Too Young to Wed
If you educate a woman, you educate a nation. African Proverb
Last week I attended a powerful online presentation about child brides by National Geographic photographer, Stephanie Sinclair. As a result, I took another look at an image I made of a wedding party I encountered in Rajasthan India in 2014.
Sandwiched between the dazzling silks of her relatives’ saris, the young girl looked back at me, a stranger standing on the sidelines. The raucous parade of wedding goers undulated along the street, bullhorns blaring, men dancing wildly in circles of friends. A loud street party and ritual – for a man, not a girl.
Every 3 seconds around the world a child is made a bride. Too young to wed. Too young to bear children. Marriage means the end of education and any opportunity she has to make a difference in her life, her family, her community. Staying in school is the fastest and most effective route to stop the cycle of poverty and oppression. Every girl that completes her education ensures her daughters will not fall prey to this barbaric practice of female slavery. Daughters of educated mothers do not become child brides. Their mothers won’t allow it. In one generation, change is possible.
Child brides are chattel – they are bartered, bought and sold. This is not confined to remote areas in rural developing nations. In Canada and the USA young girls are also married off under age 16. It is more hidden, but it is happening.
Stephanie Sinclair has worked for 20 years exposing the secret world of child brides. Watch her compelling documentary on YouTube.
Some good news, positive change is happening in Northern Kenya. In Samburu culture girls are often married at a young age. Now Samburu women are employed as keepers and staff at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary and guides in the safari industry.
Feeding time at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary
These women are showing girls that education leads to employment and alternative roles in their community.
Reteti also set up a milk to market program during COVID to buy goat’s milk from Samburu mamas to feed the orphaned elephants. For the first time ever, these women have financial independence and the means to support their daughters’ education. Support girls becoming the conservationists of the future in rural Kenya by donating to organizations like The Sarara Foundation and CHD Conservation Kenya.
Maasai girls learning about conservation at CHD Conservation Kenya’s girls camp
Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world. Nelson Mandela