Looking Up

August 28, 2010
Monrovia, Liberia
Annie Foley, LitWorld

What is the power of a smile? To smile at someone conveys that you recognize their individuality, that you appreciate their essence, you are happy to share their company. To smile at someone sends the message that you have a peaceful heart and are open to connection. Contrarily, a stern face is a shield, a measure of protection in the face of uncertainty and fear. Withholding a smile sends a message of defense and impasse.

Yesterday LitWorld promoted the smile. Upon arrival the young women from the YAI Liberian Center for Women and the professional women from Liberian politics were very serious. Both groups of women had come to the Ministry of Gender to initiate an important mentoring relationship. Everyone in the room sensed the grave nature of our work. No one dared make light of the dire situation for women in Liberia: merely 5% have completed primary school, 7% have completed secondary school, literacy rates are as low as 26% and over 70% of all girls under the age of 15 have experienced sexual violence, rape being called “common habit”.

Faces in the room reflected caution and sobriety. The professional women told their stories of struggle and triumph. Once girls with lice and jiggers, selling goods in the market for school fees, walking miles to get educated, these women had risen from the dust to succeed and become decision-makers. The young women were riveted and nodded with tears of empathy in their eyes.

Then we sang.

And we smiled.

And together our voices filled the room with happy, hopeful noise. Our song propelled us to joyfully join together to reminisce of our past, consider our present and dream of ways to uplift our common future.

Sing Me a Song That the World Can Sing Along

August 26, 2010
Monrovia, Liberia
Annie Foley, LitWorld

It is truly amazing how the harmony of voices can fill a room with joy. Through song, stoic faces transform into bright eyes and beaming smiles. Today LitWorld was welcomed into a room of glorious Liberian voices singing in chorus a tune we have come to know as universal. The more we get together the happier we will be. Your friend is my friend, and my friend is your friend. Teachers all over the world use this song to create and sustain community in their classrooms. Ironically this was the song greeting LitWorld this morning.

The 150 participants in our workshop today are all early childhood educators. Like LitWorld they believe that children in their early life are precious jewels of the future. When asked to describe a successful strategy used in their classrooms their most common responses were tenderness, empathy, activity and song. If older learners were also continually privy to such methods, imagine the effect.

LitWorld’s partner in Liberia is the promising Kimmie Weeks. He is supporting the development of early childhood educators throughout the nation with transformative teacher training programs such as LitWorld and Mother Goose. Hope for a better future resides within this youngest generation of learners, those who have witnessed only peace and the determined resilience of the Liberian people.

The More We Get Together

August 25, 2010
Monrovia, Liberia
Annie Foley, LitWorld

The lush Liberian countryside takes my breath away. Squinting you can just see the small village huts enveloped in shades of emerald and jade. Today we voyaged through the trees to visit our friends at the Project School in Monrovia and Becky Primary School in Firestone. We traversed major traffic jams and deep country potholes, all the while immersed in personal and national histories.

Here school begins on September 1st. Despite the 6 remaining days of their precious summer vacation, teachers enthusiastically poured into our trainings in both schools. Some of the teachers were already LitWorld aficionados, having been to our trainings in 2008 and 2009. What an inspiration to have these old friends remember songs and strategies we had taught them in prior visits! Perpetually bearing in mind the immense class size and dearth of resources that burden Liberian schools, our workshops centered around building community with songs and learning from each other’s stories.

Despite the evident hopefulness of development here in Liberia, the educational system is desperately vulnerable. The ratio of 75 students per 1 teacher impedes differentiation severely. Absence of books, paper and writing utensils hinder academic practice. Space and furniture enough for every student is non-existent. Teachers are worried about increasing rates of bribery and plummeting test scores. In a country with a woman president, women and girls continue to fight for safety and success in schools. Teachers require professional development that empowers them to plan and collaborate effectively and to see themselves not as vessels of all knowledge but mediators of information for their students.

It is imperative to support democracy and positive change in Liberia in this precious time. Just as September is the foundation for the entire school year, the habits realized now will determine Liberia’s future. As one classroom is to one school, Liberia is to our global community.

The Past, the Present and the Future

August 24, 2010
Monrovia, Liberia
Annie Foley, LitWorld

The Past, the Present and the Future

Every visit should begin with a parade. LitWorld was greeted in Liberia with a patriotic celebration of the nation’s flag. “Little America” waved red, white and blue while the school children, scouts and police officers walked together through an eager crowd. As we stood among the Liberian people in the warm sun we marveled at the change that has occurred since our visit last summer. Buildings and spirits are rising, and a national pride hovers in the air. In each of the 3 years LitWorld has been visiting Liberia we have been privy to witness the ever-growing resilience as an amazingly strong people face their past by rebuilding for the future.

After a quick change of clothes LitWorld partnered with Youth Action International and Kimmie Weeks for a press conference with several reporters from Liberian newspaper, TV and radio. Most impressive were the two women reporters from Renaissance Communications Incorporated whom Kimmie announced were the first women reporters ever to attend a YAI press conference. How fitting an event to precede the LitWorld/YAI Women and Girls Mentoring Initiative launch. On Friday young women from the YAI women’s center are paired with women from professional Liberian culture, including several women senators, to develop lasting, impactful and supportive relationships.

As always, we are deeply humbled by the stories gifted to us by our friends here. Through these stories personal narrative educates and meditates, soothes and incites. Today’s most striking stories include that of a young woman running with her children at her feet and on her back through the trees for four months toward the boat that would take her to safety, only to arrive at the last possible moment. Throughout the crisis a young man faced the constant personal dilemma of whether or not to join the fighting. His family strength was his only discouragement, which in the end saved his life.