Liberia Day 1

Today was our first real day and we began with a briefing from the National Investment Chairman. I mention I had read the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) on the plane. You know how I am such a sucker for a plan. He talked about how after almost 20 years of civil war they were in an emergency recovery modeyears the first few years. The next several years they were in recovery mode and now are trying to transition to development mode. They key to the development is it must be to the benefit of all Liberians and not just an elite few like in the past. He also talked about the need to build a civil society, an informed body with the ability to exercise voice and choice. One who understands the issues and will push back on those that try to undermine the progress.

We then left the enclave of our much too nice resort and immediately outside the gates was an active, but clearly very poor community. We were driven to downtown Monrovia on one of the main roads, so it was actually paved. Today's focus was on education so we met with the Ministry of Education. During the war all the schools, textbooks, and libraries were destroyed. All the teachers and professors fled. They are now rebuilding the public system. Almost no public secondary education is available right now because there are no teachers trained in math and science for this level.

The transparency and willingness to admit to the challenges and short comings by the government was refreshing At the same time they seemed focused and determined to continue to make improvements. Of course I've never met with any other government officials in any other country.

While Monrovia is the capital, just a block or two off the main roads are dirt roads with shacks for housing. Our first on-site stop was a pre-shool through 6th grade program. They kids welcomed us singing. This school has early childhood education because they noticed the kids this age were left wandering while their parents tried to work. They also offer adolescent mothers training and help them get started with a bank account and micro loans. The main school isn't free so we noticed kids, who could not afford the school, hanging on the schoolyard fences.

The next stop was a restaurant and culinary training program run by a Returnee, someone whose family fled during the war, was American educated, and has returned to use their skills to help improve Liberia. There is a rapidly growing hospitality industry in Liberia as hotels are being built to cater to the foreign business interests. None of these hotels employee Liberians at higher levels because they lack the training. Rozi's program provides a skill to the lost generation that didn't get educated because of the war. One of her challenges is the culinary students don't have basic math skills for measuring or food costing and don't have the English skills to read a recipe.

We then went to a technology program which again is trying to help provide job skills to the lost generation. It was based in what is considered on of the most volatile communities in Monrovia. Also founded by a Returnee, he wanted the youth of the war to know they were not forgotten.

Finally, we went to a Montessori teacher training program. When we were first getting briefed by the founder, another Returnee, I thought isn't a Montessori trained teacher icing on the cake? Aren't people just lucky to have a teacher? We then sat in on one of the training session in progress. It was the second training for the group and I literally heard the instructor say, "if a child doesn't know what 2+2 is, you do not beat the child.". She went on the introduce to them the concept of cognitive development. Hands were being raised in question as she tried to explain to the current school teachers what was a completely new concept!

I am here with the Santa Barbara based foundation, Eleos and I have drunken the cool-aid and the Liberian government's cool-aid that the key is development and not aid. To illustrate , I noticed a locked well in the midst of a clearly very poor community. When I asked Andy, the Eleos ED about it, he said it could be privately run. I inquired if he thought a privately run well was exploiting people and he said, if people don't pay for it via taxes or to a private person, then it's aid and that's not a sustainable model for anyone.

Tomorrow we travel 2.5 hours outside of the capital and only see two projects, but visit a local community.

Traveling Over

I have arrived in Liberia and want to give the disclaimer that I'm delirious and typing on my iPad. On the way over I read "The House at Sugar" beach which is an autobiography by Helene Cooper who grew up in Liberian in the 70's and now writes for the New York Times.

Cooper was a descendant of the ruling elite created by freed American slaves who founded Liberia 150 years earlier. What struck me was how American her life was in Liberia. Her foster sister, a native poor liberian given up by her birth mom to be a playmate for Helene, lived in a three story house, were driven around in Lincoln's, grand prixs and other nice cars, worried about what to wear to the Sadie Hawkin dances, had crushes on the high school athlete, and tried to do their hair like Charlie's Angeles. In Cooper's innocent silver spoon life, she had no idea how much the native Liberian resented them until the coup in 1979 when rebels stormed their home, raped her mom, in exchanged for not raping her and her foster sister, and executed several of her family members and friend's parents broadcasted on TV. Her family successfully escaped and in the two suitcases she was allowed to take, she fretted over taking her Michael Jackson Album or Nancy Drew books.

