Imagine, for a moment, that tomorrow your life is different. Imagine, for just a moment, that the most difficult thing you can remember in your day today is the easiest thing you will encounter in the day tomorrow. Your home, your family, your security: those things would not exist like they do now. Your worries today of finishing a project at home, work or school, your difficulties with a teenage son or daughter, your challenges with a toddler whose will defies your own, your frustrations at traffic or shopping lines… Those concerns pale in comparison to the lives of some of the least in other parts of the world. Imagine, for a moment, you are a young, uneducated girl living in an impoverished country.
For a growing number of girls in countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, China, Cambodia, Thailand, the Congo, Ethiopia, and many other nations, the statistics are staggering. “It appears that more girls have been killed in the last fifty years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all the wars of the twentieth century. More girls are killed in this routine ‘gendercide’ in any one decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the twentieth century.” Slavery is still very real. One recent statistic I read said that, “there are 3 million women and girls (and a very small number of boys) worldwide who can be fairly termed enslaved in the sex trade.” I know it’s hard to imagine that this terrible reality is still in existence, but alas the slavery market is alive and well. Percentage wise, “far more women and girls are shipped into brothels each year in the early twenty-first century than African slaves were shipped into slave plantations each year in the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries — although the overall population was of course far smaller then.” Many of slavery’s victims today are those tender girls who are just reaching puberty.
I’ve been reading over the last few years about some of these girls, girls who are like me in their XX chromosomes but are separated from me by innumerable fathoms of the ocean, by age, by culture, and sometimes by skin color. These are simple girls, and some of them find themselves in the most horrible of situations. I’ve always believed that even one person can make a difference, and the stories I’m reading bear that truth out. I am beginning to comprehend the possibility that transformation in some societies may be packaged in the frail frame of a little girl — and in those people who choose in some way to help her.
There are some books that impact my heart, books that change my mind, and books that are catalysts for further transformation. The first one of these that I recently encountered was Three Cups of Tea. I read this one a few years years back when it was left behind as the product of a misplaced but well intentioned Christmas gift. The book sat collecting dust and eventually found its way into my hands and my heart. This biography begins with failure. Oftentimes life brings failure. We fall flat at something that has driven us and consumed us. In our desperation, we cry out to God to give us purpose, vision, and direction. At times, the new purpose is not what we had envisioned. Instead, God sends purpose to find us in our defeat. In this case, the failed attempt of one mountain climber led to the eventual establishment of many schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. Because of those schools, many children (especially girls) are learning for the first time. These children are growing up, and the culture and opportunities in the village are improving. Change is happening. And it all started with a failure.
What can you do with one educated girl? Better yet, what can you do with a whole village of educated girls? And why girls? Why is educating girls such a big deal?
In countries like the ones that Greg Mortenson visited, girls are considered second class citizens. They are not allowed what we might consider basic human rights. Education for these girls is considered frivolous and a waste of time. When Mortenson happened upon one of these remote villages, the boys in the village were scratching in the dirt with sticks during their daily school lessons. The girls were not involved. In a world where social justice continues to gain a greater voice, people are standing up for these children. When girls learn, they have useful skills to aid in their work. “Evidence is mounting that helping women can be a successful poverty-fighting strategy anywhere in the world.” When girls work in impoverished communities, economies can change. Goldman Sachs has said, “Gender inequality hurts economic growth.” When economies change, cities and countries can change. It can all start with educating a girl.
During the summer, I encountered another heroine who began her life as a girl in Pakistan with a father who believed in her. She was bright, and she desired above anything else to learn. She unfortunately happened to live in a place where girls were not allowed to learn. Her name was Malala Yousafzai. Eventually, her courage and faith caused her to be targeted by one of the the largest terrorist networks in the world: the Taliban. I have wondered why educated girls would be so threatening to grown men, men who have guns, criminal networks, and above all, a weapon of intimidation and fear. Besides faith (which is primary), a mind is a powerful weapon that God has given us. After recently recovering from a terrorist bullet to the head, this 16-year-old girl spoke to the United Nations and gave these words, “Let us pick up our books and our pens. These are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.” (I Am Malala, p. 310) She went on in 2014 to become the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
The current book I am reading is perhaps the most challenging book of all. It is full of true stories, and they are gut-wrenching. Half the Sky is a bittersweet collection of reality. There are some atrocious endings, but there are some satisfying endings, as well as hope for the future. The premise of the book comes from a Chinese proverb that says, “Women hold up half the sky.” In essence, women contain valuable assets that contribute half of what our world needs to thrive. Tragically, females are being victimized and exploited in many parts of the world. As I read the accounts of girls who are being sold and trafficked (some by their own mothers), as I encounter girls who are kidnapped, and as I see that childbirth in developing countries can leave a teenage girl maimed for life, I am heartbroken. I have to stop reading for a little bit. I have to gain my composure and catch my breath. Then I experience gratitude. I do not have to worry that my own girls may be pulled from their school or from our neighborhood and kidnapped. I do not have to think about the terrors of gang rape for my own daughters. But I do have to think about society. I do have to think about my role as an agent of change, empowered by God to do my part.
For these girls, they do not know that another life exists. They are stuck in a perpetual life of modern day slavery. The solution is not simple, but for those willing to try, there has been progress. Fear and illiteracy are the powerful weapons that these groups of darkness wield. Fighting them is difficult and fraught with the potential for bodily harm, exile from families, and even death. The rewards of education, courage, support, and faith, however, are invaluable and are helping to begin to turn this dismal tide.
In a short passage in Mark 5, we see clearly that Jesus cared about a little girl. Her father begged for healing for this little girl. As a result, we encounter a miracle for a 12-year-old girl who was desperate, not unlike the modern-day girls I’ve described all over the globe. A little girl can make a difference, just like the little girl who was instrumental in Naaman’s healing. She was a slave, but her life was significant. She spoke into the life of the commander of the army of the king and helped set the stage for a great wonder.
We have ability to help. One 14-year-old girl was rescued from a brothel for $150. Another 15-year-old, physically disabled by rape and birth complications, received a surgery for $300 that allowed her to live a normal life. Many reputable organizations offer ways to get involved on a short term or long term basis. Above all, we can pray. We can pray for justice. We can pray for equality to the degree that no race or gender is demoralized or extinguished. In Revelation, the dragon awaited the birth of a baby to devour it. Regardless of your eschatology, it is apparent that an unseen evil force is seeking to devour anything pure, innocent, and young. An evil force desires to devour our world’s young girls.
Our own education must mean something too. Learning about these girls is the first step towards societal change.
We must be responsible with what we know and with what we have.
We must remember that faith does triumph over fear. Every time.
Added to faith and courage, educating little girls is one of the biggest differences we can make. One person can make a difference. I encourage you to explore how you can be a part of that difference.
Authors Note: Quotes in this post are primarily from the book, Half the Sky by Nicholas B. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. This book and the others mentioned here are available at many popular bookstores.