Our founder, Jallah, grew up in Liberia in the heart of the civil war when education and peace were hard to find. As an elementary student, Jallah sold water and doughnuts on the streets of Monrovia in the mornings and used the money to cover the cost of attending school in the afternoon. Often, the money was not enough in a country without fully free public schools. As militants stormed his community to gather the next round of child soldiers, Jallah fled his town under the cover of night. In allah’s new community, safe for the moment from militants, his life changed. The United Methodist Church (UMC) offered him a scholarship to go to school. Not only did he learn his math, science, and history, but he also learned the valuable lesson that the world needs good people to help others who want to do good. And this is why he started YesLiberia. Jallah lives his life helping Liberian and American youth in various ways..As a Liberian saying goes: If you pull rope, rope will pull bush. We have seen repeatedly that individuals pulled out of illiteracy and poverty, will also pull out those individuals attached to them (siblings, children, and community).We hope you will join us in lifting up those individual ropes and the bushes attached to them.
In 2014, Nayla Akram Basma was a senior student in high school in the top 10% of her class in Florida-- taking numerous Advanced Placement classes . With the passion to serve less fortunate people and a dream of becoming a medical doctor, Nayla reached out to volunteer for YesLiberia. During her interview process, Nayla siad "I'm a firm believer in the concept that one little thing can make a difference in other people's lives," she said." But we could see the passion in her eyes and felt the authentic emotions in her voice. She became one of our volunteered Social Media Manager and Blogger for several months before traveling to Liberia. While in Liberia, Nayla said, "When I decided to come to Liberia, I thought, 'I want to be a doctor, and now I'm saying, 'I'm going to be a doctor." Our founder, Z. J. Jallah, memory of Nayla presence in Liberia is that she had an uncommon way of lifting children's spirits as she visited Liberian orphanages and schools. She also brought donations of food, equipment and supplies. Just seeing her there, the children wanted to play more, laugh more."
Upon her return to the Florida in the USA, she couldn't stop thinking about Liberia after spending three weeks of her summer there; volunteering and visiting schools, hospitals and orphanages. During that period,she was also thinking about what she wanted to do in college and beyond. Her desire to make a difference, combined with the experiences in Liberia led Nayla to become a lawyer in order to fight against injustices. She stayed in touch with YesLiberia during her college years and volunteered whenever she could.A few years later, Nayla entered Law school and, in 2022, she passed the New York bar exam. She is now a practicing lawyer.
Her journey started with a simple intention to volunteer and the willingness to experience the challenges kids in Liberia undergo each day. Volunteering allows one the chance to give back to any community, make a positive impact on others, and develop new skills. As in the case of Nayla and so many volunteers here at YesLiberia, volunteering can also provide a sense of purpose and help you connect with like-minded individuals. Nayla's life has changed for the better. Like YesLiberia, Nayla will be fighting for kids by fighting injustices to prevent these challenges from happening in the first place. You too, or your child, can be another Nayla.
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Z. J. Jallah
Founder/Executive Director
A few years ago, Meg Remay met with Jallah at Panera Bread for coffee and asked him seveal questions about YesLiberia. From helping to encourage board members to be more creative with fundraising, to leading our bus fundraiser to launch our school bus program, Meg has be instrumental in so many ways to YesLiberia. One of the memorable things Meg did as a board member was informing all of her invited guests for her wedding to give to YesLiberia instead of buying her wedding gifts. She not a living example of walking the walk. Meg is not only an inspiring former board member who continiues to give back to YesLiberia, she created history with us-- a legacy to launch the first free school bus program in Liberia through YesLiberia. we are proud of her.
To date, she is the most impactful board members and her intentionality has encouraged various new board members to do more. We are seeing the same trend in board members like Matt and Sarah
