Jenny Cosgrove and I, Stan Olsen, have just returned from our trip to Liberia where we had a wonderful time connecting with old friends, meeting new friends and getting updates on various Kuwaa Mission programs.  Bottom line is that all our programs are doing well and making a very positive impact. This year we conducted a joint Bible / Koran School in Lowoma with stories common to both the Old Testament and the Koran.  Over 150 children attended and had a great time over two days.  Rev. Paye told a very animated story of David and Goliath and the local Muslim leader told about Moses and Pharaoh.  The kids really enjoyed Rev. Paye acting out the story, not to mention the popcorn and Kool aid distributed the final day.

Jenny and Korpo Barsay, our Liberian leader of the Bible School and Sanitation programs presented a new program for us called “Days for Girls”.  This teaches young girls who are just about to start, or are starting, their menstrual periods about the changes in their bodies and how to deal with those changes.  Many girls end up dropping out of school once their period starts never to return.  After the class room setting, and a question / answer session, we distributed over 100 washable, reusable sanitary napkin kits to girls in three villages. The girls asked many good questions and were very excited to get the kits.  If they take care of them and wash them properly the kits should last each girl 3-4 years.  We are the first NGO to bring this program to Liberia and it has proved very popular.  We also presented the program to Phebe and Curran Nursing Schools, both associated with the Lutheran Church in Liberia (LCL) as well as to ELWA Hospital in Monrovia. Phebe and Curran hope to include this program into their nursing curriculum and have the students take it into the villages. We plan to send 2-3 women to Accra, Ghana for further training.

This year we are installing 3 hand dug wells to a depth of 40’ in the villages of Balama, Konjade and Teglei and repairing wells in three different villages.  Additionally, this year we hired a contractor from Monrovia to “hand drill” a well in Fassama.  We have not tried this before but there are several firms in Monrovia that do this work, just none up country away from a paved highway.  He was able to drill two holes to a depth of 80’ where he got a very strong and consistent flow of water.  Going this deep the wells should not have the issue of running dry due to a drop in the water table over the dry season. We are sponsoring a program for pregnant women called “Big Belly”.  This program will be conducted by the LCL with our financial assistance.  It teaches pregnant women about the changes in their body, how the fetus develops, proper nutrition and how to care for themselves and the baby while it develops.  The program also tries to get the father involved so he can properly help care for his wife and their new baby.  The LCL was involved in the creation of this program so it is not new to them.

We also visited several churches and schools up country.  Most of these facilities need a lot of work and the people are more than willing to perform their share but just need some help with materials not available.  The churches mainly just need some corrugated metal roofing sheets, carboline to treat the wood against termites and cement for the floor and to plaster the walls to protect against the heavy rains.  An average cost of $3000- $4000 will take care of the materials and transportation.  Transportation is the most expensive item.

The schools are also in poor shape, need the same materials plus blackboards, chalk, copy books and pencils for the children, chairs and tables, and textbooks for the teachers.  The size of the school varies quite a bit according to how big the town is.  Typically a school would have 6-8 classrooms and an office for the principal.  The budget to cover school costs would be more like $5000 – $6000 as these buildings are much bigger. I would really like to see a congregation “adopt” a church or school and be responsible for raising the funds to renovate the structure.  Most churches are served by a part-time evangelist or deacon. The school cost would also include covering the minimal yearly cost of supplies and support for the teacher.  The teachers receive a very minimal salary, even by Liberian standards, if at all.  In addition to teaching they also have to make their own farm to provide rice and food for their families. If you, or your church, is interested in such a program I am very willing and excited to talk to you about this possibility in greater detail.  I know it would be something you would be very excited about, proud of and you would receive many blessings for participating in this program.  I would mean the world to the people in the village if there was such participation by our supporters here in America. We have changed our mailing address for the receipt of donations.  All donations should be addressed to the Kuwaa Mission at:

Kuwaa Mission, PO Box 90513, Anchorage, AK 99509

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Kuwaa Mission, PO Box 90513, Anchorage, AK 99509

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