The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday October 24, 2007 - 3 Afghan school girls need protection Continued from page 1 Rinehart has worked in Canada and abroad as a foreign correspondent in the USSR during the Gorbachev years filing stories with USA Today, US News and World Report, and the Los Angeles Times. Today, Rinehart's Give Girls a Chance aid agency streams 50 per cent of its funds to Canada and 50 per cent to developing nations to educate girls. Her talk revealed alarming statistics on just how many girls are without an education. She also fielded questions about the military presence in countries like Afghanistan where Give Girls a Chance is trying to make inroads, and why there should be a focus on helping girls, and not girls and boys, get educated. "It's not about putting girls over boys, it's about bringing girls up to boys," said Rinehart matter-of-factly. She was just as frank when asked about military presence in Afghanistan, admitting it's a tricky balance. "How can you educate girls when their schools are being burned down?" asked Rinehart, noting in Afghanistan 250 girls schools were burned down in one year. "They were bombing them as fast as they were building them," she said. "For world security, there is a very big need to have a strong military presence in these places," said Rinehart. At the same time, it's important for people in the countries to see they are being helped in more ways and with more than just guns, said Rinehart. She called it "a really tricky situation." Rinehart put a personal edge on her talk by explaining the inspiration for her own education. "How can you educate girls when their schools are being burned down?" Dianne Rinehart, Give Girls a Chance It was, she said, her mother, but not in a flattering way. Rinehart said her mother tried to stop her from obtaining an education by throwing her out of the house after she expressed an interest in a postsecondary education. "My mother believed education was wasted on girls," she said. Rinehart was taken in by her sister and brother-in-law, and worked part time to finish her last year of high school. Then she worked her way through university -- without the benefit of family financing or grants. Her mother refused to sign documents that would enable her to access grant money. "Ironically, I was motivated to get an education by my mother because I saw the effect of what not having one did to her," she said. "It made my mother live a smaller life. "There is a connection between education and opportunity, education and human rights and education and women's lack of human rights in this world," said Rinehart. Despite gains in women's education in western society, western numbers are small and potentially still tenuous, according to Rinehart. Globally, and even at home, the number of girls not being educated is staggering. Rinehart, however, looks with optimism at what she sees is a new trend that's taking place -- at the very highest levels of global thinking. She called it "a veritable tsunami." The United Nations, UNICEF, the World Bank and others -- the big players in the big picture -- have been championing the education of girls -- a trend Rinehart has noticed and applauds. According to UN statistics, approximately 576 million women world-wide account for 75 per cent of a total 876 million who are illiterate. While fewer than two thirds of children in sub-Sahara Africa See World-wide page 4 ADVERTORIAL Oakville has a Passion Oakville has a passion for linens. Not just any linens, but luxury linens from Home Sweet Linens. That became even more obvious after the overwhelming response we had to our article "Oakville's Best Kept Secret" which appeared in the Oakville Beaver on Oct. 3, 2007. We had the opportunity to meet many new friends. That's right friends, because our customers are our friends. And when you sell to your friends, you sell the best quality and offer the best price possible. Our business is based on a whole different approach than other businesses. We do not believe in high mark ups. We make profit by selling a lot of linens to many customers and do not believe in making the day's profit by selling to one customer. We enjoy what we do and we enjoy providing our friends with the best linens at unbeatable prices. Not only do we help you make the best decision suited to your needs but we also want to hear about your day. To put it simply, we love linens and people. We love to bring you exciting new products and new styles. When we decided to expand our retail business, we knew that we wanted to remain in Oakville. Growing up in Oakville and having been here for over 21 years we had a pretty good idea of what Oakville needed. Oakvillians appreciate quality and unique products and we wanted to sell only high quality unique linens. So we were a perfect match. Our unique designs and ability to provide custom sizes is why interior designers shop at our store. We also wanted to be able to give back to our community by offering great prices and donating to local charities. Thank you Oakville for supporting a locally owned business and allowing us to do so. Our sold out Bamboo Towels are in stock now. Bamboo fibres are very good for your skin. They are very silky soft and at the same time very absorbent. They naturally resist mold and mildew and are breathable. They are a must for everyone who cares about their skin and about the environment. They also make great Christmas gifts. Besides our in-store selections, we also have catalogues and swatches that you can look through and choose your bedding. These orders are available within 4-7 days. This order process allows us to carry a huge selection and at the same time keep the prices low. So come to our store and check us out. We would love to meet you. For more information visit www.homesweetlinens.com or the store at 2857 Sherwood Heights Drive, Unit 8, 905.842.9877