The View From Here: Teaching An Important Message-Educating Girls Changes Everything

The View From Here:  Teaching An Important Message-Educating Girls Changes Everything

By SARAH MACDONALD

(PHOTO: Ghanain Girls in Vancouver; CREDIT: Felice News) (Felice News, Vancouver, Canada, Originally Published Sunday, December 11, 2011)

VANCOUVER -- The journey from Northern Ghana to Canada was long for Beatrice, Faiza, Fayudatu and Gladys, having travelled close to 24 hrs on buses, two planes and a ferry. They had never been on a plane before, nor very far from the precincts of their village for that matter, so the journey brought many new and challenging experiences for them. 

They arrived in a completely different world, which necessitated a crash course in order to navigate. It was Shannen O’Brian, founder of Create Change, who shared with these girls that endearingly coveted first introduction. How to flush a toilet, how to use a faucet in an airplane bathroom, all the things we consider common knowledge.

Shannen recounts that it was to their great surprise and amazement that the sun was shining in this part of the world. This is of course reasonable thought process, as the seasons of snow and rain in the great North surely take romantic preeminence in global imaginations.   When I met the four girls for the first time, their smiles were warm, but the way they huddled into their down jackets, tuques and scarves, was telling of their unfamiliarity and slight displeasure with the chilly Canadian climate.

So how did these four Ghanaian girls end up in Vancouver on a speaking tour?

In 2007, Shannen O’Brian founded Create Change after years of working as a field worker for well established, non-profit organizations. She was often frustrated with the corruption and inefficiency she witnessed first-hand and simply wanted to effect change.  So this sharp-witted, driven young woman founded Create Change, a no-nonsense, grass-roots foundation solely dedicated to providing Northern Ghanaians with two of the most basic needs of life, water and education.  

O’Brian claims that ‘it’s not a lack of compassion’ which prevents people from contributing to foreign aid, ‘but a lack of connection’.  Thus, Create Change shares by means of video footage, the projects implemented in Ghana, so that we can directly see the impact of our contributions. Funds don’t disappear into the void of ‘charity’, we are shown exactly where they are allocated and stay current from implementation to completion. Video facilitates meaningful connections between donor and recipient and asks us to view humanitarian aid as a dialogue instead of a one way channel.

In 2007, she created the Ghana Girls Education Project which has enabled many girls, including Beatrice, Faiza, Fayudatu and Gladys, to attend school and acquire supplementary food supplies. Gender inequality in education is a big problem in many developing countries and directly impacts poverty levels.

According to UNESCO, “being born a girl carries with it a significant education disadvantage in many countries”. Girls often miss out on opportunities to learn or have to quit school when domestic needs and the absence of funding arise. When a family is struggling financially, they will most likely put their son in school before their daughter. Perhaps this is why out of the 67 million children out of school in Africa, more than 50 percent are girls.

Economically speaking, it makes sense to educate girls and give them equal opportunity.  According to the World Bank “the world’s most competitive economies are those where the opportunity gap between women and men is the narrowest”, with Economist headlines reading: “Forget China, India and the internet… economic growth is driven by women.” Due to the socio-economic disadvantages brought on by gender inequality, the UN has set a lofty goal of achieving gender parity in education by 2015.

With a parallel goal, these bright young women have embarked on a speaking tour called ‘For Our Daughters’ to spread this message of the importance of educating girls. They represent their sisters in Ghana and do so proudly, knowing that this tour will raise awareness and funds so that others will have the opportunity to progress in their education like them.

Having graduated from high school under sponsorship of Create Change, they are proof that educating girls changes everything and are poised to be leaders in their communities upon their return. They will continue speaking to communities and schools, inspiring Ghanaians to support female education. They will also be given an internship with Create Change to lead the implementation of a personal project they will have raised funds for during the speaking tour.

On the helm of the most recent Nobel Peace Prize winners, three powerful African female leaders, these girls are demonstrating the power of educating girls in their goals to be agents of change within their communities. In this instance I omit the word ‘hope’, because they are not just hoping, they are striving, doing, creating and realizing.

All coming from disadvantaged families, they have overcome great obstacles to be where they are today.  Beatrice intends to be a state agricultural officer in order to bring sustainable farming practices to rural communities. Faiza plans to attend University to become a girl child educator and to protect the rights of women and girls in Northern Ghana. Fayudatu, a natural born leader, will soon attend nursing college so that she can treat rural populations who lack access to healthcare. Gladys, elected as library prefect in her high school, has her eyes set on being a politician one day, to bring change to her community and protect the rights of widows and children.

The next month will be full for the girls as they grace a diverse selection of Vancouver audiences with their songs, stories and visions for the future. Their visit will surely help us understand the challenges faced by girls in developing nations, and hopefully raise enough funds to support and empower the next group of female leaders in Northern Ghana.

(Sarah McDonald is a reporter for Felice News.  Started in 2008, as Weekend News Today, Felice News is a Toronto, Canada based not-for-profit news organization, catering to the world’s citizens, who are tired of the negative news that the traditional press report.  All reporters are aged 12-25, in a mission to get more youth involved in world affairs, and occupy their time to ensure that they are not becoming involved with the wrong crowds.  Felice’s Founder, Max Jones is a mere 14 years old.  In Italian, the Word 'Felice' translates to 'Happy' in English. Find Felice at www.felicenews.com and on twitter @Felicenews)