BWI embarks on Ebola awareness

In order to keep Ebola out of Liberia, the Booker Washington Institute (BWI) Alumni Association has formally launched and unveiled a welcome and anti-Ebola billboard posted near the Roberts International Airport (RIA) in Margibi County.

The BWI Association also made a donation of faucet buckets to two key clinics in the community. According to a statement issued in Monrovia, the red and white – clearly inviting modern billboard of high quality design and printing was erected through a financial support from the Jeety Trading Corporation’s CEO, Upjit Sing Sachdeva, popularly known as Jeety – also a member of the BWI Board of Governors.

BWI alumni attending the unveiling ceremony on Saturday, June 18, sent amusing echoes across the airport community, as they sang their famous school ode (O dear Booker-T…) to the silent envy and pleasure of guests and commuters.

The BWI Alumni Association’s statement quotes the outgoing President Jonathan Paye-Layleh as saying the erection of the billboard was one of many initiatives undertaken by his administration. Mr. Paye-Layleh said the association was touched by the devastating impacts of Ebola to erect the billboard which carries both welcoming and Ebola prevention messages.

In addition to its welcome and farewell messages, the billboard has the inscriptions: “Make Ebola prevention a way of life and stay safe” as well as “Join the global fight to defeat Ebola”. “This is our way of identifying with efforts still being exerted to get the public to appreciate the need to be self-protected from Ebola,” Mr. Paye-Layleh said.

BWI Alumni Association’s former president and current chairman of the association’s Board of Advisors, Mr. Mohammed Kanneh, cut the ribbon to the billboard, cautioning the public to continue fighting until Ebola no longer poses a national threat.

Mr. Kanneh – a member of the BWI Class of 1981, expressed the hope that those using the RIA highway will not only read the sign, but will also live by the message it portrays. He thanked Mr. Jeety for supporting the alumni association’s drive to undertake the project, hailing the outgoing leadership of the alumni association for this and other initiatives.

Also making remarks, the oldest BWI alumnus at the program, General Paul T. Wennah of the Class of 1971 – a former Dean of boys, called for greater unity among BWI graduates so that the alumni association will grow from strength to strength.

The incoming President of the BWI Alumni Association, Mr. Koffa Tenbroh and his corps of officers, who will be taking over on June 25, were present at the ceremony. BWI alumni working at Firestone and RIA turned out in a sizable number to participate in the occasion, according to the statement issued by the leadership of the BWI Alumni Association.

The billboard launch preceded the celebration of BWI’s 87th founding anniversary, slated for Saturday, June 25. The celebration traditionally sees an alumni association-led parade on the streets of Kakata, sporting activities and an indoor program on the BWI campus.

This year’s celebration is the first under the administration of the new Principal, Attorney Harris Fomba Tarnue.