by Barbara Goldberg
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| {photo by Ken Kilroy} |
It’s impossible not to feel outrage at what has happened in Nigeria: 276 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in mid-April, and the government has been ineffectual in getting them back. The international community is finally paying attention after Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau threatened to “sell them in the marketplace” as slaves or child brides.
These were girls, ripe with hope and striving to get an education, who risked their lives to come to school for one day to take an exam, despite the fact that many schools in their region had closed because of the Boko Haram threat.
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| {photo by Ken Kilroy} |
Here we are, a tiny nonprofit, thousands of miles away in Los Angeles viewing Boko Haram as our sworn enemy. Boko Haram fights to destroy what we so desperately try to bring about: education for girls. We work just across the border from Nigeria in Niger, a country where girls are routinely deprived of an education because it falls to them to walk miles every day to collect water for their families. As a result, 85% of women in Niger, the poorest country in the world, cannot read or write. When we drill a well in a village, girls are immediately returned to the classroom because they no longer have to walk for water. This is one of the many transformative benefits of drilling a well.
The future success of developing countries throughout the world depends on having educated women in the work force. With almost half of the potential labor pool missing in action, countries like Niger have a hard time raising their standard of living and giving women what they deserve: an opportunity to work and better the lives of their children.
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| {photo by Ken Kilroy} |
As Nicolas Kristof asked in the New York Times on May 11th, “Why are fanatics so terrified of girls’ education? Because there’s no force more powerful to transform a society. If you want to mire a nation in backwardness, manacle your daughters.”
As Kristof pointedly says, “To stick it to the Boko Haram, help educate a girl.” By supporting Wells Bring Hope you are supporting the education of girls. Fight Boko Haram by helping to drill a well and keep a girl in school.
