Girl Rising

“Girl Rising” is a film that tells the tale of nine underprivileged girls who were stripped of an education and of their dreams. Each story is a true story and opens the viewer’s eyes to the terrible conditions children have to grow up in. 66 Million girls are out of school worldwide, and 33% fewer girls are in primary school vs boys.

Wadley grew up as a young girl who wanted nothing more than an education. She was a former student before an earthquake struck her town and destroyed most of the buildings and brought many families to poverty. Wadley and her mother, one of the families left with nothing from the earthquake, were forced to survive on no money, little water, and one meal every few days. Wadley’s only wish in life was to go to school and learn. In town the school opened again under a tent, however families needed to pay to send their children to class every day. Wadley’s family had no money, and when she tried to go to school she was turned down and sent away by the teacher. Wadley refused to be sent away, so she decided that regardless of whether or not she could pay, she would continue to show up to school every single day until the school allowed her to stay. Wadley was eventually permitted to stay and received the education she dreamed of. Wadley always believed that “it was the dry season when the wildflowers bloom”, which means that flowers didn’t need water to blossom into something beautiful.

As a child, Suma was not sent to school by her parents. Instead, she was sent to a master to work. She would be forced to work from 4 in the morning to late at night. The master made her clean dishes, clean the house, go into the woods to get firewood, take care of the master’s goats, and take care of the master’s kids. The master’s children would call Suma the “unlucky girl” for all of the work and suffering she went through. To deal with the pain and suffering, Suma began to create her own songs. When Suma moved onto her third master, she was enrolled in a night class by her master that met after all of the local slaves were done with their work for the day. Her teacher taught the class how to read and write, and unfortunately taught the girls that they were slaves. The teacher of the class confronted the masters of the girls and demanded they be set free, and with a lot of convincing and arguing, the girls were finally set free. Suma was brought back to her parents, and now she fights for other young slave women in her country to be set free.

Yasmin is a young girl from Cairo, Egypt. Her story is quite different from the previous two. Sadly, she was raped by a man at a very young age. She tells the police a story of how she was taken by this man, but how she fought back and killed him with her knife. However, when Yasmin was sent off to get juice for her family, an older man told her that he would take her to get juice. He brought her to her house, where he raped her and changed her life forever. Yasmin’s story is far too common in this world, for 50% of sexual assaults are on girls under the age of 15 years old.

Azmera is a girl from Yilmana Densa, Ethiopia who is a very shy and curious girl. She loved learning and education, but others wanted different for her. Others wanted her to be married at a very young age, however she refused because she wanted a better life for herself. From Azmera we learn that the number one cause of death among girls from 15 to 19 years old is childbirth. Girls often marry young, which means that their education ends early. Because their education ends early, this creates a never ending cycle of poverty. Azmera chose a different path, which will lead to her getting married at a later age, and receiving education. Her lifestyle starts a healthier life cycle, where later marriage is more common, women have fewer but healthier children, and their children are educated and healthy.

Ruksana is a young girl from Kolkata, India who was kicked out of class because she was drawing pictures during the lesson. Ruksana loved art and loved to draw, but teachers didn’t accept that and instead just kicked her out of the class. Ruksana’s father decided to buy her art supplies to let her imagination grow, and Ruksana became the happiest girl in the town. Her family was very poor, they lost their home and could hardly afford food. Ruksana is very lucky though, for she was still able to attend school somehow even though her family did not have a place to live.

Senna is a young girl in La Rinconada, Peru. Her family was very poor and tried to make some money through gold mining in rocks from a frozen mountain in Peru. They did not have any luck, for they never struck gold and never escaped poverty. Senna’s father died at an early age in his wife’s arms, leaving Senna and her mother in a difficult situation with no money. Senna pursued school and is now going beyond primary school, increasing her probability of finding a better job to make money and earn a living. Senna writes poems for herself and for other girls in the community to help get them through the struggle of life in an unfortunate time. From Senna’s story, the movie tells us that girls with one extra year of education can earn up to 20% more money than if they hadn’t. Also, the film states that if India enrolled 1% more girls in education, then the GDP of India could increase by nearly 5.5 billion.

Mariama is from Freetown, Sierra Leone. Mariama is an educated girl who loved her science classes because of the way science addressed problems and answered them. She was the first person in her family to go to school, and her father died when she was very young. In her town, Mariama’s first job was the host of a local radio station that most of the town listened to. As a host, she helped other girls solve problems in their life when they called in to her station. While her show was going well, Mariama’s step-father stopped her from doing the show because local people had said bad things to him about his daughter hosting the show. However, Mariama used her scientific brain to solve the problem and convince her father to let her continue hosting the show. From Mariama’s story, the film states that educating a girl has profound effects on both improving the global economy and reducing the spread of AIDS.

Lastly, Amina is from Afghanistan, a country that mistreats women to an incredible extent. When Amina was born, her mother cried when she found out that her child was a female, and placed her down in the dirt next to her. When Amina turned 3 years old, she began working around the house. She would have to wake up before dawn every morning to clean the house, wash dishes, and even carry her siblings on her back until they learned how to walk. Her father arranged a marriage for Amina when she was only 11 years old. He sold her to a man for 5,000 dollars, into a life of servitude and rape. Her parents used that 5,000 dollars to buy her brother a used car. Amina gave birth to a baby boy for this man, and also took care of it and raised it for him. The society of Afghanistan frowned upon women getting an education and sometimes killed women for speaking out, trying to learn, or even showing their face. When women are adults, they are required to mask their face behind a fabric cage that they can only see out of. There was no place for them to speak through their masks. However, Amina was brave and returned to school despite the danger. She is chasing what she wants in life despite the danger she faces.

“Girl Rising” tells the story of many underprivileged girls in several different countries. The film makes the audience aware of the difficulties and hardships women face in the developing world, and how they are often mistreated, uneducated, and live poor lifestyles. From the film, we learn that 50% of sexual assaults on girls in the world are committed on girls under the age of 15 years old. Also, 14 million girls under the age of 18 will be married this year around the world. Along with young marriage comes childbirth at a young age, which is the primary cause of death of girls aged 15-19. When girls are married at such a young age, they are taken out of school at such a young age. This causes an inevitable poverty cycle in the developing world. However, educating girls can start a healthier life cycle, cause later marriage, which will also cause fewer but healthier children to be born around the world. Studies show that a girl with one extra year of education can earn up to 20% more money than if they hadn’t gone to school for that year. Also, India could raise its GDP by billions by simply educating only one percent more of girls in the population. Educating women will also slow the spread of AIDs and grow the global economy. The benefits of educating women are astronomical for the developing world. As humans we need to be aware of what is going on around the world and push for a change to educate more women to create a better society and a healthier population on earth.