LAUNCH
Liberia
Connecting The Dots—Helping Liberians To
Help Themselves
But ... How Do You Fish Without Water?
The saying goes: "You can give a man a fish and feed him for a day, or you can teach him how to fish and feed him for a lifetime."
While we don't want to give a man a fish, the difficult tension that needs to be navigated in Liberia may be put this way: The Liberian people desperately want to fish—and many already know how to fish—but there's a shortage of water in which to fish. Metaphorically, our programs aim to bring to Liberians the "water in which to fish."
This dearth of resources is primarily due to the aftermath of 14 years of political unrest that devastated the country's infrastructure and crippled its economy, resulting in pervasive and widespread poverty. Liberia also suffers from a staggering unemployment rate. A severe lack of human resources and funding for basic services only compounds Liberia's unfavorable situation. With a view toward longevity and sustainability, our approach is to partner with and work alongside organizations on the ground to provide Liberians—at the very least—access to the Gospel, clean drinking water, education, and decent medical care.
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Our Goal Is To Transform Liberia—One Heart, One Mind, One Family, One Church, One School, And One Opportunity At A Time
Statistics On Liberia
Situated on the Atlantic coast, Liberia is a country in West Africa, bordering Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire. Its capital is Monrovia.
Liberia is the second poorest country in Africa and the fourth poorest country in the world (ADB/WB/IMF Annual Reports).
According to 2020 statistics, Liberia's approximate population is 5 million.
Approximately 70% of Liberians consume only one meal a day—and even obtaining that is a daily struggle.
Two-thirds of school-age children are not in school. According to Unicef, world authority on children, this is the world's worst record (UNICEF Annual Report, 2017).
Liberia currently has an unemployment rate of roughly 75-80%.
40% of Liberia's 5 million population are under the age of 15—thus a robust school health program is crucial for the country to have a brighter economic future.
More than 60% of the population is comprised of those under 25, who lack education and trade or technical skills for gainful employment.
With the exception of those under age 5, virtually all children and youth in Liberia were traumatized in some way by the 14 years of civil strife.
Over 250,000 Liberians lost their lives to this 14-year civil war.
Liberia was one of the hardest-hit countries by the Ebola epidemic.
The Liberian people are characterized by incredible resilience. Despite the inavailability of human resources and inadequate funding for basic services, they strive to move forward, filled with hope for a brighter tomorrow.
According to the World bank, "In 2016, more than 2.2 million Liberians were unable to meet their basic food needs, of which almost 1.5 million (68%) resided in rural areas, 1.6 million were below the food-poverty line, and 670,000 lived in extreme poverty."
English is the official language, though over 24 different languages are spoken.
The country has an abundance of natural resources which include iron ore, diamonds, gold, fertile soil, fishery, and forestry.
According to official data from the World bank, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Liberia was worth 2.95 billion US dollars in 2020.
Though the country is rich in natural resources, the GDP value of Liberia represents less than 0.01 percent of the world economy.