This was the beginning of what would be two civil wars that would destroy almost every piece of infrastructure in the nation from roads, to hospitals, to schools, to any semblance of economy. Additionally, almost anyone with capital and intellectual knowledge fled the country.

This brings me to my other plane reading, the Liberian Poverty Reeducation Strategy. This 150 page document was a reminder that Liberia is basically rebuilding a country from square one since the end of the civil war in 2003 and more specifically since the election of the current president in 2007. This document covers everything from peace and safety, including protecting village women from rape, to rebuilding roads, the number one thing Liberians said they need to prosper, to the need to educate people as teachers before they can rebuild their system.

I'm looking forward to a good night sleep and getting out from the sanctity of our hotel room and seeing the projects our Liberian "Returnee," a termed used for people educated in American who have return to benefit their country, has organized for us. She's done a good job of pulling together a variety of projects at all levels and making sure we get everything from time to speak with diplomats to time in local villages, schools, markets, and clinics.

Quick Facts About Liberia

Before I head off, I want to do two things.  The first is to give a shout out to my husband for not only supporting me in taking this trip, but for encouraging me to act on the opportunity under such short notice.  If you see any of our children standing on the side of the road, rest assured, super dad is on his way.

The second is, I want to give some quick facts on Liberia to set the stage:

• Founded by freed American slaves in 1822, Liberia is a unique African nation because it was never ruled by a European nation.

• Ironically, these freed slaves created an elite society practically enslaving the native Liberians using the plantation model they learned in America.

• The inequity between the classes and corruption of the government eventually lead to two civil wars.  The most recent war lasted 15 years and ended in 2003.

• In large part due to canvasing efforts by Liberian women, in 2008, Liberia elected the first and only female head of an African nation, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

• The years of civil war completely devastated Liberia's  infrastructure, commercial sector, and health and education systems.  For the first year of the war the GDP dropped 90%, the highest drop of any country ever, and an entire generation has spent more time fighting war than attending school.

• During this time, there was no public running water or electricity and both are only beginning to be available in some parts of the country.

• It is considered one of the poorest countries in the world with about 85% of it's population living on less than $1.25 per day.

The good news is that there are also amazing efforts going on in Liberia by the government, NGO's, and local entrepreneurial leaders to restore it's economy and to reduce extreme poverty.  More detail on those projects throughout the trip.

Off to LIberia

That's right, I am getting out from behind the computer and venturing off to Liberia.  I leave Saturday and land on my birthday.  I am going with the Eleos Foundation to learn about global development projects for possible investment by funders.  This trip came up suddenly and I am blessed and amazed to have been invited to go.

The trip is being hosted by the Liberian Philanthropy Secretariat which is within the Office of the President.  Liberia is the only country in Africa to have such an office and it is the first and only country in Africa to have a female head of state.

We will be visiting about 13 Liberian based NGO's.  The projects were selected from an overwhelming pool of applicants based on how well they represent Liberian's Poverty Reduction Strategy.  There will be about 12 of us from 7 different foundations/investors.  I am clearly the neophyte of the group.  The types of projects we will visit include:

• Education (pre-school, K-12, technology and culinary) 
• Environment and Energy (sustainable energy technology and ocean erosion)
• Small to Medium Enterprises (Microfinance projects, women's market fund, farming)
• Health (medical center and kids under 5 health program)
• Mining (mining association)
  

It looks like I will have access to internet  for some of the trip and hope to publish blog posts.  Stay tuned.

Not Good News For Microfinance in India

Last month, I published a post talking about how microfinance was being questioned.  The post includes an article by my favorite international aid/global development hero, Nicholas Kristof discussing how important microfinance, done ethically, is to aid poverty and his support of Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Grameen Bank,
 On Wednesday Kristof published the following on his facebook page:

"Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who helped found microfinance to alleviate poverty around the world, has been fired. Grameen Bank says that the Bangladesh Central Bank has removed Yunus as managing director. I'm disgusted. This is the work of the Bangladesh prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, who is jealous of... Yunus's success -- and she shames herself and her country. The losers are the world's poor."

