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Sponsorship in Liberia

In the capital of Liberia, the Monrovia project's  main focus is providing education because of the low percentage rate of children attending school.

Medicine, medical attention and nutritional assistance are among the benefits children receive. However, tuition and school supplies make up the biggest portion of benefit funding.

There are also several projects for aging in Liberia, providing nutritional supplements to the elderly and monitoring their overall health.

Sponsor a child in Liberia

About Liberia

Freed slaves from the Americas founded the Republic of Liberia, meaning free land, in 1822. Its capital, Monrovia, was named for U.S. President James Monroe. It is the second oldest independent nation of mainly black citizens.

The western African country is made up of flat to rugged coastal plains rising to rolling, forested plateaus and low mountains in the northeast. Some large game animals such as zebras, elephants and giraffes still live in eastern and northwestern Liberia, but many have been killed off. Liberia is also home to a rare species of pygmy hippopotamus.

Liberia was mainly peaceful until the political upheavals of the 1980s and seven years of brutal civil war ending in 1996. The war resulted in the deaths of some 200,000 Liberians. Civil war broke out again in 2003, claiming many more lives. The process of rebuilding the social and economic structure was slowed by the unsettled state of domestic security.

During the war, many businesses fled the country and the infrastructure in and around Monrovia was destroyed. Half of all Liberians who remained in the country during the war were driven from their homes, and many rural dwellers fled to the capital city.

Liberia is now in a period of renewed hope and development with the election of Africa’s first woman president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

The people

Almost the entire population of Liberia falls into two catagories: the indigenous Africans who have lived there for hundreds of years and make up most of the population, and the Americo-Liberians, who are descendants from American slaves. The indigenous group is made up of many different ethnic groups, each with its own language, customs and territory. The Americo-Liberians typically live in coastal cities and towns.

Seventy-five percent of workers are engaged in agriculture; however, many Liberian families produce only enough food to feed their families. Crops such as cassava, rice, sugar cane and tropical fruits are grown on small plots of land owned by the community.

Many young men work on large rubber plantations owned by foreign companies, or in iron mines.

Indigenous people live in small villages in the interior, where everyone is expected to do their share of work. Even young children carry water, tend goats, and drive monkeys, baboons and birds away from the banana plants. The country has been without running water and electricity for more than 20 years, even in the capital, Monrovia. It was only recently that electricity came to major institutions such as hospitals and schools, but the majority of families still lack water and electrical services. Liberians place great importance on strong family ties, and extended families usually live together.

Education

By law, Liberian children must attend six years of elementary school and six years of secondary school, but only about 60 percent of the children have the opportunity. School attendance is lower for girls than boys. In rural areas, there are shortages of teachers, materials and schools.

Although the literacy rate is low, the government is working to increase school enrollment. Children in the Monrovia project attend school from September to June.

There is only one university, one college and one technical school in the entire country, and less than one percent of secondary school graduates attend.

Sponsor a child in Liberia

Sources:

World Factbook

MSN Encarta Encyclopedia