The latest edition of the Dougbe River News:

Reports from the school press club

Our students have formed a “press club,” and as you’ll see in this report from eighth-grader Eric Karmee, they’re having fun:

Good morning school.  Good morning everybody.  Good morning Liberia, I’m student Eric Karmee.  …  Now here comes the news.  DOUGBE RIVER        PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOL OF  LIBERIA – PRESS CLUB PRESENTING THIS NEWS LIVE FROM DOUGBE FM 96.5 MHZ …

Eric Karmee

First the headline: The impact of DRPSL in the lives of the Twarbo children. Story in detail.

At first the children of the Twarbo region struggled for education.  Some were engaged into early marriages, some were wandering without any reasons, while others were involved into criminal activities.

All these acts were done by children in Twarbo because there was no school, and they knew nothing about the importance of education as a whole.

Fortunately for us, one of the sons of the soil Mr. Isaac Monah saw the need of building a school in Twarbo with the mindset of bringing education into this region, Twarbo.  2009-2012, the school was built and officially open to teach the children in order to take them from the dark into the light.

— Eric Karmee, 8^th grade 

Prince Showlo

 Children in Twarbo were hunting and farming because there were no school.

…  Mr. Isaac Tailey Monah brought a light to us the Twarbo children that today we can be able to read and write. … We are the lighters.

— Prince Showlo, 5th grade

Lee Zulu

The development of Dougbe River Presbyterian School of Liberia will begin with the focus of DRPSL students and parents. … People around us want to see a DRPSL student becoming a president or working in other ministry. … I want to become an ambassador or an actor.
— Lee Zulu, 7th grade

Talking with the principal

Earlier this year, our board chair Tedd Roos did a video interview on campus with principal Beatrice Sharty.  This is a partial transcript:

Principal Beatrice Sharty

Tedd:  When you first came to the school, what were your impressions?

Beatrice: I was so happy I started crying, because this is Grand Gedeh, where I’m from, from Gbarzon District, and coming all the way to this area, you see the forest, and then … I got to know it is a Liberian, a Grand Gedehan, who brought this school here.

Tedd:  What are some of the biggest challenges that you face as principal of this school?

Beatrice:  We are still trying to put things together. Like books.  We can try but we cannot get (books for) all. This is why we are also asking the board to bring us more books.  (Note:  We buy books in Liberia.  Shipping is hard.)

Tedd:  When you look ahead four or five years, what do you see for the school?

Beatrice:  I imagine dormitories, teachers’ lodging will be improved.  And I see another school building around here. People are waiting.

Tedd:  What is your hope for the students when they leave here?

Beatrice:  When they leave here and go to another school, they will know that they are from Dougbe River. They will prove themselves. I believe that when they leave from here, they will do better than this. And I hope the time will come we have high school.

Tedd:  Is there anything you would like to say specifically to the donors, the board,  people who support the school back in America?

Beatrice:  I want to say thank you ever so much to the board and donors of the USA. They are doing well for us here. I’m happy to extend my greeting to the donors, to all those that are giving their support, that God should bless them, bless their hands that they will do more, that they should always remember us. So that this school will be more than this, it will go forward.

Fred Massaquoi

Meet our new farm manager

After a year-long search, we have filled the position of Farm Manager by hiring Fred Massaquoi.  Fred has a bachelor’s degree in General Agriculture from the University of Liberia.  He is certified in Peace Building and Conflict Resolution by UNICEF/UNDP.

Fred has worked as a field agronomist with Aim Global Company and as a community development facilitator with the Africa 2000 Network of Liberia. At Africa 2000, Fred educated farmers on methods of planting and maintenance of crops in a greenhouse, and trained vegetable farmers to raise pigs. The farm is a key to achieving our goal of financial sustainability for the school.  With Fred’s leadership, we expect a revenue stream from the farm in the coming year. Fred is also coaching students and staff on home gardening to produce vegetables.

Our 2018 gala is Sunday, Oct. 28

Our big autumn fundraising event will again be at the Banquet Center of St. Noel in Willoughby Hills.  It will start at 5 p.m. October 28.   Invitations will be sent in September.

James Tailey

Congratulations to Mr. Tailey

Mr. James Tailey, a beloved teacher since the opening of our school, has accepted a position with the Liberian government as a regional representative.  We are proud of Mr. Tailey and look forward to working with him in the future, as he continues to serve the community.

The cafeteria

The cafeteria building is complete

Work is now complete on the new cafeteria, and we are in the process of purchasing a stove and other cooking equipment for the kitchen.  The building will also serve as a meeting place for community groups and events.

What’s going on at the school in 2017:

The contractor is making excellent progress on the construction of our new cafeteria and kitchen building, which will be ready for use by the start of the next school year (2017/2018).  The cafeteria will be the largest room on campus, accommodating a gathering of up to 200 people. Construction costs are projected to be within budget, but additional funds are needed for tables, benches, and kitchen equipment, including a charcoal cook stove.  We estimate these items will cost approximately $6,000.  If you would like to help us outfit our beautiful new cafeteria and kitchen, please send your contributions to:

Dougbe River School, P.O. Box 18017, Cleveland Heights, OH 44106

New board members

At our June meeting the DRS Board elected two new members – Margaret Mwale and Rev. Ogden White. Margaret is Associate for Community Development and Constituent Relations for the Self Development of People committee at the national headquarters for the Presbyterian Church (USA).   Ogie is a long-time member of the Presbytery of the Western Reserve, where he has held numerous leadership positions, including PWR Moderator and Chairman of Committee on Ministry. If you would like to serve on the DRS Board, or perhaps on one of our committees (Operations, Development, Finance, or Strategic Planning) please contact John Luttermoser (jluttermoser@yahoo.com) and let him know your area of interest.

