Unifeed
LIBERIA / GIRLS EDUCATION
Download
There is no media available to download.
STORY: LIBERIA / GIRLS' EDUCATION
TRT: 2'30
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: MONROVIA, LIBERIA, 2-3 MARCH 2007, LOFA COUNTRY 28 FEBRUARY 2007
Monrovia, Liberia, 2-3 March 2007
1. Wide shot, Mamiwhe walking at the market
2. Med shot, Mamiwhe with her mother at the market
3. Close up, children at the market
4. Wide shot, Mamiwhe and her mom selling fish at the market
5. Med shot, Mamiwhe's mom cleaning the house
6. SOUNDBITE (English), Elizabeth Kpahgbor, mother of Mamiwhe:
"To send my children to school is hard, very very heard."
7. Pan left, Mamiwhe with her teachers and school friends walk pass the camera
8. Wide shot, Mamiwhe talking with her schoolmates
9. SOUNDBITE (English), Mamiwhe Kpahgbor, 16 year old student:
"I really love school and I love…,I do well in economics, that's my subject, I do well in economics and physics, physics gives me problems, it's very hard!"
10. Med shot, destroyed school
11. Med shot, children carrying bricks
Lofa Country 28 February 2007
12. Wide shot, destroyed school
Monrovia, Liberia, 2-3 March 2007
13. Zoom in children, boy with tattoo
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Mamiwhe Kpahgbor, 16 year old student:
"The war was so bad. In a war you don't have food, no food! I got problems. My father got sick and he died during the war, it was so bad!"
15. Med shot, girl studying in classroom
16. Wide shot, students in uniform walking by the roadside
17. Various shots, Mamiwhe sweeping the floor
18. Med shot, Mamiwhe's sister preparing dinner
19. Close up, Rape awareness billboard
20. Med shot, pregnant girls waiting at health clinic
21. SOUNDBITE (English), Mamiwhe Kpahgbor, 16 year old student:
"After the delivery, they get so weak. They say "I'm so old to get back to school, I will be shamed, my friends will laugh at me". They don't go again, they just sit. That's why I want to make a difference."
22. Med shot, Mamiwhe writing
23. SOUNDBITE (English), Mamiwhe Kpahgbor, 16 year old student:
"I want to get married when I'm 24 or 25. Me looking, first, I would like to love the man. I would like this man to be, you know, educated. Handsome? Of course that part is out of the question because he must be handsome!"
24. Various shot, Mamiwhe with her baby niece
After school, 16 year-old Mamiwhe Kpahgbor goes to the market to help her mother sell fish in Liberia's capital, Monrovia.
At her stall each day, Mamiwhe's mother, Elizabeth, struggles to make ends meet to support her family. Sending her 4 children to school was always a priority.
SOUNDBITE (English) Elizabeth Kpahghor, Mamiwhe's mother:
"To send my children to school is hard, very very hard."
In a country where only 26 per cent of women are literate, Mamiwhe is one of the lucky few who made it to high school.
The 10th grader says she likes studying, most topics anyway.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mamiwhe Kpahgbor, 16 year old:
"I really love school and I love…, I do well in economics, that's my subject, I do well in economics and physics, physics gives me problems, it's very hard!"
Poverty, social-cultural practices and Liberia's civil war have had a devastating impact on education. The war disrupted the school system and traumatized children.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mamiwhe Kpahgbor, 16 year old:
"The war was so bad. In a war you don't have food, no food! I got problems. My father got sick and he died during the war, it was so bad!"
Now that the conflict has ended, UNICEF is helping get more than 1 million children to school.
Getting an education has been especially hard for girls who are asked to help around the house and are traditionally discriminated against.
Sexual abuse and exploitation is another problem for girls and early marriage or pregnancies often interrupt their schooling.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mamiwhe Kpahgbor, 16 year old:
"After the delivery, they get so weak. They say "I'm so old to get back to school, I will be shamed, my friends will laugh at me". They don't go again, they just sit. That's why I want to make a difference."
Mamiwhe says she wants to become an architect and hopes to get married but not too early.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mamiwhe Kpahgbor, 16 year old:
"I want to get married when I'm 24 or 25. Me looking, first, I would like to love the man. I would like this man to be, you know, educated. Handsome? Of course that part is out of the question because he must be handsome!"
As Liberia rebuilds, Mamiwhe is hopeful her education will help her make a difference.
=
UNifeed