Recently, I had the opportunity to see President Sirleaf of Liberia speak at Columbia University (where I am a freshman) as part of our World Leaders Forum.

You asked, she answered! Check out our interview with Aisha Cooper Bruce, a Liberian advocate for girls.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a girl in Liberia? Aisha Cooper Bruce, a prominent Liberian advocate for adolescent girls’ rights wants to hear from YOU! Aisha will be in our office this Friday for a video interview with Teen Advisor Eliora Katz, and she’s excited to answer some of your questions!

In Liberia people do not treat beaches clean. What I don’t like about my environment is that my neighbors toilet and troll dirt here and there around the beaches.

This blogs series introduces the creative works of a few of the 95 girls currently enrolled in Girls United - Liberia

Every war tests the resiliency of its victims. A very few walk away stronger, redefining both victimhood and valor.

Picture this: your name is Fatuma, and you are a fourteen year old girl living in Todee, Liberia. Your brother is allowed to go to school and you aren’t, even though you desperately want to go to university and become a doctor. While American girls like me have the same dreams as Fatuma does, she simply does not have the resources to pursue her goals.

It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to sit down with someone who truly inspires you, but for me, last week I had one of those days. Rosie Schaack, head of THINK Women’s Empowerment Center (Touching Humanity In Need of Kindness) in Liberia, and a partner of the United Nations Foundation, came to our  office in Washington, DC to chat with us about her work with teen girls who were victims of war.

Everyone loves to get a letter from someone special. And nothing is more special than a new friend from far away who cares about your health and your happiness. I watched this happen as I saw some very special letters brighten the hopes of girls in the Liberian village of Careysburg last week.

I’m here in Liberia with Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day in the only African country that has a female President.  Still recovering from its civil war, Liberia is full of opportunity and the determination to build back its country. It starts with the women.

I grew up in the U.S., in a small house with a backyard and a dog, in a safe neighborhood (as a kid, I thought it was kind of boring) in Tampa, Florida. I knew the basic rules about safety — don’t talk to strangers, never get in a car with someone you don’t know, look both ways before you cross the street, and as I got older, there were of course all sorts of rules about boys.

I’ve just returned from my first trip to Liberia. It’s a beautiful country – palm trees and coastline and lush, green jungles – but a terrible civil war ended only six years ago, killing thousands and destroying roads, schools, hospitals, and lives.