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Carolyn A. Miller School at Buduburam
Refugee Camp in Ghana
A few pages from my diary... Lori
Our lives are filled with cries for help... in our mail we receive
requests from charities asking us to feed a child, and our televisions
convey words and images of abject poverty with little or no possibility
of hope. This website itself lists hundreds of charities…all focused on
helping someone, somewhere and in someway.
I recently spent two weeks living amongst Liberian refugees in the
Buduburam camp in Ghana, Africa (map). It’s quite easy for me to
 elaborate
on the tragic things you would expect to hear regarding the lives of
displaced people. What is not so easy is to actually be there…to stand
motionless for a few moments as the impact of this tragedy swirls
around. I am from a world that is radically different. Then again, I am
from the same world. How is that even possible? In my American world, I
haphazardly spend $40 on one meal dining out with my husband… but here
$40 will feed an entire elementary school of 500 innocent and very
hungry children. Most of us cynics wonder if it’s really possible to
bridge that chasm… I assure you that it is!
For 13 years, Liberia, The Freedom of Africa, was robbed of her very
fiber by rebel activities and unscrupulous
politicians. A million civilians were displaced and tens of thousands of
lives were lost. Those who survived the war are just now trying to heal
their wounds and push forward.
Today, 30,000 refugees inhabit the finite space known as Buduburam… a
tight, chaotic, shanty-town maze where refugees live together in small
houses made primarily of dirt blocks. Clusters of individual shops
litter the settlement providing various material items such as used
clothing, bags of drinking water and basic toiletries. Unfortunately,
the funds needed to purchase any of these items are unbelievably scarce.
To make matters even more difficult, their well-water isn’t potable, and
electricity is available only to those very few who can afford to have
it connected. Even then, electrical power is sporadic and very
unreliable.
More than half of Buduburam’s refugees are children, and thousands of
these beautiful souls have lost one or both parents. Some were separated
from their families as they fled to safety. Others lost their parents
due to war, Malaria, AIDS, and other diseases. Of these, most have found
surrogate homes with relatives or other compassionate adults. However,
more than 600 are still classified as “unaccompanied minors.” They have
no one and are completely alone. What is truly odd is how within such
dire circumstances, it is on these children’s shoulders that the very
future of Liberia rests.
My intention for going to Buduburam was to teach English at the Carolyn
A. Miller Elementary School (CAMES) and to hopefully gain a new
perspective on life. It took one minute to get the new perspective and
only a couple of days to realize that CAMES instructors are probably
some of the most dedicated, passionate and competent teachers I’ve ever
encountered.
Because CAMES is the only tuition free school on the camp, money to
operate the school is scarce. All too often the teachers’ salaries of
$30 dollars a month run late…up to 3 months late in some cases.
Dedication beyond the material is also evident! One teacher recently
lost his niece to Malaria, but he returned to work the very next day. He
was extremely sad, but that is life in Africa. The struggle for survival
doesn’t stop to mourn, and that is a common thread that unites the
residents of Buduburam. Fortunately, that thread is overshadowed by
HOPE…hope for the future of their children and their country.
I asked the teachers how they keep going as I shamefully realized that I
have quit with much smaller obstacles in my path. They reply, “What will
become of these children if I don’t continue? They show up and so should
I. I am old. My time is over, but they are the future of Liberia.”
Everyone has a role…the teachers to teach and the children to learn. The
expectations are immense, and if the children forget that for even one
second they are quickly reminded.
The catalyst for all this dedication was sparked by one man…Karrus Hayes
(Click here for more about Karrus).
Karrus’ perseverance to get his own education despite poverty, war and
displacement is a tribute to all of mankind and makes him the
inspiration he is today…and Buduburam’s extremely patient but persistent
angel. When you think there is no possible way it can
 happen,
when you think the dream defies all odds…he somehow he manages to pull
it all together. One of those dreams came to fruition in 2005, with the
founding of the Carolyn A. Miller Elementary School (CAMES)... the only
tuition free school on the Buduburam camp. In September, 2007 another
dream will come true…the opening of the Carolyn A Miller High School.
His last wish for these children is to see them return to Liberia and
lead their country back to glory.
Having spent two weeks with the beautiful boys and girls of CAMES, I can
attest to their own dedication….their dedication for a better life. My
very first day on the camp was a local holiday, and there were no
scheduled classes for students. Yet they still arrived in droves. To say
that I was in awe is an understatement…and as time passed, my admiration
for these young, persistent beings grew by leaps and bounds!
