International Day of the Girl
Posted on October 11 2019
By Francine LeFrak
Today, there are 650 million women in the world who were married as children. 12 million girls became child brides this year alone. 98 million girls who should be in secondary school are not. These girls were robbed of the opportunity to live happy healthy lives. We must do better, and we must ensure that all girls have the opportunity to get an education.
Same Sky does this by providing scholarships to girls in Rwanda who have the talent and the drive but no means to go to school. Our girls at the FAWE School are studying to be doctors, engineers, and scientists. We are so proud of them for fearlessly going after their dreams! It is imperative that we empower girls by giving them access to education to break the vicious cycle of inequality.
Odilla is one of our scholars in Rwanda. “Being in college is like being in heaven. I never expected to be able to attend university in my life because my family didn’t have any money.” Now she is in her third year at the University of Rwanda studying dentistry. Without support from the Same Sky Foundation, Odilla might have been forced into marriage, left school, and not realized her dream.
You can make a difference in a girl’s life TODAY by making a donation to the Same Sky Foundation Fund, a division of the Francine A. LeFrak Foundation, so we can continue to empower girls everywhere!
CLICK HERE TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION
CHIME FOR CHANGE, founded by Gucci, is another organization working to prevent child marriage. They aim to bring people together across borders and generations in the fight for equality. Learn more about their work here. They launched a campaign this month to coincide with International Day of the Girl. Watch the short film about child marriage, SITARA, that was made to support this initiative here.
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