Girl Power

I read a really good essay written by Nancy Gibbs in Time Magazine in the February 14, 2011 issue. It is titled, "The Best Investment." It fits so well with what I have seen in the developing world here in Kenya with the kids that I work with. And it speaks to what we are trying to do at Christ's Gift Academy and with the Suba Lakers Girls Football Club. Here is a little clip from it.

“This is the tantalizing idea for activists concerned with poverty, with disease, with the rise of violent extremism, if you want to change the world, invest in girls. Across most of the developing world, by the time she is 12, a girl is tending house, cooking, cleaning. She eats what’s left after the men and boys have eaten; she is less likely to be vaccinated, to see a doctor, to attend school.

Why educate a daughter who will end up working for her in-laws rather than a son who will support you? In sub-saharan Africa, fewer than 1 in 5 girls make it to secondary school. Nearly half are married by the time they are 18; 1 in 7 across the developing world marries before she is 15. Then she gets pregnant. The leading cause of death for girls 15 to 19 worldwide is not accident or violence or disease; it is complications from pregnancy. Girls under 15 are up to 5 times as likely to die while having children than are women in their 20s, and their babies are more likely to die as well.

There are countless reasons rescuing girls is the right thing to do. It’s also the smart thing to do. Consider the virtuous circle: An extra year of primary school boosts girls eventual wages by 10% to 20%. An extra year of secondary school adds 15% to 25%. Girls who stay in school for seven or more years typically marry four years later and have two fewer children than girls who drop out. Fewer dependents per worker allows for greater economic growth. And the World Food Programme has found that when girls and women earn income, they reinvest 90% of it in their families. They buy books, medicine, bed nets. For men that figure is more like 30% to 40%.

‘Investment in girls education may well be the highest return in investment available in the developing world.’ Larry Summers wrote when he was chief economist at the World Bank.

Of such cycles are real revolutions born. The benefits are so obvious you have to wonder why we haven’t paid attention. Less than 2 cents of every development dollar goes to girls- and that is a victory compared with a few years ago, when it was more like half a cent. Roughly 9 of 10 youth programs are aimed at boys.

To find success in helping girls requires enlisting whole communities- mothers, fathers, teachers, religious leaders- in helping girls realize their potential instead of seeing them as dispensable or, worse, as prey."