And to think, I nearly didn’t go…

For one reason or another last week seemed to drag on forever. Friday arrived and I still had another morning of tutoring and an afternoon of training with our new tutors to go. I needed a diversion, so I went to the private screening of a film, Girl Rising, that I had been undecided about. I am so glad that I did!

I went with low expectations, a hope for an hour or so diversion, but I received so much more. From the opening scene I was completely gripped. If the measure of success for a film is emotional exhaustion, this one scores 10 out of 10. I laughed, I cried, I cried again, and at the end I carried part of it away with me, and it stayed with me all weekend.  I tried to explain it to Mark, but I couldn’t do it justice; it is simply something that you need to see. However, I will try to explain it to you, which is what the representative from World Vision asked us to do. Here goes.

Education for all children is something I clearly support, but running alongside that, for much of the world’s population, is gender inequality. Here are some compelling statistics from the film:

• There are 33 million fewer girls than boys in primary schooling and 66 million girls don’t attend school at all globally.

• Girls with 8 years of education are 4 times less likely to be married as children.

• 14 million girls under 18 will be married this year. That’s 38 thousand today – or 13 girls in the last 30 seconds.

• The #1 cause of death for girls 15-19 is childbirth. Yes, you read that right. CHILD BIRTH! IN CHILDREN!

The film is stunningly shot and beautifully crafted. It follows the stories of 9 girls in developing countries, whose challenging tales are scripted by professional writers from their own countries. Each story is narrated by a famous actor (including Cate Blanchett and Anne Hathaway), and interspersed with horrific statistics like the ones above.

This movie educates, inspires, moves, shocks and asks audiences to take action. Each girl’s story is recreated in film, using various artistic styles—animation, documentary, and re-enactments. The girls star in their own stories apart from an 11yr old Afghan girl, whose role was played by an actress to protect her safety.   Her identity could not be compromised because her husband (yes, husband) and community would most likely kill her if they found out she was speaking out in protest against her situation. However, despite her struggle, she is able to gain education due to the generosity of free educational groups.

I learned about the types of situations and circumstances that can be avoided if a girl is educated and attends school.  My favourite story, if you can possibly have a favourite, was abut Wadley (pictured above), who was displaced from her school due to the devastating earthquake of Haiti, insisting that she was allowed in school even though her family couldn’t afford it. She is surrounded by devastation and everyday challenges that we simply cannot comprehend, yet continues to share with everyone her gorgeous and unstoppable smile.

All these girls fight through unthinkable situations and circumstances to receive access to education. We often take education for granted. We shouldn’t. We should see it for what it is; something precious that literally millions of other children around the world can only dream of. I sympathise with parents who face the challenge of balancing their children’s lives so that they include sports, all of the other activities on offer, and education. We are so used to having easy access to things that simply don’t exist in other parts of the world, we have somehow reached a stage where we think of them all as equal. They are not.

Put simply, education is the most important gift that a child can receive. Everything else that they do, from relationships to travel to work to sports, is interpreted largely through the education they receive. There are of course elements of natural ability, upbringing, cultural environment and societal influences, but all of this is made more useful, circumspect, functional and worldly, through education. There is no substitute; no calculator, iPad or smartphone can replace an agile, knowledge-filled brain that has the ability to adapt and reason in any environment. Computer games, netball, hanging out with friends, are transient, education is for life. Watch Girl Rising and you will understand.