Meet
Henry Goahgor. Henry has a compassion for children in Liberia and their
families and assists them in attending school in Barnersville Palm
Field Community who wouldn’t otherwise have the ways or means of
achieving a better life in Liberia. He aspires to build a school and
play ground where these needs can be met from preschool to adult
classes.
My love for kids, orphan children, adult illiteracy, my community, and country of Liberia moves me to open this school in my community. After the civil war, there were no qualified teachers in the Barnersville Palm Field Community from 2001-2009. Our community is highly populated and is located outside of Monrovia far off the main car road. Children cannot go far distances for schooling due to safety reasons. And there is no public school in this community. The civil war affected parents and guardians living in this community and most are unable to afford to send their children to schools outside our community.
There
are alot of challenges my school is faced with. Poor building
structure, lack of good seating capacity, better sanitation, safe
drinking water, feeding program, and decent salary for our teachers.
Many adults in our community are asking me to open an adult school which
would require a generator so we could operate our school in the
evenings. I am currently operating my school with weaved mat walls, dirt
floor, and bare benches for seating. I have also dug the holes for our
water well and latrines. I have been busy making bricks for our school
building. And I spend much of my time advocating and promoting the
school for further community involvement. I do not feel that this way
will allow me to complete the school on my own by school start up this
fall. I have 150 students committed to attending this fall and am
looking at closer to 200 students enrolling by the start of this 2013
school year.
The following are estimated costs for the school to open:
7,680 dirt-bricks cost……………$ 645 USD
200 bags of cement………………$ 1,600 USD
One truck load of sand………….$ $ 200.00 USD
Zinc (28 gauge) – 1bundle=$150….12 bundles Needed= $1800 USD
Total build costs needs= $4,245.00
Note that during your visit to the school, you met five of my teachers plus me, which equal to six teachers presently teaching. We are running from Nursery to grade 6 level, and the total students for this semester is 150.
Salary is $ 760.00 USD per month
The curriculum we use is the Liberian National Primary Curriculum.
BUDGET FOR BOOKS 2013 & 2014
1. Nursery to grade 6 reading books
2. Primary science – 7 books
3. English- 7 books
4. Elementary math -7 books
5. Social Studies -7 books
6. Teacher’s Lesson Plan – 7 books
7. Attendance book
8. Administrative book
9. Teachers’ Roll Books-6
10. School Supplies expense:
(Pen, Report car, running of Test, Ruler, Chalk & Tissue……
Estimated funds needed: $530.00
Estimated cost for feeding of 150 Children: $140.00 pr month
Unlike your American schools, this is our only option for a school menu. It would be nice to afford to feed the students a more balanced meal.
The
generator is very important for our school, in that, we will use it to
open night school that will bring extra funds to our school. We will be
showing phonics DVDs and other items to the children every Friday.
Better still, we can give off current to some of our neighbors for
monthly payment so as to help us buy fuel and cover up other expenses.
Kama 5.0 K.V.A. diesel generator: $1,200.00
300 arm chairs each cost $15.00 USD for 12 class rooms.
Cost for 300 arm chair….. $4,500 USD
Office chairs six (6)…… $120.00 USD
Office desk three (3) …. $150.00 USD
TOTAL CHAIRS & DESK COST …. $4,770 USD
27 Sponsored orphans in school
One year tuition for 27 orphans plus uniforms/ shoes and supplies …… $4,050.00 USD
These children need school sponsors:
Donna’s Children Play Ground Center
ITEM COST
1. See Saw ________________ $ 175.00
2. Slide ___________________ $ 275.00
3. Swing __________________ $ 250.00
4. Mary Go-Round __________ $ 350.00
5. Total __________________ _$ 1,050.00 USD
Current
sanitary facilities for our is school is very poor, in that there is no
hand pumps for water, we have a pit toilet with a mat around it, and
the class room floors is very bad off with dirt flooring. I have
completed the digging of the hand pump well and the latrines and I made
bricks for the hand pump and well. I just need help with a hand pump and finishing work for the latrines.
Hand pump for School grounds-…. $400.00 USD
Latrines for school- $1,000.00 USD
Fencing for around school grounds for safety-… $500.00 USD
We
start with our building work now from April to August, by the help of
God we will finish within the five months period. A good school facility
with play ground equipment draws parent’s attention. This will help
with the enrollment funds too.
“What
I am doing is very real from deep down in my heart. This is why I am
self sacrificing, using my time, energy, effort and my little money
struggling with the kids which is my goal to help but not to rob the
poor as you know my area is education.”
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
-Nelson Mandela
