Arezo’s story
Arezo, a 13-year-old school girl is devastated. She is at risk of being one of those 12 million girls forced to marriage yearly. She knows, that not only her childhood, but also her education will come to an end, as she is forced to marry a 60-year-old man to become his third wife.
Arezo has never been able to understand why girls are not valued, why she is not able to pursue her dream. Her parents are sad, but they are too poor to be able to continue her education. Also, the pressure from the community is getting bigger, neighbors are asking, when will Arezo be married?
Arezo has so many question burning in her mind, but no one to ask, girl should not question or ask too much. It is best to be silent and to obey.
But, we have a vision for a solution. And we are working on it.
Arezo’s school is We Encourage partner and Arezo and her family gets sponsored trough We Encourage impact program, that offers a nest egg and money for necessity products for Arezo, pays her schooling and gives a monthly support for the family, so they do not need to marry off Arezo.
In the We Encourage program and with the help of We Encourage’s partner organisation, Arezo and her family gets support for their decision to educate her. They meet other We Encourage families, learn about harms of early marriages and about the importance of girl’s education for the whole community. It relieves the pressure from Arezo’s family, to make the important decision, that some community members are putting them under, because they think Arezo should be married already.
We Encourage also invites Arezo to the We Encourage community that works globally online and locally offline. There girls and women are able to ask those questions that they are not allowed in their communities. Arezo is happy and she finds the courage to believe in herself, and to continue her education, she has support and new friends to move forward with.
Arezo and Alaia are fictional, yet their story is based on the real-life situation of tens of millions of girls. Our solution is aimed for helping those girls and women in need.
