Molly Melching Thesis

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Child brides are often forgotten in the midst of everything going on in our world. Did you know 1 in 3 girls in the developing world are married by age 18? Or that 40% of girls in Sub-Saharan Africa are married as children? That’s two in every five girls! Molly Melching, a cultural entrepreneur, is doing everything she can to educate and prevent young girls from being stripped of their childhoods and forced into marriage.
While Melching was a student at the University of Dakar, her interest in working with children grew. She was an American exchange student to Africa who never returned home after her memorable experience with young girls. It wasn’t until 17 years later that her organization Tostan was founded.
Melching has spent her life dedicated to empowering communities at the grassroots level. She has lived and worked in Senegal, West Africa since 1974 where her experience living in the rural village only drove her to help young girls even more. Melching is known for her innovative education model, Tostan, that educates people on democracy, human rights, problem-solving, hygiene, health, literacy and parental education. Her goal; educate villagers on the dangers of child marriage in hopes of preventing it. …show more content…

Melching’s Tostan program is a huge part of the success she’s had in her 40-year struggle to end child marriage.The program has led to over 7,000 villages across six nations in West Africa to stop child marriage and forced marriage. Because of Melching, more girls go to school, more children are vaccinated, less girls have malaria, HIV and AIDS and other

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