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| U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, daughters Sasha and Malia and her mother Marian Shields Robinson |
First lady
Michelle Obama, her mother and her daughters are arriving Monday afternoon in
Liberia, where they will kick off an overseas trip promoting education for
girls.
Associated Press report
continues:
The first lady is scheduled
to meet with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first elected female head of
state on the continent.
The Obamas will then
visit a Peace Corps-sponsored leadership camp for girls in the town of Kakata.
"People are going to
consider her to be a sister to them," Mayor Eddie Murphy said. "We
are overwhelmed."
A main topic of their
trip will be how to address the barriers facing girls trying to get an
education after the recent Ebola epidemic. More than 4,800 people died and
children missed many months of school.
The Obamas' last stop in
Liberia will be at a school in Unification Town, where they will speak with
adolescent girls, according to Tina Tchen, the first lady's chief of staff.
Founded as part of an
effort to resettle freed American slaves, Liberia has deep ties to the United
States. The country's oldest technical and vocational high school, located in
Kakata, is named for the African-American educator and civil rights activist Booker
T. Washington.
The school suspended
mid-term exams scheduled to start Monday "to allow the students to give
Mrs. Obama a rousing welcome to appreciate what the United States has done for
us," principal Harris Tarnue said.
"She will be a real
inspiration to the young girls around here," he said.
The
Obamas are scheduled to leave Liberia on Monday evening for Morocco.
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