After meeting Alfred’s father, Jerome, and seeing the tight-knit community he was a part of, I thought the best I could do for him would be to send him to school. Even at a public school, students have to pay for a uniform and their books. This comes out to about $35 a year – which is nothing to us but can be insurmountable for a large family with little to no income.
While I was in Liberia, I read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and it impressed upon me the importance of education. Especially somewhere as poor as Liberia, having an education could make a huge difference in how someone’s life turns out. Depending on the person, that is, because with an unemployment rate of 85% it takes more than an education to get a job.
Another thing that had inspired me to help Alfred was a story that Luther told us about his childhood. He got very sick as a boy and his family couldn’t afford to take him to the hospital. He was sick enough that he thought he was going to die. But some missionaries came along and took him to a hospital. At first they just dropped him off. He ended up in what he called the “hopeless” room. It was just him and a crazy lady, who kept talking to herself. He knew he was there to die because no doctors came by to check on him.
Then this man Jonathan came along (I might be off on some details here) and took Luther out of the hopeless room. Jonathan paid for his care until he was better. They have been friends, close as brothers, ever since. It was amazing to me because Luther does so much good work. At the very least, he has completely turned around the lives of 18 teenage boys who had no hope for a future. All of this wouldn’t be possible if not for the intervention of one man. So, you never know, the one person you help could make a huge difference!
After thinking about helping Alfred for almost an entire week (& yes I’ll admit to wondering if I could just take him home with me), I was anxious that my chance had passed. We were leaving for the States in a few hours! Christine had agreed to help me, but she is very busy with teaching at the Baptist seminary, helping Luther with Transformation International, taking care of her own children, and who knows what else. So I was extremely grateful when she said she had some extra time to go to Alfred’s house with me.
We pulled up and Christine was clearly touched by their living situation. From my perspective, the children are dirty and half-clothed. Some are clearly malnourished. They are small. Their home is a looted shell, a reminder of the war. I know why she was touched by their situation because I clearly was, too.
But the people living there are so friendly. Fatu remembered my name, and asked how Cindy and Chris were doing. She had a great personality and was very smart. Alfred had actually gone to the Peanut Butter House site to look for us so we just spoke with Jerome. Christine told him that I wanted to send Alfred to school. Alfred was in nursery last year and Jerome got his report card from Kendeja School. Christine said she would keep the report card so she could know where to go to talk about registering Alfred. She gave Jerome the task of finding out what needs to paid for and how much.
Unfortunately, that is where the story stops for now. I sent some money to pay for Alfred's school (thanks to a friend of mine from church for chipping in, too) but still need to talk to Christine about what she has found out. I hate that I've been home for over 2 months and this is still on my 'to-do' list, it's amazing how quickly time can pass and how easily I fill it with other things to do. Since I've gone through the trouble of posting this, I am making a promise to myself (& Alfred) that I'll call Christine tomorrow. I would really love to talk to her anyway because she was one of my favorite people that we met! So hopefully I'll have more information soon. Thanks for reading this kind of long story, but it was something that had a really big impact on me while in Liberia.
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