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We have had a low key weekend, since the workshop wasn't being held, and there were no book clubs planned for the weekend.
We went again to the Betty Jonah Orphanage on Saturday to make a craft with the kids, and play some games. The simple things we provide for our children in the US, really are luxury here. It is sad to know that many children don't attend school because they can't afford the $30 or so a year for the tuition.
The children at the orphanage, while living in less than acceptable conditions from our standard, in many ways have it better than other children in this country that live with their parents. They have sponsors that pay to make sure school is available to them. These students will hopefully grow into leaders of this beautiful country that are moral and ethical, That value people and want to build a future for generations to come.
We have also been sorting through the thousands of books that were donated over the last several months. What a daunting task! We are going to sort most so that they then can be boxed for the schools who had teachers participate in the phonics workshop. They will then be able to have books on site for their students to read to practice their reading. I think the idea is to rotate the boxes so that students continually get access to new reading material.
LTL and ABC University will also have a selection of teacher materials or resources for check out to help them enrich their instruction. These teachers have an enormous task ahead of them with few tools to help them accomplish them. Hopefully these materials will ease their burden slightly.
As I noted on an earlier post, the local steel company has guaranteed land for a community library, and would like to expand that idea to even more communities as well. Very exciting news! That is one of the reasons I was drawn to this project. Liberia must help itself out of the situation it finds itself. This program is one of the stepping stones for it to do just that.
I didn't know much of the history of the civil war that Liberia was wrapped up into for 14 years prior to this trip. I must honestly say that I thought this country had always lived in the squaller and destruction that is so pervasive. That is not the case. Certainly there were pockets of that poverty prior to the war, but the very town that we are in, Yekepa, was very much like the small towns of America. Nice schools, business, electricity, a library, and even a movie house. The war destroyed all of that, and set this nation back decades. When I look upon the results of that war, I see the images that evil has left, and I am haunted.
There is such great need, such desolation, it feels overwhelming at times. But then I realize that throwing a small pebble in the lake will send ripples out that will evoke change. Bringing this phonics program is just one of those pebbles, and the ripples are already beginning!
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