Meet Innocent Sore, assistant farm manager

Innocent Sore was one of the first employees of the Dougbe River School of Liberia.  Innocent began his tenure at the school as Security Chief.  But when his schedule allowed, Innocent also tended the school gardens and assisted with chores on the farm.  Last year we made a significant investment in the school’s farm, doubling the tillable acreage and planting rice for the first time.  Innocent assumed the position of Assistant Farm Manager earlier this year, and is leading the efforts of local volunteers and teachers who assist with farm tasks. Our search for a Farm Manager with agricultural education and experience continues, but in the meantime, it’s great to have Innocent overseeing this important operation. As a result of his leadership, our rice crop was very successful, yielding enough rice to feed our students for two years!

Dougbe River School students meet the challenge

In early April, our School hosted an Academic Challenge competition.  Participating teams came from Zwedru, the county seat, 28 miles away, and from Ziah Town, which is 8 miles from our school. We are delighted to report that our students took top honors, scoring more points than any other team.  Needless to say, the challengers were surprised at the outcome, but the event was fun for all, and the visitors enjoyed their day trip to the country.

Nineteen K-2 students were recognized at a graduation ceremony last month.

Our New Principal

Our school has a new principal. Henry H. Flomo comes to us from the Confidence School of Liberia where he was acting principal. Mr. Flomo has a “C” certificate from the Liberian Ministry of Education, and taught school for many years before returning to college to complete his Bachelor’s degree. In 2015 he graduated from the University of Liberia, majoring in Public Administration and Accounting. Mr. Flomo replaces Mr. Charles Koko who will move to the newly created position of farm manager. Mr. Koko has a degree in Agriculture, and will focus on increasing crop yields at our recently expanded 15-acre farm adjacent to the school.

Cafeteria and Kitchen Fundraising

Thanks to all of the individuals and churches that donated to our Campus Improvement campaign this summer. The Presbytery of the Western Reserve designated $15,000 in mission funds to match your donations, and we now have a total of $30,000 to make our dreams a reality. During the next year we’ll be building an improved kitchen and a new cafeteria for our students and faculty. Additional projects include new “right-sized” classroom furniture for our youngest students, library shelves and furniture, and some much needed classroom repairs.

The farm project is coming along, and this benefits the school in multiple ways. Since we feed the children breakfast and lunch every school day, the crops reduce our expenses and diversify their diet. We’re already growing enough to have some food to sell, too. We’re growing rice, plaintain, yams, kidney beans, soy beans, cassava, corn, and more. Some of the staff stays on campus during the summer vacation (which is only about a month and a half this year) to work on the farm.

Peppers and cucumbers.

Representatives of Welthungerhilfe (German Agro Action) visited the farm last month and met with school staff members. The man in the center of the photo in the beige shirt is principal Charles Koko.

Dougbe River School excecutive director Isaac Monah checks out the soy beans.

Yeah, I know we’ve used that headline before.

Isaac Monah got a chance to visit the school in late July, and brought these home. Classes were not in session — they will resume September 7 after a brief, seven-week summer break — but there was a lot going on.

Teacher Fredrick Togba incorporates the school flag into a mural on one of the classroom buildings.

Isaac and several other people crossed the Dougbe River to visit several villages. They had five motorcycles and access to one canoe, so they ferried the bikes across the river one at a time.

Bridge construction near Whybo, about five miles west of the school. The bridge, now finished, is one of 16 new permanent bridges built by Welthungerhilfe (aka German Agro Action) between Zwedru, the capital of Grand Gedeh County, and the school. These replaced wooden plank bridges that rotted frequently, stranding residents.

Last but not least in importance — latrines, built this summer, and also the work of German Agro Action. These two are for staff; there are also four for students.

The Dougbe River Presbyterian School re-opened on Monday, March 2, after being closed for seven months as a precaution against the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Principal Charles Koko reported that 152 students are enrolled and 130-140 were present on the first day. Enrollment was 130 for the 2013-14 academic year.

Some schools in Liberia re-opened today (Monday, February 16). Others, according to a report by the Monrovia newspaper Front Page Africa, are waiting until March 2.

We’re in between. We’re ready to open apart from the fact that our teachers are in Zieh Town, the hub of Konobo District, to learn more about teaching good hygiene and screening students who may be ill. Classes at the Dougbe River School will resume when the teachers return, possibly before the end of the week.

Here are some reports about what’s going on with Liberian schools today:

Front Page Africa

ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Associated Press via ABC News (the American ABC)

The Liberian government has decided to delay the re-opening of schools in the country to February 16. Schools had been scheduled to re-open February 2.

Here’s an article about the decision from the Reuters wire service, which says the action was taken “in order to better prepare safety measures against the Ebola virus, which has killed more than 3,650 people in the country but now appears to be receding.” Reuters article

The Dougbe River School and the the surrounding villages in Twarbo Region have been outfitted with hand-washing stations to prevent the spread of disease. Tiyatien Health, the organization that sends health-care workers into the villages, undertook educational efforts about hygiene and Ebola prevention on our campus last spring, when the outbreak was in its early stages and the school was still open. Grand Gedeh County remains nearly untouched by the outbreak.

Student registration continues while we wait to see if the February 16 date will hold, or there will be another postponement.