Minivan Mamma's: The New Counter-Terrorism Task Force

There are roughly 152,819, 203 million women in the U.S. according to the 2006-2008 Census Bureau survey. Approximately 27% are under the age of 20.

There may be as many as 12.5 million women/girls in Afghanistan. Because there hasn't been a solid census in Afghanistan since 1979, these numbers are projections of projections. This is probably a high estimate (given the number of women who are murdered in honor killings, etc.).

Remember these numbers. I'll come back to them at the end.
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In the book, Half the Sky, the authors report on a Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting that took place in (2008). In this meeting, there was an unusual agenda item.

The Joint Chiefs talked about terrorism...not unusual. They also talked about the plight of women and girls in countries like Afghanistan. That's an odd agenda item for a bunch of military power-hitters. Why would all that brass want to chat about whether or not Afghani girls were going to school? Why would the Joint Chiefs care whether or not Afghani women could financially support themselves? Their children?

Fascinating thing, this is. You see, there seems to be a strong correlation to terrorism and the education/independence of women. Raise the education levels of the girls and increase the number of women who can eek out a survivable wage, and the seeds of terrorism are less likely to germinate. Huh? Go figure!

I'm not a fear monger by any means, but terrorism is a continued threat to U.S. military and civilians. I am doing something about that. By supporting aid to women and girls in Afghanistan, I am advancing the education and personal sustainability for girls/women in that country.

I am an army against terrorism. So are you. This is not idealism, the numbers back me up.

Based on those statistics at the top, if only 10 percent of U.S. women over the age of 20 offer financial support to Afghanistan's women and girls, every single female in Afghanistan will be matched (statistically anyway).

Yes, there are problems with the aid actually making it to every single girl and woman. The point is, if those of us who can offer support actually do it, then 10 percent of the women in the U.S. have conceivably done a better job curbing the growth of terrorism in Afghanistan than the military. If you can spare about $25.00/month, you are a member of this force. That's about all it takes to directly sponsor a woman in Afghanistan through organizations like Women for Women International. There are dozens of ways to make a difference, this is just one.

Think about it.

T.
change the lives of women, change the world


Resources for this blog:
Kristof, N. & WuDunn, S. (2009). Half the sky. New York: NY. Alfred Knopf-Random House, Inc.

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0101&-ds_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_&-redoLog=false

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=20554