A Change U Wish Post – The Girl Effect

© Emmanuelle Lambert

See that little girl up here, the Little White Riding Hood? She’s my niece, Méline, 4 years old. She’s a funny pretty smart little girl, and I love her to bits. Her imagination knows no limits, she’s a story teller, and she doesn’t mind going for a walk with her auntie when said auntie is around. She lives in France with her mummy, and sometimes she stays with her daddy, my brother, and his doggie. She is a big girl, she goes to school you know. I hope she keeps that lightness and imagination to grow as the artist she already is. I hope she knows she can choose to be whoever she wants to be. I hope she realizes when she’s older how lucky she is, to have been born where she was born, 29 years and 364 days after her hippie auntie.

Some girls don’t have this kind of luck. Some girls don’t go to school. Some girls don’t have a lot of opportunities to work their imagination. Some girls only have their imagination to hold on to. Some girls get big way too soon for their tender age and don’t get a chance to live a fulfilling life while supporting their family.

I have no idea what it feels like. I have no idea what some girls endure because of traditions or because “that’s the way it is”. I have no idea what it’s like not to be educated, not to have the choice to go to university, to be married before 15 and pregnant at 16. I have no idea what it’s like to live in a “developing country”. So why on earth am I writing this post today?

Well first because I can. I have the means and the access to spread awareness and support the Girl Effect and my sisters.

Because I do believe in the strength of the divine feminine and the power of solidarity. We women tend to be superficially bitchy – don’t lie you know it’s true – but if we unite we are strong, beyond measure.

Because I hope Méline never has to worry about all this, and that we make this world a better place before she reaches adulthood.

How long will it take before we, girls, women, crones, stand up? We can start today, and you are invited to join in Tara Mohr’s blogging campaign about the Girl Effect. It’s not too late.