So what is like for a child in Buduburam? The children of CAMES get up
in the morning…collect water from the well…wash-up, brush their teeth,
and then walk to school. There is little to no money for these children
to eat even one meal on a daily basis…much less breakfast, lunch and
dinner. They file into tiny classrooms and sit three children to a two
child desk. Many of these students have been unable to attend school for
several years because of war, displacement and also because they had no
money for school fees….that was before CAMES. Consequently, many
students are older than what would be expected in each grade. For
several, long legs are cramped into desks too small for their frames and
elbows poke into each other’s ribs. Nonetheless, it is here that they
sit for all their lessons. In the back of the room a young girl eats
clay pellets. Her mother prepared them so that she wouldn’t be hungry in
class. Clay pellets….can you imagine…just to hopefully allay her child’s
hunger pangs. On the other side of the room, a small boy eagerly raises
his hand to answer the teacher’s question. At the end of the day, they
go home, do their homework, complete their chores and then they go out
and “search for food”…all to often in vain.
The next day, the sun rises. The children are still tired and still
hungry, but they return to class because they are the hope and future of
Liberia.
And again, I ask, how can there possibly be hunger when it only costs
forty dollars a day to feed an entire elementary school of five hundred
children? If that isn't a yardstick of dire-need, and at the same time a
miracle, I'm not so sure I know what is. Their parents wonder the same.
They are no different than you or I. They have the same feelings. They
have the same hunger. They love their children immensely. The conditions
in which they have been forced to live cause each and every parent such
heartache…heartache to not be able to provide for their children even
the barest of necessities.
Again, camp life swirls around me…. There is the old adage: give a man a
fish, he eats for a day, but teach a man to fish, and he eats for
lifetime. I quickly learned that the Liberians already know how to
fish…all they need is help getting the bait, line and hook.
It is important that I explain something very crucial here. Buduburam
acreage is small compared to the number of lives it holds. Planting
large tracts of land for food is impossible. There are no large tracts
of land. To complicate matters, Liberians, by law, are not allowed to
work outside the camp. It would mean a loss of Ghanaian jobs. To become
self sufficient under these conditions is almost impossible, and most
will claim that it is only by the grace of God that they have survived
this long.
The United Nations removed their support from Buduburam on June 30,
2007. It is now up to the Liberians to push forward alone. They aren’t
looking for an empty hand-out. This is not their mentality. They are
looking to educate their children, move them back to Liberia and to
rebuild their lives and their country.
In the interim, what we do now makes a BIG difference…a difference in
their world….and a difference in ours. We can bridge that chasm and push
forward as One. For all those times I walked away because it was too
hard….or too overwhelming…or too much to deal with, I now feel
embarrassed and ashamed. I have so much and they have nothing. I didn’t
do anything to be so fortunate in this life. They didn’t do anything to be
so unfortunate in theirs. And I am truly humbled by their perseverance.
I know that I have to try to make a difference somehow. In fact, I KNOW
I can make a difference. Please help me! I am supporting a new program
to feed the very hungry children of CAMES. We can’t offer elaborate
meals, but rice, beans and broth will make a huge difference to their
bellies. We are also asking parents to supplement each meal with a piece
of fruit if possible. Logistically, there are many people rallying
around this feeding program, which is scheduled to begin in September
2007. One of our biggest supporters is the Parent Teacher Association
(PTA) of CAMES. Yes, you read that correctly…despite the chaos of camp
life and lack of sustenance, they believe so strongly in education that
they have a PTA. These dedicated parents will be instrumental in
implementing this program by working through rotations to prepare lunch
on a daily basis and cleaning up afterwards.
While we have help on the ground…we still need help financially. When I
say every single dollar makes a difference… I truly mean that…. One US
dollar feeds 12 children! Every dollar is tax deductible and every
dollar goes directly to the children of CAMES. No administrative fees
are incurred because of a very compassionate, U.S. based, not-for-profit
organization, called Unite for Sight. Its founder, Jennifer Staple,
works closely with Buduburam residents and truly understands the urgent
needs of these innocent children. They truly deserve this chance….
Click here to donate to the children of CAMES
Click here to learn more about Unite for Sight
To watch a video about this please click here
Click here to see a photo-gallery of the children...
Click here to see a photo-gallery of the People...
Click here to see a photo-gallery of the Camp...
Click here to contact me |
