>> announcer: cnn films, presented by volkswagen. here's the one with all our equipment. >> my name is isha sesay. i'm a correspondent at cnn, and this is how my trip to liberia is getting started. >> i'm meryl streep and i'm here in morocco. >> meryl and i are joining michelle obama on a trip to africa. >> the first lady's let girls learn initiative has encouraged u.s. investment in education

around the world, including liberia and morocco and we're here to see how it's going. >> as i've traveled the world i've seen time and again how our girls are pushed to the very bottom of our societies. i can't accept the barriers from them realizing their promise. i just can't walk away from them. >> these are just some of the extraordinary girls we'll meet. grafina, janet. >> hanun. >> tina. >> karima. isha and i and come here to help the first lady gain insight to find out what it takes for girls to rise up and make their claim in their place in this world. >> these girls are our change makers, future doctors and teachers and entrepreneurs. they're our dreamers and visionaries who could change the world as we know it.

>> i'm kind of nervous. going to meet girls who've been chosen to tell their stories to the first lady of the united states. i'm wondering how i can help them. what is they really want to say? the girls i'm about to meet, like many in liberia, come from families that somehow survive on just a few dollars a day. getting girls in school and keeping them there usually isn't a priority. and school can be dangerous for girls here. sexual assaults are a big problem. i really hope i can help them tell their stories because i understand what they're up against. >> i'm a child from this continent. i'm an african child whose parents came from very humble beginnings, whose grandparents weren't educated.

my mother sold ginger beer to help pay her school fees, like some of these girls. through force of will, a supportive mother and a lot of luck i've got to here. >> for me this is not just a big news story. you know, the lives of my loved ones are at risk. >> i think if i fail to convey to them that they can walk the same path i've walked, then i haven't done a good job. that would be heartbreaking for me. >> what brings me here is this issue of equality for women and girls. what brings me here is my

grandmother. she had three children before 1920. so she couldn't vote. and she didn't really care who was president. but she really cared who was on the school board. and she would have to go to the golf course and find my grandfather on the ninth hole, hand him a piece of paper on the day of the school board election with the names written out and he didn't care anything about that. but she wasn't allowed. she wasn't deemed capable of making that decision under law. it's an issue shared across cultures. and so we find ourselves in morocco. but it's the same in many parts of the world. so i'm interested in these girls and their aspirations and how things have changed for their mothers, their grandmothers, how they will change for the daughters of these girls.

>> i'm trying to build a team here of people that will continue to be committed to these issues for generations. you don't have to be the first lady. you have to care, be ready to do the work, and be honest about it. >> i'm going to meet a young woman called rafina, as i've read in the notes, lives with her aunt and uncle. it's quite common in this part of the world where you have parents who can't support you so you live with your relatives. so she's living with them. hello, rafina? how are you? nice to meet you. how are you?

>> fine. >> yeah? >> rafina filly is 20. she lives with her aunt and uncle and earns her keep by doing most of the housework. >> when i get up, sweep the area where i cook. find i put my pot on the ire where the food will be on the fire. i prepare my little brothers for school. >> rafina's father died when she was 9. her mother struggled to raise children on her own. rather than marry rafina off, her mother made a sacrifice. she sent her away to live with relatives so she could get an education. >> you have so much to do during the day. when do you get to do your schoolwork? is that at night?

>> yes, from 9:00 p.m. till 11:00 i can do my school work. >> when everyone's gone to bed? >> yes. >> but with so many mouths to feed her uncle questioned the importance of paying rafina's school fees. in liberia, as in many parts of the world, school is not free. families have to pay to educate their children. ironically it was rafina's education that saved her uncle's life. two years ago the deadly ebola virus swept across liberia. the disease was everywhere. in rafina's house, her uncle got sick. she recognized the symptoms from biology class. he didn't believe it. she was a girl. but she wouldn't give up. she forced him to be quarantined and to get treatment. he survived. educate a girl and good things

