"I raise up my voice - not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard"- Malala Yousafzai
This quote means so much to me! This can be directed towards us! Yes you reading this! One person can make a difference just by speaking up and letting your voice be heard because there are many children, girls, and women who have no voice and need us to do something to be the change and difference that is needed. After I read a chapter in the book I want to do something then after awhile I get sad because I feel like it's not much I can do other than donate and host events to educated people. I'm a poor college student with a loud voice, but at times I hope and believe me hosting events and educating people will inspire someone with more power to make a change or do something bigger than I do. That's in my dreams and one day it will be a reality. So I ask these questions.... What can we do to help educate? Individually? As a class?
I feel the same as you do. As I scroll through the websites, they inform us about fistulas and things that go wrong after or during the birthing process. Also, hearing about babies and mothers who die from a stand still in labor is just truly horrible. It's also depressing thinking about how we, as broke college students, aren't able to donate a large sum of money to these foundations, or help set up a school in a lesser fortunate country. I know that people say there is a way that every person can contribute, even if it's by informing people who are unaware but that feels so minuscule in the whole sum of the problem. How do people come up with amazing ideas to help these countries? Because I could sit and think for months of things that I could do to help and honestly I don't think I could come up with anything on my own. I know that two people work better than one and three work better than two, so maybe if a bunch of college students came together and brainstormed ideas we really could make a difference or at least a dent. The only failure that you can set yourself up for is not trying at all.
ReplyDeleteAnd I feel like that goes hand in hand with the quote that you posted. The people who try and help do not do it to show off what they can do, but they do it because women in other countries aren't given the chance to. We have so many freedoms and opportunities and chances for education here in the United States that we don't even realize the the things that we can do to help somebody else. I think that organizations, and local fundraisers, and websites to get information out, really do make a difference. I think it's a great thing and I think we need to work together to achieve the bigger picture (that may be a quote from somewhere).
Here is a quote that really stands out to me:
“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.”
― Barack Obama
I feel that education is very important too. The girls that do receive education are must likely to have a better life. I never was the type to believe in forced marriage and controlling people lives. Human beings in general are meant to be free individuals. I believe that we as a country could help out the poor countries better than we do. We have so many billionaires and multimillionaires with all these poor people who work very hard and don't make ends meet. Also, there's rich people in these poor countries who should really be doing something about these issues.
ReplyDeleteI like the quote because I understand how it feel to have an opinion but not speak up or not force the issue enough. Sometimes you have to speak up and put emphasis on things to get your point across. Most of the time when you speak up on something that is really bugging you there is someone that is feeling the same way or you may just inspire someone else to feel the way you do. It's the power of words, courage and the motivation that a strong voice gives that make this quote so true.
I wholeheartedly agree with you education can make a huge difference in these girls lives. In some areas of the world many women don't correlate education with work as they marry young and start having children young as well. It's because of this that many choose to help their family financially by accepting any work that keeps them close to home, which are normally low wage jobs. It would take a strong willed educator who understands the economic & family pressures of these women to help them see a larger, brighter future for both themselves and their families. Even a small voice is a start Chi Chi, I admire your tenacity!
ReplyDeleteI have had the same problem as I was reading the book. I just keep wondering what I can do. I would like to play a more active role in helping. I know that donating money is always an option, but in reality it doesn't really make me feel like I'm making much of a difference. I am sure that places that can help these women have plenty of people who are willing to write a check to help the cause, but I would like to actually volunteer and help, because I am sure they are always in need of physical volunteers.
ReplyDeleteReading this chapter made me really want to do something. I watched the video about the clinic that offers free operations to the women who are suffering from fistulas, and it honestly made me want to become a doctor just so I could lend a hand and help all of those women. Then I remembered that I can't deal with blood, but I would still like another way to help. This should be something that we should definitely discuss in class, because I'm sure that many of us, after reading about all of the hardships that these women face, would love to offer a helping hand to them.
Reading this chapter made me angry about how incredibly unfair this world can be and that maternal health isn't considered a serious global issue. The book said the country of Niger had only ten ob-gyn's in the whole country! The whole country! That blew my mind! I sit here in my comfy safe bedroom with easy access to a dozen or more health facilities with plenty of doctors and on the other side of the world women are dying from things that are preventable. I am definitely empowered by this chapter and this topic to do something because the answer is there and it is simple. People in all countries need to value women and girls and allow them to pursue their education instead of having babies and then when they do have a baby figure out a way to provide adequate healthcare for them. I'm looking forward to our class project because I think we are all ready to start doing something!
ReplyDeleteYou stated that you believe that just education can prevent "women and girls from prostitution, trafficking, being sold by family or friends, maternal issues, sexually transmitted diseases and physical injuries such as fistula," but if you considered all the other allying aspects that go into these type of things happening, then wouldn't it be more accurate to say that education can not "prevent" but only "deter?" Just because you have an education, does not mean that sex trafficking stops, it unfortunately still continues no matter how many are educated on the topic. But, if you have so many people educated on the same topic, then this could deter the likeliness of sex trafficking in certain areas, but not stop it all together.
