Tahira

age 17, unmarried in Bangladesh

Tahira's dream is to get a bachelor's degree and work
in a bank.  

She recited the conditions of the government program from which she was receiving a scholarship to attend secondary school, then said: "Getting a daughter married before she is 18 is a punishable offense. I have put up posters that say, 'One is not old at 20, so do not marry before that age' and, 'Do not delay: send your daughters to school today!'…Nowadays, every child studies up to class V or VI. They see the posters and read them out loud. That way others get the message."  

Tahira was also beginning to reflect on how unfairly girls are often treated in her village. She explained that her parents were paying to educate her brothers and wondered whether she would have been allowed to continue in school were it not for the government's scholarship program.

Speaking of one of her school friends, she added, "And if Asha's parents needed to spend money on her, she would not be in school, that's for sure. They would have married her off instead!"