Giving the Gift of Literacy
Jim and Robyn Jadrich
There is a saying in Liberia, “If you want to hide something so that no one will find it, put it in a book, because a Liberian would never look there.”
I (Jim) had worked in Liberia for several years before the truth of that saying completely hit home. I was in the capital Monrovia, and I wanted to buy a book for my friend’s son. Although I scoured the nearby markets and asked multiple people for help, there were no books to be found, save for a few torn and outdated United Nations training manuals a man was selling out of his wheelbarrow.
If I had tried to borrow a book, I would have faced the same problem. There are no public libraries in Liberia. The few that do exist are associated with schools, but even those are small and contain mostly old, outdated books. A typical school library – if you can find one – contains, at best, a few dozen books. It’s no wonder fewer than half of all Liberians can read.
When I told Robyn about the lack of books in Liberia, she was aghast. No books! Robyn is a bookworm, has been since she was little, and the thought of no bookstores or libraries for buying or borrowing books completely threw her. She could not imagine it.
That’s when we started talking and dreaming about the possibility of creating a library in Liberia one day. Was such a thing possible? How could it be done? The obstacles seemed insurmountable, so we shelved the idea for a long time. Now, however, we have the opportunity. Yay! But first a little background:
As many of you know, Hillside has a little history with Liberia. Several Hillsiders in the past have labored in support of Christian schools there. I personally have been traveling to Libera for more than a decade, providing training and resources for Christian teachers’ schools.
About 5 years ago, my Liberian friend, Harry Gorwor, realized his dream of establishing a Christian school for children who had no other opportunity of getting an education. (Less than half of all Liberian children ever go to school.) It was his own impoverished background that motivated him to help these neediest of children to obtain an education. Harry grew up in the jungle (His dad was the village chief!) and didn’t get his first pair of shoes or learn to read until he was 9 years old. Yet, through perseverance and by God’s grace, he went on to complete his master’s degree and has worked as a pastor, principal, and teacher at several different Christian schools in the country.
Harry’s vision became a reality with the opening of Gifts of Hope Christian School near Kakata, Liberia in 2018. The school began with 136 children enrolled in preschool through third grade, and the intention is to add another grade level each year up until grade 12. (You can learn more about the school and its supporting foundation at https://celonline.org). Which brings us back to our dream. Thanks to a generous donation, Gifts of Hope Christian School has just completed construction of a library building! When it opens, the library will initially serve just the students and teachers at the school, but eventually we hope to reach the entire surrounding community.
However, to achieve all that, we need library books! One way you can support that effort is by donating any good, used books that you have (elementary or middle school reading level is appropriate.) If you bring them to church or give us a call, we’ll collect them and do the rest.
We have also created a book registry on Amazon if you would like to purchase books for the library that are particularly culturally and educationally relevant. The registry can be found at https://tinyurl.com/Liberia-books.
Personally, Robyn can think of nothing more fun than buying books, especially as she rarely buys them for herself because of our access to an amazing and well-endowed library system. Nevertheless, bookstores have always been her favorite kind of store. If you love them as well, feel free to browse the Amazon registry list and then purchase a book through one of our local bookstores.
Thank you for allowing us to share a little bit about what is going on with the ministry in Liberia. It is a blessing to us that so many of our Hillside family are interested and want to be involved.
“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” – Matthew 25:40