[inaudible] thank you for joining us. I guess our grandmother granddaughter team will focus on making a difference in the world. Over the course of the creator theyve documented womens issues and 62 countries. Images have been on the United Nations of field museum in chicago. Shes lectured internationally and serves on the Advisory Board of three nonprofits. Joining her as her coauthor granddaughter. Along with her sister alex launched a Childrens Program in mexico. Shes conducted with gross and wrote sections of the book contributed many images. Please try me in welcoming our authors. [applause] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] girls are trafficked all over the world denied education, tonight equality and more. But, there is good news, that is that groups of girls are gathering together, they are finding strength in numbers and their fighting against those threats and making progress in some are succeeding already. Wonder girls, changing our world is the very first book ever to tell the stories of activists girl groups. There have been girl groups about activist girls but this is the first ever tell the story about groups of girls. All of the girls are between the ages of ten and 18. Alex and i together interviewed and photographed 15 groups of girls in 13 countries. Countries as diverse as tonga, malawi and mexico, and more. Well introduce you to some of those girls right now. Byebye plastic bags straight went tos sisters ages ten and 12 organize the children to collect signatures on a petition to stop the use of plastic bags. They distributed Reusable Bags to retailers. They sponsor roadside in beach cleanup. Numbers five signature kites and do flash mobs to increase the awareness of their cause. When theyre ready to present the first signatures to the governor pass for an appointment and he declined. Big mistake. They told the press they were going to go on a hunger strike, and they did that. The governor saw them the very next day. He also signed a memorandum of understanding helping them to ban plastic bags by 2018. This is my body is presenting him with a bracelet this is byebye plastic bags. She gave them to him as reminder of his promise every single day. Creativity for peace is a threeyear Leadership Program for is really a Palestinian High School girls. Starts with the summer camp, neutral ground typically none of these girls have ever met the enemy before. Members of the family have been injured, some killed in the violence as a passion runs high. Every morning, the girls talk together, they are paired, one israeli and one palestinian girl in every activity. They even share rooms. One girl told me the first night she lay awake trying to figure out how to kill her roommate. For month every morning they practice nonviolent communication and compassionate listening. Every afternoon they create art, again, pad one israeli and one palestinian. Sometimes chalk drawings on the sidewalks with santa fe. One afternoon no one circus teaches them acrobatics. Nothing could build trust faster than having to depend on the enemy to hold you up. Ultimately, the girls conclude that an enemy is someone who story we dont know. They will turn home to leave peace projects in their own community. Shaheen Resource Center in the old city of india, these girls are muslim undelete which used to be called untouchable cast another backcourt, an official government category in india. The girls first met they made drawings. One girl trooper but it had no wings. The woman there said, is that missing something in the girl rush back to her seat to finish the drawing enter a cage. She had almost no freedom. They cannot leave their homes without being accompanied by a brother, father, or uncle. Pass the police to protect them so they could walk to meetings. Today they trust safety maps that show places in the neighborhood they have been harassed or molested. They signed the maps and give them so they can redouble their surveillance of those areas. They teach each other moneymaking skills such as hannah, so they will not be financially dependent on their brothers or fathers or future husbands. After taking this picture i asked the girl who is doing the teaching if she considered herself an activist and she said yes. I asked her to tell me what she had done recently she was proud of. And she said last week, i did a stinging operation against a sex trafficking ring into buy. She is 15. You can read the story in her own words. But the bottom line is every member of that sex trafficking ring is in jail. [applause] shaheen girls are not allowed to sing. Only boys and their culture sing. However, these girls who are inspired by the music or practicing songs with lyrics about girls freedom. Define everybodys expectations, they are about to record a cd. Tonga. Like other parts of the South Pacific it has one of the highest rates of Domestic Violence in the world. At school and home children are being beaten so badly they often end up in the hospital. One girl told me her teacher pressure for not doing her homework by hitting her on the head with a stapler. Girls who belong to to lisa working to stop child abuse. The practice is universal and never discussed. Every two weeks, every week, two girls meet at the local Radio Station to broadcast a college. The do the research and then they host the program and it is called, my body, my rights. Boys and girls throughout the island and share their stories of abuse. They call and text or email. One girl told how her mother punish the children for not doing the dishes well and they were punished by having to throw silverware at them. She confided that she was afraid of the knives. To protect their identity the girls retell their stories on her without mentioning any names. The Radio Station promises these courageous girls who are bringing to attention and on discussable problem. These girls are blazing the nation. Means brainy sisters in swahili. Its also an ngo that awards scholarships so girls from kenya can attend the most competitive high