Discovering A Cause in Cambodia

In 2002, Bill and Lauren Smith travelled to Cambodia and encountered a site that changed their lives.

As a photographer, Bill had been visiting Cambodia for several years to document the country’s landscape, but he and his wife could not have imagined what was occurring at the Phnom Penh garbage dump. Hundreds of impoverished children were rummaging among the trash there every day in search of materials from which they could make a small profit.

Upon returning to the United States, the Smiths began sharing the photographs of the children they had seen and the story of what they had done to help, and the encouraging responses that they received inspired them to found A New Day Cambodia. Today, the nonprofit organization provides safe shelter and funding for the education of about one hundred Cambodian children.

For more on the Smiths’ first trip and A New Day Cambodia, read the full article on CNN.

June 3, 2013

Opportunity Arrives on a Motorcycle

Every week, Eulalia says goodbye to her mother and six siblings and leaves her house on the back of her father’s motorcycle. Driving down the sloping mountain road in rural Peru, they travel to a place that inspires Eulalia: her school.

Eulalia attends a boarding school that is supported by one of 10×10′s non-profit partner organizations, CARE, where she is enrolled in a bilingual curriculum of Spanish and Quechua. The way in which students are taught with both languages enables children who come from different areas of Peru to learn together in the same classes. Eulalia immerses herself in her studies all week, until her dad picks her up on his motorcycle to take her home again for the weekend. The lessons that she takes with her are motivational; in the future, she hopes to teach.

Few girls have the opportunity to go to school in the Puno region of Peru because many children are needed at home to work and education can be difficult to afford. Eulalia’s school allows her family to pay in the form of labor or produce, and her father works as an alpaca shepherd. CARE reports that almost one third of children in the region do not attend school, and for kids who are enrolled as students, 73% are behind in their studies.

We can help to make education possible for more girls like Eulalia. Read more about her and CARE’s Education Program on CNN.

May 31, 2013

The Costs of Education

An earthquake struck Haiti and thirteen-year-old Rosematrie’s house in 2010, and since then, the costs of education have made it difficult for her to stay in school. Despite her circumstances, however, Rosematrie is dedicated to learning and remains hopeful for the future. “I want to go to a big school in order to develop my talents,” she explains, “…I want to be a teacher.”

Rosematrie is intelligent and conveys her ambition both in the classroom and at home, where she completes her coursework on a large chalkboard that has been secured to the wall. The panel, covered daily by Rosematrie’s studies, hides the extreme damage to her house from the quake. Rosematrie takes pride in the exercises that she writes on the board, but the knowledge and skills that she practices come with a cost.

Because Rosematrie has five siblings, her father is unemployed, and her mother can only find occasional work as a dressmaker, it is hard for her parents to afford schooling for her. According to Plan International USA, as reported by CNN, “in Haiti, public schools only meet about 20% of the demand for basic education in rural areas,” and paying for private education is an even greater concern for families.

Organizations such as 10×10 and Plan understand that education should not be unaffordable for anyone; all girls should have the opportunity to learn. So that students like Rosematrie can go to school, we can contribute to decreasing the costs of education. For more information about Rosematrie and how to help, visit CNN.

April 3, 2013

Meet the Nepal Chapter Writer, Manjushree Thapa.

Welcome to Nepal. Here, among a certain pastoral beauty and scenes of women doing hard manual labor with utter grace, we meet acclaimed writer and activist Manjushree Thapa and Suma, her subject. When she agreed to write a story for Girl Rising, she had not yet met the girl we call “The Emancipated.” Suma was handed into bonded labor at age 6 — a practice called “kamlari” — described by Thapa as the “stories that put our society to shame.” A stroke of luck gave Suma a chance to go to school, where she is both thriving and fighting to see other girls freed. Thapa sees her as “shy… and girlish… but opinionated and actually quite strong.” That’s our Suma. One girl with courage is a revolution. Watch the video:

Reserve your tickets now.

