This week instead of a regular meeting, we had a combined gathering of Rotarians at Manchester Country Club on Tuesday. The purpose was to listen to three speakers, Jan Razia, Beth Murphy and Patti Quigley. These three women presented an outstanding presentation about female education in Afghanistan. A little about them:
Jan Razia is an Afghanistan national, past president of the Duxbury Rotary, Founder of the first
free school for women in Afghanistan, recipient of CNN Top 10 Hero, a Global Women of Action and much more.
Beth Murphy is the documentary producer of "Beyond Belief" and a new film "What Tomorrow Brings" Both are about Afgan women and their challenges.
Patti Quigley, widowed in the 9/11 attack, established
Beyond the 11th, a non-profit that supports projects that provide sustainable
incomes to Afgan widows and their families.
It is unfair to think that these brief descriptions are anywhere near to all they really contribute.
Beth showed film clips of the school that Razia founded in Afghanistan for girls. In the several clips, we saw the young girls in school, how they responded to education and their lives being changed by education. In Afghanistan, females are not ALLOWED to go to school. Many are married by the age of 13 to much older men. Females are not allowed to talk in the presence of men. They have few if any rights.
Jan Razia founded a FREE school for females, The Zabuli Education Center. It is grades K-12 with this year being the first graduating class of 7 senior girls. The discrimination, threats and abuse these young women face is incredible. Yet they go on. The water at the school is tested daily for poisoning, the school is threatened, Yet Razia is able to work with the elders to enable these girls to continue their education and give them self-respect in a patriarchal society.
It is impossible to adequately capture what the 3 amazing women conveyed to the audience in this short newsletter but it was awesome and eye opening.
Go to www.raziasrayofhope.org/sponsor-a-girl. and you will be able to sponsor a girl for $25.00 a month. Education, clothing,
and food is included.
On a lighter note, East Hartford Rotary had a great turnout for the above talk.
No fines or songs this meeting.
The November 11 the meeting is at Goodwin College. Please order your grinders from Bob at bobbuettner29@aol.com if you have not done so.
Nov 17th Manchester Rotary is sponsoring a Pakistani dinner at Rashamn Restaurant on John Fitch Blvd. Cost including tip is $18.00. Contact Liane Lombardi at 860-645-7807 for a reservation.
Sorry for such a somber High Gear but the film clips and information were very serious.
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