Just $5.00 can give a girl access to education and medical care
I have always been hesitant to recommend books on this blog but I am reading the bestseller "Half the Sky" by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn. Mr. Kristoff is one of my favorite column writers for the New York Times, and he consistently writes about how unfairly societies, traditions and laws treat girls and women, especially in developing countries. In a lot of the world, women have no value and absolutely no legal standing -- and therefore no legal protection against brutality, violence, murder and no legal right to money or property. In many places, women d0n't even have a legal right to their own children. "Half the Sky" shows how a few very courageous women and girls have survived brutality, forced prostitution, starvation, scorn and abandonment and turned their energy to helping others get education, protection and medical care, with literally, just a few pennies.
Traditionally, parents have educated their male children before daughters. Studies are now showing that if you educate a girl, she contributes more to her community: she naturally educates her children, thereby reducing violence, child marriage, disease, sex trafficking, terrorism etc...
Read the book -- I highly recommend it. I believe they have a website too : http://www.halftheskymovement.org/

Today I found an article about GirlUp - which is a United Nations Foundation campaign to recruit young women in the US to support programs for girls in developing countries. Your gift of $5, called a High Five, can buy supplies a girl needs to attend school and provide medical care, which will boost her earning power and make her less vulnerable to child marriage and sexual violence. And the ripple effect is that her children will benefit from her education and a more stable home.
Here is the website: http://www.girlup.org/
Thank you.