By Garmai Gayflor (YES 2014-15, Liberia, hosted by AYUSA in Spanaway, WA)

My name is Garmai Gayflor and I am an alumna of the YES program. I was selected for YES from Zorzor Central High School in Lofa County, Liberia. I was placed in Spanaway, Washington and went to Bethel High School.

Since I came back to my home country Liberia, I have been involved in so many activities like menstrual hygiene workshop for girls, women empowerment workshops, organizing Spelling Bee competitions for pre-school kids, volunteerism, community service, and much more. I am the founder of the “Liberian Kids Volunteering Club” and the “Youth for Volunteerism, Liberia”. I am also serving as the founder and executive director of the “HAB: Hope for Abandoned Big Belle” organization.

The HAB organization is my main focus for now because oftentimes pregnant women are neglected in Liberia. For example, it causes some high schoolers to become high school drop-outs, turns women into beggars, and also makes many women homeless and jobless. 

What I can do, is to help women while they are pregnant. I believe that a pregnant woman needs love, care, support, and attention. Pregnancy is a scary thing: it prevents many women from doing what a normal human being can do. Therefore, I decided to create an initiative in order to help women during pregnancy. It's not a crime to have a baby, so why should a woman suffer while trying to give birth? This initiative is called “HAB: Hope for Abandoned Big Belle, Liberia”. The purpose of this initiative is to help abandoned and helpless pregnant women. Our mission is to assist pregnant women through fundraising, volunteerism, and community service and to engage the broader community. 

As an alumna  of the YES program, I believe in teamwork so I decided to work with other YES alumni in Liberia: Korvah Fromayan (YES 2014-15, Liberia, hosted by CIEE in West Townshend, VT) and Bassie Kabba (YES 2017-18, Liberia, hosted by American Councils in Honolulu, HI). I created a Facebook fundraising page and I was able to raise some money through it. We used the money to purchase rice for these Abandoned Big Belle because rice is the major food in Liberia. We distributed the rice on September 7, 2019 and we also gave them some money, soup, and other absolute necessities. We could not do more because of lack of funds but we are glad to be able to help. The HAB organization is not only about distributing supplies to pregnant women but we also educate them on the effect of unwanted pregnancy so that the mistakes they made will not be repeated. We teach women to be self-reliant and confident. We empower women by teaching them new skills. We advocate for babies. We also encourage and educate men to take responsibility for their actions .

These women are suffering and their stories are showing their struggle. They lack food, medication, shelter and almost everything else. Therefore, I am calling on the international community to please come to our aid. I am also calling on other organizations and NGOs to work along with the HAB organization to join us in saving lives. I believe that together we can create awareness about this pressing issue and provide much-needed support to these women.