2 Days in Grand Bassa

Just returned from a 2-day trip to Liberia's second largest city, Buchanan. Buchanan is located in Grand Bassa county. It's a (bumpy) 3-hour drive from Monrovia.


Kimmie, Oliver and I ventured to Buchanan where YAI has a sub-office and is preparing to implement two projects: a computer literacy program and an agricultural training project for youth. Our Bassa Liaison Officer, Emmanuel, guided us during our trip and helped with Bassa-English translations.

(above: With Emmanuel)

The computer lit program is pretty much set. The computer lab will be in our sub-office and will start up once we ship the computers over this summer.

The agricultural program, however, is still in the planning stages. We visited various sites in Bassa to scope out the public lands available and figure out which area would be most suitable for our project. We're looking for about 100 acres.

Liberia's food production situation was just another of the country's countless war victims. The country is a major exporter of rubber but as far as consumable goods go, Liberia produces mostly rice, cassava, peppers, cocoa, coffee, palm nuts, banana, mango, yam, eddoes, pumpkin, and ground nuts. It rains at least 7 months out of the year. There are vast amounts of rich, fertile land. Still, ironically, Liberia imports about 95% of its consumable goods.

It goes without saying that development of the agricultural sector is therefore one of the country's major objectives. It's certainly a major concern for the youth of Grand Bassa and, therefore, a concern for Youth Action International.

While there, Kimmie, Oliver and I met with the District Land Commissioner's office, an agricultural expert, local farmers, and the elders of one of the towns we were considering using. We also visited another agricultural project site organized by the Bassa Youth Caucus, an umbrella organization for all youth groups in Grand Bassa. We're considering collaborating with the BYC or at least liaising with them as we design this project.

(left: The BYC Farm. They grow cassava and corn.)

(above: With the elders, local land commissioner and district representatives of Tubmanville (about a 30-minute drive from Buchanan).





(right: Kimmie with some curious kids at one of the land sites.)





Now, we're back in Monrovia and it's time to put together a budget and proposal for donors. I pray we get the funding for this project.

The youth we met with in August were so eager for more agricultural programs and considering the viability of the lands we saw, it would be a serious shame if missed out on this opportunity to help them change their circumstances.

Meet The YAI Staff: Changemakers Behind The Scenes

More info on the inspiring people I work with!

Martina B. Marshall (Country Representative)

Martina joined the YAI family in October of 2007 as Program Officer for Women and currently serves as Country
Representative for YAI- Liberia. A cum laude graduate of the African Methodist Episcopal University (A.M E.U), she holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology. Her goal is to contribute to society through the skills, knowledge and experience she has acquired over the years.

She describes herself as a determined and strong-willed person who believes in implementing and executing change. The fourteen-year civil crisis in Liberia broadened her scope on the problems needing most immediate attention in Liberia. Working with YAI created a platform on which she could contribute to her war-ravaged country.

“Liberia holds a lot of promise and with our work, we can touch lives, fulfill dreams, and educate the youth so as to create a vibrant and wholesome society. Though challenging the task, we are determined to make this emerging success story to come to fruition.” – Martina

Isaac Hinneh (Program Coordinator)

Isaac Hinneh is a B.A. candidate of Sociology and Management at the African Methodist Episcopal University in Monrovia, Liberia. A Senior Member of Sociology Students Associated, Isaac holds a certificate in Conflict Management and Transitional Justice. Throughout the course of Liberia’s devastating civil war, Isaac often risked his own life to secure food and necessary resources such as medicine for his family.

In 1994, Isaac and 30 other youths, including Kimmie Weeks, risked their lives for a social cause to work with Voice of the Future. The first local Child Rights Advocacy Organization in postwar Liberia, Voice of the Future gave marginalized youth the opportunity to advocate for child rights and exposed them to the world of social leadership. Isaac served as Child Rights Advocator (1994-1999), a role that later led to other social leadership positions such as Assist. Chairman Children Disarmament Committee (1996) Co-Founder and Assistant Director of Information for the Children Bureau of Information (1997-1998), Co-Founder and Chairman of The Children Parliament (1997-1998) and Editor for The Golden Kids News (1997-1998).

He helped Kimmie Weeks to establish Youth Action International's Liberia office and works to develop and implement existing projects.

“Having been a victim of a traumatic civil war as a child - having experienced the way children suffered at the hand of adult decisions - advocating for the rights of children has become a way of life for me.” – Isaac (far left in photo)


Oliver Menyongar (Press & Public Relations Officer)

A student at the University of Liberia, Oliver is a Public Administration major with a minor in Organizational Management. He holds a certificate in Conflict Resolution from the Lutheran World Service and is active in community service projects both in his church and the Monrovian community at-large.

Oliver experienced the afflictions of war first-hand, during Liberia’s extensive civil war. Often surviving days without food, stalling his education and living in constant fear and uncertainty, Oliver’s conviction to help his fellow Liberians was fed by his wartime experience. At the first sign of peace in 2005, Oliver joined the Irish contingent of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) as a social worker to help ensure peaceful stability and aid needy families in Monrovia.

