The Girl Effect.

This blog is about me reading to my baby.  It's about education.  It's about the love of illustrations and the love of words.

Or is it?

Is it really about a girl.  My girl.  The girl that I adore, that I cherish, that I treat with respect.  The girl that I left my job at a local college to teach.  The girl that I would do anything to protect.

That is one lucky girl.  She is not yet 18 months old and she can count, she can recite books, she can sing the ABC song, and she can recognize letters on command.  She owns books and is on her way to reading them herself.  In some countries that puts her ahead of 75% of the population of women.

And there is a fact that we try to push away, that we can do something to change that.  That we have resources to help, not just here in this country, but all over the world.  Many of us work hard to provide educational tools to our children.  I just received a catalogue that had some beautiful educational toys for $60 each.  That toy might teach a new skill and be cherished for a year or two, but in the developing world, that same $60 might change the whole course of a young girls life.  She might live.  She might be educated.  It might allow her to find a way to sustain herself and her family.

But I'm not asking for money.  Just start by watching this video.  Start by caring and wanting to do something.  Start by wanting things to change, and then when the opportunity arises, when you see a young girl and  you have the means to help her, do it.