The Girls Empowerment Program (GEP), a local non-governmental organization (NGO) directly involved with providing scholarships and educational materials to students and schools in Monrovia [Liberia] has commenced the donation of several assorted books to schools in Montserrado County.
The books, which are expected to be distributed among 60 schools in Monrovia, were made available to the GEP by the World Bank Family Network Book Project, a network that contributes over 120,000 books to developing countries per annum.
They are being distributed among schools ranging from Kindergarten to university levels. “The University of Liberia on Capitol and the African Methodist Episcopal University on Camp Johnson Road have already benefitted from this World Bank funded/GEP donation,” a senior GEP board member said.
Over 45 schools have already received books donations from the GEP over the last two weeks. A strong team of GEP and World Bank Group officials on last Friday continued the distribution exercise of books to schools in the Borough of New Kru Town.
Schools that benefitted from Friday’s books donation in New Kru Town included MEAL-A-Day Academy, the Trinity United Methodist Elementary, Junior and Senior High School, and the Kongee Konwroh elementary and Junior High School.
The presentation took place separately on the main campuses of the schools where Princetta Clinton-Varmah admonished instructors to ensure that students had access to the books. She challenged the principal of the school to ensure that the books were kept in the school’s library for students.
According to her, the books are intended to enhance the reading capacity of students in the school. “These books are not for keeping. They are for the students to read,” she stressed.
She praised the Bank for the gesture and underscored the need for the Bank to continue to support her organization’s drives to making reading books available to needy students across the country.
“We are hoping that the World Bank Group will continue to support us as we all strive to create reading libraries for all of our schools in the country,” she said.
For his part, the principal of MEA-A-Day Academy, T. Kortee Bropleh, thanked the GEP and the World Bank Group’s Family Network Book Project for recognizing his school as one of the many schools that are in need of educational materials especially reading books.
Mr. Bropleh promised to use the books for its intended purpose, but sounded a renewed appeal to the GEP and the World Bank for teaching materials including lesson planner and role books as well as crayon to enhance the work of the teaching staff.
He pointed out that such gesture on the part of the Bank and the GEP would go a long way in properly preparing the future leaders of Liberia.
“Little is much. These books will go a long way in molding the minds of our students,” he said. J. Casper Sonpon, principal of Kongee Konwroh School, for his part, praised the GEP and World Bank for remembering his school.
Mr. Casper recalled how a team from the GEP had earlier conducted a survey at his school where the issue of the lack reading books was highlighted.
“This is what is required most because we cannot educate our kids without reading books,” he said. Mr. Sedewon Bestman, principal of the Trinity United Methodist School added “We appreciate this gesture that we have long waited for.”
He too promised to use the books for its intended purpose. The donation exercise continues this week with several other schools expected to receive cartons of assorted reading books from the GEP/World Bank Family Network Project.
By George D. Kennedy
Originally published in the Liberian Observer
January 26, 2011.