education

Joy is a shy and soft-spoken 13-year old who lives in one of the orphanages that we work with. She was moved to the orphanage approximately nine months ago, having been transferred from a safe home by the Ministry of Social Welfare. Joy has lived an extremely difficult life. She comes from an abusive past, has had little to no formal education, and she arrived at the orphanage with only the clothes on her back.

Mulbah is 22. He has NEVER gone to school. Due to a combination of a congenital eye disease and years of neglect he has irreversible eye damage. For most children in Liberia this would ensure a life of looking for odd jobs and never knowing where his next meal is coming from. This is how Mulbah’s life has been for years. Thanks to some help from our dear friend Michelle Quinn, Mulbah now has the opportunity for new sights in his future. 

As in the rest of the continent, HIV/AIDS is a growing problem in Liberia. For the last six weeks, a group of kids from Francis Gaskin Orphanage and their school mates have been in a special HIV/AIDS education course created just for them.

Timothy is a shy, soft-spoken little boy who is in my small group on Friday afternoons. He's usually pretty quiet, but he always gives me a hug when he sees me and flashes me a smile that just melts my heart.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Child Development Program. It began with a desire to get to know the older students at some of our homes, but has grown into a weekly program with 120 participants in 11 small groups at three different homes. The past year has been a learning process for us: learning to address social issues specific to orphanage life, learning lots of new names, and exploring options for education.

Orphan Relief and Rescue is excited to welcome Elena Pellizzaris to our growing field team in Liberia. Elena fell in love with the children of Liberia and the vision of Orphan Relief and Rescue while she was visiting for a few weeks last year. She comes to us with several years of experience teaching preschool and elementary age children near Philadelphia, PA. The expertise she brings to the field will greatly benefit our Child Development Program where she will be working closely with Mariel.