Poverty Ends with Her: This Year’s Culminating Just Desserts Event

"Study after study has taught us that there is no tool more effective for development than the empowerment of women."

- UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan

 

 Our last Just Desserts of the academic year, which took place on March 22, offered a unique, inspiring, and thought-provoking way to prepare for Greg Mortenson’s much-anticipated visit  to the Gonzaga campus.  Entitled “Poverty Ends with Her” and centered on the undeniable benefits of educating all female residents of world, the evening’s activities provided much insight into why and how we should become involved in addressing gender disparities and empowering girls and women of all ages and backgrounds, in all global settings.  It also served as yet another testament to the value of an education.

The event’s panelists were: Dr. Mary Jeannot, Professor and Founder/Director of the MA/TESL Program and TESOL Abroad Program at Gonzaga University; Jessie Rogers, Student and International Relations Major, Currently Writing a Thesis on The Girl Effect; Dr. Vandana Asthana, Professor and Expert in Asian Politics; and Dr. Laura Brunell, Professor of the Women in Comparative Societies class* (*which had graciously helped organize and prepare this JD) and Chair of the Political Science  Department.

Through Dr. Jeannot, Jessie, Dr. Asthana, and Dr. Brunell’s reflections and anecdotes, all those in attendance were reminded of the role educating women can play in improving economic growth, community development, national infrastructure, credit/training services, access to health care, prevalence of HIV/AIDS, agricultural yield, maternal health, childhood mortality, political development, and peace within a given region.

Jessie shared powerful statistics and enlightening quotes on all of the aforementioned topics, including the following:

o   171 million people could be lifted out of poverty if all students in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills –  an equivalent to a 12% cut in world poverty.

o   Carol Bellamy, former Executive Director of UNICEF, stated: “Education is crucial to success against the pandemic. In fact, UNICEF remains convinced that until an effective remedy is found, education is… the most effective tools for curbing AIDS.”

o    According to Because I am a Girl (OECD statistics), countries with the lowest number of girls in education lie at the bottom of the human development tables.

o   An extra year of education increases a girls’ income by 10 to 20 per cent.

o   Child marriage is the norm in societies where girls are considered the possessions of others and is a manifestation of girls’ powerlessness

§  36% of women ages 20 to 24 had been married as children

§  1 in 7 girls in the developing world will marry before the age of 15

o   UNFPA: 7+ years of education = marrying 4 yrs later, having 2.2 fewer kids

§  Infant mortality is reduced by 5 to 10 percent with each year of schooling the mother receives.

§  Children of mother with 5yrs schooling are 40 percent more likely to live past age 5.

§  Increased time in school boosts the survival rate, nutrition, and overall health for

o   “Gender inequality hurts economic  growth” – Goldman Sachs.

o   According to the World Bank, a 1% increase in the share of women with secondary education boosts annual per capita income growth by 0.3 percentage points

o   Making household heads literate in the bottom per capita quartile will raise rural primary school enrollment by 18%

o   Robert B. Zoellick, President of World Bank once informed us, “Investing in adolescent girls is precisely the catalyst poor countries need to break intergenerational poverty and to create a better distribution of income. Investing in them is not only fair;  it is a smart economic move.”

After this informative program, the night concluded (as each Just Desserts always does) with a collective call to action.  Participants vowed to overcome poverty and the disempowerment of women through simple steps, including the following (as compiled from the statements collected from each audience member): Raise awareness within our communities so that we can educate ourselves and others; take a TESOL class to be able to teach local refugees and girls in developing countries; support  NGO’s efforts to fund schools, students, and teachers; and continue learning and praying about true equality.

It was difficult not to become inspired and hopeful after witnessing such compelling accounts and visible conviction.

 Post-script #1:

Here is a short list of amazing follow-up reading on the topic* (*as compiled by Jessie Rogers:

ONLINE REPORTS:
New Lessons: The Power of Educating Adolescent Girls; A Girls Count Report on Adolescent Girls
Cynthia B Lloyd and Juliet Young
Population Council, 2009
http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/2009PGY_NewLessons.pdf.

Girls Speak: A New Voice in Global Development.

Margaret E. Greene, Laura Cardinal, and Eve Goldstein-Siegel

International Center for Research on Women, 2010

http://www.icrw.org/publications/girls-speak-new-voice-global-development.

Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health

MiriamTemin and Ruth Levine

Center for Global Development, 2010

http://www.ciaonet.org/pbei/cgd/0020870/f_0020870_17360.pdf.

Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda; A Girls Count Report On Adolescent Girls
Ruth Levine, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Margaret Greene, and Caren Grown
The Center for Global Development, 2009
http://www.coalitionforadolescentgirls.org/sites/default/files/Girls_Count_2009.pdf.

Because I am a Girl: The State of the World’s Girls 2009.
Plan International, 2009
http://www.ungei.org/resources/index_2249.html

BOOKS

Collier, Paul. The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It.

Kristof, Nicholas D. and Sheryl WuDunn. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.

Mortenson, Greg. Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace through Education in Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

Mortenson, Greg and David Oliver Relin. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time.

