DH's Crusade

DH apparently has his own personal crusade. And really, I'm proud of him for this. He's been going through a really rough patch so I thought I would brag on him a little. He doesn't really read this blog, but maybe it'll help in some silent way.

DH stands up for the Girl Child.

As most people know, education in developing nations is a little sporadic. Schools are hard to come by and once at the school it is hard to attract students and keep them. In America school is free for everyone. Not only is it free, but there are laws saying we must send our children to school. In this way we are trying our hardest to educate every single child and give every child that chance.

In Ghana, they haven't yet reached that point. Education is for those who can afford it. Students must pay school fees, buy their own school desk and chair, buy their own books, and their own uniforms. Everything is mandatory in order to attend the school. The government proclaims that books are provided for every school, but when versions are updated, they are not supplied. When books are worn from years of use, they are not replaced. When a single corrupt person somewhere in the chain from getting books ordered to getting them to the schools steals the books or the funds, the schools never get the books. Not only do the students bear the burden of paying for school supplies, their families must make do without the money they spent on education and without the extra hands to farm to feed the family.

Families have many children for many reasons. They don't have birth control, they don't know how many will actually survive, and the more children they have, the more hands to work the farm. When one child leaves for school, they have a huge financial burden. The school has taken one who will farm, fetch water, clean, hunt, cook, etc., and left the family with a seemingly non contributing family member constantly asking for money for school and food to eat. A family sacrifices a lot to send a child to school.

Catholic Relief Services used to provide free lunch to elementary school students to encourage families to send their children to school. Sometimes this meal was the only food that child would get for the day. Catholic Relief Services recently suspended their program for lack of funds. Bad economy.

When it comes to decided who to send to school, little girls get the short end of the stick. Girls do a huge amount of the household chores and moms struggle to get everything done without them. Plus men need to be the head of the household so why educate a girl? A girl needs to know how to cook, clean, harvest, and care for children. They don't need to learn anything in school. A man however must provide for his family and if he can manage to get a non-farming job, then his family will eat well and afford a nice home. A man wants a woman who can cook well and listen to instructions. ... Or so some think.

What often happens is that girls are sent to school until they are old enough to marry. As soon as they are able to marry, the families remove the girls from school and send them to the man's home. Many times it is arranged by both families.

In order to stop the removal of girls from schools, the government passed legislation that says a girl can not be taken from school to be married. She must first finish school.

You see, a guy can be visiting a friend in a neighboring village and see a girl. He likes the way this girl looks, so he comes back a few days later with a few of his pals. When she is alone on a path, they take her. They don't care if she is a student or not. She has been "eloped." She has no choice but to stay. She is but a female. They watch her every move to ensure that she does not leave.

Even if her family can get her back, she will have a rough time. As you can assume, she has likely been raped and may be pregnant. I should add these girls can be as young as 13 or 14. Who would want to marry a girl who is known to not be a virgin? She will often refuse to return to school at this point. Who would have the motivation to go anymore?

DH takes education very seriously. He believes everyone should be educated. The sacrifices made are necessary and worth every minute after you graduate. He would go days between eating when in school. His family did not have money. His grandfather sold the family's cows to pay for his education. After the first year he qualified for a scholarship and had the last two years paid for. Education means everything to him.

So when DH sees a family keeping a child from school he gets irate. Especially if the child wants to go to school.

He called the Girl Child agency on his older sister because she was keeping his younger sister to take care of her children and not letting the younger sister go to school. They forced her to give his little sister back to their mother so that she could go to school. She started first grade at 13 years old.

He called the Girl Child agency on his aunt. She was keeping his cousin out of school. His cousin now lives with DH's father and is attending school.

DH nearly called the Girl Child agency on his own father and brother when his brother married a girl that was formerly a student. It was being debated whether the former part was before they got married or a result thereof. They convinced him she hadn't been a student for a while, but he still isn't happy with them.

The most recent is with DH's half sister. She was eloped last week. This hit him hard since he is now so far away. He has been on the phone day and night trying to get her back. He is not sleeping from the worry about her. He called the head of the Girl Child agency and she told him that she would take care of it, but she was in a different region of the country and wouldn't be able to help for a week. This is hard to take when you don't know what is happening to your sister. Finally all the threats to the guys who took her paid off, and she came home yesterday. They are going to take her to the hospital to make sure she is ok - at least physically. DH is afraid she won't return to school and that she may be pregnant. She is around 16 years old.

People in his village and his entire family know not to take a girl out of school. DH is not afraid to call the authorities on you. He seems to be the guardian of all the students in his village.

He stands up for people who can't stand up for themselves and I love him for it.

I love you, DH. I'm so blessed that God gave you to me and me to you. Our son is lucky to have you as a father and an example of how a man should be. And if we ever have a little girl, I know you will always guard her safety and her education and love her for all that she is and all that she can be.


(I didn't proofread, so JC, did you find anything?)