The Girl Effect

Imagine being a 15-year-old girl wanting an education but needing a means to pay for it – eventually finding a solution in a business venture that 40 year-old men typically pursued. Then imagine staging a hunger strike to avoid childhood marriage.

Not a typical scenario. But then again, Anita is not a typical girl.

A...nita is from a small village in the Bihar state of India, where only one in six girls is literate. Household duties, childhood marriage and early motherhood often take precedence over education for many girls – but not for Anita. [shown in the video]

She wanted to go to school, but her parents couldn’t afford the fees, so Anita tutored other students to pay for her education. Knowing that she would need more money for college, she enrolled in a government training class to become a beekeeper at the age of 15 – something 40 year-old men typically did.

From there, Anita started her own beekeeping operation, all while staying in school and tending to her household duties. She used the money from her bee business to pay for her and her brother’s education and provide for their family.

Anita’s drive didn’t stop there though. When her parents decided it was time for her to marry – and discontinue schooling – Anita staged a hunger strike in protest. And her antics worked. Her parents eventually agreed to delay marriage and let her stay in school if she ate.

Today, Anita is in college and continues to run a successful beekeeping business. And she remains unmarried.

Thanks to Going to School in India (www.goingtoschool.com), Anita’s story is being shared with girls around the world, inspiring them to follow their goals.

Share Anita and other girls’ stories through Going to School’s store: http://goingtoschool.com/store.html.Read More

Students at Redwood High School are starting the girl effect.

Last summer, Ashley watched the Girl Effect video [watch it here http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1008947465477] and immediately called up her friend and classmate Amy – ‘You have to see this,’ she said. Within minutes they both agreed – they wanted... and needed to do something. But what could they do from Larkspur, California?

So they researched the girl effect. They brainstormed ideas. And then they got to work – they would start a school club that would focus on fundraising and spreading awareness about conditions in the developing world.

Today, the Redwood High School Girl Effect Club meets every Tuesday during lunch, typically drawing 20+ boys and girls. It holds bake sales at soccer games, recently put on a garage sale, and has plans for a movie night and dinner-speaker event to raise funds and awareness. The club also has its own Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=152880001141&ref=search&sid=1478370398.1049896478..1

What’s the goal? Co-founders Ashley and Amy aim to raise $5,000 by the end of the school year, attract underclassman to the club, and, above all else, motivate other students to get involved in the movement.

The Redwood High School club is doing what it can to start the girl effect. What can you do? Spread the word, share the video, invite others to join: www.girleffect.org.

And don’t forget to post what you’re doing right here on Facebook.Read More

Juthika knows all about the girl effect – she is the girl effect.

The oldest of three children, Juthika and her family live in a small village in Bangladesh. Her father was unable to work, and her mother struggled to make ends meet. So Juthika took matters into her own hands.

At the age of 13, Juthika joined the Ba...ngladesh Rural Advancement Committee’s (BRAC) ELA program (brac.net). Through BRAC, she learned how to grow vegetables and raise livestock. She also learned about the dangers of childhood marriage and pregnancy as well as the strain dowries put on families.



Today, Juthika helps her mother support their family. She raises ducks, maintains a vegetable garden, tutors schoolboys, and embroiders handkerchiefs. She is continuing her schooling and is paying for her siblings’ education as well. Juthika still attends BRAC ELA and is speaking out about dowries and childhood marriage.

Juthika is the girl effect.

Support girls like her through BRAC’s programs: http://www.brac.net/index.php?nid=64Read More

Empowered by Tostan (tostan.org), 14 villages in northern Somalia recently united to abandon female genital cutting (FGC).

Tostan continues to show that change is possible. It is one of the many organizations around the world working to unleash the girl effect.

The NGO based in Senegal works with African communities t...o create sustainable change rooted in human rights. Having supported more than 4,000 communities, the key to Tostan’s success is including everyone in the equation – girls, women, boys, men, different ethnic and religious groups, etc.

“Tostan's model works by including rather than dividing, and by fostering respectful dialog and debate around the ways in which to reach community-identified goals,” said Gannon Gillespie, Tostan’s Director of US Operations. “The challenges facing communities affect everyone, and the solutions too must involve everyone.”

And involving everyone is exactly what Tostan does through interactive human rights education.

Fresh off the Somalia announcement, Tostan is planning another public declaration for the abandonment of FGC in Somaliland next month.

Get involved – support Tostan’s work here: http://www.tostan.org/web/page/549/sectionid/549/pagelevel/1/parentid/549/interior.aspRead More

The Girl Effect Inspires Action

Featuring the work of seven young female artists, a special “Girl Effect” art exhibit by Lombard-Freid in New York is rooted in the notion that young girls are powerful agents for social change. Ten percent of all sales are being donated to the Girl Effect Fund.

Find out more about the e...xhibit here: http://www.lombard-freid.com

You can donate to this fundraiser or start your own for the Girl Effect Fund here: www.globalgiving.com/girleffectRead More

The Girl Effect is happening every day. Cecilia’s story is proof.

Orphaned at the age of 13, Cecilia and her five siblings were left alone in the slums of Nairobi. She was left unprotected. Vulnerable to violence. Susceptible to HIV-rates nearly six times higher than boys. Excluded from formal education. Her path out ...of poverty seemed unlikely.

That is until TechnoServe (www.technoserve.org) entered the picture. Cecilia became a recruiter for TechnoServe’s savings club program, enrolled in classes, and won a loan to start her own knitting business. [Cecilia is pictured with a sweater she knitted.]


Today, she's moved her business out of her home into a market stall, employed another girl from a similarly vulnerable situation and is supporting two of her siblings.

Change happens. And it started with a girl – Cecilia.

Help TechnoServe reach more girls like Cecilia – make a donation here: http://www.globalgiving.com/girleffect.htmlRead More