Thursday 8 May 2014

BRING BACK OUR GIRLS



By Aastha Kapoor
It has been more than a month since those 276 schoolgirls were abducted from their schools and carried in a convoy truck by a group of militants in Nigeria. Around 50 of them have managed to escape and there is no news about the other 223 who are still missing. Sadly, the Nigerian government hasn’t been in action which has made an outside intervention inevitable. Social media has managed to gather a worldwide support for the cause of bringing those girls back home safely. The region they come from is a hotbed for the terrorist group ‘Boko Haram’ whose English translation is “Western education is a sin”. It is therefore not a daunting task to look for the real cause behind the abduction. Around 50 schools have been demolished in the country in recent months. It was here that these girls had resolved to get over their fears and pursue their education. Many of them were to become doctors and lawyers till the day arrived when they were kidnapped. It is feared that these girls would be put into sex trafficking.
Therefore, the problem roots from the cultural and social stigma associated with education which reveals how much work is yet to be done to dream of a happy and safe Nigeria. Only a well-informed and educated person has the tool to uproot the mismanaged system. While the US Secretary of State John Kerry has called Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to act urgently on the large scale kidnapping and human trafficking incident, it is not the first time that an African country has come to news; there are many sectors like health, infrastructure, security, education and safety that need to be developed which in turn is impossible without worldwide solidarity and actionable plans.
Sadly, one single incident takes us miles behind our cause as it takes a lot of time to re-kindle and re-instate the same trust in people’s minds who have endured hardships to seek for a better change all these years. DeltaWomen itself works to rebuild that society. It is important though that the efforts don’t halt and that we don’t fail in our little endeavours to bring out a positive change. Even if it is signing a petition on change.org, every little effort is worth it. It is necessary to survive and win this war.
Malala Yousafzi won her fight, lets hope these schoolgirls win theirs too.
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