Those living in rural areas make up close to 75 percent of the country’s poor and the World Bank classifies Liberia as a low-income, food-deficit country, reporting that half of the population is food-insecure or highly vulnerable to food insecurity. Orphans, street children and adolescent ex-combatants often find themselves on their own facing adult responsibilities with little support and no education.

Salesians have been working in Liberia since starting a vocational institute there in 1979. Since then, Salesians in the country have been developing programs with a focus on providing youth with the education and skills necessary to transform their lives and their country.

Recently, Salesian-run Don Bosco Technical High School and Mary Help of Christians Catholic High School, both located in the capital city of Monrovia, received desks, chairs and other furniture thanks to an ongoing partnership between Salesian Missions and the Institution Recycling Network (IRN). More than 1000 students at both schools benefited from the new furniture in their classrooms, libraries, laboratories and school offices.

“The children have comfortable tables and chairs to use and students, especially those in the elementary grades, are very happy with the improvement,” says Father Sony Joseph Pottenplackal, rector and principal of Don Bosco Technical High School. “The furniture has contributed greatly to their discipline and learning environment, and has brought a smile to the faces of many of the young students. This has been a great contribution to the school.”

Desks and chairs help to provide a more dignified and organized educational environment for students to complete their studies. As a result, students are often more focused on their classroom work and more prepared for their lessons.

Salesian Missions’ partnership with IRN has provided valuable furniture to equip Salesian classrooms, offices and administrative buildings around the world, including desks, bookshelves, workstations, chairs, whiteboards, filing cabinets, auditorium seating and more.

“There was a clear match between Salesian Missions’ need for furniture and equipment for their worldwide projects, and the supplies of surplus to which IRN has access,” says Mark Lennon, principal of the Institution Recycling Network. “Salesian Missions has been an excellent partner.”

The Institution Recycling Network was started in 1999 to match surplus items that need to be recycled with organizations and people who need them. Every education, commercial, and healthcare organization in the U.S. has surplus furniture and equipment they need to get rid of. Hundreds of millions of people living in poverty or recovering from natural disasters worldwide are in desperate need of the kinds of surplus goods these very organizations are discarding. IRN makes the match and facilitates the distribution of the surplus into the hands of the organizations and people who need it most.

IRN partners with nonprofits who are known to be reputable and effective providers of relief and development assistance, and who are able to use the types of surplus that IRN can provide. The organization has a “wish list” from each of its nonprofit partners of the types and quantities of surplus they can use.

In addition to the donation in Liberia, IRN has sent shipments of furniture and workstations to Salesian sites in Haiti, Guatemala, the Philippines, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Togo as well as other sites around the globe.

“IRN donations have furnished Salesian schools and development offices in Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia,” explains Jessica O’Connor, property and logistics officer for Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “We plan to continue working with IRN because they are a reliable partner who is eager to assist in our mission and provide quality donations to our programs.”

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Sources

Salesian Missions – Liberia

World Bank – Liberia

The post LIBERIA: More Than 1,000 Students Benefit from New School Furniture first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Those living in rural areas make up for close to 75 percent of the country’s poor and the World Bank classifies Liberia as a low-income, food-deficit country, reporting that half of the population is food-insecure or highly vulnerable to food insecurity. Orphans, street children and adolescent ex-combatants often find themselves on their own facing adult responsibilities with little support and no education.

Salesians have been working in Liberia since starting a vocational institute there in 1979. Since then, Salesians in the country have been developing programs with a focus on providing youth with the education and skills necessary to transform their lives and their country.

Recently, four Salesian programs in the capital city of Monrovia received donations from individuals, Salesian volunteer programs and Catholic schools that have helped more than 2,300 students and their families. The donations ranged from carpentry tools, clothing, textbooks and school supplies, including school desks and chairs.

“Salesian Missions accepts donations from individuals, businesses and other organizations and our donors work hard to provide donations that best fit the needs of youth in Salesian programs around the globe,” says Jessica O’Connor, property and logistics officer at the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs. “These particular donations came from many sources but we were able to coordinate all the items and send one large container to the Salesian programs in Liberia to help enhance the learning environment for students there.”

One recipient of a donation of student textbooks was the Salesian-run Mother Patern College of Health Sciences at Stella Maris Polytechnic. The college provides degrees in several disciplines in the health and science fields and graduates go on to be lab technicians, nurses, physician’s assistants, social workers and nursing educators. More than 400 students received the donated textbooks to assist them in their studies.

Another recipient was the St. Theresa Convent School where 1,100 students benefited from donated school desks, chairs and textbooks. A sander, table saw, wood planters and other carpentry materials were donated to a third recipient, the Don Bosco Technical High School, where more than 500 students benefited. These two Salesian-run educational facilities provide poor youth with secondary education and training, enabling them to join the workforce or go on to college.

A Salesian-run HIV/AIDS program was the recipient of a fourth donation. The program is designed to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS and the its risks through training and outreach actives. People living with HIV/AIDS can access the program for treatment that includes home based care and support groups for emotional and social support. The donation provided clothing to 300 people living with the disease and their families.

“Our partnerships with donors are very important to us,” says O’Connor. “The carpentry materials, textbooks and schools supplies help to enrich the educational experience for youth in Salesian schools who are there to learn skills that will enable them to gain the education they need to find and retain stable employment.”

Whether working to provide rehabilitation to former child soldiers or assisting young women overcome barriers to education, Salesian programs in Liberia are providing youth the opportunity to live up to their potential through both academic and social programs.

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Sources:

Stella Maris Polytechnic/ Mother Patern College of Health Sciences

Salesian Missions – Liberia

World Bank – Poverty in Liberia

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