If you have a daughter...

"If you have a daughter and a son, educate your daughter first. A girl has to be well-educated, strong, powerful and independent so she never depends on men to protect herself or change her life" - my father used to tell when he was talking about girls.

He was the only man in my entire family who supported us - his daughters to study abroad and educate ourselves. He told me to “Go, even to China, if you want to educate yourself.” Although it wasn’t accepted in my community for girls to study abroad, my father stood with me and supported me (four times) when I decided to come to the United Stated to study.

Today is an International Day of Girls! I can't keep silent without sharing my thoughts in such an important day. I think it is necessary to talk about issues and discuss the ways of their solutions in order to solve them and make some changes.

Although we live in a XXI century, unfortunately, there are still countries, communities and cultures that do not value girls, and the worst case is that they do not accept girls at all. 

Having a girl in a family still is a big issue for some people, like, a heavy rock standing in their way that they can't remove. SHE is NOT a rock but a flower blooming in a rock.

To my mind, one of the main issues is that some people - men think that having a boy/son is a privilege and they can rely on boys when they get older. We need to change that mindset! Men/fathers have to acknowledge that if they teach their daughter to be strong, brave, well educated and powerful, she can protect and support not only herself but him-her father even two times more than a boy. The main thing is to teach girls those skills, share love and support them.

We are a big community of Femigrants - diverse women coming from various countries and cultures. We are in a country where we can express our opinion, protect ourselves and teach our daughters how to value themselves. We should build the confidence in our daughters, in any girls around us - in our neighborhood, in our community. We should teach our daughters to believe in themselves. If my father didn't teach me those skills, I wouldn't be here, where I am now! 

Talk to girls in your family, neighborhood and community and tell them they can do whatever they want and become whoever they want to become. Tell the girls that they are strong and they have rights to make a choice. Tell them today so they change their life tomorrow!

PS: Below photo is one of my favorite photos although the quality is not good. I love the meaning of this photo, older sister climbed the rock and helps her younger sister to climb the rock too. 

This is a great inspirational example for us. This is how we should support each other and help each other to climb the rock and reach our goals together - as a girl, as a woman, as a leader!

Tell me about your experience as a daughter in a family and a girl in a community? Do you have an opportunity to celebrate your day? Do you get a support and acknowledgement from your family and community? Have you ever stood up to protect a girl in your community?

Happy International Day of Girls!

Ika Aliyeva,

A proud daughter and a proud mom!