Ripple Effect: Teach a Girl to Fish

Approximately 200 million living girls have been affected by female genital mutilation.  A process that involves cutting all or some of the female genitalia with any available cutting object, at times a tin can lid. As this is illegal, many girls are left bleeding to death or with infections that eventually kill them. This practice is a form of abuse and rooted in gender inequality, poverty, and tradition. 44 million of these survivors are less than 15 years old. Each year 12 million girls are married as child brides before the age of 18, taking away her rights to health, education, and opportunity.

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In March I visited the Omalaika home located in Kenya. This home's purpose is to house and protect young disadvantaged Maasai girls that are at high risk of FGM (and/or child marriage, providing a warm, nurturing and loving environment; guiding them to see themselves as persons of value through God's eyes; fostering respect and appreciation for their peers, teachers, leaders, and culture, enabling them to be a generation of educated, productive, respected and valuable young women. While there I met two young ladies that I connected with and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to sponsor them to create healing, possibility, and abundance.

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"Doris is 14 years old now. When she came to us a few years ago she was being married to a 32 year old man and the police showed up and interrupted the ceremony, arrested her father and took Doris to the children’s office in Narok. They contacted us and asked if we would take her."

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"Agnes is 14 years old and was brought to THE OLMALAIKA HOME in July of 2014. Her mother has passed away and she was living with a family that did not have the money to put her in school. Because of the situation she was in we felt it would just be a matter of time before the family felt she was too much of a burden on them and they would marry her off.”

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These girls have aspirations and dreams that I would like to give them access to. As wonderful as it was to visit them, it wasn’t enough. I thought about all the items I could give them, and quickly realized they were not sustainable. I realized that education will be their key to success as they have the opportunity to share their story and be apart of the change that will end FGM, child brides and other forms of abuse. I request your support as we live in this world of abundance, in funding their living, education, and advancement. "Give a girl a fish, and you feed her for a day. Teach a girl to fish, and you feed her for a lifetime."