Removing Barriers

In Liberia, 30% of young women aged 15-19 are parenting or pregnant. Lack of access to birth control is a significant contributing factor.

Hope International students have expressed a desire to have access to family planning education and resources. With the support from the school nurse and the school administration, a student-leg club has formed the program Graduation Before Procreation to help remove barriers for family planning. Liberian instructors have begun in-class education for all 7th through 12th grade students.

Amy, a long-time friend of The Hope Project, heard about this program and offered to throw a pool party fundraiser in Wenatchee in support.

Through Amy’s network of friends over $800 was raised to begin the second goal of the Graduation Before Procreation program. Hope International will begin monthly school-bus transportation to a medical clinic in the capital city of Monrovia where students will receive a health screening and access to free birth control, removing cost and transportation barriers.

Thank you students, thank you staff, thank you Amy and friends, for supporting the educational dreams of young women!

Beginnings and Endings

We hope your back-to-school weeks have been full of excitement and hope, even amidst the frenzy and the change. Hope International students will be filling their classroom seats beginning on September 11th!

In mid-August we received a few photos from Principal Mark Howe, showing the 100s of families lined up on registration day.  Sadly, school fees throughout Liberia have continued to rise, increasing the barriers for students to attend school.  During our last visit to Liberia in February, we worked together with the Liberian administrative team, to set enrollment limits, ensuring we had the space and resources to support each student.  Hope International’s pre-K through 12th grade enrollments have been capped at 1,300 students.  The Liberian staff continues to have to deliver the deeply sad news that we are at capacity.  Their job is never easy, and these past few weeks, even more difficult.  We will continue to do all that we can to ensure that as many students as possible receive their high school diploma.

On a lighter note, no one celebrates more beautifully than Liberian communities.  On September 30th, the Class of 2023 will have their graduation ceremony.  Graduations happen later in Liberia as the results have to be in from the country-wide testing of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).  No one receives their diploma without passing.  This will be a special evening and for many families, it will be celebrating their family’s first graduate.  We look forward to sharing photos and stories with you! 

May we acknowledge our deep fortune in the educational opportunities our country’s students have, while we continue remove the obstacles facing our Liberian friends. Thank you for making it all possible!

You+They=Us

Dear Friends of Hope,

Summer is wrapping up and so are our 15 years of Hope summer reflections. We will now head into year 16, ready to pursue and embrace every opportunity for the students of Hope International. 
 
We hope that you saw yourselves reflected in each and every one of these highlights. Without you, our partners in Hope, all of this would have remained a dream for these students and staff. Every good thing that has emerged from this one school, this one hub and heart of the community, has happened through your generosity and partnership. 
 
You have our deepest gratitude.