Let’s support Malala.
When considering a nonprofit to support at Begin with Heart, I was struck with the memory of my grandmother on my father’s side who was denied an education. Can you imagine? One of the smartest girls in school being told that a third-grade education was “enough” for a girl. She was located in what is now Pakistan, where Malala started her Nobel mission in life. I decided, because of this commonality, I will support Malala on her mission to educate women across the world.
Some more thoughts on this…
I realize that I stand on the shoulders of the strong women who came before me. Women like my grandmother who’ve seen war, colonization, arranged marriages, withheld careers, denied education, extreme poverty, extreme wealth, lost children, refugee translocation, and immigration. I stand on their shoulders with my own education. My own business. My own money. My chosen life partner. Literate. Independent. American.
I think about this often. This is an era in history when people are taking more time to think about who we are and where we come from. We are all products of the history that came before us, but more importantly, we’re here due to the love, bravery, hope and collective dreams of those whose shoulders we stand upon. The shoulders of people who asked the very same questions we ask, no matter how similar or different our circumstances. Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the point of life?
If you’re reading this you most likely have the privilege to work with coaches, do self-work and literally enjoy the literacy to read books on these topics to move forward. However, there are still little girls out there being deprived of an education, being forced into marriages, and well, much worse. Let’s support nonprofits like Malala.org to create a change. A portion of the profits at Begin with Heart will go toward these efforts.
COVID 19 Update
COVID 19 has touched every part of life including the education of our youth across the world. Let’s hope that more little girls continue to learn and grow despite these disturbances. Fortunately, I came across this inspiriting video with John Krasinski’s (Jim, from the Office) featuring Malala and other change-makers encouraging those who graduated in 2020 to celebrate and keep going for their dreams.
John Krasinski highlights some good news around the world (including weather from Ryan Reynolds) and sends the class of 2020 off with advice from Oprah and Malala.
