To my daughter Bernie: “I want you to go to school and do well”

BY MEGHAN MCLAUGHLIN

Pictured above: Standing in front of her home, Mamie poses with her son Michelle, who informed me that he has graduated from high school and is looking to start a charcoal business.

Last month, I had the opportunity to travel to Liberia to work alongside my colleagues and visit participants in BRAC’s programs. By my third day visiting programs, I had grown accustomed to the strong afternoon sun and the thick, humid air. 

My colleagues had filled each day of my trip itinerary with visits to farms, markets, and youth clubs. As the West African sun began to set, our final stop was meant to be with Bernie, a participant in the second cohort of a youth empowerment program. But our wires got crossed—Bernie was out at the farm, and there wasn’t time to make the trek there.

I was disappointed, but a unique opportunity sprang up. Her mother, Mamie, welcomed us in and spoke about Bernie’s transformation with such tenderness that the conversation felt more like a love letter to her daughter than an interview.

Bernie, now 24 years old, is part of BRAC’s Adolescent Girls and Young Women Empowerment program. She joined the club after she had already started school, but the program gave her new tools to build her confidence and sustain her education—even while raising a child as a single mother after becoming pregnant at a young age. Mamie shared that Bernie is now in 12th grade and hopes to become a nurse. Her father—Mamie’s husband—works on the family farm, and Mamie helps care for both Kulah and the pigs Bernie received through the program.

What follows is a letter inspired by Mamie’s words.

“Bernie,

I am proud of you for participating in the BRAC club. Before you joined the club, you were so quiet and shy, always keeping to yourself. Now, you use your voice and speak so well in public. 

Every day you go to school or the club house, I am here, helping take care of your pig and your little boy, Kulah, whose third birthday we celebrated just last week. He goes to the market with me when I set up my table to sell goods from the farm.

I didn’t go to school, but I want you to go to school and do well. Even though it is very hard to save money—we barely have enough for school fees and food—I want you to go to school and do well.”

Make a gift in honor of a mother’s love. Your gift can create opportunities for a young woman like Bernie.

Mamie shows us Bernie’s new pig, part of her growing business. In Liberia, BRAC’s Youth Empowerment program creates safe spaces for young women to build confidence, gain financial literacy, and access hands-on vocational training, like pig farming. Each participant receives a male and female pig to help launch a small business and earn a stable income in their community.

Bernie is part of the second cohort of BRAC’s youth empowerment program in Liberia, known locally simply as “the club.” The program empowers adolescent girls and young women across six countries in Africa. The program offers safe spaces where participants meet regularly with peer mentors to build life skills, receive financial literacy and business training, and access vocational opportunities, like pig farming for Bernie. 

Programs like BRAC’s youth empowerment clubs don’t just support the girls who participate—they uplift families and communities. Mamie, Michelle, and Kulah may not attend the club, but they feel its impact as Bernie builds her confidence at the club, in school, and through her new business. 

With the unwavering support of her mother and the opportunity to build self-confidence and learn new skills, Bernie is charting a new path. 

You can help more girls like Bernie reach their full potential. Make a gift today to help a young woman like Bernie thrive. 

Meghan McLaughlin is Senior Manager, Digital Marketing at BRAC USA.