8. I am very lucky to become the only girl in my big
family to enter college, which places a great
financial burden on my family.
9. But my family and I believe it is worth it.
Education is the only way out of poverty.
.
10. But for others who didn't go to
college, they are living a completely
different life.
11. My sister got married at the age of 18 and now
works at a factory in a remote city which is very
far away from her cute children…
.
12. My brother quit school in fourth grade and married at the age of
19. Now he has to work hard at a construction site to support his
family. This hard job makes him work about 12 hours a day for a
payment of 80 yuan.
13. My best friend got married at the age of 18 and
his wife was 17 when they got married.
.
14. Since then, his wife spends all day caring for the family,
doing housework. Her only birthday wish is to hang out
with a friend in town without the baby.
.
15. Life should have been going well for her, but it
is always full of surprises.
.
16. My friend soon started dating another
woman and wanted to divorce
his 19-year-old wife.
19. My friend, my sister and my brother were
all married without a marriage certificate.
Their marriages are not protected by law,
so they are illegal marriages.
20. In this case, my friend, who is now
20, can leave his wife and marry
another woman if he wants.
22. We could say it is unfair for the
woman, but it is just what it is.
23. She is just one of many women in the village who
are suffering or have suffered this kind of
heartbreak. There are lots of illegal marriages in
the village.
24. It would be fine if the husband would honor his
commitment, but once he changes his mind, the
wife can do nothing to stop that or protect herself.
25. All my life,
I have witnessed the pain that women
who are my age have suffered.
26. Do you know some stories about the
illegal marriages?
What do you think about this social
issue?
27. Do you think there are any other
problems with illegal marriages?
33. The most important step is to
encourage the young to continue
school instead of quitting.
34. Another point is to educate their
parents, especially the parents of the
girls and make them aware of how
harmful it would be for their
daughters to get married too early.
35. As the first step of taking action, I made some posters
about the harm of illegal marriages and posted them in
my village on April 3 and received a very positive
response.
.
39. I can and I will keep going
with this message, but I
need your help!
40. I am requesting the Sias Law Program to help
me develop fliers, posters and informational
brochures to take to the schools in the villages
to inform students about early marriage and the
heartbreak it causes.
I will seek the support and endorsement of
women’s groups around the world.
41. I need advice from experts
around the world on how to
address this social problem.
42. • I need to raise $5000 to develop the
brochures.
brochures
I need a laptop to access more
information thought the Internet to
move on this project .
I need to cover travel and
administration
expenses.
expenses
43. Any efforts we make will change
others’ lives.
Will you please help me change
the future for women?
Selia Wang
Email: sweetselia@yahoo.cn
Phone ： 8615936210231
Skype ： sweetselia
Editor's Notes
What I am going to talk about today is an easy and complicated problem.
