Each month I recieve the National Geographic magazine, and each month I’m humbled by how little I really know about the world around us. I’ve just finished an article on child brides that stated that every year 10 – 12 million girls were married before they reached 18 years old. Many of these are 10 – 13 year olds. The notion of marrying for love is simply not a part of aculture where marriage is about duty, respect and family honor.

In true Naitonal Geographic style they gave both sides of the story, both the 5 year old girl being married off in the middle of the night, and also the fathers concerns of how to keep an unmarried daughter safe and well kept. It bought me to think about our version of right and wrong. Life would be so simple if things were clearly defined, however what appears wrong to us has been working for thousands of years so do we really have any right to judge and condem?

The most I believe we can do in any given situation is to try to empathise with both sides and genuinely understand their perspective and reasons for doing things. In doing this we can learn to dispel judgement, become better people and work towards creating a better world to live in.