Adopt-A-Market Fundraiser

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, herself the granddaughter of a market woman, celebrated Liberia's market women - and paid tribute to the role African women play in Africa's economic development - at the June 4, 2008 launch of the Adopt-A-Market campaign, which raised nearly $1 million. But, a minimum of $1 million a year must be raised over the next three years to meet our goal of improving or establishing 50 markets in five years for 13,000 women traders, their families and the hundreds of thousands of people they serve. You can help – please donate now.

Dr. Thelma Awori, President of the SMWF/USA Board, welcomes guests to the June 4, 2008 Adopt-A-Market Fundraiser at the Society for Ethical Culture in New York City.

"When Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected president, the immediate reaction of women around the world was, we must ensure her success. After all, she's Africa's first female president. A group of friends got together to support this success. But in a conversation with the president, she quickly broadened the vision of who should succeed: the market women of Liberia - that undervalued group of women who have demonstrated their capacity to change the course of political history in Liberia and indeed in Africa. That under-recognized group who kept the economy of Liberia alive during the worst and best of times. These are the women we have come to celebrate tonight.

"The imperative of Ellen's success is the difference she - and we - will make in the lives of the market women of Liberia. She wants a decent work place for them, sanitation, water, health facilities, nursery schools, adult education. She promised them that at the next election they will be able to write their names and not use their thumbs.

"All of you in this room are now part of the Sirleaf Market Women's Fund network, working to ensure that the market women are recognized for the principal role they play in Liberia's economy - and that they have the support that they require.

"In just one year of existence, many things have been accomplished: setting up an office with staff in the Ministry of Gender and Development, and with them building and refurbishing 10 markets, and now we're into our second year, with your help."

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says, "If there is anyone who knows what it is to feel what our market women go through, I do..."

"If there is anyone who knows what it is to feel what our market women go through, I do. I have a personal reason why I am committed to this. My own grandmother was a market woman.

"Today, the market women in Liberia represent that resilient force that has kept the nation together. In times of war, they were the vulnerable ones. They were the ones taken over as sex slaves. They were the ones who went out in difficult times to feed the children, to take care of the home while their husbands went to war. Most of their husbands died. They became heads of households.

"These women labor under very difficult conditions. They fetch the water. They go to the markets. They feed the nation by farming, by storing the food, by selling the food sometimes under the most difficult of situations. You go into the marketplace and they sit there in the sun and the rain selling their wares to be able to put a meal on the table, to be able to send their children to school. And yet, even though they are illiterate . . . they know what it is to aspire to something better and that's why they suffer under those conditions to make ensure that their children will be better off.

"They are not asking for much. They are just asking to be able to sit in a place where they could have a stall, a place to store their food so there is no spoilage, so they can earn enough money to send their children to school, and the little kids that go to the market with them can go to a preschool nearby while they do their work."

Lusu Sloan (left), Interim President of the Liberian Marketing Association and Member, National Board of Directors of the Sirleaf Market Women's Fund, poses with (left to right) Jennifer Buffett, Co-Chair and President, The NoVo Foundation; Massa Cousli, Marketer, Frog Island, Ma-Juah and Nancy B. Doe Markets; Peter Buffett, Co-Chair, the NoVo Foundation; and the Honorable Vabah Gayflor, Liberia's Minister of Gender and Development.

"The market women have been called the backbone of Liberia, and they certainly are that. But I think they are also the eyes, and the ears, and the hands and the feet and the head and the heart of Liberia. Without these women, I don't believe that a child would be able to dream of a future that could be filled with education, and safety and health and prosperity that only peace and stability can bring. I think the market women are the future of Liberia.

"I'm here today because my wife, Jennifer, and I stand shoulder to shoulder in the belief that women have to be at every table in equal partnership with men. We know that when that happens, the women will lead us to peace and stability. They will lead us to a world that is truly balanced with honor and respect for all life.

"There is a lighthouse in Liberia that is showing us the way. It shines on the possibilities of what can be. It stands firm against winds of difficult odds because it stands firm on the bedrock of the market women. That lighthouse is shining for the whole world to see. We are extremely honored to have her here tonight. It is my great honor to welcome President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf."