By: John Dennis Weah, Jr.
Liberia’s Vice President Chief Dr. Jewel Howard Taylor on Thursday March 7, 2019, visited the More Than Me Academy (MTMA) on the eve of the International Women’s Day 2019 where she advised girls to say no to any form of abuse that could either deny or undermine their growth, admonishing the girls, “Dreaming your own dream and inspire others,” and noted that you can become whatever you wish if you are focus..
Madam Taylor also cautioned female students to refrain from being playful both in schools and in all that they do because playfulness does not put the individual on the path of seriousness in life. All it does is to lead to dependency or otherwise render you a beggar that moves from one door to another as a result of failure to dream.
The Vice President’s visit was to participate in pre-programs by girls of the academy befitting observance of the day. The International Women’s Day is being celebrated today March 8, with similar celebrations being convened by national leaders.
The More Than Me Academy pre-program held under the International Women’s Day 2019 theme “Let’s Act to Inspire Gender Equality” was attended and inspired by VP Taylor’s special statement of motivation and protection for the improvement and development of the girl child. Chief Dr. Taylor statement was also to ensure that the girls are part of the national stance and have an understanding of equity.
The Vice President and former First Lady of Liberia Chief Dr. Howard Taylor having thanked the Administration of the More Than Me Academy emphasized on a poem read by a 9th Grader, student Tenneh Kiadii titled, “I am a child and not a wife.”
She admonished the girls to kick against and say no to all forms of abuse intended to either deny or undermine the sustainable growth of girls, giving her message that Education is the Light and Key, indicating that it enlightens the mind and provides the means to do what you have learned.
Narrating her own story, the Vice President Taylor, a onetime Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Liberia now Central Bank of Liberia, said she once lived in a zinc round house for several years until she graduated from university.
As the students looked on with astonishment and impression, VP Taylor continued, “I hope most of you living in zinc houses should not see it as if there is something wrong; there is nothing wrong with you, people are born under certain circumstances, and what you do with the opportunity to education now is left with you.”
The Vice President said in her message to the teenagers that it does not matter where you grew up as a child; but what comes out of you in the end serves as the result.
She said equality requires competition; therefore she encouraged girls to challenge their boys’ counterparts in order to do their best in school, stating that beauty fails over time and it does not accomplish the intelligence of education.
Making her statement emphatically on dreaming, she said if a dream should come true, it will require the individual female student to be decisive in saying, no, no and no to everything that will destroy the future. Preparation, hard work, commitment and focus she did say, do not come over night but unfold by stages.
Climaxing the program with a vote of thanks, Mrs. Alexandra Fallon, Administrator of MTMA commended VP Taylor for her visitation during which she shared her encouragement and the resilience, which are very impactful on the lives of the female students.
Meanwhile, the Vice President also made a donation of assorted instructional materials to the administration of the More than Me Academy for the use of students, including lunch as a way of identifying with them in celebrations of the International Women’s Day.
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