happen to the family. rafina's uncle is living proof of that. >> your mother, did she go to school? >> no, she didn't go to school. even though she's not educated, but she educated her children. >> she did. if you educate your children -- >> yes. >> then, you know, it changes their lives and it can change, you know, the family's life. >> yes. >> i'm actually proud of her. >> you should be proud of her. you should be very proud of her. >> i can make it. >> you know you can, you can absolutely make it. >> rafina is strong and driven. she wants so badly to make it, wants so badly to change her circumstances. and she studies late at night with this tiny little light. she studies. she studies and she continues to dream. >> here in morocco the struggle

is different. sometimes less about day-to-day survival, more about survival of the spirit. but still, real physical challenges deny young women their shot at an education. almost half the people live in remote and rural areas where it's difficult to find safe access to schools. sanitation facilities. even clean water. some moroccans enjoy relative prosperity. but others are falling behind. and over 40% of women in morocco are still illiterate. how is the first lady's initiative going to help keep some of the more vulnerable girls in school? >> hi. >> i'm here at project soar, an oasis in the desert for some of these very girls. this is project soar. now i know why, because you soar in the air. >> privately funded with support

from the peace corps, the purpose is to keep girls in school as long as possible because after 12 most moroccan girls outside the city drop out. >> i am strong. >> i am strong. >> i am capable. >> i am capable. >> i am worthy. >> i am worthy. >> i am smart. >> i am smart. >> girl power. >> this is -- >> beautiful. >> here they find support and encouragement, sports, tutoring. but also practical help for girls. hanan is 13, and our translator sukina helped her explain to me why many adolescent girls disappear from school five days every month. i wondered if most mothers taught their girls about menstruation. >> conservative for a mom to talk to her girl about her

period. >> oh, yes? >> yes. >> how would the girls understand what's happening to them if their mother doesn't tell them? would a big sister maybe -- >> project soar provides menstrual pads in a portable kit. the older girls instruct the younger in the use of the kits. and this enables them to stay in school. >> i have one question. do you think it might be valuable for the younger ones to come before they have their period so that they're not surprised if they don't have the help that this group supports at home?

i say this because when i got my period, i was 11. and my mother had not had the talk with me yet. and i thought i was very ill. i thought i was sick. and she said, oh, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i didn't have the talk with you yet. >> when we came out of that workshop, hanan was suddenly called over. >> they're talking to the mayor. >> the mayor? >> yes. >> that's the mayor's crew, i believe, that's the mayor's crew. for some reason hanan has been pulled away from the group. is she in some sort of trouble?

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i couldn't understand what they were saying, but hanan who had been so animated and expressive in the workshop, suddenly she seems abashed and a little bit subdued. evidently through the interpreter i gather that the mayor was asking does her father know that she's participating in this? and with us, and being photographed and everything. and i'm not sure what to make of it. what are the pressures on this young girl?

during ramadan, people don't eat or have a drop of water from morning till night, which is this time of year was about 15 hours. and it's 102 degrees. but at the end of each day families all come together for a special meal to break the fast called iftar. and i'm honored to be invited to share it with hanan's family. >> this is her dad. >> i meet her father. very nice to meet you. and i wonder if the mayor has

spoken to him about this afternoon. >> and fatima is her mom. yes, yeah. >> oh, so glad to meet you. okay, okay. thank you. hanan is very quiet, and there's a tension in the room. it's hard to know if it's the camera or something else. so i ask hanan's father how he feels about her education. and far from disapproving of it, he says -- he now works a day

job and one all night to be able to afford to live here where there are schools. i can see where hanan gets some of her spirit, her father's mother who is illiterate herself is an optimistic and insistent voice for her grandchildren's schooling. >> she said she just want to study and make sure that the first lady takes care of the program. >> earlier i saw a plate being prepared for someone not at the table and as the meal comes to a close i learn that hanan's older

sister is here in the house, in a curtained off room. she's married to a conservative man, and she's been forbidden by him to join us tonight. and i realize that the pressure on hanan and her father weighs on the whole family. where tradition and opportunity collide. i'm off to meet 16-year-old janet jackson who lives in ben sonville with her family. i understand she sells donuts to make extra money to help pay for her school fees. she's already an overachiever in this part of the world in that she's 16, and she's still in school. she hasn't dropped out. she hasn't fallen pregnant. you know that there's a famous musician called janet jackson, so you have like a superstar

