End Child Marriage

Did you know that 15 million girls marry before the age of 18 each year? That's the equivalent of one every 2 seconds. Of the world's 1.1 billion girls, 22 million are already married. Hundreds of millions are more at risk, and the number will only grow as populations increase. It is estimated that more than 140 million girls will become child brides by 2020. In every region, the poor are most at risk of child marriage.

Unless progress is accelerated, the global number of child brides will remain at least as high as it is today. If progress is accelerated, there will be 1 in 10 child brides in the world in 2050 compared to 1 in 4 today.

Why do girls get married as children?
- The older girls get, the higher their dowry will be for their parents
- Girls marry early because their families believe this protects girls from sexual violence
- Laws that protect girls are NOT enforced
- Inequalities between girls vs. boys (although I recently learned that in certain countries, boys marry as young as 5 years old in Nepal)

Child marriage is a violation of children's rights. It continues to rob the childhood of millions of girls around the world, despite being prohibited by international law. It forces them out of education and opportunities to follow their dreams, and into life of poor prospects, with increased risk of violence, abuse, ill health or early death. If a mother is under the age of 18, her infant's risk of dying in its first year of life is 60% greater than that of an infant from to a mother older than 19. Even if the child survives, he or she is more than likely to suffer from low birth weight, face challenges around nutrition and late physical and cognitive development.

Ending child marriage will help break the intergenerational cycle of poverty by allowing girls to participate more fully in society. Empowered and educated girls are better able to care for their children, leading to healthier, smaller families. 

Getting involved:
- Increase the awareness of children's rights
- Support girls to get an education and earn their own income
- Increase access to sexual and reproductive health services
- Demand that governments keep the age of legal marriage to 18 years
- Enforce laws that protect children

Please sign below in asking Michelle Obama to support an Adolescent Girl Strategy in the fight against child marriage.

Pursuit of an Education

What every girl deserves in this world: Equal access to health care, education and basic human needs.

More than 1 million girls lack access to primary-level education in Kenya. We can change that.

Our challenges and real consequences:
Due to ethnic challenges, tribal barriers and corruption, gender inequality in Kenyan education is made abundantly clear. In certain tribes, girls who receive an education are perceived as rejecting tribal lifestyles and disrespecting traditional norms. 

To no surprise, it's also a privilege which the majority cannot afford (many earn less than $1 / day), therefore, many girls are denied education and forced into child labor, early marriages and face the practice of female mutilation. Although the legal age of marriage is 16, girls in Kenya may get married as early as 12 or 13 ears old. 30% of girls under 18 are married. 

Facts: 
- 700 million women alive today are married before 18. 1/3 were married before 15
- Underprivileged girls are 2.5X more likely to marry in childhood than wealthy ones
- Child marriages ends the opportunity for her education, vocation and right to make life choices
- Birthrate is the highest in rural areas where poverty is most prevalent. These girls are more vulnerable to physical and sexual violence, and bear children well before they are physically or emotionally prepared
- Girls are less able to advocate for themselves and their rights
- The cycle of violence that begins in girlhood, carries over into womanhood and across generations
 

Their right to learn:

Education helps break the vicious cycle of poverty, as studies have proven that educated women have healthier children, with more promising futures correlating to increased economic productivity, higher earnings and improved societal health. We'll see lower levels of HIV infection, domestic violence and harmful practices toward women. It is the most cost-effective strategies to promote development and economic growth, which can ultimately contribute to shaping their country's infrastructure. 
 

October 11th is not just a day; it's a movement. Its mission is “to help galvanize worldwide enthusiasm for goals to better girls’ lives, providing an opportunity for them to show leadership and reach their full potential.” - UN
 

On International Day of the Girl - kupambana na juu ya  <3

Happy World Smile Day!

I wanted to share a few of my favorite moments with the children I was blessed enough to connect with. If my heart could smile...

This sweet girl. I love capturing moments like these. They like to pinch our arms (fascinated by our skin color), and play with my hair.

Two children followed us around the camps behind the school, giggling and saying hello. The one in the front is pretending to be a horse.

Joel is my sponsor child. Whenever I point at him, he covers his face with his tiny hands, but leaves a sliver between his fingers big enough to see me through it. His grandmother cares for him. 

Daily walk from our host family's home. Children wait for us to arrive from afar. These two children take the lead with Enrique, walking us towards school.

Welcome to Kibera, Africa.

This was a lot for me to digest all at once. Kibera holds the unfortunate reputation of being Africa's largest slums with over 1.5M people calling it home. It is very hard to understand how many people make it at all, and even more shocking to have discovered Kenya was ranked #31 in highest death rate worldwide (2014), due to remarkably poor living conditions.

