Tag Archives: Girls’ Education

An Education: What a Good Teacher Really Means

Posted on January 23, 2012 | 3 Comments

The Queen & I: Rania Told Me She Has Always Wanted to Visit Bangladesh.

Last week I had the tremendous honor of attending an event with Her Majesty, Queen Rania of Jordan. She was in Washington to promote a great initiative for girls education called “10×10.”

The fact that around the world millions of girls are still denied an education, unable to go to school for reasons ranging from having to walk thousands of miles to fetch water for their families to lack of security to their menstrual periods is one of the most frustrating aspects of working in the field of women’s rights.

If girls are still unable to access education, what does that imply for the future of the global feminist movement, not to mention the economic development of countries?

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Posted in Women's Rights=Human Rights

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Three Empty Tea Cups? Possibly

Posted on April 19, 2011 | 1 Comment

Just when you thought there could be no more bad PR for the war in Afghanistan, a crippling “60 Minutes” investigation about celebrated author and humanitarian, Greg Mortenson’s best-selling works, Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools is casting doubts not only on the books themselves, but aid organizations in the region.

On Monday author and adventurist Jon Krakauer, who once funded Mortenson’s non-profit Central Asia Institute with thousands of dollars of his own money, added fuel to “60 Minutes” by releasing Three Cups of Deceit, alleging Mortenson of telling beautiful stories, and beautiful lies:

There May Be No Tea, or Truth, in Mortenson's Memoir After All. Image Credit: Flickr

“Mortenson has lied about the noble deeds he has done, the risks he has taken, the people he has met, the number of schools he has built,” Krakauer told “60 Minutes.”

The Three Cups of Tea scandal could potentially do significant damage to how people feel about investing in a region they are already hopeless about. One of the great things that Mortenson’s stories demonstrate is the significance of  education and being able to access it, especially for girls. Ironically his books make people feel empowered and hopeful about giving. The Daily Beast’s Michele Goldberg explains that it may not be the author who has the most to lose from from the backlash against his books:

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Posted in Violence Against Women, Women's Rights=Human Rights

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