This past year has flown by and we continue to be so grateful for all the support and fund raising that we receive for the Sean Devereux Children’s Fund. It is amazing to think that we wondered if we would sell enough tickets to make the Fund raising ball viable in the current economic climate and then surpassed all our expectations by raising the highest amount ever! We are so blessed to have so many wonderful supporters.

Thanks to you all we are heading off to Liberia again to ensure that the money and goods we send are being used wisely. Sadly Maureen isn’t coming with us this time so I have had to pack my own first aid kit and secret stash of snacks… must remember to buy some Baileys at the airport too! This year it will be me, Iain our treasurer as well as Fr Joe Brown. The exciting news about this trip is that Anna from Feed the Children is also coming with us to give us the benefit of her experience working with NGOs and to help us identify projects that we can work on together to relieve the poverty and suffering of the children of Liberia. Its going to be a really tough trip – not just in terms of the workload and heat but I’ve got the added challenge of trying to beat Anna at Uno using German rules…. if anybody has any good tactics please post them on this blog! We arrive in Monrovia early on Friday morning and its straight to work. We will try and update this blog daily but internet access is still limited and slow so please bear with us. We will be back with loads of news and photos so keep checking the website! Fingers crossed and messages being sent heavenwards for a safe and productive trip for all of us.

The Kayayo is the name given the thousands of women and girls from Ghana’s barren north who travel south to find work as porters in city markets. They make the journey to escape a place where meagre subsistence farming is the primary occupation.

View picture gallery at BBC News »

From: The Informer (Monrovia) dated 9 February 2010

The Government of Japan has signed a grant agreement with UNICEF for 162 million Japanese Yen (approx. USD1.8 million) to support a project on “Infectious diseases prevention for children in Liberia.” Read the rest of this entry »

From: by Peter N Toby at the New Democrat (Monrovia) News dated 9 February 2010

The Ministry of Youth and Sports (MYS) has jump-start it’s Community Service Programs in several Communities in Monrovia and its environs.

The Police Academy Community was a scene of spectacular football action where kids exhibited excellent performance that glued residence of their seat.

MYS Program Officer J. Bryant Mcgill who is conducting the event at that end told reporters that the event was the Ministry’s own way of reaching out to the kids to exhibit their talents.”I think this initiative by the sports ministry is good and will make a significant impact in their live in order to be more productive in their day to day activities,” he noted.

The MYS Community Service Program is geared toward teaching kids between the ages ranges of 8-14 basis sporting disciplines that could make impact on their lives. But what remains the biggest challenge for the ongoing program is funding. The program has been founded by officials that conduct the affairs in various communities.

From: The Informer (Monrovia) dated 5 February 2010

The Government of Liberia with support from its partners the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the European Commission and the Government of Japan yesterday launched the first cash transfer pilot scheme in Liberia.

The program which took place in Klay, Bomi County was intended to help reduce poverty, hunger and starvation in extremely poor and labor constrained households living in the pilot area and for children to realize their basic rights to education and nutrition.The Government of Liberia in an effort to implement the program will also help in providing regular money payments to the most vulnerable families without any adult who can work. Beneficiaries are families who cannot fend for themselves for reasons beyond their control. Typically these households consist of people too old to work or too young, disabled, chronically sick and child headed households. Read the rest of this entry »