name. >> yeah. >> could you live within this house? >> with my parents. >> your parents, and do you have brothers and sisters? >> yes. >> how many? >> i got four sisters and then three brothers. >> what grade are you in? >> i'm in the tenth grade. >> so what time does your day start? >> i wake up by 4:00, and i get up. i have to see about food in the morning, wash my dishes and bathe my little sister and brothers, get them ready for school. and then i take bath, get myself ready for school. go to school. after school i come and i see about food, cook, eat, give the children -- >> do your parents treat you and your brothers differently, would you say? >> no. the only difference is the

waking. we the girls work more than the boys. >> that's not fair. when you imagine your life in the future, ten years from now, 20 years from now, what do you imagine for yourself? what do you see? >> by the help of god i want to become a journalist. >> you want to be a journalist like me, i'm a journalist. >> wow. >> so you are going to be in the same room as michelle obama. what do you want to say to her? what do you want to tell her? >> actually, i would tell her a lot of things, especially what affect fwirls. >> tell me some of it, like what? >> sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, early marriage. >> you want michelle obama to understand what it's like for girls. >> yes. >> and what makes you happy? >> oh, plenty things make me

happy. you know when i'm singing. >> you like to sing? >> yes. >> but can you actually sing? >> yes. >> i'm very confident, miss janet jackson. ♪ ♪

>> if you met fuzia tukart today, where she's about to graduate in language studies, speaking theberber language, english and japanese. you would think she comes to this garden with every advantage. but of all the girls i met her family from outside the city was the poorest. her father was opposed to educating girls past the age of 12. her mother was old and sick and needed her at home. fuzia struggled at every step to get herself an education. >> my family rejected the whole thing. they said you have to stay home. >> how old were you? secondary school? >> yeah. >> 12 years old. >> and how did you win out? how did you get your parents to agree? >> i said i'm not going to eat anymore. >> oh, you went on a hunger strike? >> yeah. >> oh, my goodness.

in fuzia's case it was a teacher who intervened with her parents. >> so he saw the promise in you. >> he said i promise that your daughter is going to achieve her goals because i can see that in her eyes. >> her family was worried about a 12-year-old walking every day to and from school alone through the remote areas. she walked eight miles back and forth every day to middle school and graduated number one. but there were no high schools near her home so she had to move away to continue her education. and she graduated from high school in just three years, top of her class. >> where do you find your courage to have come so far? >> whenever i lost hope and i start crying, i just remembered my mom, seeing that she wanted to see me something very important in society. and i want to achieve her

dreams. i would be so happy because she's really -- she deserves that. and i have a really nice mom and she's always been by me, encouraged me, even if she's illiterate and she can't read or write. but still, i would like to make something to show her that i can do it, even if i'm a girl. i'm a female. sorry. >> oh, no, that means a lot to me that you would share that. >> yeah. >> yeah, here we are. we're lucky. >> yeah. what started with one job spread all around.

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ladies and gentlemen the president of the united states and mrs. michelle obama. ♪ when i tell my story as the first lady i don't start with my degrees from harvard and princeton. i grew up in a working class community. my mother is a huge source of inspiration for me. she didn't go to university. but she has in her this basic common sense and humor and deep love and a fierceness in her that made me think i could do anything. my father, he worked hard. he had a shift job. and it's because of my parents that i always think every day how am i making them proud?

that's what keeps me motivated because i owe that to them. >> my next stop is in the small town of marshall. >> how are you? how is everybody? fine, yeah? like lots of places in liberia, access to lek electricity and running water is limited. the ebola crisis two years ago hit marshall hard. things are better now. i'm here to meet tina brown. tina is 15. . so, tina, who do you live with? >> i live with my parents. >> and all live together in the same house? >> yes. >> tell me about school. >> meet new friends, have fun,

share ideas and then you focus your lesson. >> what's your favorite subject? you do well? >> yes. >> tina's father struggles to support the family, often there's barely enough money for food. >> so there's a problem with the school fees. >> yes. >> no matter what he days tina's older brother's school fees, but sometimes not hers. >> do you ever say to him it's not fair that you don't pay my school fees, that you pay my brother's first, do you ever tell him that? >> no. >> is that common in liberia? does that happen a lot where they prioritize the boys' education over girls? >> yes, boys go to school and girls stay in the home.

