By Jim Gold, msnbc.com
Robert X. Fogarty / Dear World, Write Our Future
Beatrice Biira uses her story of luck lifting her from poverty in Uganda to urge aid for girls on International Women's Day.
A Uganda native who rose from poverty because of luck in the form of a goat her family received when she was 9 looks forward to International Women?s Day on Thursday as an opportunity to say don?t stop investing in girls? education and resources.
Beatrice Biira?s early story was chronicled in the best-selling children?s book ?Beatrice?s Goat,? which propelled Biira into the international spotlight?when first published in 2001.
?I connect my story by connecting goals of how much more work needs to be done,? Biira told msnbc.com in a telephone interview from Heifer International?s Overlook Farm?in Rutland, Mass., where she is in training with her new employer ? the same charitable organization that gave her family the goat, named Mugisa, or Luck, in the Lukonzo language.
Biira, now 28,?sold milk from the goat?s offspring and saved enough money to get an education, moving from her village, Kisinga, to Uganda?s capital, Kampala, for high school. She graduated from Connecticut College in 2008 and got her master?s in public service in 2010 from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.
Heifer International
Beatrice Biira at age 9 in Kisinga, Uganda.
As noted by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof in 2008 and by CBS? ?60 Minutes??in 2009, Biira is seen as an emblem of well-directed aid.
Biira said International Women?s Day is a symbolic time to celebrate women?s achievements socially, politically, and economically and to remember how much more needs to be done, especially in providing education. The theme this year is ?Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures.?
?In my own culture, Uganda, women don?t have the same opportunities as boys and men,? a situation she said is too common around the world, particularly where people are impoverished.
?Most of it is as a result of a lack of education and a lack of resources,? she said. ?Providing women with resources so they can contribute toward involvement, there is an undebatable return on the investment and how much they bring.?
Biira is one of 10 women Heifer is honoring for their achievements on International Women?s Day. And Heifer is just one of thousands of organizations, celebrities and individuals?globally marking?the day.
President Barack Obama plans to issue a statement about International Women's Day on?Thursday, the White House told msnbc.com
Organizers of the 101st International Women's?Day said?U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will issue a proclamation supporting the day and that?British Prime Minister David Cameron will call for elimination of violence against women and girls. Celebrity supporters include Reese Witherspoon through Avon and OXFAM supporters Helena Christensen and Kristen Davis. Marches and other gatherings are planned.
The day can be followed on Twitter?with the hashtags #womensday and #IWD, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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