This past Thursday, women of the John Carroll Panhellenic Community raised awareness for women’s education around the world, in connection with the Circle of Sisterhood. We are fortunate enough to have access to a higher education, however there are women around the world who do not, or they get pulled out of school to start working at a very young age. The Panhellenic community promoted an “Ask me why I’m not wearing pants” campaign and encouraged women to wear skirts and dresses, while passing out pins with facts to students across campus.
These facts highlighted the numbers of millions of women who are affected by this issue. I wore a pin with the fact “9.9 million women are out of school in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Pakistan.” Just that number itself across only three countries is shocking, as that population can make up an entire country in itself! In addition, 65 million women are out of school globally, and ⅔ of the illiterate population are women. These numbers, unfortunately, only increase as time goes on, which is why raising awareness is huge.
Later that night, the Panhellenic community hosted a presenter from the Circle of Sister, Annie Labo. She showed us the Half the Sky Documentary, following a presentation highlighting the statistics that this issue is as shocking to see as it is to read. The documentary covered five. stories in which women celebrities visited countries that are affected majorly with women who do not have access to education. In fact, women who are educated are more likely to have healthy families, with kids who live past the age of five. The stories were touching as it showed how women are oppressed every day, and the outcomes are not what we expect due to a lack of or no education for women. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone, as it motivated us to get more involved with the issue. Circle of Sisterhood is made up of hundreds of volunteers, with some who have traveled to countries to build schools. Annie Labo facilitated a discussion with us after the movie, and spoke with us as to how to do more in our community. The biggest take away was to spread the word with everyone, as the issue of education is only getting worse.
I encourage everyone reading this to check out the Circle of Sisterhood website and take action through educating others on the importance of women’s education, as it’s not just gaining knowledge, it’s living in communities, building and supporting families, breaking career barriers, and being successful in all that we do. Women are strong, and it’s our call to support others globally.