How you can help Razia Jan educate the girls of Afghanistan.

Until recently, if you walked into the Zabuli Education Center in the rural district of Deh'Subz outside of Kabul, you would have seen bustling classes from kindergarten through the twelfth grade, full of girls who were attending free of charge. The school was the brainchild of Razia Jan, an Afghan-American entrepreneur and the founder of the Razia's Ray of Hope Foundation. Founded in 2008, Jan's school now educates nearly 800 impoverished girls every year. Over time, it's also changed attitudes in the community about the value of educating girls, especially among men who went from skepticism and even hostility toward the school to bragging about its graduates. "From the day I opened the doors of the Zabuli Education Center, my effort was and is to provide security and the best education for these girls," she said when she was named one of CNN's Heroes of the Year. "With hard work, I have proven to the men of seven villages surrounding the school that this is the best thing that’s happened for their daughters." Continue reading → Continue reading

The 22-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate shared photos of the celebration on Twitter, writing that it's "hard to express my joy and gratitude right now."

22-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has graduated from Oxford University! The world-famous girls' education advocate, who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban eight years ago, shared her good news on Twitter, posting pictures from the celebration which included a "trashing," an Oxford tradition in which new graduates are covered with foam, confetti, and food. She wrote that it's "hard to express my joy and gratitude right now as I completed my Philosophy, Politics and Economics degree at Oxford."

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Our top picks of books for children and teens about the fight for girls' right to attend school.

When you’re a child in a developed nation today, you don’t really think much about going to school — it’s just what everyone does. And yet, according to A World At School, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing educational access, there are an estimated 57 million children around the world who do not go to school, and another 250 million who attend school but never learn to read and write.

This is a problem that particularly affects girls: according to A World At School, “Girls represent 32 million of the out-of school children. They face discrimination, and are forced into marriage and even subjected to violence for wanting to learn. Every day, 25,000 girls are forced into marriage and out of school – the end of their only opportunity to learn.” Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katie Quirk, Author, A Girl Called Problem

Today, Friday, October 11th, the world is celebrating the second annual Day of the Girl Child, and I couldn’t be more excited. I have a personal stake in the growing awareness that educating and empowering girls can transform whole communities — all of us do I suppose, but my dear friend and sister, Modesta, exemplifies that notion for me in a very personal way.

Modesta

Modesta Pounds Rice

I met Modesta in Tanzania in 1998. I was an American volunteer, teaching in a newly-formed university on the southern shore of Lake Victoria. Modesta was a spunky, 12-year-old girl with an infectious laugh who sold papayas and mangoes door to door. She also turned out to be the key to my survival in Tanzania.

In addition to teaching me how to speak Swahili, Modesta schooled me in village living — everything from how to carry buckets of water on my head, to how to bargain with vendors at the vegetable market, to how to rid my mattress of bedbugs. In return, I tried to do whatever I could for Modesta. I didn’t have a lot to offer — an open ear, a willingness to play with her on days when she had energy to spare after going to school, selling fruit, gathering firewood, washing her laundry by hand, cleaning dishes, carrying water…you get the picture. Continue reading → Continue reading