day 7 - support networks

Mentorship and support networks at school. I’ve been very fortunate to enjoy such relationships – my counselors, teachers, and peers are all incredibly encouraging.

It’s difficult for me to picture going through high school without those types of support networks: Who would offer encouragement or answer questions I might have about my future? This kind of relationship is essential for success – like the extra oar one might need to be able to paddle upstream. (Not the best metaphor, I know, but you get the idea.)

Unfortunately, girls in school in developing nations often lack this support group. They may lack a mentor that persuades them that their efforts will reap more rewards than dropping out of school to work. They may lack a voice to encourage them if they may find themselves falling behind in their studies because they needed to take care of a sick sibling.

But with a support network, this all changes. A mentor relationship helps girls to complete their studies to the best of their ability. And more so: A mentor relationship encourages girls to assume positions of leadership in their communities, thereby becoming mentors for the next generation.

Camfed, the Campaign for Female Education, has a strong support network of female alumni called Cama. Perhaps strong would be an understatement: Cama has 17,600 alumni in its network, each encouraging girls to pursue their studies and helping them find opportunities. These alumna coordinate developing committees that work to totally change a village through education and provide a stable mentor role, especially to orphaned children. Please learn more about Camfed, and its holistic approach to social change and education, in this article: NY Times Blog - Africa's Girl Power.

Here’s a quote from the article that sums up the importance of why girls’ education really matters:

“In recent years, leaders in the field of international development have come to agree that the most powerful way to bring lasting social benefits to a country is to expand educational and economic opportunities for girls. What has become known as the Girl Effect is dramatic: A girl who doesn’t attend school or marries young, for example, is at far greater risk of dying in childbirth, contracting H.I.V., being beaten by her husband, bearing more children than she would like, and remaining in poverty, along with her family. By contrast, an educated girl is more likely to earn higher wages, delay childbirth, and have fewer, healthier children who are themselves more likely to attend school, prosper, and participate in democratic processes.”

Does education make a difference? I think yes.

Janna

day 6 - The Girl Effect

Hope your week is going well! First off, I’d like to extend my apologies: the next few days will be crazy busy for me, so this post (and probably the next few) will be brief.

I’d wanted to save these videos for later in the project, but I think they will provide a great summary for what we’ve discussed, as well as an intro to some of our upcoming topics. The videos are by The Girl Effect, an organization committed to spreading awareness about the importance of girls’ education. In their words, “the clock is ticking”: when a girl reaches puberty, she is eligible to be married and start having children at a very young age. Her body does not belong to herself, and her future is up for grabs – whether that may be a future in poverty, or a future in school. And a future in school will allow her to become economically and socially independent.

The Girl Effect has a great summary for what we can do to enact change through girls’ education at the following link: The Revolution.  Also, please check out the videos below - they're really inspiring and summarize the importance of what this project is about: girls' education.

Janna

day 5 - impediments to education

If the answer to so many of the problems in developing nations is as easy as women’s education, you may be saying, then why isn’t the whole issue solved now? Why can’t we just stick all girls in a school, problem solved?

I wish I had an answer. There are many factors that can inhibit girls from going to school, even if it’s their priority to go. As mentioned yesterday, girls may be needed for simple basic housework and chores, such as taking care of younger siblings while their parents work in the fields. This is especially prevalent if a family has many children: girls may begin to start caring for their siblings at a very young age, preventing them from going to school.

Although it seems like an indirect reason, lack of water sources hinder women from an education. According to charitywater.org, many women walk three hours a day to get water (often dirty water contaminated with cholera, dysentery and E. coli bacteria, and schistosoma). This time spent just to get water consumes any time that might be spent in school (but the building of a well for clean water eliminates the need to walk this distance).

Perhaps a less-considered reason for why it may be difficult for girls to attend school is simply because of their menstrual cycles. Sanitary napkins are an exorbitant expense, but lack of them often prevents girls from having solid academic attendance. According to an Oxford study conducted by Linda Scott, providing sanitary napkins for menstruating girls reduced their absence from school from 21% to 9% - a significant improvement. Cheaper ways to manage menstruation are currently being developed (read about the issue on Nicholas Kristof’s NY Times blog).

Lastly, a family might lack the funds needed to pay for tuition. What good is it spending money on an expensive education, a family might say, if my daughter can go out and work in the fields and earn money? The immediate, tangible (monetary) gratification that education lacks makes the choice clear for struggling families. But what is often overlooked is the fact that educated girls earn about 25% more income than their uneducated counterparts.

With so many other factors that may inhibit women from obtaining an education, it may seem like a lost cause to invest in it. But this isn’t the case: invest in education, and a woman will not need to keep her children at home to work. She can initiate the building of a well in her village, and mentor younger girls to stay in school. Though we may not recognize it now, investment in education reaps benefits hundreds of times over down the road. A small donation can be the start of a revolutionary change in the life of a woman and everyone around her.

Janna

day 4 - compulsory education

As a high school senior, I spend a lot (a lot) of time thinking about college: where I’ll go next year, what I’ll study. For me and many of my classmates, college is the natural educative step after high school. Unfortunately, this is far from the case for children in developing nations, who may not be guaranteed even an elementary-school education.

 

Compulsory education: it’s something we often take for granted. How could we not? The first compulsory education law in the United States was implemented 165 years ago – more than enough time for us to get desensitized to the fact that we are fortunate to have such laws in place.