ReplyDeleteI like the quote you posted, I agree that a voice is not or should not be used to shout, but used effectively to advocate.
Wow. I like how you put that, I agree with what yyou are saying. It makes alot of sense. My point was just to say when women are educated it scares people off like in the story from the previous chapter we had to read.
DeleteI like how Christy Turlington Burn's website and the International Day of the Girl Child tie into the connection that Kristof makes about the role of education in deterring trafficking. I thought it was genius the idea of giving school girls a new $6 school uniform every 18 months to keep them in school, which in turn delays marriage, pregnancy and makes them more educated about contraception and proper health care and less likely to enter trafficking situations. $6!! I sympathize with you about the feeling of hopelessness in doing something to make a difference in such a huge global issue as this but then I'm also inspired by people like Allen Rosenfield. Did he ever think that his work, his aspirations could ever be so far reaching as to have an impact after his passing? I think that whether you start small by simply raising awareness and making people know these travesties are going on in the world today or open a school for girls, a fistula hospital, whatever it may be, YOU are making a difference! Maybe we can't make the contributions to the cause that Rosenfield has made but whatever we contribute, it is more than those that sit silently and look the other way.
ReplyDeleteYou make such a great point. As future teachers, we have a unique opportunity to help when it comes to education. There are many things that we can do to help, and after reading about fistulas I believe that a huge step in drawing in aid is to make others aware of this terrible, humiliating, but most importantly, preventable disease. The amount of time that the women in the chapter and video had to suffer with a fistula is unimaginable, to not be in control of your body, lose your dignity, and become an outcast to society as well as your family...I cannot imagine. However, there is hope in knowing that we do have the power to educate those around us and spread the word about what a fistula is and what can be done to prevent it and heal one after it's happened. The same goes for trafficking and slavery. So much can be achieved by speaking up and "raising our voices". Together we can inspire others and make sure that the people we vote into office know that this is an important issue to the people and must be addressed.
ReplyDeleteI love how you used pictures in your blog! This is a little off topic from our readings and videos for this week but I had to tell you and share with everyone that this is why I chose yours. It's so much more fun to look at and way more noticeable! I didn't use pictures in my blog the first week but I really enjoyed connecting yours to the readings. On to this weeks topic and what you discussed...I agree so much with the education piece and that is exactly what I've been seeing and reading about in everything we've read! Education is something that everyone that wants to help is pushing and encouraging. I agree with this completely. I feel like just within these few weeks of this class and reading "Half the Sky" I am so much more educated about trafficking. I feel like even I could help or get out of the situation if need be because of what I know. This being said I think education for these people needs to continue being enforced and encouraged because I think it's the one major thing that will help, following aftermath help.
ReplyDelete"I raise up my voice - not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard"- Malala Yousafzai
ReplyDeleteThis quote is so powerful, if no one were to stand up for change for those who need it nothing would ever get accomplished to help those in need. It makes me so excited for the upcoming project we are going to be doing in our class. I hope that what ever the project is we can figure out a way to stand up for those women who cannot stand up for themselves!
I like the idea of standing up for change and making our voice heard. I think one way to be heard is to start small, in your own community and each one teach one until it spreads across this nation and we begin as a people standing to together for what is right.
ReplyDeleteI learned a long time ago to never underestimate the power and creativity of college students! Remember the lesson from The Dot. Vashti believed art to be too overwhelming to do, but she had her teacher to encourage her to start small, and then she was inspired to be bigger and pass it on. You all are incredibly capable of doing the same thing, which I am happy to encourage as well with our next project! Also remember that many of you have chosen to go into the education field. This means that you will be a positive force in the lives of many students, which will have a tremendous impact, even if it takes years for it to root. I say, speak up!
ReplyDelete"Until every girl has an opportunity to become educated and make decisions about her health and body we won't see the change so many of us are working for."
ReplyDeleteI think many of us in this class can agree that we all grew up with the privilege of knowing the power of our own decisions. This makes it very difficult for all of us to imagine being as young as these girls and not knowing our own potential. I think an important point that Christy Turlington Burns makes is that one of the biggest things standing between these girls and better opportunities is lack of education. It’s important for us to be vocal about these injustices because we can be the voice for those who do not have one.
Education can have more power than people realize but we tend to forget that education isn't just about empowerment through traditional studies but is a way to better understand oneself and the way your body operates. Simply knowing what your menstrual cycle is and why occurs can be influential for a young woman as can understanding how pregnancy truly occurs so that if you chose, you can prevent it. Educational programs and organizations are needed to simply help women understand themselves so that they can live a healthy life no matter what cultural life style they adhere to.
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