Each morning, as you wake up your children and get them ready for school, there are over 31 million primary-age school girls who do not get to go to school. Millions of young girls who want to learn but are prevented from doing so by the educational barriers such as gender discrimination, household chores, physical barriers, and even child marriage. It’s a staggering number, and a depressing situation.
Meet Laxmi
One such girl is Laxmi, born and raised in a small rural farming village located in Hardoi, India. In Laxmi’s world, girls with little or no education are far more likely to be married as children, they are also far more likely to suffer domestic violence, and live in poverty. Laxmi grew up in the rural farming village of Kodanna, the oldest of five children living in a tiny hut made of dried mud. Often seen as outsiders, girls in this village do housework and look after their younger siblings until they marry and move out – usually around the age of 14. Since Laxmi was the oldest of five children, this burden fell to her. Instead of spending her days learning, she’d be home alone watching over her brothers and sisters, while her mother was away cleaning houses and her father struggled to find seasonal work on farms.
But Laxmi is one of the lucky ones. She was given a second chance. In July of this year Laxmi set foot inside a classroom for the first time, becoming the only member in her immediate family to ever go to school. Laxmi attends the Udaan school – an accelerated learning program supported by CARE in India that allows girls who have dropped out or never been to school to complete grades 1-5 in just 11 months.
Laxmi’s story is just one of many. Unfortunately, millions of other girls in some of our world’s poorest countries may not be so lucky. Young girls who want more than anything to be in school, but the barriers in their lives are preventing them getting from a good education. That’s where CARE comes in.
About CARE.org
CARE is a leading humanitarian organization dedicated to fighting global poverty by empowering girls and women. Committed to serving individuals and families in some of the poorest communities in the world, they have a special focus on poor women because they know that when equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty. CARE’s vision is to “seek a world of hope, tolerance and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security”.
CARE facilitates lasting change by strengthening capacity for self-help, providing economic opportunity, delivering relief in emergencies, influencing policy decisions at all levels, and addressing discrimination in all its forms. CARE is also working hard to remove the barriers that are keeping millions of children who are #hungrytolearn away from school. And you can help too!
Through the CARE education gift catalog, you can find back-to-school gifts for friends and family that will help young girls around the world get the education they deserve. You can also make a donation. Remember, no amount is too small. As little as $10 makes all the difference, and just $50 could pay for the an entire year’s schooling for one of these girls!
You can also visit CARE.org to Know More and Donate Now.
Did You Know
Women earn 10-20% more for every year of school completed.
Children of educated mothers are 2x as likely to go to school.
Children born to literate moms are 50% more likely to survive past the age of 5.
Together we can make a difference in millions of young girls’ lives.