schools in nairobi. On every school break they help their Home Communities identify and solve a local problem. That clarice theres no libraries where she grew up in families cannot afford to buy books. She collected 300 textbooks, enough to fill a single book case. Helen had an idea about how to get nutritious food for people who dont have land for farming. She used polyurethane bags usually come with feed, sugar, flour. Shes teaching people how to grow vegetables like kale by filling the bags with dirt, fertilizer, and seeds. Schoolgirls unite includes middle and High School Girls in washington d. C. Bob is for Congress Members to support universal education for girls. The research issues, make appointments and run their meetings. Here, the talking with an educational staffer. And here, theyre waiting to met with barbara schoolgirls unite convince president barack obama to sign a proclamation making october 11 national day of the girl. Ten members of the group have an activist game plan. They have discussions about the content which makes it terrific. By now, its available on the website for girls who want to get elected officials to support universal education. Means we are equal. The name of an organization founded and is run by child domestic workers. They are actually slave laborers. Most work for very poor families who can afford to pay for them almost nothing. For 14 hours a day they do childcare, cooking, cleaning house, getting water firewood, going to the market, these families are so poor they cannot afford to pay them. If a woman lives high on the hill has to go down by the road to sell vegetables, she someone to take care of her house household. These are grow sometimes as young as six. They collaborate to improve their working conditions. When i was there they held a weekend retreat to develop strategies. They teach each others to do more lucrative work such as cooking and sewing. They educate policymakers and employers to ensure they get fair treatment and their legal rights. Pairs of los angeles include mila who is currently the duluth poet laureate. They write a three minute spoken word poem. Theyre both the classic and spoken with paul on platforms as diverse as the Hollywood Bowl in the white house. One africanamerican girl told us, i am the voice of minorities, one day we will realize there is nothing minor about us. Get what program has been incorporated in to schools curriculum has improve literacy and reduce dropout rates among 30,000 lowincome youth. The challenge is a challenge competition 87 countries who create mobile phone apps to solve social problems. My grandmother and i dock men and teams in mexico. Working with technology mentors and business coaches to identify problems create prototypes and write business plans. Sometimes while younger siblings looked on. This team, and once the Mexico National prize in 2015 to curb childhood obesity. Give recipes for healthy food and exercises for fitness. My grandmother and i cheered them on at the semi finals while they looked at teams competing as far as india and nigeria. And then the finals, mexicos team unfortunately did not win that year, but, they won the next year 2016. The first prize is enough to fund a startup to produce and market. One girl told us, we are little particles that can cost change, like the butterfly wings that can create a tsunami in another place. Malawi is a poor country. Three quarters of its citizen live on less than a dollar and a quarter a day. Often families marry off their daughters because it means one less mouth to feed. Half the girls in the country i married before they are 18. Most before their 15. Child marriage means sand of a Girls Education and independence. Members of the Girls Empowerment NetworkWork Together with their elements to cause the change law and malawi. They wanted a law that will prohibit Child Marriage. They got help from others, they got help from women chiefs like this one who, although she was illiterate herself told me all five of her children had graduated from university and one was a member of parliament. This lady was devastated, distraught really when her younger sister, age 11 became pregnant, age 11. For five years the girls Lobby Department which finally passed a bill in 2015 that made Child Marriage illegal and allowing. How they celebrated. Creating this book was a collaboration between alex and me and girls all over the world who gave us their stories. In the book you will discover they tell their own stories in their own words. People often ask how we did such an ambitious project is this. For my part, that cashing in millions frequent flyer miles of flying to visit each of those 15 groups. I stayed with each for a week to ten days, because of my travel i was able to talk with 102 girls. Alex and i worked together and she assisted in several locations. So, i have school most of the time when we are creating the book, but i was still able to interview over 70 girls by their facetime, skype or email. I asked different questions that my grandmother like what would help you from leaders of the book and girls in their lives. I summarize their answers in a section titled how you can change our world. You can find ideas on wonder girls. Com. My sections are an invitation a call to action. I want to tell just one final story about a little girl whom i met and you gonda. She was ten. She took my hand to show me around the neighborhood. As we walked around were talking and i said, do you consider yourself an activist and she said yes. I said tell me something you have done that you are proud of. She said last week, convinced her neighbors to stop beating their daughter. And i said, bravo. Let me ask you another question, what gave you the idea that at age ten, you could cost change . She looked me in the eye and she said, i know i can change the world in the future, so i just decided to get started. [applause] seem to me that if these girls historically have been here can invest their time, energy, and creativity in changing the world, what about