A couple of weeks ago, I invited a group to join me to see Girl Rising. It was mostly women who joined me, but I must say – it made an impact on me to see two gentleman (and that is what they are – gentleman – those men who care about the plight of women the world over) join us for the event.
This film tells the stories of nine girls from nine different countries. Each girls’ story is narrated by an actress, and each girl’s story was written by a famous writer/activist who is native to that particular girl’s country.
Here are some of the staggering statistics of girls around the world:
41 million girls worldwide are still denied a primary education.
An additional 100 million girls who enter primary education do not finish.
One in seven girls in the developing world marries before the age of 15.
Violence kills as many females between the ages of 15-44 as cancer.
Here’s the good news::
Education drastically reduces child marriage. On average, a girl with seven years of education will marry four years later (we are talking from 5 years of age to 19 years of age, here) and will have 2.2 fewer kids (meaning they have a much better chance of being able to care for their own children and survive childbirth).
Education is key for a stronger economy for an entire nation. One girl’s education can boost her
future wages by 15 to 20% (in some places – it is the difference between earning her own wage or
being trafficked against her will).
Statistics show that women and girls reinvest up to 90% of their income in their families and communities!
Are you following me here?!?
Do we fully comprehend yet how this directly affects ALL OF US!?!
I hope and pray we are coming to a place in our own inner dialogue and in our conversations with each other where we no longer see all of this as an “us and them” thing. I hope we know longer say to ourselves or to those around us, such comments as “well, that is truly heartbreaking, but it really does not affect me and quite honestly, I have enough to deal with in my own life.”
God help us if that is where our rationalization takes us. Because, quite frankly, it DOES affect our every day life in this global village where we now find ourselves, and quite frankly, even if it did not…
shame on us for placing ourselves and our needs above those of our neighbor.
I love this quote::
My pastor says this,
“We cannot fix the world, but we can change it.” -Ken Wytsma
Please go and see this film. All of you – men AND women.
If you missed it, rent it.
Buy it. I am going to, so if you live near me, come over to dinner and watch it with us.
Just don’t miss it. Allow it to really sink in. Allow it to impact you, to give you hope, to compel you to “be the change”.
It matters. To ALL of us. It really does.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BJsvklXhYaE]
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