To learn more about Suma and the NGO that Room to Read helped pay her school fees, introduced her to a mentor and gave her life skills training to build confidence, please go here.

March 21, 2013

World Poetry Day: Celebrating Senna

Today, in celebration of World Poetry Day, we want to introduce to you Senna’s artistry, her soul, and her craft.

As described by writer Marie Arana, Senna has “a poet’s soul and a warrior’s core,” with an electric, rhythmic cadence when she speaks, and a resiliency that’s immediately palpable in her presence.

Senna’s favorite poet is Cesar Vallejo. Our favorite poet is Senna. She is one of the unforgettable girls of Girl Rising.

Here, the young writer recites a favorite Vallejo poem with an intensity and spirit that foretell success far beyond the makeshift walls of her family’s mining-shanty home. Watch for her shy smile at the end – and you’ll see a girl ready to rise:

Read her extraordinary poem, in English or Spanish, “Friend, Don’t Stay Behind,” here:

FRIEND, DON’T STAY BEHIND

Friend, why are you like that,
so sad. What’s wrong with you?
Tell me.
Friend, don’t be like that,
don’t you know
you can surmount
any problem? Let’s talk.

I know that problem.
I too passed through it,
but look at me
now, I’ve walked ahead,
with all my might.

You do it, friend,
I know you can
Walk. You can.
I did it too.

No, don’t thank me,
friend. Help those
who need
as much as you
have needed.

Helping, you will gather
the courage, the strength
to make another stronger.

Come, walk, we will do this together
now, friend.

–Puno, February, 2013

In Spanish:

AMIGA, NO TE QUEDES ATRAS

Amiga, porque estás así
tan triste. Que te
pasa? Cuentame.
Amiga, no te pongas así,
no sabes que
tú puedes salir
adelante de cualquier
problema que tengas? Hablemos.

Amiga, ya se que estás
pasando por ese problema,
yo tambien pase por lo mismo,
pero ahora
me ves, he salido adelante
poniendo todo mi esfuerzo.

Tú puedes, amiga,
yo se que tú puedes
salir. Vas a poder.

No, no me agradezcas,
amiga. Ayuda a otras
que lo necesitan
como tú lo
has necesitado.

Ayudalas, y tendrás la
valentía, la fuerza
de poder hacer mas fuertes a los demás.
Ven, sal, lo haremos juntas
ahora, amiga.

–Puno, febrero, 2013

Senna, 14, attended school at the insistence of her father, who died after years toiling in the gold mines in a gritty mountain village in the Peru’s Puno province. Senna excelled in school and developed a love for poetry. Today, she attends a secondary school supported by CARE, and continues to be inspired to write poetry. To learn more about CARE’s Education work, please visit this link.

Interested in reading more about Senna? Please visit this World Vision blog post featuring more of Senna’s words on World Poetry Day.

February 25, 2013

Roni: Host Captain

When Roni LaBarbera agreed to host a young Afghan woman in her North Carolina home two years ago, she didn’t foresee that visit would be the catalyst for launching her Afghan Women’s Education Project.

The teenager, Husnia, only needed lodging for a few weeks. She was a volunteer interpreter for a hospitalized Afghan boy who was arriving in the U.S. for life-saving surgery. Husnia had never been to a movie theatre or an airport, but she made the risky decision to leave her homeland to accompany the ailing child. Roni, who runs a tutoring business, was impressed by Husnia’s dedication to learning medical terms and studying English. She felt compelled to aid Husnia’s pursuit of education. Roni helped Husnia apply to nearby universities and eventually enroll in college.

“When you see a young woman who doesn’t have the opportunity to be the best she can be, you can’t walk away from that.”

Since then, Roni has also helped Husnia’s twin sister get accepted into college, assisted a young woman in obtaining a visa so she could keep her scholarship, and guided a girl in finding a host family so she could continue attending school. Now Roni is a screening captain for Girl Rising with two sold-out showings. Roni has already rolled out her welcome mat for determined young women seeking education and soon she’ll roll out the red carpet for Husnia to give the opening remarks at her screenings!