>> that's very brave of you to stay -- to stay on your father and say you should pay my fees, i want to go to school. you know you're brave. do you feel brave? >> yeah. >> do you feel courageous? >> yes. >> you are courageous. in the rare moments when her chores are done and her school work is complete, tina loves to read stories to other children. so michelle obama is coming. what do you want to say to her if you get the chance? is there something you want to tell her? >> help our women to go to school for something better. >> later i talked to tina's father off camera. he never felt that her education was very important. until that moment she was just his daughter, unremarkable.

but now he seemed proud of her. maybe for the first time. >> hi, peter, it's isha with cnn. i'm about to meet the girls who will be spending time with the first lady and they've got a couple of questions. for starters, how should they address the first lady? >> they can always say mrs. obama. >> are they allowed to touch her? can they hug her? >> absolutely, expect the first lady to be very, very warm and affectionate. >> brilliant. all the girls i've met are here. rafina, tina, janet and the others who will be telling their stories to the first lady tomorrow. >> i want everyone to be able to share and then we'll go back round. is that all right?

>> so how much do you know about michelle obama, apart from the fact that she's the first lady? do you know that she's a lawyer? >> yeah. >> do you know that her parents weren't rich? did you know that? growing up her parents were not rich. >> wow. >> you just need to address her as mrs. obama. don't have to worry about anything. if you want to touch her, or hug her, feel free. >> wow. >> i do believe we have a freeda pinto in the house. can i introduce -- >> hi, everybody. >> i'm so excited about tomorrow. freida's role is to moderate the meeting tomorrow. one more contribution to her years of work supporting girls and girls' education around the world. >> we need to make sure that the first lady, mrs. obama, hears your stories, and we need to

make sure that those stories go out into the world as well. >> be there in about ten minutes now. >> i'm ready. >> okay, go where those white people are standing, over there. i always look for the white people, even in africa, sometimes that's a clue. here, thank you, all right. she's going to be here in -- >> in an hour. >> in an hour. >> i had everyone get into the van first. >> i guess we could all go into

the pen until then. we're going to get in the press pen until they figure out logistics. >> take your position. >> the first lady is due to land in about three minutes. so that makes me think she is obviously hovering up there in the clouds and will land soon. and this kind of joyous scene here. and it's getting really tense. >> the first lady's jet is here. >> and there are her daughters, malia and sasha, and her mother. they are all here.

and the welcoming begins. everyo everyone's coming now to get to the school where the round table is taking place. >> they want to show their appreciation. they want to welcome her. >> everyone's out in the rain. that's dedication for you. it was a mad hustle, and the white house is just trying to move everyone along to get in quickly. hello. are you excited? >> yeah. >> are you going to tell your stories?

>> yes. >> ellen johnson serlead. >> thank you. >> are we ready? are we ready for this? >> yes. >> please put your hands together and please welcome the first lady. >> thank you. i am so blessed to be here with you all. so proud of you. >> thank you. >> so we're not going to be shy, we're going to talk, right? >> yes. >> all right, we're ready for this. >> okay. so we're going to jump right into this. talk about the obstacles and certain problems that you girls face in getting your most basic

education. we're going to start with maybe the party starter, rafina. >> i'm rafina. some even lost their entire family. most of those girls feel discouraged about life. they are no more important in society than what happened to them and they don't really have people to really encourage them and tell them their value in society. some of them want to go to school but they don't have educational support. >> i want to know what keeps you going. what do you think is different about you that you are able to overcome all those challenges and be as articulate and smart

and inspiring as you are? >> thank you, michelle obama. for me, what really encouraged me is that if madam president can be strong, i can be strong too. so i encourage myself more to put myself into my education that i can be more in the society. >> go ahead. >> many girls getting pregnant in our community, teenage pregnancy, peer pressure. and some of them want to go to school, but how can they go to school? >> okay, i go to school, but i