Source of Income
I learned that rent for a small dirt-walled shack is approximately $20 USD per month. The small economy within the slums are driven by trading with each other. A large population work for the industrial or service sectors, and they are required to walk very long distances for work. Any money earned is, for a lack of better terms, robbed, from them; as they are required to pay rent on land that is supported to be free. Clean water is considered a privilege, for an unreasonable fee to access. Often times monetary support from aid programs flows back out of the slums and straight into the government. Much corruption interferes with the development process for advancement or fair human rights. 42% of Kenyans live below the poverty line.  

Education
Children who can attend school is considered a luxury, and it is believed that this is their best hope for a brighter future. Because education is not free, many cannot afford to attend school - with the exception of institutions operated by non-gov organizations, but the children must perform well enough to be accepted and therefore the needs far outweigh the opportunity. Those who attend school as mentioned in my previous story, are much healthier and happier because they are fed once a day. What happens to the others? There is an alarming high probability they turn to criminal activities. 

Although some teachers aren't properly certified, students are in the hands of those who can provide hope, confidence and guidance necessary to become productive members of society to help strengthen their economy. 

Higher income countries have a lower death rate
- In high income countries, 7/10 deaths are among 70+ years old or older. Only 1/100 deaths are among children under 15. In low income countries, 2/10 deaths are among 70+ years or older, and 4/100 are among children 15.

- In high income countries, people predominately die of chronic diseases (cardiovascular disease, cancer, demential, chromic obstructive lung diseases, diabetes). In low income countries, the die of infectious diseases (lower respiratory infections, HIV/AIDS, diarrheal diseases, malaria, tuberculosis - which also accounts for almost 1/3 of all deaths in these countries). 

In 2012, 6.6M children died before reaching their 5th birthday, and almost 99% of these deaths occurred in the low-income families bracket. It is even more alarming that 44% of deaths in children under the age of 5 occurred within an average of 28 days of birth. Childbirth complications are more common, whether it is prematurity, birth asphyxia (deprivation of oxygen to newborn infant) and birth trauma. 

What's next?
This data helps health officials identify and measure contributing factors to leading death and focuses on actions to prevent certain illnesses. If a country recognizes that many children are dying of malaria, they may increase their spending in the health budget, dedicating to providing effective treatment for those affected. What's concerning is the data is incomplete, as many births and deaths are not recorded at all (nationally only 60% were registered in 2013). Therefore, the high number of cases related to pathogens - bacterial, parasites, viruses, may be substantially underestimated, and is believed to be "2x as high as analysts reported". 

Taken at the top of the hill on an old railroad track, looking down at the Kibera slums, home to over 1.5 million Kenyans.

A boy carries two gallons of water back home presumably. The government provides water twice a week but it must be purchased on any other occasion. 

A typical outhouse, which typically costs 10 shillings to use. Only 6 toilets are plumbed for 1.5 million people. The sewage dumps into trenches that runs along the roads. An outhouse could be shared for as many as 50 or more families. "Flying toilets" is also a common practice, were people relieve themselves using plastic bags which are thrown as far away as possible from their homes raising hygiene and disease concerns, particularly diarrhea and cholera, Women living in the slums are at high risk for rape crimes as they look for sanitation facilities outside and in the dark.

Covered in garbage as there is no process to collect trash. I will never forget the smell of filth, amongst something burning or decaying as we walked through the slums. 

This is an example of a sewage trench. On several occasions I've seen very young children playing with a piece of garbage outside. They are not in school and it does not appear that anyone was looking after them. They look hungry. 

A woman walks on the dirt road in the slums after a rainy day.

"Marafiki hi" means hello friends

Students wave at me as I take their photo during lunch time. Children are taught both Swahili and English at school.

Supporting child refugees is everyone’s responsibility

Modern slavery is all around us, but most people don't even realize it.

“There are 2X as many child refugees today than 10 years ago”, UNICEF stated. That means 8 million child refugees face the a shockingly high risk of human smuggling, trafficking and abuse. More than half of all refugees are children.

Modern slavery is a huge business that generates annual profits of over $150 billion. There are 21 million modern day slaves - that’s about 3 out of every 1,000 people worldwide working in agriculture, fishing, construction, manufacturing, mining, utilities and domestic work. Moreover, approximately 1 of 5 are victims of sexual exploitation. 

There are more people in slavery today than any other time in history. 

What you can do:
Support the international treaty to end modern slavery for good at 50forfreedom.org. All you have to do is sign the petition. 

What this does: The International Labour Organization's Protocol on Forced Labour could restore hope and freedom to millions of people trapped in slavery. It requires countries to ensure the release, recover, rehab of these people and protect them from prosecution of any laws they were made to break during that time. It requires employers to exercise due diligence in effort to support ethical business practices to avoid modern slavery in their supply chains.

