Walking 6 Hours to and from School

The Principal and teachers of the Sarah Memorial Christian Community Academy are appealing to the Buchanan Renewable Energy (BRE) for sponsorship, through the provision of transportation and subsidy.

The Sarah Memorial Christian Community Academy is located on the Rivercess and Grand Bassa highway, 6 hours to and from from Buchanan. The teacher told this paper in Buchanan that walking to and from school daily for six hours was very stringent for both teachers and students.

“BRE used to transport us from Buchanan to the school before, but now, they have stopped. We walk Mondays to Fridays from school and earn UD$50, which is equivalent to L$3,500.00 as monthly salary each,” the teachers stated.

They appealed to BRE to understand their conditions and help in whatever  manner and form since the company agreed to finance the school.  “Some of us have families and we don’t find pleasure in sitting home doing nothing,” one teacher tearfully explained.

They described walking for 6 hours, 5 days a week as very risky for them, saying “the motor road leading to LAC (Liberia Agriculture Company), on the Rivercess and Sinoe highway is risky for us.”

“We walk 30 hours to campus weekly and our wearing (clothes) are always soaked with sweat and one will have to sit for more than 20 minutes at a certain point for the sweat  to get dry before entering the classroom,” another sadly explained.

One of the female teachers was reported to have been attacked once by unknown men last year on the same road, after she decided to leave Buchanan at 5:30a.m to walk to school.

“We are begging or calling on BRE to help us in all dimensions since it has consented to help the orphans’ school in making it tuition free,” other teachers appealed.

For Emmanuel D. Davis, Principal of the school, the school was Catering to orphans at the Tomorrow’s Generation Orphanage Home, whose parents either died naturally or were killed during the Liberian civil upheaval.

He noted that the school needed text books and additional class rooms. “One class cannot contain 4 additional classrooms in a school that is not proper for an elementary school anywhere,” Davies said.