I don’t want to risk going on a diatribe, but it bothers me when I hear variations of “I hate school” while walking in the hallways. Don’t you know how lucky we are? I want to say. People in other countries, especially women, would consider our high school education to be a blessing.

As discussed yesterday, a girl’s education may be relegated in favor of sending a brother. Other times, these girls may be needed to help out with harvesting, chores, or caring for younger siblings at home in order to make ends meet. Often, there are no spare funds to pay for necessary books, pencils, and uniforms. Considering how 20% of the world’s population lives on less than $1.25 a day, basic food costs become a priority and school costs become an extravagant expense. And sometimes the best students are the ones that can least afford the education. Either way, an education, no matter how much they may desire – or merit – it, is simply not a reality.

What if we were to take a step back? What if we were to realize that our education, one of the many rights we demand – along with freedom of speech, press, and religion – is not universally guaranteed? What if we were to give back, in some small way, the education that we have been so fortunate to receive?

Please consider making a charitable donation to help girls receive an education in Africa.

Janna

day 3 - gender inequality

Hope you all have had a nice start to the weekend!

I want to refer briefly to the title of the book that moved me to want to do something about women’s education. The title refers to a piece of Confucian wisdom that “women hold up half the sky”.

Half of the sky. What a powerful statement. In the United States, men and women are theoretically equal (though gender disparities still exist to some extent). But gender disparities in developing nations aren’t even close to what we may consider gross injustices here, because women in developing countries may be denied rights to their property, their children, and their body.

But most prevalent is how women are often denied an education. This happens for a number of reasons: Women are frequently marginalized in developing nations because of a traditional patriarchal (and at times, misogynistic) social structure. In some developing nations, this patriarchal system may combine with reproductive technology to favor males: A couple may terminate a pregnancy upon finding out that they are expecting a daughter.

Because females are not valued in society as much as males, it isn’t a priority to send girls to school. Even in regions where education is available, girls are denied the opportunity to go to school in favor of sending a son instead. Girls are raised without learning how to read or write, and because of this, they have a disadvantage from the outset: they cannot contribute to society in ways other than cooking and having babies. They are not treated as equal human beings, but rather as a material, disposable possession. Thus perpetuates the cycle of women being denied basic rights, including the right to an education.

Gender disparity may be huge in developing countries, but we can help ensure that women enjoy a more equal status. All it takes is an education.

Janna

day 2 - Camfed highlight

Only the second day of this project and I’m already wearing a t-shirt! (Sigh.) Actually, it was for “team spirit” for our youth orchestra’s concert. I got a lot of funny looks from people in the hallway (dress + t-shirt = slightly unconventional) but hey, I also hope to challenge conventional ideas about fashion, especially in a high school where it’s not cool to wear the same thing twice. To wear the same thing for one month? Bring it on. 

Today I’d like to highlight the organization that we’re working with to provide education in rural Africa, Camfed (Campaign for Female Education). Camfed (www.camfed.org) fights poverty and HIV/AIDS by educating girls and empowering young women living in poverty in rural Africa.  Since 1993, Camfed has fought poverty and AIDS in rural Africa by educating and empowering young women to become leaders of change, with 1,415,600 children in impoverished areas of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi benefiting from their innovative education programs.

What is really neat about this organization is how it works long-term to help improve women’s lives. The first step, of course, is education. Camfed helps to provide necessary materials for girls to attend school (for example, uniforms, tuition fees, books, shoes) from elementary school to high school. Camfed then offers business training and microloans to these women to develop a sustainable income. These women then become leaders, providing mentorship to other women and girls in their communities. Can you think of any better investment return?

Please consider making a charitable donation to Camfed. Their efforts are really working to change lives. Please also check out videos on their Youtube.com channel (links below) – they put faces to the amazing number of people they’ve helped through their work.

“If I only get the chance, I will do something great.” –Camfed.org

Janna

Camfed Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/camfedinternational#p/a/u/1/D_XzPTx80_k

http://www.youtube.com/user/camfedinternational#p/a/u/0/p5OlAmQllLw

day 1! - "Half the Sky"

And... the project has begun! A lot of people asked why I was wearing a dress today, and I told them about the project for women's education. So exciting to get the word around! People are really supportive of the cause, so we’re off to a great start.

Just starting this project today was a big deal for me because I’ve thought about it almost every day since August. Literally. I had gone to Barnes and Noble over the summer to pick out a book for my summer reading project, and perusing through the books, I saw one that stood out from Steinbeck and Hemingway. No big deal – it simply looked like an interesting book. It turned out that it would completely change my worldview.

Half the Sky, co-authored by NY Times journalist Nicholas D. Kristof and his wife, describes major problems faced by women today in developing regions such as Africa and Asia. One might not think a book that discusses, among numerous other topics, microcredit finance, prostitution, and obstetric fistulas would be an interesting, let alone pleasant, read. But Kristof and his wife communicate these problems in a real way, putting faces to accounts: They interviewed dozens of women and girls and told their personal stories. Definitely a book I would recommend – and definitely a book that will change your paradigm.

More than the heartrending stories of conditions in which women in today’s society live, what really struck me were the stories of empowerment. Education truly has the potential to change women’s lives. 

"The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step." -Lao Tzu

Janna