have self-support. i go in the market and sell, and i support myself. >> so you found the value in yourself. >> i really want to know from you, how it feels to be the first lady, and your challenges, some of your weaknesses, your strengths and disadvantages, really, i really want to know. >> first of all, let me just say how impressed i am with all of you, not just the types of stories you've told, but the way you did it, with confidence and with pride. and that's the beginning of becoming a leader is just starting to do things that you don't feel comfortable doing, but you push yourself to do them anyway. when i was your age if anyone

had told me that i would be the first lady of the united states of america, i would have laughed at them because growing up in the united states there had never been an african-american president, let alone an african-american first lady. so my goal as first lady was to make sure that i was the best first lady i could be. so i made sure that every day i came to my job, that i brought a level of passion and confidence and trust. and i try to operate from that place every single day. maybe those are some of my strengths is the ability to just be me, no matter where i am. you don't have to be somebody different to be important. you're important in your own right. people want and need to value you because of who you are, because of your story, because of your challenges. that's what makes you unique,

you know, you want to be different, you want to be special. the fact that you've been able to overcome challenges, and this is what i always thought, that made me smarter, that made me better, right? because i could overcome things that a lot of people who were in the same position never had to overcome. it's grilled right in front of for a liyou,d time. with nothing artificial. it has nothing to hide. but you can wrap it in a tortilla anyway.

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♪ it was amazing. it was amazing, and i'm just so blessed to spend time with them, and i'll come back. i'll come back and see them. all right, we're off, we've got to go. >> bye. >> hi, meryl, it's isha here, we are on the way, about to board the first lady's plane. to head to where you are. there in morocco. i hope it is not raining. >> rain? >> it's been pouring for two

days. >> not rain here, i don't think it's rained here in a while. >> i'm so looking forward to meeting you. >> me too, i really am. so isha, when you get here, you and i are going to get out of the city and go way up to the atlas mountains. >> oh, awesome. i'll see you in a couple hours, thank you, take care, meryl, see you soon, bye. >> we've seen how poised those young women are. i mean, if you think about what we asked them to do, to come into a room with the first lady of the united states and share your story in front of the world, with cameras and lights. to be able to do that at all, let alone if you've grown up in a small rural town and you've had to leave your family to get your education, to be able to stand up and just articulate

your feelings and ask questions, it just reminds me why we can't waste that talent. because that kind of talent among girls and women exist everywhere in the world. and we lose out on that potential when we don't invest in it. ♪ >> here we are, darling. >> where? >> we're about 20 kilometers outside of wazazart.

>> wazazart. >> wazazarte. >> i think so. >> okay. >> we're going to meet the brilliant young woman who's been chosen to share the stage with mrs. obama tomorrow. >> high school valedictorian, c carima lakuz, took part in a u.s. program called tech girls. she wants to be an engineer. >> what's your thinking about why girls are less represented in the sciences? >> while growing up, the girl's always represented as the beauty. so they move towards art or music or literature. that was the stereotype that generalized everyone. but girls started realizing that they have brains as well. and they will excel in math and science and technology. >> do you think you will be nervous when you're actually in

the room with michelle obama? because when i look at you you're so wonderfully poised and confident. have you ever had a problem with lack of confidence? >> my parents play a huge part of that. because they're always pushing me toward that. but i'm not sure i'm that confident yet. and i'm nervous. i'm really nervous. but i just try not to show it. sitting with women like you gives me the power to be confident and speak my mind. >> yeah. >> yeah. ♪ >> i'm so excited to be with both of you. >> usually when i hold it, i hold it like this. or cover it like that. >> now you're just showing your thumb to the world. >> that's how all my selfies look like. >> i'm going to try to whip you guys into shape. we have to go into the hold because we have to get ready for our conversation with these amazing girls here in morocco. we'll be joined by mrs. obama to find out about what girls go through to make their hopes and

