Quality Education in Sierra Leone and Liberia

Meet James.

Born in Liberia, James fled the civil war at the age of 15. For 7 years, James lived on the Buduburam refugee camp outside of Accra, Ghana. Passionate about education, James started teaching the children on the camp. He quickly became aware however that the lack of basic literacy skills was a huge barrier. Regardless of the subject he was trying to teach, the children struggled to understand. But to James, literacy was even more than that.

“During my first experience tutoring kids on the Buduburam refugee camp, I realized that literacy wasn't only a skill but it was a sense of liberation. Literacy gave me a means of escape in many instances, when life was the most difficult. I could find joy or imagine myself as a character in a story, thousands of miles away. I could explore secret places on a farm or take a voyage with a boy and his tiger at sea.” 

LIFE for Liberia was born out of James’ passion for literacy education. A small number of international donors provided financial support to enable James to teach a focused literacy program to the children of Buduburam, in an effort to unlock greater access to learning. For 5 years, James worked hard to develop the literacy skills of the children living on the camp.

“When people on the camp were in despair and lacked hope the most, it was this simple truth that gave me hope - literacy improved my life. Reading could give people a sense of inclusion, oneness and unity that was clearly lacking amongst Liberians at the time. I'd hoped that the liberty gained by being literate could be given to all the kids in the camp that needed it and they'd in turn be added to a large group of people worldwide - people who could read”.

In 2008, once it was deemed safe to return, James and his family repatriated to Liberia. Soon after, Solon Foundation UK raised money to purchase a plot of land and build a 4 classroom literacy centre in Paynesville, on the outskirts of Monrovia. In September 2009, LIFE for Liberia first opened its doors, providing free, literacy-focused education for 70 out-of-school children in the Paynesville community.

James has proudly served the community ever since, even throughout the Ebola epidemic. He works closely alongside his teachers to ensure students develop the basic foundations for learning regardless of their family background.

“I gained not only a purpose and a hope but something I believed would help me accomplish my dream of seeing more and more Liberian people rescued from the bondage of illiteracy”