Your impact:
The goal is to persuade at least 50 countries to ratify the Protocol on Forced Labour by 2018.
Currently, there are 12,087 current signatures, and 7 of 50 ratifications.

Will there be food today?

Schools in Kenya provide lunch because it helps reduce absenteeism and improves learning ability. Students at Southern Cross Academy in Maai Mahiu only have access to one meal per day as 42% of the Kenya population live below poverty line. Poverty is closely related with starvation. 

Last year, we planted crops in a small empty field next to the school, using vegetables that require very little maintenance or water to grow. It is however, not enough to feed the 250+ children enrolled here, whose meals consist of bean and maize. It is prepared by a mother of one of the "baby class" students (kindergarten), who spends her day in a tiny stone room and cooks over an open fire. Lunchtime truly is the most exciting part of day for the kids.

Children line up, eager to enjoy their only meal of the day. The older girls (4th-5th graders) are responsible for forming orderly lines, distributing the plates to the younger peers, washing and cleaning using water collected in three large black barrels from the rain or long journey in the mountains, a difficult endeavor per Enrique (one of our volunteers). Rainwater picks up many pollutants and contaminants in the air before it hits the ground, making it unhealthy to consume. When there is no rain, there is no water. When there is no water, lives are at risk. 

Spotted: A hug ☺️

The woman wearing the pink apron is Ian's mother, who prepares the children's food during school days. She must transport heavy, enormous bags of beans and maize by lifting and carrying them to the school. Resources are limited, and depend on funding to ensure the children's survival. 

Enrique consoles Ian, who had a stomachache that day. They were a close bunch. (I've never seen this little guy wear shoes)

The woman dressed in black serving the children is one of the teachers at the school, whom I believe is in her early 20s. Children can identify fruits from their studies, but never tasted them. 

Spotted: 4-year-old Ian is to the right, who enjoys supervising operations and on a separate note, is not afraid to stand up for himself.

8 Famous Quotes About Peace 🌍

To mark World Peace Day this past week, here are few of my favorite quotes relating to peace:

"Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures."  - John F. Kennedy

"If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner." - Nelson Mandela

"Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding."  - Albert Einstein

"If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another." - Winston Churchill

"There is a higher court than courts of justice, and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts." - Mahatma Gandhi

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." - Mother Teresa

"If you want peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies." - Desmond Tutu

"It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it." - Eleanor Roosevelt

International✌🏼 Day

Is a crucial reminder that conflict can and must come to an end. It is dedicated to the absence of war and violence, such as might be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone for humanitarian aid access, for 24-hours.

However, peace is more than putting down our weapons. Peace-building initiatives are about building a global society where people can live free from poverty and share the benefits of prosperity. It is our responsibility to contribute to building a safe, healthy society, and to promote literacy and quality education for all. It is an absolute right. It is about growing and supporting each other as a universal family.

“Problems such as climate change, poverty, hunger, lack of clean water and sanitation, and inequality are widespread, bringing suffering to far too many members of our human family.  We must do all we can to alleviate this suffering and contribute to a world of peace, sustainable development, and prosperity for all.” - UNICEF 🌍

So in the quest for peace, every year, the UN invites all nations to “honor the cessation of hostilities and commemorate the International Day of Peace through education, public awareness and issues related to peace”. The theme this year focused on sustainable development goals, because we need to protect our planet.

Conflicts arise when we compete each other over limited resources, using weapons and violence as out last solution, meanwhile costing the lives of many innocent people or destroys their chances of building a stable future. What is next for these children? 

Imagine a world where resources such as basic medical care and safe water are accessible! 768 million people do not have access to safe water, something that would be hard to give up for just 1 day.

Amazing things can happen when education becomes the heart of all our global goals! For example, if women had the same access to resources as men, they could reduce the number of hungry people worldwide by 150 million. Young girls should learn that they CAN beat the odds. Only by working together can we make our common home safe for future generations.

When we fight with our neighbors, we are teaching our children that violence is the only answer. We are teaching them the art of war. We are harming their futures and putting them in unimaginable danger. The refugee camps for settled internally displaced persons in the outskirts of Maai Mahiu, Kenya, is an example of millions of people affected by this. We can change their future by nurturing their dreams with education and support.  

While International Day of Peace continues its tradition of supporting everyone in the world to observe this important day - I hope we keep in mind to celebrating this daily as every person’s contribution takes us one step closer to building a world of lasting peace. Through this partnership, we stand a better chance of achieving success.

Furaha ya kuzaliway, my brother!

Happy birthday to this bright and special young man, Jose Kariz (pictured right). He is one of the teachers and a mentor at Southern Cross Academy. Wishing him the best birthday he can ever dream of!

We are standing in a field on my way back to my host family's home, across the street from the school that we work at.