Tag Archives: Education

Day 1614: 5 Reasons to Educate Girls

You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.” ― Brigham Young

 

It’s 1 :  10 PM on day 1614 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to  brush my teeth, pray,    read Jeremiah 31, publish my Disability of the Day feature,  learn one new thing –The word “laser” is an acronym. It stands for “Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation.” feed myself egg with bread  for breakfast, read and comment on When life gives you lemons! – a post Gaynor Young wrote about Educate Generations (thanks Gaynor for writing the post) – and  promote my Educate Generations campaign –  yesterday Marie Wikle and Rema aunty made two donations of $20 each (thank you SO MUCH Marie and aunty the support from both of you means the world to me ) which brings my total raised to $1 900 only $600 more to raise  🙂

 

Today I was thinking about girls’ education and why it’s important to educate girls and I came with 5 reasons. Take a look:

5 Reasons to Educate Girls

  1. Educating girls prevents child marriages – Girls with 8 years of education are 4 times less likely to be married as children(source: Malala Fund)
  2. Educating girls helps control population growth – Girls with 8 years of education will have 2.2 less children (source: Malala Fund)
  3. Educating girls reduces the chances of child mortality – A child born to a literate mother is 50% more likely to survive past the age of 5 (source: UNESCO)
  4. Educating girls has a generational impact – Educated mothers are more than twice as likely to send their children to school (source: UNICEF)
  5. Girls who have an education will become women who have a higher earning potential – A girl with an extra year of education can earn 20% more as an adult (source: The World Bank)

Ready to help educate girls? If so, visit https://www.classy.org/EducateGenerations and please make a donation to my Educate Generations campaign benefiting the Malala Fund. Thank you SO MUCH for all your support in advance.

Day 1573: Educate Generations Campaign Three Months Later

“No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you.” —Althea Gibson

 

It’s 12 : 58 PM on day 1573 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to  brush my teeth,  pray,  read Isaiah 58, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing – did you know that lions may sleep up to 20 hours a day –  promote my Educate Generations campaign–  Meg Guegan who has donated once before donated $20 yesterday  (thank you Meg your ongoing support means a lot to me :)  – which brings my total raised to $1 335  only $1 165 more to raise to reach goal  – feed myself egg curry with bread for breakfast and go visiting.

 

Today marks the three month anniversary of my Educate Generations campaign benefiting the Malala Fund so far thirty people (including me) have made thirty-five donations totaling $1 335  I continue to be grateful for and humbled by the world’s support. Thank you Juliet Parrott-Merrell and Ann Blackburn-Pann, Nancy Scott, Meg Guegan, Ellen Seidman, Madalina Cristea, Bruce Sallan, Catherine Cook, Stan Faryna, Clare Donaldson, Barbara Royce, Duane Dell’Oca, Priya Thomas, Susan Mazza, Justina Valentine, Simon Magid, Emma Lambert, Sylvia Phillips, Nan Marvell, Nisa Thomas, Laurieann Janssens, Vincent Ang, Sarah Britten, Francoise Van Rheede and everyone else who chose to donate anonymously for your generous donations. Thank you Gaynor Young, Emma Lambert, Bruce Sallan, Stan Faryna, Marianne Tarkusep, Kelly Hengler,  Ashlyn Singh,  Cazanne’Z, Justina Valentine,  Chris Teller, Juliet Parrott-Merrell, Priya Buldeo, Alex Forshaw, Caryn Gootkin,Peter Herring, Simon Magid, Laurieann Janssens, @DoubleMartini, @itsanidealworld, Michael Carr, Diana Russo  and everybody else for helping spread the word about this campaign. ‏

 

[Update October 3 2015: Campaign over. Final total raised is $5 285]

Day 1563: Halfway to Educate Generations Campaign Goal

“Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” – Bo Jackson

 

It’s 12 : 00 PM on day 1563 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth,  read Isaiah 48,   publish my Disability of the Day feature, promote my Educate Generations campaign– Anonymous donated $20 yesterday and Catherine Cook who has donated twice before donated $20 today  (thank you Anonymous and Catherine your ongoing support means a lot to me 🙂  – which brings my total raised to $1 255  only $1 245 more to raise to reach goal -feed myself a peanut butter sandwich and a banana for breakfast, continue promoting the campaign-still on $1 255 but I’m grateful 🙂 – and hang out with family.

