I grew up in a family with a feminist mother and a feminist father. The oldest of two children, there was never any question that I could grow up to do what I wanted if I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. Parental homework support was prodigious, and tutors were hired to get me through rough patches. My parents shuttled me to ballet and violin lessons without complaint. They took me to exhibits and bought me books. By the time I was fifteen, I had already traveled to over a dozen countries – so keen were my parents to expose me to a world filled with beauty and contradictions.
I grew up as a girl with chances, a lot of chances.
Today is the UN’s International Day of the Girl. This day was created to promote girls' human rights and highlights gender inequalities.
And so in the spirit of this Day, I share with you some news and images of Project Soar, the non-profit organization that I founded two years ago with my husband and a small band of caring friends. At the heart of Project Soar is its girls.
Project Soar empowers underserved Moroccan girls through art, sports, and health education. We help keep girls in school, breaking the cycle of girl marriages and early motherhood, and preparing girls to have productive and fulfilled futures.
Project Soar is going through many changes right now. We have hired a full-time Field Manager, elected a brand new board of directors, and put together a new vision. Our hope is to reach an ever larger group of girls.
Do you care about girls’ empowerment? Join us as part of the Project Soar Nation, a country without borders and a state of mind -- a place made up of caring individuals who want to make the world a better place for its girls.
Your donations, however small, could help. Learn more here. We are also looking for a sports curriculum developer, an arts curriculum developer, and a girls’ empowerment curriculum developer. If you know someone could assist or you have an idea, please contact me here.
In the meantime Happy Day of the Girl! Let’s work together so that girls have a better chance of helping to lead our world.
Photography: Natalie Opocensky and Carrie Thomson