandmother – and hearing Kidan and Anita’s stories – brought it home to me how important opportunity and education are to an individual, and subsequently their families and communities. I hope that a result of this blogging campaign is that we all give gifts of learning – in whatever forms we can.
Thank you for sharing about your grandmother. It makes this so much more real and shows what is possible. I also love what you said about Being A Role Model. “Don’t put down your smarts.” So true how so many women dumb themselves down.
Tanya, I truly believe that we – both women and men – need to claim our smarts and use them to pursue our dreams. But, I think that we also need to support each other in being able to be smart, confident, and capable. Dumbing ourselves down or being critical of other people, does nothing for our or their self esteem, nor does it let our best selves shine through. Thank you for helping women support each other.
I can relate so well to your story of your grandmother because my great grandmother was the inspiration behind my Girl Effect post as well. Without her strength, I know for sure that i would not be in the US and able to write this comment to your wonderful post. She is the inspiration behind a lot of my work, and it was great to hear your story about how your grandmother encouraged your own education. Thank you for sharing this story and for taking part in this noble effort.
Bibhruti – what an inspiration your great grandmother is. I hope that The Girl Effect blogging campaign can help bring attention to organizations like yours that are doing work on the ground to help young people have access to education and opportunity. Thank you for sharing your story and example.
Note to others: If you are looking for an organization to support, the (Rukmini Foundation) addresses the root causes of discrimination and disenfranchisement of girls in poor areas of Nepal by empowering them with education.
Hi Stormy -
Sorry for this severely late response to your lovely comments. Thank you for mentioning us, and more importantly thank you for contributing to getting the word out about the great cause that is The Girl Effect. Currently, we are in the process of getting everything set up to send 10 girls from rural areas to school starting next year. You can learn a little bit more about them here:
http://www.rukminifoundation.org/blog/about-us/meet-our-students/
- Bibhuti
PS – I love your site.
I am honored that so many of you have read my grandmother’s story and shared your own. Making sure that girls are educated is such a critical issue to me and I am happy to be surrounded by others who feel the same way. Thank you for your kind words and keen action.
Stormy –
This post rocks! I love your grandmother – and I only “know” her through your words. I can only imagine what she would think and say about the Girl Effect. Everyone can find at last one thing to do with all of the options and choices we have to become involved. No excuses. What a great motivation to us all!
Thank you, Jennifer! I really appreciate that. One thing, indeed. Sometimes it take much more than a supportive word, a strong example, or the donation of what you might spend on a dinner out.