At-Risk Girls in Third World Countries

Dr. Mella J. Davis

Fewer than 25 % of girls are enrolled in secondary school in many countries.In sub-Saharan Africa, it’s only 22 percent.

Terrifying Statistics

• A girl in South Sudan is more likely to die in childbirth than to finish high school.

• According to a recent report by the RESULTS Educational Fund and the Global Fund for Education, in 47 of 54 African countries, girls have less than a 50 percent chance of attending secondary school.

Terrifying Statistics • World-wide,67 million kids don't go to school

at all. Of those, the majority are girls.

• Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate are women because they either drop out or never attend school.

So, what makes a country stable and prosperous?

• Educated women make more money, are healthier, and have healthier kids :

• Each year of school past third or fourth grade increases her wages by 20 percent

• and decreases by 10 percent the odds that her children will die of preventable causes.

The world's girl power is a terrible thing to waste.

• The United Nations Development Programme also conducted a study that concluded, “Women’s empowerment helps raise economic productivity”

• “Educate girls to get bang for our foreign-aid bucks” Houston Chronicle Saturday, September 10, 2011

A Wonderful Surprise

Yet, UN statistics also show growth in higher education enrolment for women given the opportunity.

Surprising Facts

• “Investment in girls’ education may well be the highest-return investment available in the developing world, ” according to Lawrence Summers – chief economist of World Bank.

Disempower Terrorism: Empower Girls

•Muslim terrorism has little to do with the Koran but a great deal to do with the lack of female participation in the economy and society of many Islamic countries.

A Special Age and its Problems• Adolescents undergo a very rapid process of

physical and psychological development.

Who are these girls?• Girls suffer from a lack of self-confidence, …

contentment, and a subjective sense of well-being (The Braungart Survey 1988) and are at higher risk for suicide than those from western nations.

The Leading Causes of Death

• Depression • Obstructed labor (under the age of 18), • Suicide• Sexual diseases• Iron-deficiency anemia

What Can you Do?• Join with me as God rebuilds lives through

education.• The goal is to create economically-savvy,

spiritual astute, and intelligent young women.

Kenya, Africa

It’s a big job, but we have a big God!

Three-Prong Financial Approach

• Promoting macro-economic industries including sewing, creating pottery, and animal husbandry (i.e., raising and selling livestock).

• Partnering with international ministries such as Living Water International to bring needed resources such as drinkable water to the communities.

• Traveling abroad and performing like the Watoto’s Children’s Choir.

What’s Next?• Build a curriculum for grades

6-12• Build a theatre arts troupe

and choir program that travels raises awareness of the school’s work and provides funding for it.

• Create an avenue of correspondence for student sponsors such as bi-annual letters and an annual calendar that describes the work of the school and allows sponsors to ‘meet’ students.

• Recruit teachers and administrators to fill the needs of the added grades

• Pilot the program in another locale from the ground up- starting with 6-12 grades and adding the younger years one at a time.

• Teach others the pattern for reproduction and allow them to go forth.