--- title: Michelle Obama Promotes Education in Africa with Daughters description: First Lady Michelle Obama traveled to Liberia and Morocco with her daughters to promote female education and staying in school. canonical: https://time.com/4385323/michelle-malia-sasha-obama-africa/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-28T16:20:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:02:50.037Z og:title: Michelle Obama Took Her Girls On a Trip to Help the World's Girls og:description: Meryl Streep and Freida Pinto will be joining the crew too og:url: https://time.com/4385323/michelle-malia-sasha-obama-africa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c232933df60b704/698899b93c1639bd9345dd0f/michelle-obama-africa-education.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: LIBERIA-USA-MICHELLE-OBAMA-DIPLOMACY-EDUCATION og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michelle Obama Took Her Girls On a Trip to Help the World's Girls twitter:description: Meryl Streep and Freida Pinto will be joining the crew too twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c232933df60b704/698899b93c1639bd9345dd0f/michelle-obama-africa-education.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michelle Obama Took Her Girls On a Trip to Help the World's Girls by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 28, 2016 4:20 PM UTC  USA first lady Michelle Obama (L) looks on as she visits a woman education program in Monrovia on June 27, 2016\. US First Lady Michelle Obama told girls in Liberia on Monday to fight to stay in school, as she visited the west African country where the vast majority drops out due to financial pressures. / AFP / ZOOM ZOUMANA DOSSO (Photo credit should read ZOOM ZOUMANA DOSSO/AFP/Getty Images) USA first lady Michelle Obama (L) looks on as she visits a woman education program in Monrovia on June 27, 2016\. US First Lady Michelle Obama told girls in Liberia on Monday to fight to stay in school, as she visited the west African country where the vast majority drops out due to financial pressures. / AFP / ZOOM ZOUMANA DOSSO (Photo credit should read ZOOM ZOUMANA DOSSO/AFP/Getty Images)OLIVIER MORIN—AFP/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 28, 2016 4:20 PM UTC First Lady Michelle Obama traveled to Liberia and Morocco with her daughters, Malia and Sasha, to promote education and staying in school. This trip is a part of her “[Let Girls Learn](https://letgirlslearn.gov/)” program, [according to Cosmopolitan](http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/news/a60640/michelle-obama-visits-liberia/), which focuses on bringing attention to countries where women and girls are denied education and ” elevates existing programs and invests in new efforts to expand educational opportunities for girls—including in areas of conflict and crisis.” In Liberia, [Obama](http://motto.time.com/4307020/michelle-obama-commencement-speech-jackson-state/) met with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was the first female in Africa elected to a head of state position, and visited a local leadership camp. The First Lady told attendees, “I’m here to shine a big bright light on you.” > [](https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/747486454981365761) [_Follow Motto on Facebook_](https://www.facebook.com/mottoworkplaylive/)_._ In conjunction with Obama’s visit, the United States Agency for International Development announced it would donate $27 million in funding for “Let Girls Learn” in Liberia, which also includes expanding the Peace Corps program there. > [](https://twitter.com/USAID/status/747521235056234496) > [](https://twitter.com/PeaceCorps/status/747793095056592896) After departing Liberia, the Obama women headed to Morocco to continue promoting “Let Girls Learn.” [According to the New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/06/28/world/europe/ap-eu-ml-morocco-us-first-lady.html?%5Fr=0), only 36% of girls in Morocco continue education past the primary level. Actresses Meryl Streep and Freida Pinto also made appearances alongside Michelle, Malia and Sasha Obama for the event. **_Read more:_** [_Michelle Obama Explains Why Global Girls’ Education Is a Personal Mission_](http://time.com/4260808/michelle-obama-global-girls-education/) “Let Girls Learn” isn’t Michelle Obama’s only foray into female empowerment. Recently, she helped launch the [United State of Women](http://motto.time.com/4368379/white-house-united-state-of-women/) summit, which focused on women’s issues and progress. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4385323/michelle-malia-sasha-obama-africa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4385323/michelle-malia-sasha-obama-africa/"},"headline":"Michelle Obama Took Her Girls On a Trip to Help the World's Girls","datePublished":"2016-06-28T16:20:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:02:50.037Z","description":"Meryl Streep and Freida Pinto will be joining the crew too","url":"https://time.com/4385323/michelle-malia-sasha-obama-africa/","keywords":["motto","News"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c232933df60b704/698899b93c1639bd9345dd0f/michelle-obama-africa-education.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c232933df60b704/698899b93c1639bd9345dd0f/michelle-obama-africa-education.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"LIBERIA-USA-MICHELLE-OBAMA-DIPLOMACY-EDUCATION","caption":"LIBERIA-USA-MICHELLE-OBAMA-DIPLOMACY-EDUCATION","creditText":"OLIVIER MORIN—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4385323/michelle-malia-sasha-obama-africa/","name":"Michelle Obama Took Her Girls On a Trip to Help the World's Girls"}}]}] ```