Educate Repatriated Refugee Children in Liberia

 It has been a very wonderful and an interesting school year for students, staff of the Carolyn A. Miller School as well as our team after the Ebola epidemic. The team worked very hard to restore the damaged building to have our kids back in school

There were a lot of difficulties and challenges that came on our way that affected our students, staff, and team before the beginning of the academic school year. There was this fear of Ebola, our damaged school building got damaged completely by storm, many other challenges from staff and even our land lord! However, with the efforts of our donor’s, supports and globalgiving, we gained hope and we have been able to solve some of those challenges.

 There were so many needs for our students to able them get back to school and it was really challenging and at the result of that, the enrollment of the school was not stable there were always fluctuation, rise and fall in the attendance of the students on a daily basis. However, it took months and great number of time and effort from our team and staff to be able to get encourage of our students to be regular in school.

We also realized that most of the students that were affected were the younger once especially the females.  Most of them came to school very hungry at the result they will be sleeping and not paying attention to the lesson taught by the teachers.  We have been unable to provide feeding for them since donations to our project has been very slow and we have not been able to meet up with our target set.

Interestingly all of the students that come to our school are less fortunate kids in society. One of students called Mercy life has been very challenging for her since she was born. Mercy was born in one of the counties in Liberia called Nimba County in a little village. Her family later moved to Monrovia to seek a better opportunity in 2010 unfortunately her, their father died when she was at a very young age in a motor accident in April 2011 leaving behind Mercy and her five siblings.

 Since the death her father there has been so much suffering, constrained poverty and hardship and this has leads the family to disintegration, suffering as well as denial to fundamental opportunities to education, healthcare and more.

Mercy is now 10 years of age and she lives with her aunty who is also unemployed and do not have the mean to provide for her education and other needs.  According to mercy, she lives in very harsh conditions that depriving her rights as a child. (United Nations convention on Child right, Article 25. E and f) declares and gives every child the right to ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents and children, are informed, have access to education and are supported in the use of basic knowledge of child health to develop preventive health care, guidance for parents and family planning education and services.

 At five years old, Mercy was taken by her Aunty, Kumasa to assist in education but funds and job have ked to great poverty that threatens Mercy’s education. Mercy dropped out of schools many times and that there seem was no hope to join other children gain education. She was discovered by the registrar, she has been involved with street selling and there where the registrar met her and after interaction wills her, she was able to go with her to her home to meet with the Aunty to arrange her enrollment at the Carolyn A. Miller School. Mercy has been the bread winner for family she continues her selling after school in order to be able to get food for the family. She is a 4^th grade and making a lot of effort but it is just difficult and challenging for her life as a young child. Mercy says that she wants to be a medical doctor and when she grows up to be able to help her community and Liberia.

We are grateful to our donors and Globalgiving that through their support Mercy and others can be able to get the educational benefit today. We want to continue to encourage you to please help us to continue your supports and donations so that many others kids will be supported like Mercy to meet their educational dream. We can never continue this project without your supports and donations therefore we ask that you please continue your help us to help these less fortunate in our community. It is our hope that one day you will make a decision to visit these kids to be able to interact with them directly to bale to understand their trauma that many of them are undergoing. You are really making a difference and together as a team we can do more.