They say that man cannot understand the meaning of true pain unless he’s gone through childbirth. Well, seeing as men will not be giving birth to little babies anytime soon or ever for that matter, I feel this saying better applies to gender inequality.

 What I mean by that is, the only way to understand someone’s experience is to experience it for oneself. We have to place ourselves in the shoes of someone else in order to truly understand their perspective and situation. For instance, one of the most challenging people to simply ‘be’ is a woman in Afghanistan. 

 We hear these horrid stories over and over about Afghan women who struggle for the simple ability to live, something we take for granted on a daily basis and we do not know how to react.

 These extremely strong women live in a very conflicted society, fighting for change in the government, struggling to keep their sanity and a minimal grasp on the reigns of life while consistently facing oppression by men.

 Now that I’ve placed that feeling of guilt in the pit of your stomach, here comes the good part…you can help.   We often feel certain issues are bigger than us and some one else will take care of it well, it’s your lucky day? You are that person.

 Every single one of us can help Afghan women through the extensive power force of education. We cannot bare to understand the horrid experiences of some of these Afghan women unless we place ourselves in their shoes. But we can help them, by supporting them in their fight for freedom to learn and continue their education past the fourth or fifth grade.  

 So have no fear! Education is the key to helping these women and brings this severely conflicted society into harmony. But it all starts with you, so what will you do? 

Picture Credits: www.wdn.org; www.digital-development-debates.org; www.huffingtonpost.co.uk; www.theaustralian.com.au