[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11257-11258]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to 
speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I was proud to be an original cosponsor 
for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, VAWA, which 
protects American women against violence and human trafficking. I am 
especially proud of the tribal provisions we included in VAWA, which 
are critical because nearly 40 percent of American Indian women will 
endure domestic violence in their lifetime, compared to 24 percent in 
the general population. VAWA ensures that violence prevention programs 
receive strong Federal funding and gives law enforcement powerful tools 
to fight violence and trafficking.
  Violence against women is not just a problem in the United States; it 
is a challenge around the world. That is why I am proud to be a 
cosponsor of the International Violence Against Women Act.
  One key step to empowering women around the world is through access 
to education. Unfortunately, for many young women around the world 
today, educational opportunities are limited. According to the United 
Nations, only 35 percent of young women in Sub-Saharan Africa will 
receive a secondary education, let alone the college degree that opens 
up new opportunities for women in the workplace and in leadership 
positions around the world.
  But even though gender disparities in education remain high, 
especially in the developing world, countries and nongovernmental 
organizations are stepping up to the plate to make a difference. Today, 
I want to share the story of an organization which empowers young women 
in Rwanda by helping them receive a strong secondary-school education.
  Rwanda was devastated by the war and genocide in 1994, but against 
all odds Rwandans have managed to rebuild their country and become a 
model of low corruption, economic growth, and gender parity in 
government. The constitution mandates a minimum 30 percent 
representation for women in Parliament, and today, remarkably, it is 64 
percent women. These women have been instrumental in the reconciliation 
and rebuilding of the country and continue to lead today. However, 
women are not represented at this level in all sectors, and in the 
rural areas many parents are skeptical of the value of educating their 
girls. As is typical in many developing countries, if parents have 
limited money to send their children to school, many will send only 
their boys and keep the girls at home to help with household chores 
like collecting wood and tending to younger siblings. In Rwanda, 97 
percent of girls attend primary school, but less than 13 percent attend 
secondary school, meaning that only a small fraction of Rwanda's young 
women will have the opportunity to go to university.
  Rwanda Girls Initiative, RGI was founded in 2008 in Seattle, WA, with 
the mission of educating and empowering girls of Rwanda to reach their 
highest potential. RGI believes that education is the foundation on 
which all other development is built, and educating girls can 
exponentially increase this impact. With this belief and with a strong 
partnership with the Government of Rwanda, RGI started the Gashora 
Girls Academy of Science and Technology in 2011. Gashora Girls Academy 
is an upper-secondary university prep boarding school for 270 girls in 
grades 10-12 located in the Gashora sector of Bugesera District, a 
poor, agricultural area located an hour to the south of Kigali, the 
capital of Rwanda. This area was particularly devastated during the 
country's genocide in 1994. Gashora Girls Academy offers a curriculum 
that focuses on STEM subjects--science, technology, engineering, and 
math--with an underlying belief in the importance of educating and 
nurturing the ``whole girl.'' Beyond the STEM coursework, students 
focus on developing life skills, leadership, critical thinking, and 
problem-solving abilities. Crucially, they get an education in a safe 
environment, free from the violence that is all too common for many 
young women in Rwanda and around the world.
  In October 2013, Gashora Girls Academy graduated their first class of 
seniors. Of 85 graduates, 25 are admitted to schools in the United 
States, including Harvard, Yale, Smith, the University of Pennsylvania, 
and Seattle University. Two more girls are going to McGill University 
in Canada. These 27 girls coming to North America will be receiving 
approximately $4.8 million in financial aid in order to attend world-
class institutions. Other graduating students are attending schools in 
Costa Rica, China, South Africa, Ghana, and right at home in Rwanda. 
These girls will become national leaders, doctors, scientists, 
teachers, and more, each contributing to the success of their country.
  Enatha Ntirandekura is a recent graduate from Gashora Girls Academy. 
Both of her parents are subsistence farmers and the very little income 
they make is from a small plot of land. Though Enatha was always a 
strong student, some in her village discouraged her parents from 
allowing her to continue her studies. They said that a girl shouldn't 
be educated. At one point, someone in the village burned her family's 
coffee trees, their sole source of income. But her parents continued to 
send her to school, and she had the top score in her district on the 
national exam after middle school. She was offered a scholarship by the 
Rwanda Girls Initiative to attend Gashora Girls Academy. Enatha is a 
tenacious student and scored perfectly on the national exam she took 
after graduating this past year. Because of her success, she has been 
selected as a Presidential Scholar and will receive a full scholarship 
to an American university this fall. She hopes to study agriculture and 
then go back to Rwanda to work on the problem of malnutrition and food 
scarcity to help her community.
  As we can see from Enatha, educating a woman is a tremendous 
investment. When Enatha returns home with her degree in agricultural 
science, that one scholarship to Gashora Girls Academy will empower her 
to help many more people in Rwanda. And Enatha's story is not unique; 
in fact, it is the norm. One extra year of secondary school increases a 
girl's future wages by 15 to 25 percent. When a woman in the developing 
world receives 7 or more years of education, she marries later and has 
fewer children. When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 
percent of it into their families, creating a ripple effect for coming 
generations. Helping Enatha and the young women like her become 
doctors, teachers, and leaders will transform not only individuals, but 
entire communities.
  Educating girls and young women is the surest way to empower them. 
Education empowers them to teach, to lead, and to stand up against 
violence. I am honored to stand with my female colleagues to draw 
attention to this important issue. A great education transforms lives 
and can lift up entire communities and countries. I look forward to 
working with my colleagues to

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empower women and girls around the world.

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