 

Today is twice as awesome first because it’s Christmas Eve and second because as of today I’m more than halfway to my Educate Generations campaign goal I’m so grateful to everyone who has donated to and supported this campaign so far. Merry Christmas Eve everyone 🙂

 

[Update October 3 2015: Campaign over. Final total raised is $5 285]

Day 1542: Educate Generations Campaign Two Months Later

Alone we can make a difference but together we can change the world– that’s what I keep realizing.

 

It’s 12 : 04 PM on day 1542 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Isaiah 27,   publish my Disability of the Day feature, stretch my hamstrings,  feed myself a peanut butter sandwich and a banana for breakfast, promote my Educate Generations campaign– yesterday Anonymous donated $100 and Catherine Cook donated another $30 (thank you SO MUCH Anonymous and Catherine your support means the world to me 🙂 ) which brings my total raised to $1 070 only $1 430 more to raise to  reach goal – read and comment on Women in Tech: Meet Fiorenza Mella and continue promoting my campaign – still on $1 070 but I’m grateful for the progress made 🙂

 

Today marks the two month anniversary of my Educate Generations campaign benefiting the Malala Fund so far twenty-five people (including me) have donated to the campaign and between us we’ve donated $1 070 I am so grateful, happy and humbled by people’s support. Thank you Juliet Parrott-Merrell and Ann Blackburn-Pann, Nancy Scott, Meg Guegan, Ellen Seidman, Madalina Cristea, Bruce Sallan, Catherine Cook, Stan Faryna, Clare Donaldson, Barbara Royce, Duane Dell’Oca, Priya Thomas, Susan Mazza, Justina Valentine, Simon Magid, Emma Lambert, Sylvia Phillips, Nan Marvell, Nisa Thomas and everyone else who chose to donate anonymously for your generous donations. Thank you Sue LevyGaynor Young, Emma Lambert, Bruce Sallan, Stan Faryna, Marianne Tarkusep, Kelly Hengler,  Ashlyn Singh,  Cazanne’Z, Catherine Cook, Global Vision 11:11,  Justina Valentine, Sylvia Phillips, Chris Teller, Rachelle FriedmanEmmanuel Castis, Gerda, Katrina Moody,  Seema, Neethu Jacob  and everybody else for helping spread the word about this campaign. ‏

 

[Update October 3 2015: Campaign over. Final total raised is $5 285]

Day 1512: Educate Generations Campaign One Month Later

With God and a few like-minded friends great things are possible – that’s what I keep realizing 🙂

 

It’s 12 : 00 PM on day 1512 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray, read Song of Song 7, publish my Disability of the Day feature,  feed myself a peanut butter sandwich and a banana for breakfast and promote my Educate Generations campaign –  still on $770 but that’s okay the day is still young I’m sure I will find some generous people to support this very worthy cause I just hope I can do so before the power company shuts off our power (in South Africa we are going through this thing called load shedding the power company will basically switch off our electricity every day this week for a few hours a day to reduce the load on the system).

 

Today marks the one month anniversary of my Educate Generations campaign benefiting the Malala Fund so far seventeen people (including me) have donated to the campaign and between us we’ve donated $770 I am SO GRATEFUL and HAPPY. Thank you Juliet Parrott-Merrell and Ann Blackburn-Pann, Nancy Scott, Meg Guegan, Ellen Seidman, Madalina Cristea, Bruce Sallan, Catherine Cook, Stan Faryna, Clare Donaldson, Barbara Royce, Duane Dell’Oca, Priya Thomas and everyone else who chose to donate anonymously for your generous donations. Thank you Sue Levy, Verushka Ramasami, Gaynor Young,Rupasha Rampersad, Karmani Naidoo, Lee-Ann McDonald, Emma Lambert, Bruce Sallan, Stan Faryna, Marianne Tarkusep, Kelly Hengler, Sarah Britten, Lisa Varga, Ashlyn Singh, Wayne Mansfield, Laura Stanford, Michael Carr, Fiorenza Mella, Justina, Seema and everybody else for helping spread the word about this campaign. ‏

 

[Update October 3 2015: Campaign over. Final total raised is $5 285]

Day 1481: Educate Generations – My Campaign for the Malala Fund

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela

 

It’s 2 : 07 PM on day 1481 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, go back to bed, pray, read Proverbs 19,     set up my Educate Generations fundraising page for the Malala Fund, make a donation to my Educate Generations campaign – I donated $100 hopefully others will follow in my footsteps – create the Educate Generations campaign and upload it to YouTube (watch it at the bottom of this post) – while making the video I realized my voice will never be completely clear and that my body will never be completely still and I was ok with that because that’s me 🙂 –  publish my Disability of the Day feature  and promote my campaign – still on $100.

