SAN FRANCISCO — As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to alter our lives, a startling truth has been realized that, sadly, mirrors trends of all global crises. Women and girls, particularly…
Read MoreNEW YORK-- I started Share in Africa, a non-profit that works to help girls in Tanzania reach their potential through education over 10 years ago when I was 15 --…
Read MoreDENVER--Imagine you are on a shuttle bus on a medical mission in Equador driving through the majestic Andes mountains. You’re en route to Quito, the capital, from Cuenca, a remote…
Read MoreSAN FRANCISCO--Is there something inherently powerful about being female? I believe so. There is an inner strength and boundless energy that lives inside every young girl and woman. In fact,…
Read MoreBELGRADE, SERBIA—There used to be a popular slogan back in the 1980s on everything from bumper stickers to book marks and t-shirts that stated: “If you can read this, thank…
Read MoreLONDON—It’s the last week of Tara Westover’s book tour for “Educated,” her memoir of growing up in rural Idaho in a family of survivalists, and she really can’t wait to…
Read MoreMONROVIA, LIBERIA--Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world and has an education system to match. According to the Liberian Demographic and Health Survey, in rural areas, 66%…
Read MoreDENVER AND NEW YORK VIA SKYPE—With her characteristic “let’s talk about it” approach to problems and wry sense of humor, Ashton Applewhite, an activist and expert on ageing, is taking…
Read MoreMONTE CARLO AND LONDON VIA EMAIL: Jelena Djokovic is one of those people who seems to somehow eek more than 24 hours out of a day. The 31-year-old wife of…
Read MoreCAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA—As the Lego robot started driving around the classroom, 12-year-old Likhona Maginindare, who wants to be a transplant surgeon when she grows up, started jumping up and down with excitement. But when the robot’s shovel-like mechanism at the front did not lift up and move like it was supposed to Ms. Maginindare and the four other pre-teen girls in her after school science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) group were told by their teacher to go back to the board where the instructions were posted to find what they had done wrong with their coding. After a lot of concentration, conversation and giggles, the girls recoded the robot and –viola—the robot’s front end lifted up. Theirs joined the other three robots, programmed by their fellow classmates, in revving around the room bumping into each other as the girls looked on with enthusiasm.
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