Bangladesh News Online also strongly states, that while they are using a violation of the retirement law as reasons for his removal, that it is politically motivated.

 
As of Sunday, the Washington Post reports his removal is being protested and the government is deferring the ruling.  Keep an eye out for a final ruling and cross your fingers India does the right thing.

Good News for Direct Relief International

Santa Barbara based, Direct Relief International (DRI) got some good news this week. DRI is ranked highly on three lists recently released by Charity Navigator.

Direct Relief was ranked No. 2 of the top 10 “Top Notch” charities. These “Top Notch” charities are recognized because of their high performance in three key areas: (1) financial, (2) accountability and transparency, and (3) effectiveness and results.

Direct Relief not only earned the highest Four-Star rating for their financial strength, but also met all 17 of Charity Navigator’s accountability and transparency metrics.

You can visit Charity Navigator’s site and look over the lists:
No. 2 Top Notch Charity
No 4. Slam Dunk Charity
No. 2 Charity Everyone's Heard Of

Cradle to Career - A Road Map to Education Reform

Special thanks to Lois Mitchell, Orfalea Foundations President for her help with this post.

 

I recently learned a new term, “Cradle to Career.”  I learned this term from Lois Mitchell, Orfalea Foundations President, when she mentioned to me that she was attending a convening in the Washington, D.C. area on the topic. The convening, put on by Strive, was titled, The New Normal: Building Cradle to Career Education Partnerships to Support What Works for Kids.  It was also the launch of the National Cradle to Career Network, and included speakers from the federal government.  At the event, leaders from regional place-based efforts across the country worked toward developing plans to build civic infrastructure that creates the underlying framework and systems necessary for creating and sustaining systems of learning where every child is successful, every step of the way.

“Cradle to Career” is the perfect term for this because we hear a lot about:

• the importance of Early Childhood Education on impacting a child’s future academic success,
• the dire state of our K-12 program, and
• that we are not only not preparing students for college, but that we aren’t fostering enough innovative thinkers to compete in the global market. 

Additionally, the White House web page  on education reform addresses these same three focus areas.

At the convening, the group committed to actions, including specific next steps for strengthening progress in this area.  One of the tools reference during these discussions and customized by various regional, collaborative initiatives was the following “Roadmap”

I know, I know you can't read it.  I exhusted my blogging abilities trying to bring this in so you can see it.  So let me explain, the items in gray above the time line are academic milestones, the items in blue below the time line are social/emotional milestones and the years on the time line in gray are key transition year.  Too see this roadmap better click here and then in the upper right hand corner click the plus sign to blow it up.  Sorry I wasn't able to bring it in better here.

I am brushing the surface of understanding the complex concepts behind this roadmap, but a few things strike me as impactful about the convening Lois attended and the concepts on which it focused:

TAKEAWAY #1:

The fact that there is a national collaborative effort working with the same framework, or Roadmap, gives me hope that our nation can succeed at improving education.  Call me a structure junkie, but its similar to my feelings about the Millennium Development Goals.

TAKEWAY #2:

The fact that the Roadmap covers 1) academic milestones, 2) social/emotional milestones, and 3) key transition years also impresses me and further strengthens my sense of hope.

TAKEAWAY #3

There are leaders in our community, like the Orfalea Foundations, Santa Barbara Foundation,  J.S. Bower Foundation, First Five, and Hutton Foundation that are leading the charge in working with this Roadmap and are making serious investments in it.  The existing efforts underway weave school districts, non-profit agencies, service providers, government, business, families, higher ed, and other public-private partners into a supportive safety net focused on strengthening families, neighborhoods and students ability to succeed.  In the recent Santa Barbara Foundation newsletter, Lois was quoted as saying, “Santa Barbara has the resources, expertise and passion to improve education.” I am proud to be living in a community where such focus and investment is being made. More on what our community is doing to improve education to come in future posts. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

An earlier post on Education Reform 101 and What You Can Do included actions to help support Education Reform.