Cinderella .. in Liberia

Everyone knows the story of Cinderella. I want to share with you a True Cinderella story straight out of Liberia. Only the ending hasnt been written yet. This little girl's name is Princess and she is 12 yrs old. Yes it is true. Her name is Princess. Her mother basically threw her away. On one of my trips to Liberia I was riding in a taxi with her mother and she said to me that she didnt want her. She said "she is not my child. Take her. I never want to see her again." I about bawled on the spot. I wondered, how could a mother be so heartless to her own child? And to a girl who is so gentle in nature. So her grandmother took her in and that is where she lives to this day. She has nothing else. She owns nothing else. She cooks, cleans, baby sits her nephews ALOT, minds the market they run near by, and in her spare time... she goes to school. An opportunity she would have not had had it not been for Global's school scholarship program. She has gone from 3rd grade to 5th grade in one year. She strives to jump two grades again this year by working hard in school.

This girl didnt let it push her down that her own mother didnt want her. She is not the typical child who feels life owes her like children here in America. She is not behaving atypical even in Liberia by begging for her needs. She is taking what she has and doing something with it. An opportunity- an education. She knows it is her future. Its all she has.

You know what I love about her- her spirit! She has this resilient spirit to keep on keeping on. Even when life has handed her "bad deal" so early in life.

This is the school Princess attends- Helping Hands School. It is in the Rock hill community. A very poor community.

See this school? Now compare it to where you child attends school! Can you imagine? What I so appreciated about the director of this school was her can do attitude - she couldnt wait for funding or a hand out to take action and start teaching kids who desperately needed an education. So she did what she had to do to make a difference in her part of the world. And she is doing it with volunteers and with teachers who are paid $14.00 a month. (do you know a bag of rice costs 60.00 a month so this is not even enough to feed a family) And a building that is literally falling down around them. These kids have no desk or even chairs. They sit in the dirt and write on tablets in their laps. They have no lunch to eat. They dont even have clean water. They drink from a bucket of water that was pulled from a creek several yards away. Could you start a school with that kind of responsibility based on little resources?

What kind of education do you think you would get here?

And here we are outside the school. Yes they need you. And you need them! A small donation does so much. Here is some interesting notes about this school:

The School was founded in September 2007 by Madame Mary G. Jabbah. The purpose of opening the school was to help children who were out of school due to financial constraints. Also, to help disabled children who needed to be included into the activities of all the children in the nation, Liberia. The school program is extended to children who are disabled, orphans, and way war.

The school currently has 67 students, including 6 disabled, and 10 orphans. There are also 7 teachers and the number of teachers is expected to increase.

B. Challenges/Needs

The school has an 11-classroom building under construction as funds allow. There are no text books, sitting capacity for students, feeding for orphans and disabled, registration of the school with national government, etc. The need is great.

There is a need for 300 chairs which cost 10USD/chair. Also, teachers are being paid 1,000 Liberian dollars or 14.70 USD per month. According to Mary, she has to break rocks and sell before meeting her teachers' monthly salary. The reason is students are paying a little yearly tuition fee of 1,700 LD or 25 USD. Even some parents can not afford this amount. Besides, she needs 75, 000 LD or 1,103 USD to register the school with government because she wants it elevated to Junior High Level.

C. Way Forward

In this light, she would like a help of bus or a vehicle to run as transport. This will greatly help to generate funds to upgrade the school. This transport car could also bring the disabled to school. With the transport car, she will be able to fully monitor it. Unlike, power saw, generator, etc.

So you can see- they are not asking for someone to come build their school. They are willing to do for themselves. To make a way for funding. But they need your help. A good transportation vehicle to bring children to school and produce a revenue by which to build the building. You can contact us if you can help and are wanting more information. (globalorphanoutreach@yahoo.com) Just think what you could do for a school of 67 children and for this community. I know we all look at ways to give a little extra during the holiday season, Why not here? Why not help knowing your dollars truly impacted a community in a grass roots effort sort of way. And please be praying for all the children of this school and their teachers.

And Princess? Well when I left the school she came running up to me and gave me a big hug and a tee shirt from her school. Its what they wear as part of their uniform. She said please tell your daughter about me and my school. She is happy to be in school. She shared something so precious that day. A part of her. Beauty from Ashes-So Sweet! A real Cinderella come to life story.

(Here are a couple of videos from the school. You can see the condition of the school and hear from the director of the school)