Retirees in Indiana help rebuild schools in Liberia, a desk at a time

A UMNS photo by John Gordon Residents of Wesley Manor Retirement Community have built 16 desks for schools in Liberia.

By John Gordon*

FRANKFORT, Ind. (UMNS) — In a basement woodworking shop, there are sounds of electric saws and drills as retirees turn a hobby into an international outreach.

About a dozen residents of the United Methodist Church’s Wesley Manor Retirement Community are building desks for students in Liberia, where schools have been looted during civil wars. The work is part of Operation Classroom, a United Methodist program to help rebuild schools in Liberia and Sierra Leone – two countries that have been wracked by civil wars in recent years.

"A lot of the schools were destroyed," says Don Pershing, a Wesley Manor resident and one of the desk builders.

"We saw some (desks) that had been built, and I said, ‘I think we can do this.’"

The Wesley Manor woodworkers built 16 desks, which have already been shipped to Liberia. Now they are working on more.

"We just saw poverty," Pershing says. "And a lot of things we take for granted, they just don’t have over there."

A UMNS photo by John Gordon John Barker tracks donated books, school supplies and medical equipment in a warehouse in Indiana.

"During the civil war, people would take refuge in schools," Wagner says. "And because they didn’t have any firewood, they would just use the desks and chairs for firewood to cook with."

Many students are still without desks and sit on rocks during classes, according to Wagner. In one school, students bring chairs from home.

Operation Classroom is helping 15 schools in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The program is providing scholarships to allow teachers to attend college to further improve the educational system. Students also receive work-study scholarships.

Lay leaders in the denomination’s Indiana Area started the effort, after searching for a major project to undertake.

"Many people have nothing," Wagner says. "This project is really very, very important because the desks are so needed."

Donated books, school supplies and medical equipment are stored at a warehouse in Lapel, Ind., and shipped at least four times a year in 40-foot-long containers. Since the program began, $6.5 million has been raised in donated goods and in-kind services. Wagner says the program needs another $6.7 million during the next five years.

The program receives financial support from 23 states.

The need among Liberia’s people is great. "They don’t get much publicity," Wagner says. "But the need is as bad if not worse than Iraq, as far as the people’s need is concerned."

"They (schools and hospitals) were stripped, absolutely stripped," says Lowell Brown, another desk builder. "So we’re essentially starting from scratch in refurbishing the institutions there."

Brown says residents of the home include retired pastors, teachers, doctors, lawyers and engineers — all eager to put their skills to work.

"Personally, I get out of it a lot of deep satisfaction, both working with my hands as well as working on behalf of people overseas," he says.

Residents of both Liberia and Sierra Leone speak English, so textbooks salvaged from U.S. schools are also sent there. Operation Classroom recently received boxloads of books from an Indiana school district.

"Had we not received them, they’d have just been thrown away in the trash or a dumpster or (been) burned," Wagner says.

Volunteer teams are also sent to Sierra Leone and Liberia for construction projects, such as building schools, walls and principals’ houses, and renovating buildings and classrooms.

Enrollment in the schools aided by Operation Classroom has grown to more than 8,000 students, with staffing at 275.

Students also receive vocational training. The project has introduced power tillers to the region for agricultural programs and helped establish computer programs.

In addition, Operation Classroom provides trauma counseling for students. Wagner says most of the soldiers in the civil wars were children.

"A lot of them were kidnapped and taken out, and now they’re back and we’re trying to provide an education for them," he says.

"Our motto has been to take the guns out of the children’s hands and give them tools to place in their hands for a productive life."

The five-year plan for Operation Classroom includes supplying additional desks and chairs, science equipment and vocational equipment, and continuing with construction projects. Generators are needed, since some buildings still have no electricity.

Donations will also provide additional scholarships for students and teachers. Wagner says progress is being made, but much work remains.

"The need is astronomical," he says. "It’s going to take years."

*Gordon is a freelance producer and writer in Marshall, Texas.

News media contact: Fran Coode Walsh, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5458 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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