Girls innately understand the importance of helping others. When Perry Hamm, a bright, curious eleven year old, heard what it costs to educate a girl in a developing country, she immediately wanted to take action. What follows is her understanding of the UN Foundation Girl Up campaign.

Girl Up is an outstanding organization committed to supporting girls around the globe. This program creates the opportunity for girls who are less fortunate than many people to see that they, no matter where they come from or what their past, can become strong leaders for their community and for the world to look up to. Girls can help out girls just by supporting them, but a small donation of just $5 can make a huge difference in a young woman’s life. Imagine this: for about the cost of a t-shirt you can educate a girl for a year! So next time you’re at Starbucks ordering your double-shot, non-fat, soy latte, think about Girl Up for a minute. Think to yourself, “If I skip getting coffee today and give the money to Girl Up, then I could change a girl’s life forever.” Making a donation also makes you feel inspired to do something more for girls in countries where an iPod is unheard of. If we help and support girls today, we can build a strongly bonded community to share experiences between girls tomorrow.

I heard about Girl Up from Layne Gray, the founder of Vivanista, and her daughter, Lily Kaplan. They asked me to go online and learn about what Girl Up does for girls around the world. So I went and checked it out. I was shocked at what just five dollars could do to change the world of girls. Girl Up provides personal stories of girls from countries like Guatemala, Ethiopia, Liberia, and Malawai. I read all of them and was surprised that half of girls in a large region in Ethiopia are married before the age of 15. One story I read was about a girl who lived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Africa. Her name is Zusiash Mersha and she is twelve years old. She wakes up at 5:30 a.m. every morning and has to be ready by 6:00 a.m. to serve breakfast to her employer. Then she cleans until 2:30 p.m. After that, she is allowed to go to the Biruh Tesfa Program, an organization created by the United Nations Foundation that provides girls with an education and training for 2 hours a day. Zusiash says that this is the best part of her day. At the center they teach her how to read and write, and they provide medical care. She returns from the center at 5:00 p.m. and works at her employer’s motel until 1:30 in the morning. Then she reads in bed to practice for school as long as she can. This story is inspiring to me because education in the U.S. is something many children take for granted. So, next time you wish you were at home watching a movie rather than learning algebra, think about kids in developing countries that would do so much to go to school, and who knows, you may end up being a lot more grateful for your education.

So now you know about Girl Up. And I hope you check out www.girlup.org to read stories of girls and lean more about the program. If you help out Girl Up, like so many are already doing, we could change the world, one girl at a time.

Written by Perry Hamm

Age 11 – San Francisco, CA

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What could you sacrifice in your daily life to send $5 to a girl in need?

Has your daughter or a girl ever inspired you to give back?

Share Girl Up and this story with other women, teens and girls you think could benefit. Have your daughter send a response letter to teamviva@vivanista.com to share her perspective. We would love to hear her perspective!

Related posts:

1. High Five: Empow(H)ering Women & Girls
2. Vivanista Endorses New UN Foundation Campaign
3. Uniting Girls with the UN Foundation
4. High Five! How To Invest in Girls
5. Giving Back: A Teen’s Perspective