A Close-Up Look at Poverty, Education, Gender Equity in Liberia

"National and international campaigns have played their part in influencing this culture change. Several parents [in Liberia] quoted to me a famous slogan: When you educate one woman, you educate the whole nation...The slogan, unlike many marketing schemes, isn’t much of an exaggeration. Educating women has immense benefits for society. Girls with an education have fewer children, raise their kids to be healthier, make stronger contributions to the economy, earn more money, spend that money more wisely, empower their countries and more... Around the world today, there are essentially as many girls enrolled in primary schools as boys — a fact worth celebrating."

Aneri Pattani in The New York Times Blog

 Columnist and author Nicholas Kristoff  invited university students to apply for his win-a-trip contest. The prize was not an ordinary trip. The winner would accompany Kristoff on a reporting trip to cover global poverty and social justice issues. The winner would blog about his or her experiences on the New York Times website, with the opportunity to participate in videos as well. "My aim is to generate interest in neglected global issues with the contest, and get more people writing about these issues," said Kristoff, who has organized this program since 2006.

The winner of the contest this year was Aneri Pattani,  who recently graduated with a journalism degree from Northeastern University in Boston.

Here is  a video that Kristoff posted via Facebook Live in late June. Kristoff and Pattani chat about their journey to Liberia. They discuss the experience of seeing up close the challenges of a lack of infrastructure and adequate health care in poor countries. Kristoff addressed the issue in his Sunday column and Pattani blogged about everything she experienced, including the some positive changes she saw in the area of education.