As previously mentioned, CNN has followed First Lady Michelle Obama’s visit to Morrocco this June, alongside actresses Freida Pinto and Meryl Streep, for a documentary that will be aired this Wednesday. At the core, is the fact that 62 million girls worldwide aren’t in school. Talking to Michelle Obama and actresses Meryl Streep and Freida Pinto, African girls discussed their schooling. “I was really struck by their tenacity, their insistence on an education,” Sesay sad. Some walked eight miles to middle school. Some left home to work near school. “I support myself,” a girl named Rafina says in the film. She stays with an aunt and uncle and does household work for them when she gets home from school. “From 9 p.m. to 11, I can do my schoolwork.” Others showed similar drive. One said she went on a hunger strike, until her parents let her go to school; now she speaks five languages. If this were simply a governmental issue, it could be solved at the top. It’s not … as people were reminded when they met Liberia’s president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. “It’s a great achievement on her part, to be a woman at the top of government,” Sesay said. More information on the documentary can be found on USA Today. “We Will Rise,” 9 p.m. ET Wednesday (Oct. 12), CNN, barring breaking news; rerunning at midnight. Also, noon ET Saturday on HLN (formerly Headline News).
