Trip & Travel
My Three New Friends in Pipeline Community Morbi malesuada imperdiet imperdiet. On this day, I met three cute little boys full of charisma and life: five-year-old “C,” seven-year-old “G”, and eight-year-old “R.” I introduced myself as Jallah and they immediately began calling me “brother Jallah” throughout our conversation as a sound of respect. Besides the obvious presence of God, respect is still one of the positive things I noticed in Liberia instantly. Anyway, these three little guys live in WEHN town, Pipeline Line Community, in Paynesville area. They lack many things children their ages take for granted. Yet, their brilliant imaginations compensates for any material possession they lack. With bricks made from mud, water, and an empty sardine can, they built five rooms in a house and proudly told me the house was completed. C offered me a room in their house, although the rooms were already assigned to their mother, father, brother, grandmother, and C, respectively. I asked C if he would need to add another room to the house for me and he responded, “No, no. Five is enough. I will put my dad and grandma in the same room, because I don’t want my dad to sleep in the same room with my mom.” Amazingly, I discovered that amidst so much lack, Liberians still have the light of hope. But I also wonder why a five-year-old wouldn’t want his dad to stay in the same room as his mother.
jman
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Trip & Travel
Learning About Students From a Newly Adopted School Can you imagine some children are striving for an education somewhere. Education in Liberia is not guaranteed and there aren’t many desirable alternatives for children without the means to pay for an education. YESLiberia provides tuition for students and is committed to learning more about their challenges. Here are some pictures of our time with some high school seniors from a school in Monrovia. We first met the entire class as they were planning to visit a classmate who had recently lost her mother. Impressed by their concern, Jallah asked them if he could join them and sympathize with their classmate. Jallah bonded with the students during that experience and offered to buy them lunch the next day. During lunch on the following day, the YESLiberia team listened to the resilient stories of these students. Although they experience more hardship and challenges that we will ever know, their resounding strength was inspiring. For example, we met a 16-year-old student who crushes rocks with a sledge hammer daily just to pay for his tuition and still owes about $150 for two previous semesters. The scars on his hands are evidence to his life story. We also met another student, an artist who enjoys drawing and illustrations. When she heard YesLiberia was hosting an arts event in Pennsylvania in the spring, she insisted on sending her work to be included. Jallah was happy to oblige, and her art is set to go on auction next spring, with benefits going to assist with her tuition. If you are interested in her art, you may contact us.
jman
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Trip & Travel
Spending time with a yesliberia student at GSA road YMCA school Jallah wanted to understand the full experience and challenges Liberian children go through just to walk to school, stay in class, and return home. A YESLiberia student, Emmanuel, and his family hosted Jallah for the day. Jallah arrived at Emmanuel’s house early in the morning. He walked with Emmanuel to a well and drew water with him, the water his family would use to shower before getting dressed. Here’s a breakdown of how Jallah’s day ensued: Jallah hangs out with Emmanuel’s family before walking their son to school After dropping Emmanuel off, Jallah spends time with the principal, discussing ideas and experiences before walking Emmanuel back home from school Jallah checks out a solar lantern given to Emmanuel’s family a few years agoand looks at Emmanuel’s mother’s garden Jallah discusses challenges of life with Emmanuel, while walking him to school Jallah peers at the bed that Emmanuel and his sister share Jallah and YesLiberia’s volunteer members participate in student and parental engagement at the school Jallah gets to know an entire first grade class and six grade class Jallah was informed that one of YesLiberia’s scholarship recipients, Lilian, was selected to run in a national race in Liberia; he promised to buy her, a pair of spikes for 13-year-old Lillian, a track and field runner. There is a full blog dedicated to Lilian on this page. Before our group left the GSA Road YMCA School’s campus, Emmanuel’s mother. showed up, unexpectedly. She had heard we would be on campus after school, meeting with scholarship recipients, and requested to speak with Jallah. Through tears, she expressed her appreciation and support for Jallah and the entire YESLiberia team. The sincere gratitude left Jallah and several team members in tears. In the coming months, Emmanuel mother, and several other people, will be in a comprehensive video captured at the school during this visit. We could not be more grateful that a parent has become one of our strongest allies for Liberian education.
jman
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Trip & Travel
Arrival and First meeting Everything comes full circle. Twenty years after Jallah escaped The First Liberian Civil War to seek refuge in the United States, he’s still able to recall the clothes he was wearing on his back the day he left. Now that he’s been given the opportunity to return to his home country to make a major difference, he’s going full circle with the experience. Before heading back to Liberia, Jallah purchased a pair of pants and a shirt similar to what he wore when he fled the war. The clothes were a significant reminder of a painful past and present purpose of giving back to communities much like the ones he grew up in. On the day we arrived in Liberia, we hosted our first meeting with local volunteer team members at the YMCA of Liberia led by Alson Armah. At the end of the meeting, we sorted hundreds of items and school supplies brought for students across Liberia as all looked forward to the events ahead and the impact they would make on participants and volunteers alike.
jman
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Trip & Travel
Into the Community Our founder Jallah returned to the community he grew up in today and was able to connect with a number of different people during his time there. One of those people, Elijah Johnson, was a neighbor in a community where Jallah grew up in Logan town. Elijah is now a mechanic and repairs the tires of various types of vehicles. He does these repairs with his bare hands and a self-made air machine. Jallah also met Yassah who is a 13-year old girl that was working as a street vendor. Yassah asked Jallah to have her picture taken and for him to buy something from her. To the left you can see the picture of Yassah that she requested. Below a typical street scene is pictured. Trash covers many parts of the road in various areas of Liberia. Carts like the one pictured below are used to transport water from wells to homes and street businesses in Monrovia. While in the community, Jallah also talked with an 11 year-old girl named Princess who is a student and loves studying science. She was Jallah’s company on his walk to the house he grew up in.
jman
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