Support Eduation For All

As we close out this month of September, most of the children in the United States have gone back to school for a new year of education. As I was growing up, the beginning of fall always meant “back to school” time… a new school year, new classes, new books, and new lessons. In the United States, we tend to take education for granted since it is provided to us as a fundamental American right. Many Americans don’t realize that even basic education is unavailable to many people in other countries, especially women.

Women are the key to ending global poverty. Because women are at the core of their families, the empowerment and education of women affords us the ability to uplift their children and their communities as well. Below are some important and enlightening statistics from CARE:

• Young women’s earnings increase 10-20% for every year of school completed.
• Girls’ education is the best path to achieving smaller, healthier families.
• An extra year of a woman’s education has been shown to reduce infant mortality by 5-10%.
• Children born to literate mothers are twice as likely to make it to their 5th birthday.
• Children with educated mothers are twice as likely to go to school and are less malnourished.
• Education is a powerful weapon against AIDS. Seven million cases of HIV could be prevented in the next decade if every child received an education.

What can you do? The United States can take an important step toward getting children in the world’s poorest countries into school by passing the Education for All Act of 2007. This bi-partisan legislation would make achieving universal primary education a U.S. foreign assistance priority. Send a message to your legislator today asking them to co-sponsor the Education for All Act of 2007!

Did you know that in some countries just $49 can send a girl to school for an entire year? Through tomorrow (9/30/07), when you donate to CARE towards educating women Sheila C. Johnson (a CARE Ambassador) will DOUBLE your donation (dollar for dollar)! It’s great opportunity to make your donation more powerful than it’s ever been.