THE HIGHLIGHT of U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama’s visit to Liberia Monday was the revelation that the United States Aid for International Development will be putting up $US27 million in funding to directly support Let Girls Learn, a U.S. Government initiative aimed at ensuring adolescent girls across the world attain a quality education that empowers them to reach their full potential.
THIS IS A WELCOME initiative for Liberia but in particular for the scores of young boys and girls who parade the streets of Monrovia daily in search of daily bread when they should be in school.
MANY HAVE NO CHOICE but to roam the traffic stops in raggedy clothes and in some instances, no shoes or slippers in between cars pitching sales of water, bread and other essentials.
MANY HAVE NO CHOICE because they have become a growing part of an emerging generation of breadwinners who have been forced to sacrifice their schooling to fend for the family.
THE SAD REALITY is that young girls and boys will never be able to reach their potentials if they are forced to fend for their families by roaming the streets and selling goods to earn daily bread for their families.
THE SAD REALITY TOO is that many cannot afford the cost of tuition, books and learning materials. Many of these kids attend schools were they are forced to sit on floors and without benches or chairs. Others sell their goods in the morning and attend school in the evening.
IF THE OBJECTIVES of the US effort is to Let Girls Learn, then the U.S. and the Liberian government must look into ways in which the future leaders of tomorrow can have easy access to education without worrying about working to raise money to fend for families or to pay school fees.
FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA says she was driven to the initiative after becoming aware that more than 62 million girls lack access to education. “when I learned about these 62 million girls, I was angry. I thought, how on Earth can we sit by — particularly in places like the U.S. where we have so many resources and we have some girls that don’t go to school not because they can’t, they can’t afford it, but because they don’t know the importance of it — how can we sit by when there are so many girls who would give anything to go to school? And you are among those girls who are doing everything in their power — that’s why I’m so proud of you.”
THIS IS WHY THE US$27 MILLION should not just be used to develop new programs, elevate existing programs or leveraging public-private partnerships, but it must also build infrastructures of teaching and learning networks that will provide a haven for young boys and girls to have easier access to education.
IN AIMING TO BREAK barriers that prevent girls from attaining an education, the U.S. is committing itself to build on more than $20 million in existing contributions made by a variety of organizations to the Let Girls Learn initiative and announced by the First Lady earlier this month as part of the United State of Women Summit.
SAID FIRST LADY MICHELL OBAMA: “I am thrilled that we are making these new investments in adolescent girls’ education and deepening our partnership with the Government of Liberia,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “These girls are so bright and so eager to learn, and these investments will help them build the knowledge and skills they need to provide for themselves and their families and contribute fully to their communities and their country.”
THE BIGGEST CRITICISM of the US AID to Liberia has been that a lot of the aid money promised to Liberia never reach Liberia but is instead used to fund U.S. operations and salary for aid workers, making it difficult for these initiatives to make the kinds of impact they should be making.
WHILE WE APPLAUD First Lady Michelle Obama’s efforts and the effort of the Peace Corps volunteers and trainees to resolve these issues, it is important for all involved, and this includes the Liberian government and its stakeholders, particularly, the USAID, to go beyond the rhetoric and beyond the promises by ensuring that the environment for learning is accessible for all.
THESE YOUNG GIRLS ARE the future. Some are already mothers because they were born into poverty. At ages as early as nine, some are forced to sleep with men far beyond their ages and are forced into premature adolescence.
OTHERS TURN to a life of prostitution because they have no other means of livelihood, no other means of support.
WHAT THEY DO NOT NEED is a society or environment that makes it harder for them to learn, that makes it tougher for them to achieve their goals and difficult to fulfil their objectives in life.
NOT ALL OF THESE GIRLS are lucky to find a haven with the Peace Corps volunteers or other groups dedicated to helping them and not all of them are fortunate to have some sugar daddy to fund their way through school.
THIS IS WHY IT IS necessary that we make free education a priority for this post-war nation in the midst of completing a transition from war to peace. Letting Girls Learn is a good thing, but having the will to lessen the load of the learning curve it requires for them to learn, is even more important on this bumpy road of their tree called life.