November 2010

Mr. Adolphus Duo is a passionate teacher at the Hope Project School who is not content with the status quo. While he is just 25 years old, he is a veteran teacher in his sixth year with half of that being at the Hope Project.  In his "spare" time,  he is also pursuing a degree in Economics and Math at the University of Liberia. 

A full day

Adolphus starts his day at 8:00am after a short walk from his home just a block away from the school.  His morning includes math instruction for grades 4-6 and teaching Economics to the tenth grade.  At around noon, he then transitions to being a student himself as he concludes his senior year at the University.  After a ten hour day as both teacher and student, Adolphus then focuses on correcting his students' work from that morning and planning for the next day, then works on his own studies.

A passion for Liberia's youth

Adolphus says, "In my Economics course, the students are studying scarcity, opportunity and statistics - all topics essential to understanding the current challenges facing Liberia."  He says that he enjoys teaching the most when students are interactive, asking questions and making comments.  It's clear that he wants to push his students, and his greatest wish for helping in the classroom would be textbooks at different levels to reach all of the kids.  Adolphus says, "My greatest challenge is getting the struggling students to understand the lessons while they are coming to school with their minds occupied with many other life challenges besides school."  Still, he is very grateful to all those who are making contributions and making a difference in the lives of the students in this war-ravaged country.

Good news!  The last time we wrote, we had 15 of the 29 teachers sponsored.  Today 22 teachers have sponsors!  We are getting there, slowly but surely, thanks to you.  But of course this means that 7 of our teachers (and our nurse - see next article) still need support.  Up until now,  extra donations have covered these folks, but that's not going to last forever. 

Our budget   To be clear - in order for us to pay all 30 staff people, provide books and medicine, and take care of our few administrative costs, we need to be bringing in around $3,500 each month.   Right now we're bringing in about $2,100 - which means that we are going to need to either raise more, or do less.   

Remember:  Over 94% of all donations go directly to Liberia...less than 6% stays in-country for administrative costs.   (A remarkable ratio in the world of non-profits.)

The sad facts
When we see the beautiful smiling faces of the children of Liberia, it is easy to forget just how vulnerable they are and the challenges they face to even grow.  Liberia is the fourth poorest country in the world, and over forty percent of the children are stunted by malnutrition.

Health care is extremely limited. In Liberia one in nine children will not live to see their fifth birthday, and less than 20% of the rural population has access to health facilities.   In Liberia, there is one doctor for every 35,000 people.

A dream realized
This past year saw the culmination of a long-awaited dream for The Hope Project's work in Liberia.  Thanks to an amazing Senior project done last year by Lauren Foote from Leavenworth, Washington, we were able to hire Eliza Mannah, a Liberian nurse, to serve the students at The Hope International School.  Through Lauren's project (an October Halloween dance/party/concert), she raised enough money to pay Eliza's salary for one year (through the end of this month) AND provide basic medicines to stock the medicine room. 

Eliza works at the school, in a very rustic cement block building.  With much creativity and with limited supplies, Eliza treats the devastating effects of malaria, dehydration and malnutrition.  Born in 1975, Eliza recieved her Bachelors in Nursing and a Masters in Regional Science from a college in Grand Gedeh County, in the southeast of  Liberia.  She is married to Pastor Alfred Mannah, and has three young boys.  During our visit earlier this year Eliza told us, "The children of Liberia lack basic health care in general - I'm here to help with things like dehydration, parasites, viruses and such things. There's a lot to help with, and we can only help a little in this setting - I wish we could do more." 

Save children's lives for $5 a day
Is there a group of nurses or doctors out there who would like to sponsor the invaluable work of Eliza?  Or a family with a little extra? We are looking for an individual or group that would provide the on-going financial support for her salary ($150/month), as well as people who would cover the costs of medications and supplies (about $30-$50 per month). Perhaps you know someone who would be interested in helping us to continue this important work. 

Our next big dream:  When this important work is stable and ongoing we will move on to our next dream....school lunches!