When I saw the headline, “Divorced Before Puberty,” I assumed it would link to some kind of tabloid piece on a too-young married couple who were already divorced, commenting on something like the high divorce rate or teen pregnancy rate in America. Instead, I found an opinion piece by Nicholas Kristof, telling the story of a brave young girl in Yemen who was forced to marry a 30-year-old man when she was only 10. The girl was forced to drop out of school and suffered sexual and physical abuse at the hands of her husband. Thankfully, this story has a happy ending. The girl took a taxi to see a judge, divorced her husband, made her way to America and penned a best-selling memoir. At age 12, she is supporting her family and is a beacon of hope and inspiration for other child-brides in Yemen.

While the bravery and drive of this young girl was truly moving, the part that struck me most about this story was the analysis that the author gave at the end of the piece about educating women for social change. Kristof gives a number of reasons why a country like Yemen, that suppresses its women, is more prone to terrorist movements and a generally restless and volatile citizenship. He argues that “educating Nujood and giving her a chance to become a lawyer — her dream — isn’t just a matter of fairness. It’s also a way to help tame the entire country.” This statement got me thinking about the ways we support the less fortunate, and the vital importance of education, in a whole new light.

For the most part, when I consider supporting a charity which benefits people in underdeveloped countries, my main focus is on the well-being of that individual. “If that person is well-fed, clothed, and has access to education,” I think to myself, “then they might have a chance at the pursuit of their own happiness, like I enjoy every day.” What has rarely crossed my mind is the thought that if the people in these nations can be educated, so much fighting and war and oppression in the world could be ended. Not only could these people have access to the basic necessities of life, they could have the means to make real change in their governments and societies.

Looking at the close-up of where your charitable donation goes may be the part that gets to us emotionally, making us feel guilty or heartbroken for those less fortunate than we are. But the big picture is something we can look at from a logical point of view, and even see the potential for changes that will reach even our own lives. We often decide to donate because we feel like it's the right thing to do, but supporting a child's education, human rights, or even something like the development of cheap, sustainable energy sources can lead to less war and conflict on a global scale.

Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President and founder of my alma mater, the University of Virginia, believed wholeheartedly in the education of all people. He sums up my thoughts quite nicely in the following quote:

"And say, finally, whether peace is best preserved by giving energy to the government or information to the people. This last is the most certain and the most legitimate engine of government. Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. Enable them to see that it is their interest to preserve peace and order, and they will preserve them. And it requires no very high degree of education to convince them of this. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

-Natalie is a blogger for The Daily Vine. Check out her bio to see where her view comes from.

Source

Divorced Before Puberty, The New York Times.