Girls around the world
Read stories here about individual girls and women in the developing world. Learn about their challenges and see how girls and women are rising above them with the help of Plan.
Brenda lives in a tin house in El Salvador with her 7-year-old sister, her mother, her grandmother, her grandfather and her great-grandmother. The creation of The Day of the Girl will help make sure girls like Brenda get to school.
Kamlesh* came from a very poor family. She went to school until grade 5, when her father’s crops failed. Kamlesh heard about a Plan program that supports education for girls by helping school dropouts resume their education, and her family agreed to let her return to school.
The girls’ club in Liberia is part of a Plan girls’ empowerment project that encourages girls to stay in school. Girls face many challenges in Liberia, where gender discrimination is the norm. Many don’t complete school because they must work around the home or are forced into early marriage.
12-year old Mady* had to face daily hunger, thirst and dangers as she travelled the long route to school in the city each day. Mady was given one of 100 scholarships, which included a bike, a lamp, and school supplies, and is so thrilled to be able to continue her education.
The women at the Kurara Hope Kugarka operate a bakery in support of the local secondary school, helping to educate the youth of the community. They received a start-up grant from Plan in 2009 and now make $15 a day through the bakery.
Premlata lives in a region of Nepal where most girls do not get a chance to go to school. With Plan's support, this determined young girl showed an entire community the way to a brighter future.
Anisha lives in a notorious Indonesian landfill, where families and children survive by scavenging. Anisha created a brighter future for the families by establishing a moving space, Studio One for All, where children play games and learn. With Plan’s support, the studio now serves as a community hub for children and moms.
Growing up as one of nine children on a small Haitian rural farm, no one would have expected the young Marie to do more than stay home and help with household chores. But, today, Marie Dumary Miracles is a civil engineer and deputy mayor of her town.
Like so many girls in rural poverty in Cambodia, Wattana was forced to leave school in grade 6. She helped support nine people in her family, including her widowed mother, by cutting wood in a forest. Today, after skills training provided by a Plan partner, she works in a restaurant and sends money home.
Cecilia in Zimbabwe was accused of being cursed and socially excluded by her husband and community after giving birth to a child with a disability. Thanks to Plan's support, she and other parents of children with disabilities are rallying under a lobby group on a massive campaign.
Nazma was a child of a poor Bangladeshi farmer, she was expected to get married at an early age and have children, as her mother did. Yet at age 16, thanks to skills training and micro-financing support, she overcame the odds and community opposition and started a successful beauty salon.
"I am 14-year-old orphan and I don't go to school. I have a child to care for," said Aminata, who worked in the sex trade in Guinea as recently as last year. Thanks to the support and protection of a Plan, the teen is getting a second chance in life.
21-year old Joanne lives in an area that was badly damaged by the January 2010 Haitian earthquake. One year on, she is the leader of the first volunteer group trained by Plan to distribute aid and help support children affected by the quake.
Salamatu had no savings and no means of earning an income. Then one day, a friend told her about a local Savings and Loans Group in the community, supported by Plan.
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