Our school in Buchanan City, Help Liberia Foundation Community School, is blessed with committed teachers who care for and interact with the kids.
It is important for kids to learn in a conducive environment, and that conducive environment includes friendly, but professional, interaction with the students.
One positive aspect associated with the operation of our school in Buchanan City, Grand Bassa County, is that the school has committed and loving teachers who are willing to help the kids obtain their education.
The kids whom we accept and help at the school are kids who come from poor background or whose parents are unemployed, and we are proud and happy that we have caring and committed teachers who are willing, ready and able to teach the kids.
Although our teachers are not receiving huge salaries at the end of the month because of limited resources, they still give themselves willingly to help the kids get their education, as they are aware that people’s lives can be changed though education, and children can have a better future as a result of education.
In a P-T.A meeting held at the school in May of this year, a female parent stood up and said, “I want to thank the teachers in this school because since my two children entered Help Liberia Foundation Community School, they have improved in their lessons. I am seeing the difference between this school and the first school my children attended. I am encouraging the teachers to please continue the good work.”
Indeed, we are proud of our teachers for helping us to develop these kids for a better future.
Special thanks and appreciation go to all of our Swedish friends and sponsors who are contributing some funds through Lena Thorne Marner and Anders Marner every month to help with teachers’ salary payment.
Someone once said, “Any good teacher knows how important it is to connect with students and understand their problems.”
In fulfillment of this saying, our dedicated teachers at Help Liberia Foundation Community School in Buchanan City do their best to interact with the lovely children attending the school. They spend time understanding the students and helping them with their problems. We are proud of them and thankful to them for their sacrificial services.
We are also grateful to our Swedish friends and supporters who are helping with teachers’ salary payment, through the effort of Lena Thorne Marner and Anders Marner, an exercise that is helping the teachers to be more committed.
The pictures show some of our teachers at work.
The students and the staff of Help Liberia Foundation Community School had fun on the soccer field two Saturdays ago, when they challenged each other in a friendly match.
The games were played in both football and kickball. The staff beat the students in both games, but the students complained that they were intimidated and cheated, while the staffers say they won because they were more professional.
The jerseys used by both students and staff were brought by our European guests last year, for which we remain grateful to them.
Based on experience, observation, and well-thought-of advice, Help Liberia Foundation Community School has made a strategic change in one of its long-term focal programs – the Child Sponsorship Program.
Mr. Harry posing with staffers at the end of a teachers’ workshop held last year.
At the moment, we have nine staffers, and we are paying about US$200 per month on salaries, depending on the exchange rate at the end of the month. We are paying some staffers US$20 and others US$30 per month.
For now, it is only Lena Marner and Anneli Hammarström of Sweden who are helping with the payment of teachers’ monthly salaries. If we are able to get ten (10) sponsors, each committing himself/herself to paying US$20 per month, we can raise the US$200. Still, if we can get 20 persons who can commit themselves to paying US$10 per month, we can raise the US$200.
That said, our goal for the not-too-distant future is actually to pay each teacher at least US$40 per month, which might be around US$400 per month, if the funds are available through the Teacher Sponsorship. We know this will still be low, but it will be by far better than what they are being paid for now, which will help to keep them in the school, instead of applying to a new school at the end of the year because of better salary.
Therefore, we are, through this medium, appealing to all individuals and institutions of good will to kindly think about participating in the Teacher Sponsorship Program, as it will help us to retain our teachers, pay our teachers regularly, keep running the school uninterrupted, and have more kids in the school to learn without the school thinking about charging or collecting exorbitant fees from their poor parents, or about sending kids home because they didn’t pay fees on time.
Some Advantages Associated with the Teacher Sponsorship
Generally, we have decided to focus on Teacher Sponsorship because it has more sustaining and problem-free consequences for the kids in the school and its operation. Some of the advantages associated with the Teacher Sponsorship are as follows:
In view of the foregoing, the school has, with immediate effect, cancelled the Child Sponsorship Program and replaced it with the Teacher Sponsorship Program. This new policy does not automatically cancel the status of the few children currently under sponsorship; it will remain in force until it naturally fades out.
Why the Change?
The change from Child Sponsorship to Teacher Sponsorship came about as a result of numerous problems experienced under the Child Sponsorship. For example, the following problems, among other things, were experienced under the program:
When a child abruptly leaves the school as a result of one of the first six (6) reasons given above, especially where a sponsor has already started a relationship with the child, it creates serious problems. And writing a sponsor that their sponsored child is no longer in the school creates serious embarrassment and puts the school in an awkward position. At times, we write the sponsor to inform them that the child has left the school, while at the same time recommending a new child, only to find out in two or three months that the newly named child has also left the school. This sometimes creates doubts and affects the credibility of the school and those in charge. The Teacher Sponsorship will end these problems.
Of course, in conclusion, we wish to thank all of you who have sponsored needy Liberian children over the years, because your sponsorship helped a lot of kids to get their basic education. The focus is now teacher sponsorship.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged children, education, fundraising, Liberia, school, teacher
Help Liberia Foundation Community School 