Profiles: we want you to meet someone!

Shirley: Badge of Merit

A cursory search for information on San Bernardino County, California will inform you of its bankruptcy woes, but the area is rich in history thanks to the narratives of its residents: Shirley Harlan was the first female officer in the Redlands Police Department in 1956. She retired in 1989 from the San Bernardino county probation department and today she is a Girl Rising Officer.

“Being at the forefront of things has just been a part of my life experiences.”

Shirley, who has lived in San Bernardino since the 70s, received a lot of support from the community when she became a policewoman. Now she’s paying it forward by bringing Girl Rising to the city.

Harlan, 83, used her retirement funds to buy extra movie tickets and marketing materials. When asked what she would spend her money on if she wasn’t supporting Girl Rising, she mentions her healthcare but the topic of money is a moot point for Shirley. “I bought the tickets as a Mother’s Day gift to the city. Young people need role models.”

Judi Penman, the President of the San Bernardino Area Chamber of Commerce, will lead a discussion at Shirley’s screening. Bomani Story, a member of the Girl Rising post-production team and former county resident, will also be in attendance. For Shirley Harlan, every officer is a leader.

Roberta: Chasing the Big Picture

(picture: reporter Lindsay Curtin and Roberta Troy)
Roberta Troy understands the power of media. She’s made an impressive leap from promoting girls education on the internet to broadcasting Girl Rising‘s grassroots campaign on television. After reading about the film on Twitter, she signed on to be a screening captain, and eventually organized a team brainstorming session to leverage all of her media contacts. Tickets to her screening quickly sold out after she appeared on a television segment for Carolina in the The Morning on WECT 6. Roberta is reaching thousands of potential Girl Rising viewers by boldly getting in front of the big screen to discuss how local citizens can make a difference by investing in girls. She also promoted the film on WWIL 1490 AM, a popular radio station in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Roberta lives in a city known for its beautiful beaches, but she’s definitely become cemented in concrete global issues. “My favorite quote is ‘You have not lived a perfect day until you’ve helped someone who can never repay you.’ I know how to galvanize people.” Television exposure will have a huge impact on bringing attention to the power of educating girls and, for Roberta, the camera has added ten pounds…of tickets.

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.

The Verrill Family: Rising Above The Walls

Kate and Lily

It was an exercise in futility for ten-year-old Lily Verrill to convince her friends that she wasn’t doing anything illegal. Her mother, Kate, recalls the confusion that stirred in the household the night before their secret undertaking: “Her friends were asking her to go out. She told them she had to do graffiti and they thought she was committing a crime.” Kate, Lily, Emma (12 years old), Phoebe (6 years old), and dad Nathan reconciled that it would only be a few more hours until everyone would see and understand the public art they were creating.

The Verrill family painted the Girl Rising logo on the St.Louis Flood Wall, a barrier along the Mississippi River which contains the tides but unleashes a steady flow of graffiti designs. When the concrete walls were constructed, the city distributed spray paint for visual artists to decorate the walls with public art. No one in the Verrill family is a professional artist, but they are all devoted screening captains for Girl Rising with a desire to ignite conversation about the film.

It’s working. A passerby was so transfixed by the imagery, he posted the photo on his photography blog unaware of the meaning. Kate’s friend recognized the logo from the Verrill’s Girl Rising Facebook event page and directed Kate to the blog which now had comments such as “I wonder what it means” and “It’s a simple but effective design”. Kate jumped into the virtual conversation and invited everyone to her screening. “I want people to see the graffiti and be curious about it. The plan is working. It worked for the photographer who saw it and posted the picture, it worked for the people who posted comments on his blog, and hopefully it will work for more people.”

The graffiti project took the Verrills less than a day to complete but they recently returned to the site to add more embellishments and improve the text. Emma added images of flowers and hopes to plant flowers near the logo in the spring. Their public art didn’t just transform the city, it also transformed their family. “I’m a stay-at-home mom. To them, I don’t do that much. It’s important for me to show them that I can do something, even if its from our couch,” said Kate moments before she continued to plan her Girl Rising screening.

(More pictures here- https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A4JtdOXmJ077Sr)

Wendi: Rewarding Teachers

“I don’t need a vacation. I want to go to school,” her daughter said with certitude. Wendi Kaskovich’s daughter is always eager to hop on her school bus, even on vacation days. Even Wendi can not speak to the teaching staff at her daughter’s school without bursting into happy tears. School days weren’t always this blissful, and Wendi and her daughter couldn’t be more grateful for her school’s unflinching support and care.

Wendi says when she adopted Maya from an orphanage in Vietnam, she was an eight-year-old with learning disabilities, and traumatic stories of being beaten and humiliated every day by teachers. When Maya moved to the U.S., Wendi encountered further difficulty in finding a school that was attentive to her needs, and struggled to find the right place. At some schools, Wendi wanted to intervene, but teachers weren’t willing or able to address her special education requests for Maya. Wendi says teachers looked askance at her pleas for curriculum changes and emotional support. She had to remind herself that her earlier career of teaching children with learning disabilities gave her enough knowledge to fight the school system. She was determined to get her daughter the education she deserved. It was a long struggle but Wendi finally found a school that would collaborate with Maya and give her specialized attention, and for that she is forever grateful.

Teacher Appreciation Day is only a few months away, but Wendi plans to thank the teachers at Maya’s school now by buying them tickets to Girl Rising.

Girl Rising is being screened in Hawthorne, NJ on Thursday, March 21st at 7:30pm. To buy a ticket, please go here.

Cynthia & Jennifer: Going the distance

Cynthia Hornig and Jennifer Jones have used their professional foundation as public relations mavens to build up a Girl Rising screening that truly reflects the essence of the campaign- helping people come alive. For the past year and a half their digital brand and editorial site, WomenYouShouldKnow.net, has featured profiles of dynamic women with amazing journeys and soon these WYSKs will meet face-to-face for the first time to watch the personal journeys of Girl Rising. Cynthia and Jennifer have spent most of their careers giving a voice to the voiceless and now they’re employing all of their marketing and p.r. skills to organize a multifaceted screening that has attracted notable attendees, inspiring everyday women and concerned men, alike. Cynthia’s travels to developing countries have certainly reinforced that the film’s message is a global topic with a grounded goal of empowering girls through education.

For those who don’t believe that you can truly be a leader of this women’s movement, this duo proves you wrong. They’ve spread the message to states near and far. Californians Cheryl Laughlin and Caleb Porter, founders of Bits of Love jewelry, purchased five tickets to Cynthia and Jennifer’s New York Girl Rising screening as a donation and sign of support. When asked why they bought tickets to a show they could not attend Cheryl, a screenwriter, revealed to Cynthia: “I heard amazing buzz about the introductory preview at the Sundance Film Festival and all the hard work that went into the film. I love any medium that raises up the voice of girls and the power of education…we needed to be part of that combined awesome energy, even if we couldn’t make it to the screening ourselves.”

Girl Rising has far-reaching impact, but we’re proud to also have screen captains like Cynthia and Jennifer who go the distance.

Click here to RSVP to Cynthia and Jennifer’s screening.

To learn more about what they do, visit their website.

  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. ...
  10. 17