The school year has finally started in our house and Mary is now in 3rd grade. She's been working really hard everyday and I couldn't be more proud of her. Mary knows that school is something she has to do everyday but for a lot of girls, school is just a dream.
Did you know that in developing countries, many girls don't get to finish their education because of many different factors like poverty, hunger and early marriage?
A lot of times, school is taken for granted or even dreaded because of the work needed to be done. But many girls across the world would give anything to finish their education to have a better life when they get older.
CARE, a global humanitarian organization that fights poverty by empowering girls and women, asked students in developing countries what inspires and challenges them. One of the stories that really touched me was Bridget.
Bridget's biggest dream is to become a doctor for her community. In her town, the nearest doctor is 6 miles away. To most of us we would say that is super close but if you're walking, that is a big difference. Especially if you're walking while you are sick. Her community has a poor transportation system so driving is expensive and is difficult. Bridget hopes to become a doctor to build a clinic in her community. What an admirable dream from such a young girl!
Kids around the world all have similarities and differences. Mary has a dream to be a nurse one day so that is like Bridget. They both want to be in the medical field and help people. But they also have a lot of differences too. Mary is very blessed to be home-schooled so she doesn't have to worry about her education. She also doesn't have to worry about somewhere being too far to get to since we have two cars. Bridget's family probably doesn't have a car and that makes getting places more difficult.
As most children, Mary doesn't know just how blessed she really is. But after reading some of the stories on CARE, I know most if not all of those girls would love to switch places with her.
With the school year started and the kids are back to school, I encourage you to write a letter of hope to a student in a developing country. Sometimes just an encouraging word can mean the world to a child. And as you sign your letter, take a look at CARE. You'll never realize just how blessed you are until you see how little others have.
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