The most impor­tant move­ments can hap­pen qui­etly.  They are not flashy, they take years to bear fruit.  Unher­alded peo­ple work hard, endur­ing deep resis­tance and some­times per­sonal danger.

But in some ways, more than emer­gency aid dur­ing dis­as­ters, these move­ments lead to endur­ing, pos­i­tive change.

Bring­ing lit­er­acy to girls around the world is one of those movements.

Girls learn­ing to read in Afghanistan.

Amy, one of our trea­sured cus­tomers (I don’t use “trea­sured” lightly), is advanc­ing this move­ment in one of the most dan­ger­ous places on earth.  She and her col­leagues at 10x10act.org are work­ing to bring edu­ca­tion, espe­cially lit­er­acy, to the girls of Afghanistan.  There can be few places on earth that need this work more than Afghanistan. And few places more dan­ger­ous and challenging.

Some facts quoted from 10x10’s web­site, sup­port­ing the value of edu­cat­ing girls:

• When girls receive 7 years of school­ing, they marry 4 years later and have 2.2 fewer chil­dren. (United Nations Pop­u­la­tion Fund)
• When 10% more of its girls go to school, a country’s GDP increases an aver­age of 3%. (Coun­cil on For­eign Relations)
• When female farm­ers are edu­cated, crop yields rise. (Food Policy)
• Edu­cated moth­ers are 50% more likely to immu­nize their chil­dren. And when more girls are edu­cated, a country’s mal­nu­tri­tion and HIV rates decline. (UNGEI, the Coun­cil on For­eign Relations)
• When women take lead­er­ship roles in their com­mu­nity, cor­rup­tion dimin­ishes. (Cen­ter for Global Development)

Hope among Afghan Girls

10×10 has assem­bled an impres­sive staff, includ­ing top-tier jour­nal­ists from the most pres­ti­gious national print and broad­cast news groups.  As part of their work, they pho­tographed the con­di­tions faced by these girls, along with inspir­ing images of hope.

Memento was lucky enough to get to pro­duce a sam­ple book for Amy, using these gor­geous, moti­vat­ing pho­tographs.  She car­ries this book to meet­ings with poten­tial major spon­sors. The book helps her tell her story. We love cre­at­ing hand-made books. And we really love mak­ing books that con­tribute to mak­ing a difference.

If you would like to learn more about 10×10, click here.  Their web­site is worth a look just enjoy the amaz­ing pho­tos.  But please click to fol­low the logic of this work. This is a chance to make real, last­ing change.  And we can all help.