07/16/2014
Interesting article that uses the slow down in coverage of the Nigerian schoolgirl abduction to make important points about investing in education in developing countries.
Simply put, the world is falling short. Education is the only way to create lasting change in places that suffer from poverty or hateful ideologies. Yet we continuously put other initiatives ahead of it.
The bright side is we can do a lot with a little. What most people in the US spend on rent in a month is more than what it costs to send a Kenyan student to school for a full year. Please consider supporting Upeo or other organizations that are making a real impact in this hugely important area.
"Yet we’ve also learned that done right, education changes almost everything. Evidence suggests that educating girls increases productivity, raises health standards, reduces birthrates and undermines extremism.
Drones and missiles can fight terrorism, but an even more transformative weapon is a girl with a book, and it’s one that is remarkably cost-effective. For the price of a single Tomahawk cruise missile, it’s possible to build about 20 schools.
Many of the world’s poor understand the power of education. I’ve seen children in Liberia who lack lights at home do their homework at night under street lamps. I’ve been moved by parents in India and Pakistan going hungry to pay school fees for their children.
A fierce ambition to study explains why those 219 girls in northern Nigeria showed up to take their final exams even though they knew the risks of terrorism. Some of those girls dreamed of becoming teachers, doctors, lawyers — and now they may be enslaved in a forest and perhaps married off to Islamic militants."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-those-girls-havent-been-brought-back.html?_r=0
Leaders love to talk a good game on promoting education, but they don’t deliver.