We work in one of the poorest slums in the world, getting girls into school and making it impossible for them to fail. The MTM Academy opened on September 7th, and our first year is producing amazing results. Our Academy serves 120 girls and teaches them essential skills in math, reading, and science, while also ensuring they're healthy, safe, and well fed. Help the students of the More Than Me Academy become the next leaders of Liberia! (All project costs listed are per student.)
73% of Liberian children are denied an education - over 80% of them are girls. A girl denied an education, is a girl on the street; it's a girl who's exploited and condemned to underemployment. The ripple effect of this denial of her basic right is seen in the stagnation of her wages, her susceptibility to exploitation and disease, and even her children's future education. In West Point, an area with 75,000 people, there is only one government school. The girls of West Point need our help.
The MTM Academy acts as an inspiring school during the day and safe place to go in the evening. We provide our girls with 2 hearty meals/day, healthcare, nutritional guidance, psychological support, a vast after-school program, computer classes, and vocational training.
Educating one girl can change everything. Here's why: When a girl in the developing world receives 7 or more years of education, she marries 4 years later and has 2.2 fewer children. An extra year of primary school boosts girls' eventual wages by 10 to 20%. An extra year of secondary school: 15 to 25%. When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90% of it into their families. When we invest in girls, we all win. Our goal is that every girl at MTM will be able to make choices for her life.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Excel file (projdoc.xls).