I remember my experience back home (in Nigeria) in small communities where i worked as a development worker during summer where i saw young happy girls on a regular basis. Alot of them had their daily routine. which is: wake up, do the house chores, hawk, help their parents in the kitchen, do the cleaning, chat with friends and go to sleep. And with the present economic situation of the country, things have only gone from bad to worse. Before now, there was almost no reason for a child not going to school but now the child has to constantly hear, “the economy is bad, there is no money to pay for your fees. But it doesn’t just end there, the child has to hawk on wild streets,under hot sun and can’t return home until she is done selling all she is carrying.
On my way to work on a faithful morning, I saw people surrounding a young girl’s body who has just been knocked down by a car while trying to cross the road, her cold body was lying there with nobody claiming it. A lot of things ran through my mind, she was young, what could she be doing at this time of the day, when her mates are in school, why was she trying to cross this busy road just by herself? I am sure if i could wake her up and ask her what she wanted to be in the future she would answer with a smile on her face. A young girl with dreams, who could be beneficial to herself and the society has just been knocked down…. How sad…
Chatting with young girls only but bring tears to ones eyes, often time they do not even know the reason why they have to hawk or even marry at a young age. all you hear is my mum said or my sister said i will look beautiful only if i get to do this and that. they are so innocent and they almost feel it is just okay to not go to school. What are we thinking, what are we doing to our children, to our sisters, not sending them school and feeding them with all sort of lies?? what?
Every child deserves the right to education, no cultural barrier should be an issue, No girl should be forced into child marriage or to take care of the family, No child should be forced into child labour or sold as child slaves. No child should be told they can’t go to school because they were born in the wrong place and at the wrong time.Educated girls only leads to a better world…
The best thing we can do is to make sure girls go to school. Our voice is strong together, Pass on the message, educate people on the importance of girl child education, do as much as you can to make sure this becomes reality…The best thing you can give to a child is education…
When you educate a girl, you educate a nation….
