The Liberian Village of Hope, having served the war torn Liberian community in the United States and in Liberian for 7 years, with humanitarian relief now sees that this is a good time to provide a quality educational curriculum.
After a 14 year civil war the country’s basic social services of pure water, electricity, schooling etc, have been destroyed, most of the citizen are poor, unemployed and if employed they’re under paid living on less then $30 a month. The World Bank estimates that over three quarters of Liberian’s, three million populations live below the poverty line of US$1 per day. The government estimates that 80% of Liberians do not work in the formal sector. Health facilities lack staff, medicines and equipment, and schools are limited with overcrowded classrooms and unqualified teachers thus making those services limited to the population.
With the return of peace, we believe that one solution to poverty reduction is education. I have seen first hand, the results of HEAD START in the US and we believe that this program will give some hope to the future of Liberian Pre-K students.
It is proposed that 2 HEAD START centers be develop and open for classed September 3rd 2007. the Liberian HEAD START will be run by LVOH and will partner with the local government and global partners. The project involves minor renovations, furnishing, staffing and training of staff. Future maintenance of the project will be possible through volunteer, fund-raising efforts, continual grant giving and increased support for the Liberian government.
