Because I am a girl

Because I am a girl

There is an advert that was doing rounds on the ‘Because I am a Girl’ campaign by Plan International. Ironically, this resonates with me so much yet I have never personally faced discrimination as regards education because I am a girl. When the reality of what other girls face hits me in the face, I feel for them straight from my inner core – since it feels so unfair!

When did this begin? I was minding my own business sometime in early 2005 when a young cousin came to stay in my mothers’ house and in the process look after my nephew who was a toddler then. The girl had finished class 8 and was hoping to get into secondary school but this was not part of her parents (my Aunty and her husband) plan at that moment because of financial constrains. She stayed on for a couple of months and then it dawned on me, do they really want to take her to school? And how much is school anyways?? I searched around for suitable schools and discovered the price ranges to be a wide as from here to China. I settled for a modest secondary new school near Machakos town and got her admission to start in January 2006. Her parents may have been under the impression that they were to pay for the same and so they said that her older sister has to finish Form 4 first before she can enter form 1! And that time her sister was going into 3^rd form!! I clarified that I was to make the payments and they need not worry. I didn’t think that 4 years was a too a long a time for me to commit and probably break a young girls heart if I can’t go through with it. By Gods grace, the funds became available and before we could blink several times she had cleared her form 4 exams in November 2009. How fast the 4 years passed!!! Needless to say she is now clearing her Diploma in Early Childhood Development and am glad to have contributed to her dream since she is a gem with young ones.

This experience made me realize that it’s possible to change things one girl at a time. If I had the resources I would sponsor many at a time but for now, one at a time is still good enough!!