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Despite death threats, she's still teaching. And a global online community has her back.

Zeph started her school for girls in 1997 when she was 13.

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Facebook #SheMeansBusiness

Sister Zeph remembers the moments that changed the course of her life.

For nearly 20 years, she has been a teacher running a school for girls in Pakistan, but she recalls the day that started a chain reaction for her.

When she was 13 years old, she gave a speech in class, but dared to sit in her teacher's chair.

"When the teacher came she started beating me ... in front of my classmates. She abused me and all the girls made fun of me. I was just crying and crying. I did not talk to anyone for days," she told Upworthy.

It turned out to be a pivotal moment for her.

"I decided to surprise everyone. I decided to do something that nobody expected. At that moment I decided to leave school and to become a teacher myself ... to make a school of my own.

In the beginning no one trusted me. No one was ready to join my school because I was just 13 years old. But I kept going, I did not want any child to experience what had happened to me."

20 years later, Sister Zeph remains the founder of Zephaniah Free Education, a school in rural Punjab, Pakistan.

The school serves 200 students seven days a week — amid threats and resistance — in a building that's only 12 feet by 15 feet.

Students in class at Zephaniah Free Education. All images from Zephaniah Women Education and Empowerment Foundation, used with permission.

In the Gujranwala region of Pakistan, where the school is located, only about half of women over the age of 10 can read.

Sister Zeph wants more people to understand this and other everyday realities for women in her region in Pakistan.

A photo of Sister Zeph's students!

In an email to Upworthy, Sister Zeph lists the jarring, and often unspoken, confines of being a woman in her area of the world.

"People do not know that they cannot laugh without permission, cannot speak loud, they cannot sing a song, they cannot have a dream in life, cannot wear clothes of own choice, cannot raise a question, cannot do a job ... their purpose of life is only to serve the husband, to produce children and to [run a] household."

Sister Zeph helps create opportunities for girls and women through education. Technology and online communications are a large part of that.

By educating women and showing them the opportunities that life has to offer, Sister Zeph hopes to change these circumstances.

"My calling is to empower each and every woman on this earth and to make them feel that they are not a property of men they are complete human beings equal to men," she said.

Pretty great mission, huh?

Well, not according to everyone. Sister Zeph and her students have met with opposition — and even threats — every step of the way. Sister Zeph's home was even attacked with guns in 2006 and 2013.

In addition to traditional school curriculum, Sister Zeph's school also teaches (and values) art!

Sister Zeph had been teaching for 13 years, keeping her head down and her school open, when she started using Facebook.

When she was able to access an online community, the obstacles didn't lessen, but the opportunities, support, and love increased exponentially ... and inspirationally. She told Upworthy of the transition from hopeless perseverance to determined tenacity.

"I had been teaching in open air for about 13 years. I was alone, there was no support, no help, and no hope. I was attacked by gunmen in 2006 but there was no notice of this thing, but then I joined Facebook. I started posting our activity on daily basis. I was admired from around the world. I was given financial and moral support."

Students with their artwork.

By sharing her story, her ups and her downs, Sister Zeph found a global community. Online, she also discovered World Pulse, a social networking platform connecting women worldwide for change. World Pulse's training, combined with Facebook's access, multiplied the outpouring of love from the online community around the world almost miraculously.

"I must say that Facebook is a most powerful tool to make a change in the world; my life is its proof," she added.

In the classroom.

Sister Zeph's story is so inspiring and so simple. Her example shows that so much is possible, even if you're 13, with no experience — just a lot of grit.

Here's hoping that her school creates an entire generation of strong leaders for her region, for Pakistan, and for the world. In her words:

"Education is a light and illiteracy is a darkness. And darkness cannot face the light, you know."

Students of Sister Zeph's students are models of strength!

Community

Facebook group brings people together IRL to make meaningful friendships

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Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

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friendship
Education

3,700-year-old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated, changes history

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

via UNSW

Dr. Daniel Mansfield and his team at the University of New South Wales in Australia have just made an incredible discovery. While studying a 3,700-year-old tablet from the ancient civilization of Babylon, they found evidence that the Babylonians were doing something astounding: trigonometry!

Most historians have credited the Greeks with creating the study of triangles' sides and angles, but this tablet presents indisputable evidence that the Babylonians were using the technique 1,500 years before the Greeks ever were.

