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Liberian church begins restoring school programs

11/20/2003 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn.

This story is part of a weeklong Close Up series on how the United Methodist Church is helping Liberia recover from war. Photographs, video reports and other features are available.

By Joni Goheen*

MONROVIA, Liberia (UMNS) - United Methodist University, in the city center of Liberia's capital, became ground zero during the country's civil war last summer.

Campus buildings sustained heavy damage, most of the furniture and equipment were looted, and the school lost its prized possessionÂ¾its generator. All the administrative offices were damaged, and the office of President James Oliver Duncan was hit by two rocket-propelled grenades. The weapons would have killed him if he had been in his office. A photo of Liberia's Bishop John Innis hangs next to a bullet hole in the wall.

Jimmy Dennis, a manager at the university, emerged as a local hero. Dennis confronted a rebel leader who was about to leave administrative offices with computers, monitors, and printers. Dennis demanded the return of the equipment, and a rebel leader sent several of his men to retrieve the stolen items.

With the smoke of war clearing away, the United Methodist Church faces the task of rebuilding not only the university but other education programs around the country.

The denomination has been active in Liberia since 1833 and is considered a longtime champion of education. Education and Methodism are so closely linked that it is nearly impossible to discuss one without the other. Today, most church buildings serve as places for worship, education and health care.

At the university, returning students will initially share facilities with displaced people housed on campus. Commencement ceremonies are scheduled for late December or early January.

More than 600 people, ages 4 to 21, attend school on the steps of the university's Samuel Doe Sports Complex. The complex also serves as a home for hundreds of temporary displaced people, taught by displaced teachers. Every day, rain or shine, they assemble to learn music, reading and math.

Running a school program like that is difficult, according to A. Gray of Smart African International, an organization that works in developing countries. Yet the cost of not doing so can be great. "If we don't put our own limited resources into place to run such a program, in the near future, you will see another group of rebels in this country again," Gray said.

Without education, the future looks bleak, said James Oliver Duncan, president of United Methodist University.

"You have to look at students who are in school, who have been withdrawn and dropped out of school because of the war who are now returning to school," he said. "You almost have to have what I would say is a new breed of teachers who will teach those students â€¦ understanding that those students have been exposed to war for more than a decade. â€¦ They are traumatized.

"They have a tendency to come to school today but tomorrow they are not there," he said. "So the teacher will definitely have to visit homes, strengthen the parent-teacher association, talk with parents to know what is happening to them."

Duncan advocates an approach that includes holding a series of workshops on trauma and training counselors and teachers to understand what they are dealing with in the classroom.

"We are not looking at Monrovia only," he added. "We have to go to the towns in all parts of the country (and) do seminars and workshops in the camps if we have to, even if we have to use interpreters."

David T. Wofodah, a United Methodist missionary to Liberia, recently launched a school for deaf children. Students, ranging in age from 6 to 21, were recruited in a door-to-door campaign, and many are attending school for the first time.

"The church doesn't have a program for this kind of thing so I decided to bring this idea to the church," Wofodah said. "Our programs were limited only to hearing people. Jesus Christ says, 'I came to preach the message to the poor,' so why can't we go a little farther to include disabled people? They are part of Gods kingdom."

Joseph Punyanqoi, 21, one of the older students, communicates by using rudimentary hand signals. He attends school in the mornings, and he and his brother spend their afternoons repairing and shining shoes. Punyanqoi knows that math and communication skills will help him with his business.

Fifty-four percent of the 2.7 million people in Liberia are under age 20. Children under age 16 have routinely had their education interrupted and have never known peace for any significant amount of time. Even if much of the country is now stabilized, growing demands and inadequate funding will make it difficult to reopen damaged schools and build new ones.

Home schooling is the only option for Fatu Tamba, an internally displaced person living with her family in a guesthouse at the United Methodist Church compound. Every weekday morning, her young son, Vincent, works on spelling, math and reading. A high school graduate, Tamba knows the importance of education and wants her son to be prepared for the future.

Entire communities are hard at work making repairs so other schools can reopen in late October or early November, according to Edwin Clarke, director of communications for the United Methodist Church's Liberia Annual Conference. "We need to get the schools open so children can get back to school. You see, most of the children are idle, and there's a saying that an idle brain is the devil's workshop, and children can get into trouble easily when they're not doing anything."
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*Goheen is a freelance writer living in Morrison, Colo. Edwin Clarke, Liberia Annual Conference director of communications, provided information for this story.

Tomorrow: Displaced Liberians face severe security problems and food shortages. United Methodist Bishop John Innis calls for Liberians to work together to rebuild their country.

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