New Jersey women helps young Liberian girls avoid sexual exploitation

>>> this week our foot soldier takes us halfway around the world to the west coast of africa in the country of lie beer yeah. according to a study by unicef, 37% of girls in that country attend primary school . that already low number drops dramatically when it comes to secondary school , down to 14%. studies also show the longer a girl stays in school the less likely she is to engage in sexually exploitive work for money, which is a problem in the slums in liberia where girls as young as ten enter into prostitution so they can afford basic necessities like clean drinking water . in response to these conditions, new jersey native katy myler stepped up.

>> my name is katy . i founded an organization called more than me. we help little girls who are vulnerable of child prostitution get off the street and into school. from one of the most notoriously dangerous slums on the planet in liberia, west africa .

>> currently more than me partners with local schools and provides tuition, supplies, school lunches and even medical care for the 108 liberian girls who are part of the program. girls like abigail .

>> abigail was ten years old. she was about to be sucked into child prostitution . you know, i find out now that the reasons for that was because she's an orphan, she doesn't even have free drinking water . so even to get a glass of water she needs money. and she doesn't have parents to pay for it. so she got sucked into it by her friends who told her that if she was with a man she would get a dollar.

>> thanks to more than me, abigail is back in school. and she's in her class first. she is big dreams of one day becoming a senator so that she can fight for girls in similar situations for her part, katy is hoping to help even more abigails. and there is good news on the horizon. the liberian government recently donated a building to more than me. now though the structure needs a lot of work, but in january katy will open the doors to the more than me academy in the center of the city. and it will cater specifically to girls from preschool through eighth grade.

>> more than me is about living for something bigger than just yourself every day. no matter where you are. with just a little bit of help we would be able to do this for thousands of young, vulnerable girls . i want to shake the they're in the a way that says, what are we living for? who are we? are we living for something bigger than ourselves and that normal people can do really big things .

>> for showing us that determination and passion can make a difference in lives an ocean away, katy myler is our foot soldier of the week. to read our interview with katy and learn more about her organization check out our blog at mhpshow.com. that is our show for today. thank you to semy panel. and