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education
Education

In 125 years, millions of people have looked at this painting. No one really saw it until recently.

Van Gogh saw something it took scientists another 100 years to see.

Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Van Gogh’s Starry Night.



Van Gough never got to enjoy his own historic success as an artist (even though we've been able to imagine what that moment might have looked like). But it turns out that those of us who have appreciated his work have been missing out on some critical details for more than 100 years.

I'm not easily impressed, OK?

I know Van Gogh was a genius. If the point of this were "Van Gogh was a mad genius," I would not be sharing this with you.
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Joy

Woman who lives on a cruise ship shares the hardest part about her perfect life

She's a little afraid to leave her cabin.

via Christine Kesteloo/TikTok and Cagri Gurbuz/Pexels

Christine Kesteloo has one big problem living on a cruise ship.

A lot of folks would love to trade lives with Christine Kesteloo. Her husband is the Chief Engineer on a cruise ship, so she gets to live on the boat pretty much for free as the “wife on board.” For Christine, life is a lot like living on a permanent vacation.

“I live on a cruise ship for half the year with my husband, and it's often as glamorous as it sounds,” she told Insider. “After all, I don't cook, clean, make my bed, do laundry or pay for food.“

Living an all-inclusive lifestyle seems like paradise, but it has some drawbacks. Having access to all-you-can-eat food all day long can really have an effect on one’s waistline. Kesteloo admits that living on a cruise ship takes a lot of self-discipline because the temptation is always right under her nose.

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cruise ships
Health

Women do better when they have a group of strong female friends, study finds

We're stronger together.

Photo by Omar Lopez on Unsplash

Women do better when they have female friends.

Madeleine Albright once said, "There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." It turns out that might actually be a hell on Earth, because women just do better when they have other women to rely on, and there's research that backs it up.

A study published in the Harvard Business Review found that women who have a strong circle of friends are more likely to get executive positions with higher pay. "Women who were in the top quartile of centrality and had a female-dominated inner circle of 1-3 women landed leadership positions that were 2.5 times higher in authority and pay than those of their female peers lacking this combination," Brian Uzzi writes in the Harvard Business Review.

Part of the reason why women with strong women backing them up are more successful is because they can turn to their tribe for advice. Women have to face different challenges than men, such as unconscious bias, and being able to turn to other women who have had similar experiences can help you navigate a difficult situation. It's like having a road map for your goals.

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women
Pop Culture

Millennials nearing 40 are sharing their biggest mistakes so everyone can learn from them

Here are 21 of the most powerful responses.

via Pexels

Millennials are now old enough to seriously reflect on life.

It seems like only yesterday a millennial was a college kid that baby boomers chided for being entitled and Gen Xers thought were way too sincere and needed to learn how to take a joke. Today, the oldest millennials, those born around 1980, have hit their 40s and have lived long enough to have some serious regrets.

They also have enough experience to take some pride in decisions that, in hindsight, were the right moves.

The good news is that at 40 there is still plenty of time to learn from our successes and failures to set ourselves up for a great second half of life. These lessons are also valuable to the Gen Zers coming up who can avoid the pitfalls of the older generation.

A Reddit user who has since deleted their profile asked millennials nearing 40 “what were your biggest mistakes at this point in life?” and they received more than 2,200 responses. The biggest regrets these millennials have are being flippant about their health and not saving enough money when they were younger.

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millennials
Joy

Stop blaming the 'Karens.' The people who complain the most have a different name.

The stereotype has been wrong all along.

via Rickey123/Pixabay

A woman giving a stern warning.

Over the past few years, women named Karen have taken a lot of heat in the media. The term "Karen" has been used to describe a specific type of entitled, privileged and often middle-aged white woman. Typically, "Karen” is depicted as demanding, self-important and constantly seeking to escalate minor inconveniences to authority figures, like demanding to "speak to the manager."

Identifying the folks who create unnecessary drama in our world is important. But calling them a “Karen” isn’t the best way to solve the problem. There are many reasons to have an issue with the “Karen” stereotype. First, it’s terrible for people named Karen, and it’s also a connotation that many feel is racist, sexist and ageist.

Further, according to a new study by Trustpilot, the stereotype isn’t accurate. A recent survey by the online media site found that the people who leave the most one-star reviews aren’t female, and the women who do it the most aren’t named Karen.

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