First Lady cuts short trip for Melania Trump
First Lady Gertrude Mutharika has cut short her stay in the United States of America (USA) to welcome US First Lady Melania Trump who arrives in Malawi tomorrow.
The First Lady, who accompanied President Peter Mutharika to the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (Unga) that closed last Friday in New York, is scheduled to arrive back home today, according to State House press officer Chikondi Juma.
She said: “The First Lady is arriving on Wednesday ahead of the US First Lady’s arrival on Thursday. Issues to do with the welfare of children will take centre stage since the two first ladies have similar interests and passion for children.
“Our First Lady is championing girl-child education and fighting early marriages through the Beatify Malawi [Beam] project.”
Trump is on a four-nation tour of Africa, her first solo international mission that has already taken her to Ghana. Besides Ghana and Malawi, she will also visit Kenya and Egypt to promote child welfare.
According to www.nbcnews.com, Trump announced the four-country visit at a reception for the spouses of foreign leaders at the Unga in New York.
Juma said Beam corresponds well with Trump’s ‘Be Best Initiative’ which is about putting the interest of children, including their education and protection from harmful practices, at the centre of global attention
To date, Beam has given a chance of education to about 3 000 girls who could otherwise have dropped out of school due to lack of school fees and other basic school needs.
Beam and its partners have also constructed girls’ hostels in a number of community secondary schools to counter the alarming high school dropout rates and teen pregnancies that were being recorded among girls in such institutions.
