I would love to claim this hard-hitting quote but it’s merely short hand for Nelson Mandela’s quote:

“Education is the most powerful weapon which YOU can use to change the world.”

 We Are Educated. We Are Privileged.

I felt very privileged last week posting a blog on Well-being and all the wonderful ways we can feel great. Privileged, as the night before I saw a wonderful documentary called Girl Rising (www.girlrising.com).

It was utterly inspirational and tear jerking. My heart was opened, warmed, and aching to respond to its message.

If you are reading this post I am assuming that you, like me, are privileged to be able to read, and as a result have had the benefit of education.

Many of us are also privileged to have the “first world” problem of not enough time to enhance our well-being.

Many people across the world don’t have what we take for granted – food, shelter, or education. (Yet for some of them they are finding well-being in the simple things. This discussion, however, is for another time.)

Education in Developing Countries

Q: How often do you think about how privileged you are to have been educated regardless of whether you were born a boy or girl?

I never have.

Fact: Girls in developing countries are significantly less likely to be educated than boys.

Q: How often have you really thought about the impact of your education on your life?

I have in some ways but never in the way I was encouraged to last week.

Fact: Education has benefits for more than just individuals. It also helps to reduce a range of some of the biggest problems facing the world today – poverty, famine, disease, violence, human trafficking, sexual violence, and slavery.

Girl Rising

Girl Rising is a collection of stories of young girls from around the world – Nepal, India, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Peru, Cambodia, Haiti and Sierra Leone. The young girls share 3 things in common.

1.   They are all from developing countries.

2.   As girls living in developing countries they had to fight for the right to be educated.

3.   Despite their hardship and struggle they fought and won the right to education

Their resilience, determination, bravery, and strength is remarkable when you realise they are all of 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 years of age and collectively they have endured rape, slavery, beatings, attacks, marriage under 10 years of age, child birth, discrimination, and victimisation.

The film is about the importance of educating girls in developing countries to change the world.

Room to Read – Ending Illiteracy This Life Time

Room to Read (https://www.roomtoread.org) are assisting with showing and promoting the film. They have been instrumental in assisting the girls in the film and others like them to rise above all odds.

Room to Read are doing incredible work across the world to educate children, particularly girls. Their first step is to end illiteracy the world over and they believe they can do it this life time! What an incredible feat and yes their track record indicates they can do it.

Ending illiteracy is the first step to education and education will have a huge impact on many of the biggest problems the world is facing today.

Education is Cheap and Easy to Access – For Some

This weapon is easy and relatively cheap to access for us privileged people.

What are you doing to educate yourself? Your children? Your employees? Your workforce? Your team? Your organisation?

Education changes you, your family, your team, your department, your organisation, your community, and our world.

And it all starts with YOU!

Let us appreciate our ability to read, to write, and to access any learning we desire.

Please share how education has changed your life!