Save a Girl's Life
and rescue her from forced
Female Genital Mutilation
The Ugandan teenager above beams as she collects her school supplies for the next term. Lucky to have found a sponsor to protect her, she is being sheltered from Female Genital Mutilation and educated at Peace High School. If she had stayed in her village, she would have been forced into FGM and an early marriage by now.
Every year thousands of girls and women lose their lives because of FGM. Some of them die immediately from shock or hemorrhage, others later, from infection, AIDS spread by communal ceremonies, or in childbirth gone awry because of physical damage resulting from genital cutting. But all of these girls lose their chance for health, happiness, and fulfillment of their potential and hopes in life. The Godparents Association's sponsors rescue girls from forced FGM by paying their school fees, allowing them to stay in school and prepare themselves for a life they choose. As funds allow, we offer tutoring and motivational experiences so that these young women can become leaders in their cultures, their country, and the world.
It is our belief and experience that education is the only short- or long-term strategy to stop FGM. Although resisting being cut requires enormous courage and willpower on the part of girls who belong to cultures that practice FGM, determination alone is not enough. At present, girls who choose not to be cut have no place in their home communities, and they need the life options that education can provide. If they remain dependent in village life, they will eventually be coerced and submit to FGM, followed by an early marriage. There will be no more school for them, no matter how talented they may be -- only a life of cultivating fields and caring for babies. Their communities, their nation, and the world will be deprived of the contributions these bright, motivated young women might have offered. The Godparents Association is looking for sponsors who will donate the funds to pay secondary-school fees for girls who have already taken the most important step, saying no to female circumcision. Your sponsorship of a young woman will truly save her life.