PAYLP Through the Eyes of a Meridian Intern

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /
co-author:

PAYLP group photo after their presentations with panelists.

 “This program has offered me the opportunity to experience what I’ve learned in school, a lot of what I teach my pupils and read on the internet and books…. I am sure this will breed a group of young leaders with a hunger for success.” (Private Mchenga of Malawi, PAYLP Adult Mentor participant) Students will often look to adults, school, and friends to shape the things they do not know. When that is not enough television and movies fill in the gaps.  As it turns out, romanticized perceptions, movies, and television often steer us further away from the reality...

Continue  

“The Impacts of Exchange Programs in My Life” by Massolian Fahnbulleh, A Liberian Let Girls Learn Participant

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /

Massa and her colleagues on the Let Girls Learn Exchange Program, visiting the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum.

My name is Massa and I am from Liberia. This is actually a real experience about my life. I never thought I could be outspoken and participatory until I went on the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program because I used to be a very shy person. But when I went to the U.S. for the one year program in 2011, I learned how to speak in public, do PowerPoint presentations, and cultural presentations in front of audiences. I also learned how to sing and dance in my American high school. Then came the “Let Girls Learn” program...

Continue  

“The Let Girls Learn U.S. Exchange Program” by Bochra Laghssais, A Moroccan Participant

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /

Bochra with some of her fellow Moroccan participants at the White House for a screening of We Will Rise.

First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama invited 22 Moroccan girls and 22 Liberian girls to the White House for the premiere of the CNN documentary We Will Rise on October 11, the International Day of the Girl. I was one of the Moroccan girls invited to Washington D.C. as part of First Lady Obama’s “Let Girls Learn” initiative. The White House visit was a follow-up to First Lady Obama’s visit to Liberia and Morocco in June 2016, during which we Moroccan girls participated in a roundtable discussion on the challenges young girls face in order to continue...

Continue