New Schools for Liberia Bring Hope to Future Generations

»» The civil war in Liberia destroyed the country’s educational infrastructure.  It left a generation of school-goers traumatized and forced out of the classroom for more than a decade. Schooling came to a halt as parents feared letting their children outdoors, bombs destroyed schools and still committed teachers had no safe place to ply their trade. Scores of young Liberians were kidnapped and forced to become child soldiers and school for them became a pipe dream.

In this episode of It’s Africa’s Time, our crew journeys back to Liberia to gauge progress in a unique educational partnership between the Global Fund for Education, The World Bank, The Liberian Ministry of Education and AECOM to deliver more than 40 schools to post-war Liberia and up-skill Liberians in the building trade in the next few years. Our guide is a remarkable former child soldier, Kelvin, who was kidnapped at the age of 10 and returned to school after the war.