Dear friends,
It's a special day. It's the International Day of the Girl! Every year, this day reminds me of my commitment to trying to help make the world a better place for its girls. I was so lucky as a girl -- my parents made my education a priority, enrolling me to the best schools they could afford. They ferried me to ballet and violin lessons in the afternoon and sent me to camps over the summer. They did everything to ensure that I would have a chance to have a fulfilled and productive future.
So many girls in developing countries are not so lucky. Through the luck of the cards, the opportunities they have are few and far between. Their parents grapple with trying to make ends meet. School is not a priority - indeed 34 million adolescent girls are not in school today. When girls are denied an education, they are more likely to marry as children. 700 million women alive today were married at the age of 17 years old or younger. Poor girls are 2.5 times more likely to marry in childhood.
The fact is that this is not good, this is not fair, and this is not acceptable.
When my husband and I founded the non-profit organization, Project Soar in 2013, it was our small way as social entrepreneurs of tackling this problem. We wanted to help empower girls to continue their education through after school activities. See what happens here when girls get an education.