us . Surely we can send their petitions and spread the word, surely we could volunteer and help them. Some girl said, i know how to do a computer, i could teach other people if i just had one computer. So some need money too. There are many ways to help, there are many reasons, we can also Pay Attention to the organizations that fund them. Organizations like mama cash from the netherlands. One world childrens fund, rise up, and the global fund for women. In fact, for those who have already bought a book and those considering it, 100 of our author royalties from wonder girls go to girls around the world via the global fund for women which works in 175 countries. I hope you will join us to salute and celebrate and think wonder girls all over the world. [applause] wonder girls book. Com. Thank you very much that is the website. Please look at it. It also includes some ideas about things you might like to consider to become involved with these girls. There is no language barrier because everywhere they do not speak english, we had interpreters. How did we find the groups . Because this is book six for me about women and girls over the world of the issues that face them, i had a network. The first thing i did when i had this idea was to email and say heres what im saying, are you . Nobody had written about this. I thought somebody should be telling the story. They began giving us names of groups they knew about, ultimately we also did our own research, i tried to balance the groups by issue, geography, and ethnicity. It helps if they were on United Airlines itinerary. Then i could get them for free. Was at her p to get into certain countries . Who did not ever traveler work without having approval from the groups. So we did not have to go unknown or without having somebody know about it. So we did not have trouble getting into countries, good question. What inspired us to write the book . I am always interested in stories that seem to be important about women and girls that have not been told. Often in many cultures women and girls voices are silenced or disregarded. So, i feel passionately about trying to tell their stories. Cottage you get the girls to talk. When i often talk to the girls was after my grandmother. But i think csm, we asked specific questions that they gave us answers to. So thats how we got there stories. And i think alex is being modest. My observation is the girls because theyre closer to alexs hmi, which is 70, the girls are very open with alex. They told her things they didnt tell me. Im thinking about the girls in malawi who talked about how horrible they felt that their families were so vulnerable because their parents were so poor that they cannot buy them ounderwear panties and they didnt because they didnt show. Nobody told me about that. Other Additional Resources i could share with my students . Think much of what youre bringing up would be relevant to what i teach my class. There is information on wonder girls book. Com. Be sure to put in wonder girls book because it will differentiate that between wonder girls south korean black crew. Otherwise youll get things that are not good resources for you. Did you enjoy traveling to these different places . I loved it. I feel very privileged to do this work. It is not as much traveling as it is hearing people stories which expand my view of the world in a way that nothing else could. I am working when i am there. People asked me did i see and what did i think about it, i did not see it, i was interviewed sex workers. These are not tourist trips. But i must say, the most fun we had where i had was when alex and i went together to mexico. So the kids married under the age of ten . I interviewed ten or 18 girls, so there may be girls around the world primary before they are ten, sometimes nine, sometimes younger. But, we did not meet any. How long did you stay in the places . One week up to ten days in each place. Any problems with men while you were there . I did not. But, i know these girls are truly courageous. Theyre doing things in their cultures that are violations of tradition. These girls are often faced with discrimination and exclusion in their own family sometimes do not stand by them. I will say talking about men because i happen to think men and boys are important to making changes to benefit girls, i will say that girls groups like the womens groups that i have visited they often included boys. They were friends, brothers, supporters in many places, i dont think to call themselves feminist really supporting the girls and trying to cause change. I think thats the only way it will happen. It will take all of us working together to cause change. Alex will answer your questions. What year did you finish writing the book . I think we finished in may of 2016. We started mid 2015. I did the first photograph in 2013. For me it was almost a five year project. How can girls do not get permission if they want to have children or get married at a young age . Why dont they have a free choice. Its mostly their traditions from where they live, because this is how they been doing it forever. So its just how the lifestyle is. Its not really a matter of asking permission, in fact, and caicos stand i interviewed girls have been bribed kidnapped. Thats exactly the outrage that i felt, in that country it is a tradition that boys magi by the high school and see a cute girl and stop and grab her and take her to their family. If they can put a white lace handkerchief on her head she has to marry the man. 80 of the marriages in the rural areas start that way, and the cities its no longer happily and definitely illegal in that country. There are major disrespectful things happening. The girls simply are not taking it. Theyre working against it and making real progress. How you get started and how you transition to this book. The first book was about women all over the world, i learned from the beijing conference and 95 that mothers were making crafts selling them in order to send their children to school. And i thought, they