WEBSITES

Coalition for Adolescent Girls http://www.coalitionforadolescentgirls.org/about 

Girl Effect http://girleffect.org/learn/the-big-picture 

Girls Discovered http://www.girlsdiscovered.org/

International Center for Research on Women http://www.icrw.org/what-we-do 

Nike Foundation http://nikefoundation.org/why_girls.html

Plan International http://plan-international.org/what-we-do

United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative http://www.ungei.org/whatisungei/index.html 

Post-script #2:

Although “Poverty Ends with Her” marked the end of the Just Desserts series, it’s never too early to begin thinking about next year!  Find out more about JD at http://www.gonzaga.edu/justdesserts and contact Hilary Case at case@gonzaga.edu if you have any ideas or potential collaborations.

A Student Reflection about Face AIDs

“Education is the movement from darkness to light.”  ~Allan Bloom

Gonzaga FACE AIDS is a student run organization consisting of less than seven quirky and driven individuals brought together with one common goal: build a global youth movement to fight against HIV/AIDS. We represent the Gonzaga University chapter of the national organization, FACE AIDS.   Our program has grown and developed a lot in the past year under the insightful management of sophomore, Kaya Mills.

Our chapter is twofold, including an awareness branch to increase knowledge about HIV/AIDS around campus and in our community, and a branch that focuses on raising funds to donate to Partners in Health. Both programs have hosted on campus events this year including a yoga class, a trivia night, informational tables outside Crosby, pin and t-shirt sales, movie showings, and even a benefit concert featuring the Danger Bears.

The events are slowing as our scholastic year draws to a close, but have transitioned to a more informative objective for these final months on campus. We have decided to post important statistics about HIV/AIDS on the wall to make an impact on the students who pass by. It is our hope that GU students will “get informed and stay protected.” At each meeting (Wednesday nights at 9pm in lower CCASL) we also have an educational segment where one member researches and lead a discussion about an aspect of HIV/AIDS.

We are very excited to continue to promote awareness and raise money with innovative ideas and programs that are applicable to our student body. If you are interested in getting involved or joining our cause, please contact Kaya Mills at kmills2@zagmail.gonzaga.edu.

This was written by Corinne Gould

Ocean Pollution

Since birth I have always been surrounded by salt water. Having lived in Alaska my whole life, the ocean consumed much of our daily activities. My dad fished for the first 5 years of my life so summers consisted of living on the boat. A required class in middle school was cold water survival, what to do if you were ever stranded in the water or on the beach. In this class we learned that how you reacted in the first two minutes of being in cold water were the most important for survival.

With the ocean being such an important part of my life I have come to a certain respect for the ocean and the creatures that swim beneath. Having a respect for the ocean leads me to be disturbed when careless individuals or organizations dispose of waste into these waters. Being from an island I feel that I have been more cautious of my disposal because unlike towns who send their garbage to a giant trash mound in the middle of the state it is almost impossible to do that on our island which consists of 46 square miles.

This Christmas break my family and I travelled to Hawaii, which was the best vacation ever. Here there were a lot of parallels to my home, other than the huge climate gap, when it came to being environmentally cautious. I was greatly surprised when I found out that the state had banned the use of plastic bags in all stores. It is these kinds of actions that help me believe that people are aware that a change needs to take place. It was on the Big Island that I watched an activity which made me retract on my praise towards this states stride towards being green.

One morning we ventured down to south point, which is the southernmost tip of the USA. We were in awe with the great panoramic views where you could see no other land, only ocean. As I looked out off the cliffs I noticed a plastic garbage bag that floated a couple hundred feet from the cliff face. That puzzled me and as I noticed one I would then notice another, and another. It took us a while to figure out that these bags were attached to fishing lines of the local people fishing.  Shoreline fishermen use garbage bags to haul their lines to deep water off of South Point. The strong winds push the bag with the fishing lines attached out far and they are able to catch open water fish. While they have a good reason for doing this they are still adding to ocean pollution because many bags get away and drift off to sea.

Where do these garbage bags go? One very likely place is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex. This garbage vortex is located in the waters halfway between Hawaii and the coast of California. The size is estimated to be the size of Texas and consists of mostly plastic products.

Once back in Spokane my dad sent me an article that related amazingly to what we saw in Hawaii. In the beginning of January, 10 miles north of Ketchikan Alaska a man found a 171 lbs., 3 foot long green sea turtle. This turtle that apparently had got into the wrong current was washed on shore and when they conducted a necropsy found the cause of death to be bronchial obstruction and lung collapse due to cold. What the interesting part is that they also found two types of plastic bags and a wad of monofilament fishing line in the stomach. Somewhere along this turtles journey it had swallowed these plastic bags possibly mistaking them for food. This is a reoccurring problem with our sea creatures one that will only stop if people understand how important it is to keep our oceans clean.

Tips for keeping our oceans clean:

-          Recycled old fishing line: Monofilament fishing line takes up to 600 years to break down in the marine environment and can entangle and kill wildlife. Look for recycling facilities in your marina.

-          Join beach cleanups: One helpful activity would be to join a beach cleanup or pick up trash whenever you can and dispose of it properly. 

W