Villagers say that no girl may marry into a neighbouring village until her in-laws promise to provide a girl in return.

ECONOMIST: Struggling to cope with a dearth of brides

His grandmother, Ruth Khumalo, had come to the village as a young girl.

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My father had perfectly valid worries: how would a DeafBlind girl survive in an African village, let alone build a school?

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By the age of 30, says Mr Singh, he had given up hope of finding a girl from his own village, Nandgaon, or from his state.

ECONOMIST: Struggling to cope with a dearth of brides

Residents of a remote village in India's Rajasthan state are celebrating the return of a seven-year-old girl who had accidently strayed into Pakistan.

BBC: Pakistan returns Indian girl who strayed across border

In June last year they rescued two people, including a 13-year old girl kidnapped by the LRA from the village of Kidi, about 12km from the town of Yambio, close to the DR Congo border.

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Desperately in love with the indifferent Victoria (Sienna Miller), the prettiest and perhaps shallowest girl in their serene Victorian English village, Tristan strikes a bargain: If, as a birthday gift, he brings her the star that has just fallen, Victoria will be his bride.

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"Pinki was a depressed, sad, lonely, shy, young little girl, growing up on the periphery of the society in a little village, " said Satish Kalra, director of Smile Train's South Asian region, after meeting with Pinki.

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The United Nations, the World Bank and any organization you can think of say that an educated girl is a girl who can get a job, become a breadwinner and raise herself, her family, her village, her community and eventually her whole country.

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