Invisible Girls

Two girls smiling.

Image via Wikipedia

My daughter is about to step into young womanhood, frantically working through her final year at Loyola College in Baltimore, embarking on a nerve-wracking internship with an investment bank, and shopping with her Mom this weekend for business clothes required for a young woman on the cusp.
She’s gorgeous, smart and hard-working. But she’s also lucky, living in a country and society where the efforts of young women are valued and encouraged. Since I’ve been on a social change kick these days, I recently stumbled across a website with good intentions aimed at girls ages 15 to 24 who aren’t as lucky as my daughter. The Girl Effect is dedicated to improving the lives of young girls in our world, particularly those in developing countries. Browsing through the site is a humbling experience.

Here’s what The Girl Effect says:

Girls living in poverty are uniquely capable of creating a better future. But when a girl reaches adolescence, she reaches a crossroads. Things can go one of two ways for her — and for everyone around her.

Among other things, The Girl Effect Fact Sheet lists some disturbing statistics about girls living in developing countries:

1. More than 600 million girls live in developing countries.
2. One-quarter of girls in developing countries are not in school.
3. One girl in seven in developing countries marries before the age of 15.
4. Medical complications from pregnancy are the leading cause of death among girls ages 15 to 19 worldwide.
5. 75 percent of 15- to 24-year-olds living with HIV in Africa are female.
6. When a girl in a developing country receives seven or more years of education, she marries 4 years later and has 2.2 fewer children.

You can donate money to Girl Effect, publicize its efforts (particularly on your website or blog), join its FaceBook page, and simply learn more about the imperiled future of girls on our planet.

You might want to begin by watching the Girl Effect video here.

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I’m Signed Up: Blog Action Day 08 – Poverty

Impoverished area near 125th street in Harlem,...Image via Wikipedia

My 18-year-old son is always wearing one of those colorful rubber bracelets signifying his concern for global problems — hunger, war, cancer. Our young people are always setting examples for us, aren’t they? Now it’s my turn, by participating in Blog Action Day 2008 – Poverty, a worldwide attempt by bloggers to all write a post about this issue on the same day — October 15th. So far, more than 900 websites (and counting) have signed up to participate with an audience of more than 2 million reaaders.

Here’s how Envato, the non-profit behind the idea, described Blog Action Day:

Global issues like poverty are extremely complex. There is no simple, clear answer. By asking thousands of different people to give their viewpoints and opinions, Blog Action Day creates an extraordinary lens through which to view these issues. Each blogger brings their own perspective and ideas. Each blogger posts relating to their own blog topic. And each blogger engages their audience differently.

If you’re a blogger who would like to participate, go to the website and sign up. It’s easy and free. If you’re an educator, why not make this day a teachable moment? How about doing some research about poverty? Comparing numbers? Learning more about what poverty means in different countries? Training your lens on poverty in the United States?

If you’re a superintendent of schools, why not set a great example by participating in a food drive, working at a soup kitchen, volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, or simply blogging about the issue?

Join us on Oct. 15, 2008.

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