Subira Popenoe is a junior at Mount Holyoke College working with Sherbro Foundation this summer.
When discussing why educating girls is important, it helps to think about the long-term potential. In Sierra Leone, the problem is not so much societal opposition but rather a lack of access. Women are often faced with financial difficulties, family problems, or early marriage and motherhood. In addition, the country is still recovering from the crippling civil war which left its infrastructure years behind many other African countries. Although many more girls and women are now going to school, there is still progress to be made.
Across the continent, African women are increasingly advocating for themselves, becoming leaders in their communities, and improving their quality of life. Particularly in post-conflict societies, women have had an influential role in recovery and rebuilding. Liberia, which neighbors Sierra Leone and also experienced a civil war, already has a female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Another notable example is Rwanda, a country which has made great strides towards gender equality. After the 1994 genocide, many women had to take over for their husbands who had been killed or imprisoned. They began running coffee farms, joining the police force and the army, and becoming engineers and government ministers. In part due to quotas, nearly two-thirds of the parliament now consists of women.
Leadership itself can take many forms be it as a mother, teacher, community organizer, entrepreneur, businesswoman, or politician. Regardless, education is the key to meeting women’s potential. Educating both men and women is what will translate government policies into change at the local level. When women know their rights and abilities, along with the concrete skills needed to achieve their goals, they can help a country such as Sierra Leone develop.
For more information:
Women’s Struggle in Sierra Leone- http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/3777.cfm
Sierra Leone Women Struggle for Political Role- http://www.voanews.com/content/sierra-leone-women-struggle-for-political-role/1554869.html
Rwanda: A revolution in rights for women- http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/may/28/womens-rights-rwanda
Rwanda’s women make strides towards equality 20 years after the genocide- http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/apr/07/rwanda-women-empowered-impoverished
Twenty years after the genocide, Rwandan women bring the country back to life- http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2014/04/08/twenty-years-after-the-genocide-rwandan-women-bring-the-country-back-to-life/
Rwanda: The Land of Gender Equality?- http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2014/04/08/twenty-years-after-the-genocide-rwandan-women-bring-the-country-back-to-life/
The Role of Women in Reconstruction: Experience of Rwanda- http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SHS/pdf/Role-Women-Rwanda.pdf
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Thanks, Ashely. Appreciate your comment. Arlene
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Hi, Ail. It’s WordPress fill-in-the-blank templates. Easy to use. Arlene
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Thanks, Kim. Hope you also go to the homepage and see the important work we are doing to support Ebola prevention in Sierra Leone. Serious turn of events over there now that needs help from everyone. Arlene
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Thanks, Domenic. Hope you also go to the homepage and see the important work we are doing to support Ebola prevention in Sierra Leone. Serious turn of events over there now that needs help from everyone. Arlene
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Thanks, Kendrick. Hope you also go to the homepage and see the important work we are doing to support Ebola prevention in Sierra Leone. The Ebola epidemic is quickly spreading and we need help from everyone. Arlene
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Wilson, no, sorry, I don’t. I’ve had no problem to date. I do keep a copy of everything I write on my hard drive, mainly because it’s easier to write there and just paste into WordPress. Arlene
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Thanks, Adriana. Glad you’re enjoying the site. Arlene
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Thanks, Tayla. I agree our summer intern Subira’s piece is well written. A lot is happening now in Sierra Leone with the ebola epidemic. Check http://www.sherbrofoundation.org for current news on how it’s affecting the rural community Sherbro Foundation works with – and how you can help! Thanks, Arlene
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Happy to help, Emelia. Arlene
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Thanks, Victor! Arlene
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Thanks a lot, Carmelo. Credits on this post go to Subira. Arlene
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Thanks, Deborah. And thanks go to Subira for this great guest post. Arlene
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Thanks, Jilian. Thanks to WordPress for a simple, stylish template and thanks to my work in Sherbro Foundation for giving me the authentic and current experience in rural Sierra Leone for the content. It’s easy to write on such vitally important information. We need credit Subira, a student working with us this summer, for this particular post. Arlene
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Thanks, Valerie. And I’ll say thanks to Subira, our summer intern for this well written post. Thanks for subscribing. I hope you’ve seen the latest post on our work to help with Ebola prevention. Unfortunately, duty call us on this tragic situation. https://sherbrofoundation.org/2014/08/05/sherbro-foundation-funds-ebola-prevention/ Arlene
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Thanks, Lynn. I did the website myself – using WordPress template. They make it easy with a simple, stylish template and many choices. Arlene
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Thanks, Avery. And I’ll thank guest author, Subira, here for her great post. I hope you’ve the 2 latest posts on the computer center going up and our work on helping with Ebola prevention. One happy story, one sad. But that’s the nature of working in Sierra Leone. You just have to keep focused on your goals. Thanks again. Arlene
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I am really loving the theme/design of your site. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility issues? A small number of my blog readers have complained about my blog not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any solutions to help fix this issue?
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Sorry I don’t. I get a few of the opposite comments. Looks good in IE and not in some others. Go figure. I haven’t been able to. Arlene
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Thanks so much, Jocelyn. Arlene
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Thanks, Cedric. Kudos to guest blogger Subira on this post. Arlene
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Thanks, Therese. Kudos to Subira on this guest post. Arlene
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Thanks, Marco. Cheers go to Subira who has been working with Sherbro foundation this summer and wrote this post. Arlene
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Thanks, Abdul. And thanks to Subira who is working with Sherbro Foundation this summer and provided this summer. She did a great job didn’t she? Arlene
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Thanks, Darci. Kudos on this post go to author Subira, who has been working with Sherbro Foundation this summer. Thanks for sharing to your social networks! Hope to see you back again soon. Arlene
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Thanks, Cathryn. Please do pass this on. Let me also take this opportunity to publicly thank Subira for her work with Sherbro Foundation this summer. This piece show what a talented woman she is. We’re fortunate to have her with us this summer. Arlene
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Thanks, Laurene. Kudos go to author Subira who is working with Sherbro Foundation this summer. Arlene
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Thanks for your comment, Lilly. Glad you enjoyed this post by Subria who is working with Sherbro Foundation this summer. She’s both knowledgeable and a good writer, as I think you can see. Arlene
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Thanks, Orval. The Homepage at http://www.sherbrofoundation.org will lead you to more info. Also to to the blog tab for 50 posts. You can search by key words to narrow it done. Hope you find the “more” you’re looking for.
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