Maya, a 16-year-old girl from Dolakha district in Nepal, is already a mother and a wife. Nepal has the second highest adolescent pregnancy rate in South Asia, and it is estimated that one in 10 girls there will marry below the age of 15. A large proportion of them will drop out of school.
But Maya has been helped to go back to class, and attends an Adolescent Friendly Space for girls aged 12-18. Of the 22 girls in Maya's group, half are married; some are pregnant, while others are mothers already. At the end of March, Maya took her school leaving exams and hopes to continue to higher education. She knows that it will be harder as a young married woman with a child. But she is using her experience to raise the confidence of other younger girls: "As a girl, you already face many barriers. It is better to focus on your own goals and complete your studies."
Maya's story shows how to go beyond describing the tough reality, to changing it. We can be led by an optimistic realism, focused on the power of girls rather than their plight, and on enabling girls to learn, lead, decide and thrive.