When You Invest In a Girl You Create
A Ripple Effect In The World
Clementine’s letter broke my heart when I read it. I asked myself in that moment — who am I NOT to do something for her and other women in the world?
“I am a widow. I have six children. None of them are attending school because of lack of money. When my husband died, I started a hard life during the war. The fighters looted all of my belongings. Up to now, I have no bed sheets, no utensils, and no clothes. People in my quarter contributed clothes to me. I am working for other persons in order to get food.” Yours truly, Clementine
Clementine is my Congolese sister that I am supporting this year through Women for Women International. Her letter fueled me to continue my service and step up my efforts to support women and girls on a global basis through my forum Women Heal The World.
I know that it can be overwhelming to decide where to put your energy when you think about volunteering your time to be in service to the world. What if you were to help one girl by using your voice and taking action to wake up the world to the power of educating a girl?
It’s adolescent girls who will change the world.
If you want to end poverty and help the Developing World, the best thing you can do is invest time, energy and funding into adolescent girls. It’s called The Girl Effect, because girls are uniquely capable of investing in their communities, and making the world better.
According to Global Giving, there are 600 million adolescent girls living in poverty in the developing world. If you give just one of these girls a chance, you start the girl effect.
When you give a girl an education, a safe place to meet, access to health care, legal protection, and access to training and job skills, they can flourish. And if they flourish, everyone around them flourishes.
“Girls and women are the mothers of every child born. So if they are not educated, safe, skilled, healthy, able to nurture their children, disease-free, violence-free or able to lead…they cannot offer much to their children. They can’t ensure that they are nurtured, healthy, educated or able to contribute in positive ways,” Jennifer Buffett, president of the NoVo Foundation.
Why support one girl? She has the unique opportunity to raise the standard of living for herself and her family.
When an educated girl earns income, she invests 90 percent of it in her family, compared to 35 percent for a boy.
What if you knew that it was easier than you thought and it didn’t take much time or much money to do one thing for a girl?
Five Ways You Can Get Involved Today
1. Join The Girl Effect Blogging Campaign Today
Write a blog and post it here http://www.taramohr.com/girleffectposts/
2. Support a woman’s business. With a microloan of $25, a woman can start a business, producing income she can use to feed her children and send them to school. To make a loan, go to Kiva.org
3. Support a Woman through Women for Women International – Women for Women International provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies.
4. Watch This Video
Never underestimate the power of a girl. Watch this video and e-mail it to everyone you know. Then, learn more about The Girl Effect.
5. Spread the Word
The best way to fight poverty and injustice is to educate women and girls. All you have to do is log on to Facebook or Twitter and spread the word by Tweeting about The Girl Effect or by sharing this post on your Facebook site. Go viral today!
Powerful post! I love the story you shared + the 5 ways to get involved Xo H
Sherold,
Thanks for a powerful post on an amazing movement. I always knew education was important, but seeing it from a global view is a true “eye-opener”. Thanks for spreading the message!
xo,
Tina
I just want to acknowledge your personal involvement in this cause ! Very moving and the calls to calls to action are wonderful. Awesome piece Sherold and one I am sharing!
Thank you Pat. Appreciate the sharing.
It’s amazing it’s taken us so long to see this – that the most powerful, economical and “simplest” solution is to educate and protect girls. It really is planet changing stuff. And isn’t it wonderful that female entrepreneurs in the “developed” world are really taking this cause up. WE are changing the world too! YOU are changing the world.
Thanks Sherold!
Hey Denise – you are so wonderful to write and recognize this cause. You are world changing – keep going cause I want you to get $5k at SHINE! Loved your video.
Just beautiful, Sherold! How meaningful to have a woman across the globe you can truly call “sister”, supporting her and her needs while she gives back in love. It is just so thrilling to be alive at a time where we can actually reach out and serve these women! LOVE these organizations!!! Thank you for this post! and your contributions to these causes. xo
Kathleen – I loved talking with you yesterday. I am so grateful to be connected to all of you. And thank you for commenting on my post. I am going to continue working my way through girl effect blogs. Sending you love.
Just want to give a shout out to you and to all the ladies involved in the Girl Effect Blogging Campaign today {myself included}. This is how powerful change is made. One person standing up and saying, “enough is enough.” Today is that day.
Sherold, amazing cause and what a great post! I am so glad you are writing about this and I love the 5 steps that you can take to get involved
Tracy – don’t you just love all the good energy here in BSchool and for this cause. Loved your post!
Sherold
thanks for your inspiring blog on this topic, and your PERSONAL commitment to make a difference for these young women. Clearly you are on a mission to help heal the women, and I know that your efforts will have an impact!
touche my friend! I am going to read all the rest of our blogs. Sending you great energy for your training.
Sherold, thanks for sharing Clementine’s story. And thanks for these specific actionable steps we can take today to support The Girl Effect! I have taken all of these steps myself including financial support for The Girl Effect. I love that you added links to support women in business through Kiva and Women for Women International. I am so honored to be walking this path with you!
Ms. Laurie – love that we are in B School together and YOU organized this fabulous opportunity. I’m even going to write a second post this week!
LOVE Women For Women and so happy you shared your sister’s story with us here. It was very powerful.
Tanya – love the name of your site! Thanks for visiting.
Sherold -
What an amazing letter from Clementine. Eye opening. Thought provoking. I love what you are doing through supporting her and through your forum.
“…girls are uniquely capable of investing in their communities, and making the world better.”
Yes, they are. Especially with the support of people like you. Thanks for an inspiring and motivating post!
Jennifer – it’s great to meet you here! I love that you are also supporting The Girl Effect with your blog. Thanks for your kind comments.
Sherold, thank you so much for sharing Clementine’s letter and your experience. Beautiful reminders that we need to do what we can to support change and make sure that women and girls have access to education, as well as the resources they need to care for their families.
Stormy – thank you for reading my blog. I am going to write a second one this week from a personal experience with three citizen journalists who came to the US via World Pulse. Thanks for supporting the Girl Effect.