Oliver’s passion led him to join YAI-Liberia as a Public Relations Officer, where he works to spread awareness of empowerment opportunities to fellow Liberians.

“Looking at the problematic effect this 14-year war had on Liberia, being able to share information on how people can be helped and YAI’s new approaches to solving some of these problems in our society means a lot to me. “ – Oliver


Beageorge M. Cooper
(Special Assistant to the Exec. Director & Assistant Program Coordinator)


Beageorge Cooper holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting with a minor in Management from the African Methodist Episcopal University located in Monrovia, Liberia. She is the outgoing Secretary General for the Student Union Council government of her University. She has a certificate in Conflict Resolution and Peace-building and has participated in various youth politics and leadership trainings.

She also facilitates youth workshops, believing that sharing knowledge of what she knows with others is fun.

Beageorge hopes to enroll in a graduate school this year to study International Relations. She has found a great passion in doing humanitarian work since joining YAI in June 2008.

“Humanitarian work has allowed me to see how millions of people live in penury and how eager they are to rise up from their penurious lives. A part of me has the urge to help them rise to a greater level and get some of the privileges I have and so much more.” - Beageorge

Gloria T. Mason (Office Manager)

Gloria is a senior student at the University of Liberia, majoring in sociology with a minor in Management and Accounting.

Gloria considers her high school years during Liberia’s intense civil war, one of her most challenging times. Having lost her father at the tender age of seven, Gloria was forced to sell goods to help support her single-parent household and pay her way through school. In spite of the trials, she was determined to set the stars as her limit in seeking an education.

Following high school, Gloria found a part-time job at the Global Networking Technical School, which enabled her to also gain computer literacy and make herself more marketable. She was fortunate to work with the United States Embassy in 2005 as a custodian.

That same year, Gloria heard young activist, Kimmie Weeks speak and was inspired by the work of her fellow Liberian. She joined YAI initially as a volunteer and currently serves as Office Manager for the Liberia office.

“My mission with YAI was one of the greatest things that ever happened in my life. I joined YAI as a volunteer to serve humanity. What I dream of is to help people in any way I can because of the suffering I went through. Kimmie has been an inspirational person in my life. My goal is to be the best I can be so that I can help someone’s life: my friends, my community, my family and my country as a whole.” - Gloria
(right in photo)

Youth Creating Change: All About YAI

For those of you confused citizens who’ve never heard of Youth Action International, brace yourself for one of the best youth initiatives on earth.

YAI was founded by child’s rights activist Kimmie Weeks. Kimmie Weeks has worked to alleviate poverty and human suffering in Africa and around the world since he was fourteen years old. At the age of nine, confronted with civil war, Kimmie experienced suffering first hand and vowed to spend his life helping children. A graduate of Amherst College, Kimmie is working towards building a movement to positively change the face of Africa.

So, in 2002, Kimmie established Youth Action International to develop and implement programs that help alleviate the suffering of children affected by war. YAI programs are strategically developed to break cycles of violence and poverty. YAI has established programs in Burundi, Rwanda and Ghana and currently has active programs in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.

I’ll add posts periodically about the projects we’re working on in Liberia and Sierra Leone. It really is a privilege to work with such a dedicated group of young people. These are people committed to changing not only their circumstances, but those of the war-affected youth around them.

Gotta love it.

A Visit From Mickey

Welcome to my blog!

I've been living in Monrovia for almost 9 months and FINALLY decided to start up a blog about my experiences.

Some will be old excerpts from my journal entries and others will be commentaries, bios, and current events. Ideally, this particular kind of story wouldn't be the best way to start out a blog but it's more recent so I just had to share it.

So, last Saturday night, at 2:30 am, I woke up to a banging sound. I had a slight fever and had been feeling groggy so I figured it was just a lucid dream and went back to bed.

Here's the timeline of how things went after that:

3 am: Another banging. This time, I crawl out of bed, lock my bedroom door and grab a flashlight. Fall back asleep.

4 am: Scratching noises. I turn on the flashlight and see something crawling under my door and across the room.

4:00:05 am: Freaking out.

4:15 am: More scratching coming from the waste basket. Flashlight on. Rat chewing the bamboo waste basket!!

I scream and jump on my bed. Rat crawls into the waste basket. Flashlight off. Panting. Shaking

4:17 am: Flashlight on. Rat is STARING AT ME!!!!!! I flash the light in its face and it scurries over behind a suitcase. I run outside.

It’s pitch dark outside but thankfully, we have 2 security guards on night shift. My housemates are all out enjoying their Saturday night. Why did I stay home? Damn this fever.

I sat outside in my boxers for 2 hours in the cold, getting chewed up by mosquitoes and dodging bats from a nearby mango tree. I sat there until the sun came out to break the dawn.

Y’all might think I was crazy for doing all this. I mean, it was probably just a mouse. It had round ears and it wasn’t THAT big. But think about it. Would you have gone back to sleep on a floor mattress so Mickey could nibble on your ear??

Another crazy night in Monrovia. More crazy (and probably more intellectually stimulating) tales to come.