By Mohammed Kiawu, YES Liberia 2009-2010

Day one: April 11, 2014 (Opening program and workshop)

YES Alumni in collaboration with iEARN-Liberia and partner schools observed Global Youth Service Day 2014 in the Coastal City of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. Buchanan is known for its many coastal beaches that serve as docks for smaller fishing canoes, dumping sites for waste and domestic garbage and public toilets. The Black and White beach community, which was the GYSD target area is one of those coastal communities in Buchanan that have suffered the consequences of poor environmental and sanitation conditions. This beach is used for public toilets, garbage and waste, and sand mining. These bad practices have given rise to sea erosion (from sand mining) and an increase in airborne diseases (from the waste and toilets).

The GYSD project was structured to raise awareness about the need for young people to be environmentally-friendly and to showcase how they can promote volunteerism and youth service for the betterment of human health and the environment. The two day project brought together twelve YES alumni; twenty-five high school students from Grand Bassa County and Monrovia; three teachers; three Government officials from the Ministry of Youth and Sport, Buchanan city council, and Ministry of Education (1 representative each); iEARN Liberia staff members; a representative from Buchanan Youth Council; two media institutions (the Daily Observer Newspaper and SKY Radio and Television station); a facilitator (Mr. Lawrence Fahnbulleh of the Monrovia YMCA); and a keynote speaker from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mr. Joseph Akoi, Director for Human Resource Management and a former youth and student leader).

The opening ceremony, which was held on April 11, 2014 at 10:00am, included remarks from the YES Alumni Liberia President, Georgina Harris, on the overview and significance of Global Youth Service Day and a highlight of the YES program and alumni activities in Liberia. It was also an opportunity for iEARN-Liberia to showcase its programs and online communities of educators and students. The participants were officially welcomed to the city of Buchanan by a representative from the Office of the City Mayor. The City Mayor expressed her gratitude to iEARN-Liberia and YES alumni for organizing the program, and expressed that she was excited that young people could be so farsighted as to think about environmental awareness and how they can impact their community. She was happy that Buchanan city was selected, and she called on members of the Buchanan youth council to emulate the good examples of the YES alumni. Mr. E. Superise Whea, a representative from the Ministry of Youth Sport, called on the young people attending the workshop to take the workshop seriously, because the issues of volunteerism and environmental safety are a global concern. He also noted that the concept of volunteerism in Liberia is an alien idea, because most Liberian young people are only inspired and motivated by cash rewards and not about giving back to the society. He applauded the YES alumni for such a brilliant idea and expressed his hope that many young people will embrace the idea of volunteerism with the goal of youth service to their country.

The keynote speaker, Mr. Joseph Akoi, spoke on the theme of "Youth Volunteerism and Service." He addressed the issue of youth volunteerism from a national level to a community-based level and emphasized that young people in Liberia should stand up for a cause and become agents of change from the household to the community and at the national level. He said “Young people have been the victims of deceit and lies and were used as perpetrators of war in Liberia. Today, we should stand up and right the wrong by starting positive initiatives that will promote peace, a good environment and good governance, and to enhance the betterment of human health." He told the audience that Global Youth Service Day was a caveat for youth service and volunteerism. Therefore, young people should start the process volunteering in their community and in their schools. They should forget about monentary rewards; instead they should be proud that they are contributing to a worthy cause. He concluded with a call to the participants to see themselves as a positive force that would initiate the process of volunteerism and subsequently inspire other to follow suit in the footprints of the YES alumni. The opening program was concluded with a vote of thanks from iEARN-Liberia to the invited guest. iEARN-Liberia Program Officer Jacob Bandiyo thanked the City Mayor, the Ministry of Youth Sport and the Keynote speaker for gracing the occasion and inspiring the young people to the call of volunteerism and youth service to Liberia.

Workshop session

The workshop, which lasted for four hours, was facilitated by Mr. Lawrence Fahnbulleh of the Monrovia YMCA. Fahnbulleh spoke on the topic of “Environmental Hazard: Beach Related and Health Impacts.” In his presentation, Fahnbulleh used videos and photos to inspire the participants on what constitute environmental hazards, and he outlined the health impacts. The session was intense, with sympathy and empathy for the environment and our natural surroundings, especially when the participants saw how humans are carelessly destroying the ecosystem and contributing to disasters in Liberia and the across the globe. He also presented solutions and cases of how young people have been able to mitigate some of the health impacts resulting from environmental degradation. The issue of beach clean-ups became inevitable. The participants understood the significance of beach clean-ups and were inspired to clean their surrounding beaches, especially those that have been used as dump sites and public toilets. They were also inspired to plant coconut trees in the parts of the beach where erosion from sand mining has destroyed them. The workshop was an eye-opener and an inspiration for each of the participants. They were strongly motivated to go back to their environment and start a revolution for a cleaner and better environment for human health and the ecosystem.

In conclusion, Fahnbulleh admonished the participants to see themselves as great future leaders. He reference the book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and cautioned the teachers and students to read it and get the gist of what it means to be an effective young person.

Day two: April 12, 2014 (Beach Clean-up)

Following the workshop, day two was a sunny Saturday that brought much excitement to the participants and YES alumni. The alumni shared their experiences on community service and youth volunteerism in the U.S. and took the lead in dividing the members into groups of four with specific tasks. One group was assigned to remove debris and toilets from the shore closer to the ocean, while another group was assigned to cut grass and remove garbage, and another to the garbage van to collect the stock pile of garbage and waste material. The clean-up lasted for six hours and concluded with the planting of six coconut trees and the erection of three signboards that read “Please keep our beach clean at all times.” At the end of the beach cleaning, a closing ceremony was held, and the participants were granted with certificates for their participation in Global Youth Service Day 2014 and six hours of community service. 

After honoring the participants, the Buchanan Youth Council set up a committee to manage and follow up on the beach clean-up project. In closing remarks, the chairman of the Buchanan Youth Council Vasco O. Arcobasi, II thanked iEARN-Liberia and the YES alumni for providing the opportunity to learn the concept of volunteerism and feel the impact of what it means to volunteer. He stated that the Black and White Beach has been in a bad state for years and in fact, he was one of those resident who prefers using the beach as a toilet, because he enjoyed the cold air from the sea while toileting. His comment sparked loud laughter, but it was a moment of confession that a few of the participants who were in the habit of using the beach as toilet and waste site also made. They showed regret about their actions, especially now understanding the impact and seeing the difference after the beach clean-up. He promises to work with his colleagues and the Buchanan city council to visit the beach regularly and enforce the need to keep the beach clean. The teachers, represented by Mr. Frank Greenfield of the Elizabeth Blunt School, lauded the efforts of iEARN-Liberia for involving teachers in the workshop and the clean-up exercises. Greenfield asserted that if teachers start to see the impact of young people's engagement in environmental awareness, volunteerism and community service, they will be motivated to work with students in their respective schools. He said he was motivated to establish an environmental club in his school and start to work with young people on several environmental projects. The teachers and students were informed by the iEARN-Liberia Country Coordinator, Mr Leroy Beldeh, that iEARN has an online platform that would enable them to collaborate with their colleagues across the globe and engage in a collaborative project that would enhance learning and make a difference in their classrooms, Liberia and the world at large. iEARN-Liberia promises to conduct a teacher workshop to help the participants navigate and successfully participate in online collaborative projects for their classrooms.