We paid our WEAPON beneficiaries a visit this month and found them working hard and full of gratitude and smiles! Some of them are preparing to graduate thanks to the scholarships you helped provide and some of them get to stay in school.

As we continue to help fund the educations of these 20 girls,  we are reminded that only 4% of Nigerian girls in the secondary school age group are enrolled in secondary school due to poverty. Studies have found that more girls than boys drop out, repeat grades, or do not finish the primary cycle. So, there is still work to be done and many more girls who need our support.

We have already done so much but we can do better. Did you know that a 0.3 percent boost in economic growth results from a one-percent increase in the number of girls finishing secondary school? Keeping girls educated and getting just even basic education can have such a huge impact! We are making a difference. Lets not stop here. Help us continue to grow the scholarship fund and increase the number of girls we sponsor for the coming year.

You support has made for some very happy girls. Check out these smiles!

20 girls is a great start but it is just the beginning. As this project continues we hope to be able to keep supporting more  and more girls to go to and complete secondary school. So, your support is vital as we progress and develop new initiatives.

Support our project on GlobalGiving!!!

http://www.globalgiving.com/projects/weapon/

By Jill Serjeant

A group of African first ladies began a two-day meeting in Los Angeles on Monday to forge U.S. partnerships to try to improve health and education of women and girls in African communities afflicted by AIDS.

The wives of the presidents and prime ministers of Kenya, Nigeria, Angola, Zambia, Cameroon and 10 other nations teamed up with U.S. health experts, nonprofit groups and a clutch of celebrities to promote their work.

“Nowhere before in the United States has such a large group of African first ladies come together to talk as one,” Ted Alemayhu, founder of the Los Angeles-based U.S. Doctors for Africa, told a news conference.

Hollywood actresses Diane Lane, Maria Bello, Robin Wright Penn and Camryn Manheim were among the celebrity women who attended an opening day luncheon.

Singer Natalie Cole, daughter of the late Nat King Cole, will perform at a fund-raiser by oil company ExxonMobil , while Sharon Stone is due to moderate a panel aimed at transforming words into action.

The meeting hopes to raise awareness in Hollywood of various projects in Africa to supply clean water, fight malaria and combat AIDS.

The charitable group of 22 first ladies was formed in 2002 and is called African Synergy Against AIDS and Suffering. It was set up to highlight the vital role of women in education and healthcare in the world’s poorest continent.

Women in sub-Saharan Africa account for 57 percent of HIV infections and young African women are three times more likely to become infected than men of comparable age in the region, according to a 2006 United Nations Development Program report.

“As an African woman, this is really exciting and unprecedented,” said “CSI: Miami” actress Megalyn Echikunwoke, whose father is Nigerian. “For me this is really about finding out how we can support the first ladies.”

Oil giant Chevron (CVX.N), one of the meeting sponsors, announced a $5 million contribution to help fight malaria in Angola as part of its outreach programs in Africa.

Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, will deliver a keynote address on Tuesday, while former U.S. first lady Laura Bush will make a video address. (Editing by Mary Milliken)