Photo Gallery
Girls Share Their Dreams on a Milestone Day
A decade ago, the United Nations sought to build awareness of girls’ rights with the first International Day of the Girl on Oct. 11. On this 10th anniversary, Global Press Journal reporters asked girls in 10 countries about their hopes for the future.
Amandla Salmerón, 13, practices aerial dance in her house in San Cristóbal de Las Casas in Mexico's southern state of Chiapas. Amandla says she’s grateful to be surrounded by many women, including her mother, grandmothers, aunts and cousins, and considers all of them her role models.
Miker-Ange Fonrose, 15, threads beads to make bracelets and necklaces in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. Miker-Ange makes jewelry every weekend. “My inspiration is my teacher, who creates extraordinary things," she says. "I hope to become a great creator of costume jewelry.”
From left, Mungunsar Myagmarsuren, 11, Mongoljingoo Nyamsuren, 10, Egshiglen Zolzaya, 11, and Otgonjargal Gurragchaa, 11, members of the Children and Youth Theater circus club, perform in Erdenet, a city in Mongolia’s northern Orkhon province. “When I become an adult,” Mongoljingoo says, “I will live with my friends and always rehearse our dance routines together.”
Jolie Kahindo Kasumba, 16, eats pineapple in Kirumba, a town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Jolie Kahindo, who studies nutrition, hopes to work as a nurse. She wants to be like Alphonsine Kanyere Musayi, a prominent lab technician at a health center in Kirumba. “She is brave and communicates well with people,” Jolie Kahindo says.
Enkhzaya Tumurkhuyag, 14, plays a yochin, a traditional Mongolian percussion-stringed instrument, at her school in Murun, a city in northern Mongolia’s Khuvsgul province. Enkhzaya, who dreams of becoming an actress, says she thinks of her mother whenever she plays the instrument.
Amaya Valentina Navarro Muñiz, 8, who lives in the mountains with her mother and sister, climbs an adobe oven below her house in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico. Amaya Valentina, who wants to be a teacher, says what she likes most about herself is that she is strong enough to climb.
Patience Manjeya, 14, cooks a meal for her family in the eastern Zimbabwean city of Mutare. Patience has decided to be a nurse after seeing her mother deal with complications from hypertension. She hopes to have a good job so she can support her mother and two brothers.
Alma Sofía Álvarez, 6, left, and Ángela Francesca Carabajal, 6, eat lollipops at their relative’s house in La Matanza, an area just outside of Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital. Alma, who wants to be a pastry chef, says what she likes most about herself is her intelligence and that she can learn many things, like how to roller skate.
Bupe Nakazwe, 14, bounces a netball at the Olympic Youth Development Centre in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital. United States tennis player Serena Williams is her role model. She “inspires me a lot because she has made it big as a woman in sport,” Bupe says. “I aspire to be big [like her] one day.”
Natalia Bautista Hernández, 5, surrounded by toys, plays in her backyard after school in Mexico City. When she grows up, she wants to be like her teacher because she likes the way she draws on the board. She hopes that in the future, the moon will come so close to Earth that she’ll be able to touch it.
Ujin Ganzorig, 9, trains for a state championship at a swimming pool in Dalanzadgad, in Mongolia’s southern Umnugovi province. Ujin won a silver medal one month after she started swimming. “I should win the gold medal definitely next time,” she says. She wants to become a swim coach or physical education teacher.
Alexa Colin Uribe, 16, whose quinceañera was delayed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, celebrates her birthday with friends in Tecámac, State of Mexico. Alexa wants to become a cardiothoracic surgeon. “I have a very easy smile, and I like to listen to others,” she says. “It’s also easy for me to help almost anyone I’m with to feel good.”
Penélope Quiñones Molinary, 15, an aspiring artist, sits under a tree at Parque Colón, where she finds inspiration surrounded by nature and animals, in Aguadilla, a town on Puerto Rico’s northwestern coast. Penélope dreams of having a studio space where she can sell her artwork and work as a tattoo artist and hairdresser. “I just have to keep doing the things that I like and not think about what others think,” she says.
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