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Ms. Catherine Gill-Jamieson, a British citizen who with her husband currently resides in Liberia, was on Wednesday, March 21, 2012, the guest of our school, Help Liberia Foundation Community School.

Catherine (the kids and the staff now affectionately call her “Sis Catherine”), who had earlier communicated with Paul and Mary and had expressed her interest to work with the school a few weeks earlier, was welcomed by the kids and the staff.

Before her arrival on the school campus, a few of the students and the staff had already assembled outside to await and welcome her. When she came down from her car and saw the group, she said, “No, no, Paul. I didn’t expect this.”

“Yeah, I know, but now that it is like this, you just have to brace yourself for it,” Paul joking told her. She laughed.

A little girl named Patricia Chea officially welcomed Catherine and presented her some flowers on behalf of the school, saying: “Sis Catherine, you are welcome to our school, the Help Liberia Foundation Community School. We are your friends, and you are our friends. Once again, we say that you are welcome.”

In response, Catherine, who was thrilled to have seen the kids and the staff, remarked, “I am overwhelmed by the great welcome. Thank you for warmly receiving me.”

From there, Catherine was taken on a tour of the school building, viewing the classes, one office and one storeroom. She also had a meeting with the staff. At the start of the meeting, Paul introduced her and also introduced the staff.

“You guys are doing wonderful work here for the kids, especially considering the limited resources you have to work with. I can’t promise to do this and do that, but I will definitely do my best to help where I can. We all will work together to help these wonderful kids.”

We wish to inform everyone, especially our sponsors and volunteers, that Help Liberia Foundation, the Poland-based charity foundation that helped establish the Help Liberia Foundation Community School in Buchanan City, Liberia, is no longer in operation in Poland. The foundation’s operation was closed last year.

It’s worth noting, though, that our school in Buchanan is still operating and will continue to operate.

All money in the foundation’s Polish bank accounts has already been transferred to the school’s Liberian bank account. Mr. Paul Yeenie Harry who served as the Executive Director of the Polish organization from 2003 to 2010 when he returned to his home country Liberia has decided to stay in Liberia to help manage the school. He has no plans to return to Poland to live as he did before.

As many of you may be aware, our school was established in 2005, and has continued to operate since, helping scores of underprivileged kids through the generosity of many individuals and institutions, many of them in Europe. We now have about 150 students, aged between 3 and 15.

We would, therefore, like to thank members of the HLF Polish management team and all our sponsors and volunteers in Poland and around the world. We profoundly thank you all. You are the ones who have made it possible for our students to receive their primary education. We hope that many of you will continue to support us!

The Help Liberia Foundation Community School, our school located in Buchanan, Liberia, West Africa, has received a first aid kit for use on the children in the school.

The first aid kit, which was donated by UNICEF, contains cotton, bandages, plasters, gloves, tablets, towels, scissors and other first aid materials. UNICEF also gave a resource book for some of the school’s instructional materials.

Receiving the items on behalf of the school were two staff members, Esau Wleh and Elwood Lincoln, who thanked the officials of UNICEF and promised to use the kit according to its intended purpose.

Staff of UNICEF explained to the staff of the school, especially the main science teacher in the primary division, Mr. Samson Tweh, how to use the materials. The school has already begun using them.

We are thankful to the staff of UNICEF for assisting the school in this direction. It is our hope that other institutions and individuals will help the school in whatever way they can.

Our school in Buchanan, Liberia, West Africa, held its Christmas-break closing program on Tuesday, December 20, 2011.

The mini-closing program, which was held on the campus of the school, brought together students and faculty on the last day of school before the Christmas season. During the occasion, various kids and classes played specific roles, for example, reciting poems and Bible verses, singing songs, and so forth.

Mr. Andrew Garsuah, one of the administrators of the school and an old hand in the area of education, served as the Master of Ceremony. He used some of his motivational techniques to get the students to willingly participate in the program. It was fun.

At the end of the less-than-an-hour ceremony, the school served the kids some finger food – pop corn, juice and candies – which the children happily received. Some ate theirs on the campus, while others took theirs home.

It was a quite interesting occasion for the kids that attended, as some of them did not come in that their parents had already unofficially taken the end of the previous week as the beginning of their children’s vacation, although the school had not announced it so.

Meanwhile, classes will resume on Wednesday, January 4, 2012.

Our profound thanks go to all of you who continue to help the kids and the school in one way or another. We wish you Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

The foundation has purchased a huge plot of land for the construction of a school building for the school in Buchanan, Liberia.

The plot of land, which was purchased a few months ago, and which has already been surveyed, comprises four lots – or one acre, which is about 4,000 square meters. The land was bought in a community called the Bassa Community (in Buchanan), which is an area not too far from the current location of our school.

There is a street (unpaved) in front of the land, which is good news in that the school will be located on the road, and not in a corner. Standing on the road and facing the land, it is worth mentioning that the center-right side of the land is wetter and softer, while the center-left side of the land is much dryer and harder.

It may be recalled that the school in Buchanan started operating in 2005 with about 30 students, using an unfinished residential building, which we have been renting from the owners for the past seven years.

Our plan is to construct a 13-classroom school building in which the children will be transferred because we want to operate kindergarten, primary and junior high levels in the new building, if constructed. At present, the school operates only at the kindergarten and primary levels.

Some online volunteers – contacted through the efforts of Mary Smith of England, a very industrious partner of the school project – are helping to design the plan for the proposed building. The architects have completed the first phase, and they are working together to come up with a final plan based on the needs of the school and the condition of the land.