Did you know that half of the population of Afghanistan is age 18 and under? Well, it is. And, only the boys are being sent to school. One might say that’s not necessarily the best use of resources to help a nation reach its potential. Fortunately, Razia’s Ray of Hope Foundation is working to change that. And this week Tonic — and you — can help build a school.
So, what’s the big deal about girls sitting in classrooms? Here are a few quick stats according to The Girl Effect:
- When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children.
- An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages: 10 to 20 percent. An extra year of secondary school: by 15 to 25 percent.
- Research in developing countries has shown a consistent relationship between better infant and child health and higher levels of schooling among mothers.
- One girl in seven in developing countries marries before age 15.
- 38 percent marry before age 18.
- A survey in India found that girls who married before age 18 were twice as likely to report being beaten, slapped, or threatened by their husbands as were girls who married late.
- Medical complications from pregnancy are the leading cause of death among girls ages 15 to 19 worldwide. Compared with women ages 20 to 24, girls ages 10 to 14 are five times more likely to die from childbirth.
Seems like a no-brainer, but unfortunately that’s not the case.
Tonic had the chance to chat with Razia’s Ray of Hope Executive Director Patti Quigley to hear firsthand about the nonprofit’s work in Afghanistan. ”We’re not trying to bring it [Afghanistan] into the Western culture, we’re trying to make it strong so it can decide what it wants to be. When you start making decisions about your government and your infrastructure, I think women have a different philosophy and sometimes make decisions in a different way than men do — and to have both involved in that decision making is very important.”
To that end, Ray of Hope opened its school for girls outside Kabul in 2008. In just two short years the student population has leapt from 160 to 300, proudly outgrowing its facility. In order to properly educate all 300 girls for this upcoming school year, Tonic has set out to raise $5,000. The funds will go directly toward building four additional classrooms, complete with desks, textbooks, backpacks, chalkboards — the works.
Wondering what your donation look like in Afghanistan? Quigley breaks it down:
- $10 – A child’s backpack filled with school supplies for the year, including textbooks.
- $50 – Uniform and shoes for the year.
- $250 – A girl’s tuition for the entire school year, including snacks, supplies, teacher’s salary, etc.
- $1,000 – One teacher’s annual salary.
- $5,000 – Yearly expenses for an entire classroom.
- $80,000 – Annual operating cost for the entire school.
The benefits of educating girls are plentiful. “When girls are educated they get married later in life, they’ll have kids later,” explains Quigley. “And, what’s interesting, because the girls spend so much time with their moms, they’re teaching their moms all along the way how to count the money, how to say the words.” By educating just one girl, a ripple effect begins to take place.
Talking to Quigley, the merits seem endless. “Health issues also become less of an issue because the girls are learning how to take care of the kids and clean them and bathe them,” she says. “All of those things that go along with being literate, you don’t know because you’ve never learned about them, but that all changes.” Let’s send these girls back to school just in time for spring break
Photos courtesy Razia’s Ray of Hope Foundation.