dreams come true. ♪ >> here they are. >> how are you? i've heard so much about you. i've read about you all. >> let me start with the one you are -- and i can feel your anticipation to see her, right? you know who i'm talking about, right? i'm talking about the first lady of the united states, michelle obama, joined by meryl streep and freida pinto. you can give them a bigger, warmer applause than that. come on! [ applause ] >> thank you all. i am beyond excited to be here with all of you. and i'm so excited to be able to bring a piece of the world here

to hear your stories. if there are people who come to you and say why should we educate girls, well, the health of any nation can be measured by the health of women in that society. because women bear children. they raise the children. and if you look at women who are not educated in their countries, there are higher infant mortality rates, higher rates of hiv. obviously lower wages. and all of those conditions have an impact not just on that girl, but on her family, on that society, and eventually on the entire nation. so that's the vision you want to impart to those who might doubt you and those who might say, well, why should we invest. it is critical to the health of our nations. >> really beautifully said, mrs. obama.

[ applause ] >> everyone, i'm karima. i grew up in a family where expectations are high. my brother graduated from high school with honors and he went to university. so i thought that was it, that's the end of it. my parents got their first born, he's a male, and he went to university, they achieved their dream, that's it. but that wasn't the case. i was wrong. they encouraged me to do the same as he did, if not better. but the struggles started when i went to high school. and i chose science and technology with electricity as a specialty which is a domain where males are dominating. stereotypes, you're a girl, what are you doing between machines and wires, you're not supposed to be here. i broke the chain like previous years boys always come on top, and this year i came on top. [ applause ] >> karima, thank you. >> i always think, wow, i know millions of girls in the united states and around the world who need to see this, they need to hear this conversation. because you don't have to be in the room but we all need it.

>> i sometimes just don't believe in myself enough or i don't think i can do it. so my question to you ladies, i'm pretty sure you've all faced this before. how do you overcome that? >> i feel -- and i agree with you that your biggest enemy sometimes is yourself. and actually that's one of the most important things to talk about in every girl forum like this. i have to tell you that for the last 2 1/2 years i've been going through the exact same thing. telling myself constantly that i'm not good enough. >> crying is okay. we're sisters. crying is okay. [ applause ] it's so important that everyone knows that we all have our self-doubts. sometimes it lasts longer than a minute or an hour or a day. you can get through it. meryl, do you want to add anything?

>> i'm not sure i have advice for the girls here. i think within each one of them, the young women that i have met have such strength of purpose. it all exists within each of you. it is already there. and you just have to reach in and access it. because in my own life, i know that losing heart is the most dangerous thing. you can put any obstacle in front of me and i'll jump over it. but when i lose heart, you lose everything. and so you take your strength from your friends, from that one person in your life who has said you are capable. [ applause ] >> absolutely. >> you only need one. >> i cannot help but see myself in all of these girls.

these encounters inspire me and remind me of the work that needs to be done. so then i start thinking, what can i do, how do i follow through, what's next? >> well done. ♪ you're broken down and tired ♪ of living life on the merry-go-round ♪ ♪ you can't find a fighter ♪ but i see it in you, so we can walk it out ♪ ♪ ooh, ooh ♪ and i'll rise up, i'll rise like the day ♪ ♪ i'll rise up, i'll rise unafraid ♪ ♪ i'll rise up, and i'll do it a thousand times again ♪ >> this was sort of a full circle trip. we got to see the many different

facets of the challenge, but also to be reminded of the beautiful stories of these girls and the promise that we have. and it just reinforces the fact that we can't afford to waste that talent. we need to invest in it and let it bloom because we need their resources. >> overcome challenges to become successful. ♪ i'll rise up, rise like the day ♪ ♪ i'll rise up in spite of the ache ♪ ♪ i will rise a thousand times again ♪ ♪ and we'll rise up, like the waves ♪ ♪ we'll rise up in spite of the ache ♪ ♪ we'll rise up and we'll do it a thousand times again ♪

♪ for you, ooh, ooh it's a beautiful night here in the nation's capital. this could be it. america votes. and whatever happens next, american history is being made. >> as tonight america finally decides who will be the next president of the united states. >> the most exciting and important election night in several lifetimes. already under way. >> is there anything left in