are heroic. So the first book was called in her hands. The second book crew from the, as i was packing up my cameras in india one of the women said come back in the fall i will teach you the dance that we dance all night to honor the mother god. And i said i am coming. They did teach me those stances. That book was titled celebrating women was about festivals and celebrate women. There also sometimes celebrated. That book celebrated many things for women. I have four more to go, the fast the next one was about guatemala. It was called the book lorries. A salute to the people of guatemala. Number four was called the women who let the dark about women who run nongovernmental organizations. I see them as superstars. That was the first of what i now see as cryptic. The next was grandmother power, global phenomenon. And now, girls. Now your turn. Not a lot i think that is a really good question, tell me what you think. To be honest, i dont really know. Many girls and women around the world dont know either. It is a great surprise to imagine to many people that men, women, boys and girls are equal. I happen to believe profoundly that is a present in a future that we need to Work Together to achieve. Im aware that many people are not yet there. My publisher is very careful to be sure im not giving any money was in my book. Which is great for them and me. Id like to say take everything in heaven summerhouse but i didnt. I gave them some think you presence. I got little watches over dental digital watches but i do not pay them or give them other gifts. [inaudible] that was early in the time of microcredit when it wasnt much yet discuss. An Organization Called this and india was an organization that had a womens bank. They might have been illiterate but they use their fingerprints to identify themselves. They put their money in the bank. Even their husbands were afraid they might not be able to get it back out. Everyone was very nervous about banks. I have a few questions for alex. What was the most shocking to . My very first interview to San Francisco to interview them allow a group, a girl talk to us and we were incredibly the same. We both have Little Sisters both love snow. But, we experience them differently. She experience know when she went to new york to talk at the un. Very different. My sister and her sister, her sister is pregnant by the time she was 11. It was very shocking to me the difference about how same we were. Not really, i didnt really know much about these issues that happen specifically to girls. Having gone through this what advice would you give women ages ten to 18 in the United States . I would say find something youre passionate about, help that comes or how find a problem to solve it. My observation is that alex became an activist or sell as we get deeper into this book. Has this will change your perspective and i see yourself as a girl . It changed my perspective on how fortunate i am to not have to experience in these issues. It also makes me want to help these goes a and give them everything i have. Talk this morning about what the role of young men is and if theyre getting involved theyre coming into play with the different groups these girls are setting up themselves. When you interviewed the girls today feel that boys are being supportive of them . What was the role with boys their own ages . Were so focused on the girls issues. Tonight go into that kind of depth. I would have loved to get go into it. I really think its important that men and boys be included in the changes happening. One of the groups i know for sure there are boys included in participating so they are writing their own poems so it wasnt that big of a difference, they were certainly helping out for girls issues. When you talk about families taking them, my question is did that happen equally with boys and girls . Are boys also sent . If you look in europe it was common for families to come and ensure that to wealthier families. Both boys and girls indentured essentially . Girls were mainly, often they were indentured by the fence as families do not have enough money to feed them much less educate them. As always during that transaction it someone in the family neighborhood who offers an opportunity to go to the city or school. However, there are some small families of children and their son that included boys and girls. Though this so that group who are often split up, they struggle because the eldest child was most likely to feel responsible for the others. They worked so hard sometimes they did not know where they had gone. The majority of that group are girls. [inaudible] we did hear stories like that, like that group. I saw jane goodall when she came to the hollywood schoolhouse and byebye plastic bags is a part of that program. But you ask . Are you involved in it . Tell us. We ended up saving water to the school and we ended up saving lake 357 gallons and then we got project of the month. [applause] i did not find any that were, i think its because we laid the groundwork before we went. I never photographed anybody until i had talked with them for maybe an hour. So, they felt fairly comfortable come all over africa they were call me whatever word meant grandmother, judge, their relationship with me was completely different than what was with alex, but, they were not reticent about telling their stories, i had shown them other books so they knew exactly what they were getting into. They were very proud of being able to help girls around the world when i explained that 100 of the royalty would go to girls around the world, they wanted to be part of that. What would happen if one of the girls tried to fight back against the men . I dont know. Nobody talked to me about that experience. Ill have to ask more about that the next time. Thank you all for coming. [applause] at this time will be moving into the signing portion of our event. If you like to get a book signed their located at the base of the stairs. Please purchase it before joining the signing line. [applause] [inaudible]