Here’s an item from the Malala Fund –

I am Rita and I am from Adjokatsekope (Ada) in Ghana. My mother is a fishmonger and my father is a fisherman. We have five girls and two boys in my family. Only one other sister of mine has gone to school.

I study at the MGCubed program. Math is my favorite subject because I find it easy to understand through my new teachers on satellite! I also help my grandmother sell soap at her shop after school and on weekends. Because I have a better understanding of math from my lessons, I feel more comfortable when I am helping my grandmother at her shop.

She’s learning computer skills too.

After school I also attend the Wonder Women workshops where we learn about things like personal hygiene, dangers of using dirty water and child rights. This is where I learned about sexual health and preventing pregnancy, which was never discussed in school before.

Learning about sexual health is important because girls in my community are being forced to leave school early because of teenage pregnancy. It’s a real problem in our communities since girls don’t receive the right information or any information at all about these issues.

Yeah. That’s right at the top of the list – don’t get pregnant at an early age.

Educating girls is very important because it gives us direction and focus as young women. It also helps us avoid unnecessary situations that might hold us back in life — like getting pregnant while in school. Girls need education to help them see their importance in the community.

This is why I attend school and the Wonder Women workshops. While some people think girls education is good, others don’t like it. They think that we are being given “too much knowledge.” Now that we are going to school and studying, we know when we are being taken advantage of and we can stand up for ourselves. But some people are not happy about this because they believe that women belong in the kitchen.

When I grow up, I want to be a nurse. I haven’t been to a hospital before, but my grandmother tells me it is a good profession! I am happy with my progress and my elders are happy, too.

Go for it, Rita!