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Healing the
Girl Child
In Ghana, a 9-year-old girl is sent by her parents to be a slave
at a local shrine in the ancient practice of trokosi (sending
females to be the wives of the gods). In Thailand, a pre-teen
is locked in a brothel and forced into selling her body for
money, sometime servicing 20 or 30 men every 24 hours. An 8-year-old
Nepalese girl works as domestic help, while in neighboring Bangladesh,
a teenager–married off a few years earlier by her parents–struggles
in the labor of giving birth ... still just a child herself.
These situations are not the exceptions to the rule–in
many cultures throughout the world, this is everyday life for
countless young girls. The statistics are heartbreaking, and
the circumstances even more so. Extreme poverty, sexual abuse,
discrimination, early (often arranged) marriages and motherhood–and
the list goes on.
"Because of the experiences they live through while they're
young, these girls become broken women," says Marli Spieker,
Project Hannah's executive director. At the same time, she adds,
the women Project Hannah ministers to today were once broken
girls themselves.
By educating their mothers today, Project Hannah is rescuing
the girl children of the future. As Patrick Johnstone, in his
book Operation World, noted, "If we do not reach women
... so that they can pass on faith and Christians lifestyles
to their children, the next generation will be pagan."
And the heartrending conditions will continue.
Through the teaching of Women of Hope broadcasts, women
are having the opportunity to become more educated for daily
living and more aware of spiritual matters. They are then more
likely to protect their children. "And their own wounds
can be healed through Christ's love," Marli insists.
For the record
· In some countries, half of all girls are married by
the age of 18 because of poverty, tradition, and family pressure.
In Nepal, 7 percent of girls are married before they are 10.
· Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a dangerous and
damaging operation that has no religious or legal sanction.
Between 85 million and 114 million worldwide have endured some
form of FGM, and some estimates go as high as 130 million.
· Of the 130 million children not attending school in
the developing world, 86 million are girls.
· Worldwide, as many as 15 million adolescent girls become
pregnant each year, and teens under age 15 are five times more
likely to die during pregnancy than women in their early 20s.
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