May 13, 2007 -- B. Smith's Restaurant (Union Station).  

 

'An evening with the President'.

 

Certainly not just any president, but the first female president.  The first African American president.

 

A president on a mission.  A president who cares about the people of her country, and the people who voted for her.

 

Strange concept?  Not if your name is President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson. 

 

President Johnson, nicknamed 'The Iron Lady' for her hard work ethic, tenaciousness, and get-it-done demeanor, spent time with supporters that included Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton; BET's former owner, Bob Johnson; educators, politicians (past and present), and a host of guests to discuss her mission to educate Liberian children.

 

Liberia, the west African nation that has suffered tremendously at the hands of civil unrest, lacks education resources.  President Johnson and the Liberian Education Trust have teamed up to provide schools and resources so desperately needed. 

 

Almost 80% of Liberia's children are uneducated, as the ten-plus year civil war demolished a lot of Liberia's infrastructure, to include schools.  As a result, there are not enough schools to meet the overwhelming number of students. 

 

The Liberian Education Trust wants to meet the educational need by building 50 schools and training 500 teachers.

 

The Liberian Education Trust garners support from the U.S. having raised over $2 million dollars thus far.  The evening's event at Union Station raised $250,000.

 

President Sirleaf is the mother of four boys, and a grandmother of six.  Her son, Robert Sirleaf, was on hand to pay tribute to his mother for her tireless efforts.

 

President Sirleaf holds a B.b.c. in Accounting from Madison Business College, and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard.

 

She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority.

 

President Sirleaf is the first elected African American woman head of state in the world.  She was elected November 23, 2005.

 

Photos.