Last weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada. At bedtime one night I asked my daughter the quintessential Thanksgiving question…”What are you thankful for?” I must say I was surprised by her answer. She said, “I am thankful that I am one of the girls in the world that gets to go to school. Did you know that not all girls get to go to school?” This was my 6 year old daughter. This sparked a conversation about the state of girl’s lives around the world. Today, October 11th is the first official United Nations International Day of the Girl Child. Canadians should be proud that Plan Canada was one of the leading organizations that worked to have the United Nations create the International Day of the Girl.
The question is how do I help my daughters, who go to school and have every opportunity available to them, understand the challenges facing girls their age half way around the world?
Educate and communicate. Tonight we will be heading downtown to attend the International Day of the Girl celebrations being held in Toronto. We’ll be listening to women and children sharing their stories. We’ll be taking part in educational and fun activities. We’ll be opening our girls eyes to other girls’ realities. We’ll be starting a conversation, that will hopefully last a lifetime, about injustice, racism, sexism and inequality.