 

This morning I started Educate Generations – a fundraising campaign benefiting the Malala Fund, an organization that empowers girls through education to achieve their potential and be agents of positive change in their communities – because I believe that when you educate a girl you educate generations my goal is to raise $2 500 in 12 months. For more information about Educate Generations or to make a donation please visit  and use #EducateGenerations when tweeting about this campaign.

 

 

 

Day 1196: Hackschooling makes me happy: Logan LaPlante

“Education is important, but why is being happy and healthy not considered education, I just don’t get it. So I’ve been studying the science of being happy and healthy. It really comes down to practicing these eight things. Exercise, diet and nutrition, time in nature, contribution, service to others, relationships, recreation, relaxation and stress management, and religious or spiritual involvement, yes, got that one.

So these eight things come from Dr. Roger Walsh, he calls them Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes or TLCs for short. He is a scientist that studies how to be happy and healthy. In researching this talk, I got a chance to ask him a few questions like; do you think that our schools today are making these eight TLCs a priority? His response was no surprise, it was essentially no. But he did say that many people do try to get this kind of education outside of the traditional arena, through reading and practices such as meditation or yoga.

But what I thought was his best response was that, much of education is oriented for better or worse towards making a living rather than making a life.”

–  Logan LaPlante, Hackschooling makes me happy: Logan LaPlante at TEDxUniversityofNevada

 

It’s 1  : 55 PM on day 1196 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to  pray,  brush my teeth, read 1 Chronicles 29,  publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself boiled egg and bran flakes for breakfast, publish my Kid of the Week feature, go to church and go to the mall.

 

Yesterday afternoon I watched Hackschooling makes me happy: Logan LaPlante at TEDxUniversityofNevada – a Ted Talk by a 13-year-old that makes a strong case for non-traditional schools – I totally agree with what Logan said in his talk teaching kids to be healthy and happy should be an important part of every curriculum right now most schools are focused on teaching kids how to make a living but what they should be focused on is teaching kids how to make a life. Watch Hackschooling makes me happy: Logan LaPlante at TEDxUniversityofNevada below:

Day 1150: The Story of Kakenya

“It doesn’t matter where you are coming from. All that matters is where you are going.” – Brian Tracy

 

It’s 12 : 10 PM on day 1150 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray,  brush my teeth,   read 2 Kings 8,   publish my Disability of the Day feature, feed myself boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, stretch my hamstrings and hang out with my sister.

 

This morning I stumbled across the inspirational story of a little girl who changed the course of her life and the lives of others by simply bargaining to go to school this story underscores the importance of an education. Watch Vital Voices: The Story of Kakenya below:

Day 1146: Children with special needs left out of class

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.~ Benjamin Franklin

 

It’s 12 : 07 PM on day 1146 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray,  brush my teeth,  read 2 Kings 4,   publish my Disability of the Day feature,   feed myself boiled egg and Bran Flakes for breakfast and help my brother study for his exam.

 

This morning I read Children with special needs left out of class and I couldn’t help wondering how children with special needs would grow up to become contributing members of society if they didn’t have an education India should be embarrassed to call itself one of the world’s largest economies when children with special needs are left out in the cold without an education.

Day 1075: This is Water by David Foster Wallace

The capital-T Truth is about life before death. It is about making it to 30, or maybe even 50, without wanting to shoot yourself in the head. It is about the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over:

 

“This is water.”

 

“This is water.”

 

– David Foster Wallace, This is Water

 

It’s 12  : 13 PM on day 1075 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth,  feed myself boiled egg and Bran Flakes  for breakfast,  read 1 Samuel 9,   publish my Disability of the Day feature, read and comment on Was “One PIssed Off Mother” Right When She Suggested Her Neighbor’s Euthanize Their Autistic Son?  – it’s basically a different point point of view on the post I wrote yesterday –  tweet and Facebook about my campaign -no one donated so far today either I’m sure people would be more inclined to donate if I told them I had Cerebral Palsy but I made the conscious choice not to use the fact that I have Cerebral Palsy to get anything I want I want people to donate to this campaign because they care about human trafficking and slavery not because they like me and my story – and practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles – my right leg is still not a 100% healed so I’ve settled for doing sitting exercises better than nothing I suppose.

 

Two days ago watching This is Water – a  Kenyon College Commencement Address by David Foster Wallace – I realized education is more than knowledge education is realizing you have a choice about how you see things.  Watch This is Water below: