African Girls Leadership Initiative

SUCCESS STORY

Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa (hereinafter “Foundation”) is proud to announce that we have our second graduate, Korto Johnson who graduated from the University of Liberia on December 18, 2013 under the Foundation’s African Girls Leadership Initiative (AGLI).She has been awarded a scholarship by the Foundation to do her Masters at KU-Leuven in Belgium.

Above: GPFA Scholar, Korto Johnson (Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration) with Mrs. Norris, GPFA Program Assistant at her graduation program in Paynesville, Liberia.

Update on Programs

The Foundation under its African Girls Leadership Initiative (AGLI) presently has 50 scholarship recipients. However, financial aid and school related support have been provided to fourteen students under our two newly launched Our Children’s Fund and President’s Fellows.

The Foundation held a successful Educational Roundtable on December 19^th, 2013 under the theme, ”Seeking Solutions, Feasible Alternative Solutions”. This Educational Roundtable brought together thirty-two trainers and specialists from universities government line ministries, vocational and technical institutions. Their discussion in line with the goal was centered on seeking solutions to the present stagnant status of the Educational system in the hope of providing a new way of learning to help alleviate the learning challenges faced by students in Liberia. Above: Participants at the Educational Roundtable held in Monrovia on December 19, 2013

The 2^nd Annual Breakfast Walk and Talk End of Year Event under the theme: “Walk for Quality Education” was held on December 21^st, 2013 bringing together 300 women, men, girls and boys. This was a ten mile Walk with participants carrying banners with various messages advocating for the provision of quality education for all.

Our first Breakfast Walk and Talk for 2014 was held on February 22nd, 2014 under the theme “Love”. with Rev. Dr. Katurah York Cooper serving as the motivational speaker.

“The Afternoon Enrichment Program is positively impacting the lives of students in River Cess County by both improving and being perceived as improving their academic performances and helping in the development of other life skills. These impacts should not be seen as restricted to Cestos City alone, but rather as covering the entire county of Rivercess, since its only high school, Cestos High is included in the project. These improvements include: Higher scores, higher retention rates, lower pregnancies among female students, increased capacities of schools through provision of materials and training of some instructors/administrators”.[1]

Annual Gathering of Scholars scholars

Above: GPFA’s scholars during a group work session at the Annual Gathering of Scholars

The 2^nd Annual Gathering of Gbowee Scholars was held at Musu's Spot on January 29th 2014. The Annual Gathering brought together 40 AGLI beneficiaries from 9 local universities, 5 high schools, 1 vocational school and the Eastern Mennonite University and 3 of our prospective international scholarship recipients for Vassar College, Barnard College and Clinton School of Public Service respectively in the United States of America. This gathering provided the opportunity for them to interact and personally engage Nobel Laureate Madam Leymah Gbowee. The scholars discussed leadership as it relates to women and shared the challenges encountered by female students in schools. These challenges ranged from regular power cut (no electricity) for high school boarding students to study at night and the reality of getting back home late after school due to limited transportation services available in the city for commuting students. Classes are overcrowded due to limited available professors for major courses.

GPFA 2nd Anniversary Fund Raising Dinner was held on January 31st at the Executive Pavilion. Seven International scholarships were awarded. On this day, the AED Technical Institute for Girls and our two new programs earlier mentioned were launched - Our Children Fund and The President’s Fellows.

GPFA Scholars during the 2^nd Anniversary Fundraising Dinner at the Executive Pavilion in Monrovia on January 31^st, 2014

[1] End of Project Evaluation Report of the Afterschool Enrichment Program conducted in December 2013 by Phil Tarpeh Dixon

This has been a wonderful Spring/Summer quarter for the Gbowee Peace Foundation
Africa’s (GPFA) Flagship program – the African Girls Leadership Initiative
(AGLI).  Like we reported last quarter, our scholarship program continues
to grow.  To date, we have 18 international scholarships that we are
filling for the 2013 through 2014 school year, and we have filled 53 local
scholarships already. The start of the local school year means a busy time at
GPFA.

Masters Degree Scholarship in
Europe                                                                                                                 
                  

We have sent our 1^st Europe-based Masters hopeful to the Ivory Coast to
complete the application requirements to attend a Masters level program at a
Belgium based-University. This includes taking the Test of English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL), and acquiring a visa to Belgium, where the KU Lueven
University, our European Master’s Program Scholarship donor is
located. All of this entails full coverage of the student's travel - this
includes us paying for room and board, airfare, feeding and transportation.

Spring/Summer Sessions
Abroad                                                                                                                           

Spring and Summer brought a flurry of activities for GPFA. We sent off
several Scholars to Ireland, Spain, Ghana and Canada for our Spring/Summer
Session Programs. GPFA is so very grateful that with the help of all of you
wonderful international and local donors, we are able to continue sending
qualified women to attend colleges and universities within and outside of
Liberia. We continue to screen for females with demonstrable need
for assistance and work with media outlets, local NGOs, high schools
and government, and the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to identify
qualified prospective students.  We recently got the test scores (WAEC
results) which we are using to screen college-ready, students on a need-basis
for the 2013-2014 academic year.  We take pride in providing
a transparent process for students to fairly access our scholarship
opportunities.

Update on GPFA's Programs

We are about to enter the second trench of our Rivercess Afterschool
Enrichment Program, to ensure that students in rural areas
continue to get supported through our Scholarship Program. With only
one high school in the entire county, we want to be sure to provide the
necessary tools students will need to be successful. To date, we are working on
compiling the necessary books and materials needed for them to have a
functional mini-Library/Resource Center. In mid-July, we completed our Peace
through Fair Play Annual Youth Camp at the Wulki Farms, where we
hosted forty-one 4^th through 12^th graders, aged 10 to 16
years, including 4 visually impaired students. The camp included learning about
improving life skills, living peacefully together, tolerating each other no
matter creed, color, or beliefs. Camp participants were fortunate to have on of
Liberia's best [retired] Soccer star come facilitate Sports day with them,
They played basketball and soccer; afterward, they spoke about fair play in
sports, and how that can correlate with fair play in everyday life.  The
camp culminated after several conversations about defining oneself and putting
a spotlight on gender awareness. In this session, they switch roles, where the
boys presented from the female point of view, and the girls presented from the
male point of view. it was fun and educational and they learned to appreciate
each other more. A Mini-Career day and a Traditional Cultural Dance
learning session closed out the last day of camp. The students were able to see
a lot of animals on the farm, ride horses and swim. The camp was a success and
the students had so much fun. Our next program completed was the Segal
Ambassadors for Family Planning.  A total of eighteen GPFA
graduate, undergraduate and high school scholars attended, representing
eight post-secondary institutions and two high schools.  The theme of
the workshop was: Empowering Women and Girls: The Benefits of Reproductive
Health, Rights and Family

Planning.  Facilitators were drawn from Medica Mondiale (MM),
the Plan Parenthood Association of Liberia (PPAL)

and the African Development Alternatives (ADA). Last but not least, we just
completed GPFA’s 2^nd Annual Moving Beyond the Class Room
Symposium was. Held at the National Sports Complex, we had a huge
turnout; over

200+ students gathered at the gate of the host facility, despite torrential
rainfall on the day of the program.  To gauge the level of
seriousness the prospective attendees attached to learning, an open call
was put out via Radio and Newspaper Ads, along with the posting of Flyers at 36
Senior High Schools. We ended up going over our mission limit and allowed one hundred
and seventeen of the two hundred students into the Symposium. they hailed from
13 of the 15 counties of Liberia and were 8th through 12th graders.  The
primary goal of our Symposium is to expose students to actual opportunities
beyond the classroom that will enhance academic performance in their studies,
especially in the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Exams and other
post- secondary assessment testing. We aim to build their competitive
disposition in order to have them seek to self-educate

beyond regular school curriculum and most importantly, have them excel amongst
their peers globally. This process they understand will help them meet our
scholarship criteria, hence the huge turnout. Our 2^nd Annual MBC
Symposium was a wonderful success!

Our International Partners – An Update:

Ashesi University, Ghana

An accredited, independent university located in Ghana, AU’s
Scholarships provided to GPFA includes full tuition for four years, a free
laptop, free meal plan, free accommodation on campus and transportation home
during the summer months following their first year. This year we have added
two more scholarships in collaboration with AU to start in the fall and winter
sessions.

 

Eastern Mennonite University, United States

EMU is a private liberal arts university established in 1917. With funding
from USAID, the Foundation provided four (4) women peace activists the
opportunity to continue and advance their education at the Women’s Peace
Leadership Academic Cohort Program. The program is a two-year graduate
certificate program and our cohort will be graduating soon. GPFA is exploring
funding possibilities for the 2014-2015 school years right now.

University of Leuven, Belgium

UL is offering two scholarships for African Women to earn their master’s
degrees starting in 2013. GPFA seeks a partnership with Dutch airlines KLM to provide round-trip airfare. All expenses related to study at UL will be covered under the university’s Leymah Gbowee
Fund for African Women. For the 2013 - 2014 academic school year, UL is
also partnering with GPFA to provide two more scholarships in Africa.

University of Seville, Spain

Considered one of Spain’s top universities, UoS is offering one scholarship
for a GPFA Scholar to earn a master’s degree. In addition to full payment of
tuition and housing, UoS will provide the recipient a grant of 6000€ (7295USD)
to cover international round-trip airfare, books, medical expenses, and a
stipend starting fall 2013. GPFA is happy to get the opportunity of
sending one student on UoS' scholarship program with the tuition, room
and board all paid up, where the Student has a choice of getting
a Bachelor of Arts or of Science Degree in any area of study of their
choosing offered by UoS.

Vassar College, United States

Ranked among the top 25 liberal arts institutions in the United States,
Vassar is providing a generous package of four years of full tuition, room and
board, international travel and a stipend for books and supplies to two young
women to be identified in collaboration with GPFA to enroll fall 2013. To date,
we have sent out ads for the openings, had interviews and recruited two young
women worthy of the scholarships. Their preparation process is ongoing.

University of Arkansas - Clinton School of Public Service,
United States

University of Arkansas offered GPFA one scholarship to a 2-year Masters
of Public Service degree program. This includes full tuition, housing and a
stipend. GPFA has set out a call in the region, for prospective recipients and
completed interviews. At present, GPFA is finalizing the application
process with the top two candidates in order to move into the second
phase of preparing them for the international testings. If successful, the
scholarship year will start in fall of 2014.

Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas, United States

GPFA was fortunate to have acquired a full four-year tuition
scholarship offer from Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas for two African students.
Lyon College is the oldest independent college in Arkansas and is an
exclusive liberal arts institution of higher learning; it is consistently
ranked highly by U.S. News and World Report.

University of Indianapolis (Indianapolis Campus) United States

GPFA was awarded One Scholarship for a Student, towards a degree
or non-degree program of their choosing. We have advertised for the
opening and also directly contacted schools seeking recommendations, based on
need and grade point average.  The application process is ongoing.
Originally we had been offered two semesters at their Greece campus.
unfortunately we cannot take advantage of this offer due to the closure of that
campus.

Barnard College, United States

Two Students will have the opportunity via GPFA to attend Barnard College.
The scholarships offer includes; Tuition, Room & Board, Books, Supplies, Insurance and the cost of each individual's international flight from their home country to Barnard University. To date the
application process is ongoing and the successful candidates will be moving
into the second phase of preparation for international testing.

CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange) Leadership
Academy: Spain & Ghana

Two Liberian High School girls got the opportunity to take advantage of
two non-Degree seeking Summer Scholarships to attend and
experience CIEE's Leadership Academy. Their meals, transportation, room
and board were covered by CIEE. For 2013, the countries of exchange were Ghana
and Spain and the GPFA scholars had a wonderful time, doing community
service, meeting new friends, and learning about their host country
culture. The facilitators were highly impressed with the young women.  We
look forward to having scholars who fit the criteria attend again next year.

Polytechnic University, Mozambique

Mozambique's Polytechnic University was happy to give GPFA two scholarship
offers for Liberian students. Their school's tuition will be paid toward them
studying their Bachelors of Arts, or Bachelors of Science degree in their
program area of their choosing. The application process is ongoing and
specifically making a call for Portuguese speaking applicants.

LOCAL UNIVERSITIES:

With the celebration of our first year working with women and
girls and ensuring those in our program get to be their very best selves to
accomplish their educational aims, we are already looking toward the future of
the organization. With the help of donors like you, GPFA shall continue to
grow.  Our happiness stemmed from the fact that we were able to offer
so many scholarships to deserving young women, all with the help of financial/in-kind
donations from people like you, our GlobalGiving donors.  We have added
several new scholarship criteria to benefit females of the disabled community
in Liberia. This was a crowning moment for us at GPFA as we always wanted to be
able to give equal opportunities to people from all walks of life and this
scholarship offer serves that purpose.  We continue our efforts to provide
scholarships for Liberian women to attend domestic colleges and universities,
and establish partnerships with institutions to obtain scholarships. With
the nearly $20,000USD raised at the inception of the Foundation's work
from private Liberian citizens, we continue to work on placing women and
girls at major colleges, universities and technical institutions. The
Foundation’s collaborations and partnerships are broad and deep as it develops
relationships with the local and regional communities, academic institutions
and global companies.  

GPFA is excited about all of the possibilities that exist futuristically. We
look forward to doubling our partners for the rest of 2013, with the aim of exponentially
increasing our educational placement in schools at home and abroad.

Links:

• GPFA 2nd Annual Moving Beyond the Classroom Symposium