Congratulatory Letter to the President of Liberia, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

November 28, 2005

Her Excellency Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

President of the Republic of Liberia

The Executive Mansion

Monrovia, Liberia

Dear President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf:

Please permit me to extend to you sincere greetings, best wishes, and heartfelt congratulations from the officers and members of the Liberian History, Education & Development, Inc. (LIHEDE) on your election as President of the Republic of Liberia. LIHEDE is a Greensboro, North Carolina-based nonprofit organization comprising of Liberians and friends of Liberia dedicated to promoting education and development initiatives in Liberia.

LIHEDE obtained formal status in the United States as a 501(3) (c) nonprofit organization in late 2004, but LIHEDE has been successful in forging good working relations with organizations and institutions in the U.S. and Liberia.   Please permit me to brief you on three of our proposed and on-going initiatives.

1.         Undergraduate and Graduate Degree Programs in Liberian Studies

Between late 2004 and early 2005, LIHEDE proposed and developed, in consultation with the Liberian Ministry of Education and various Liberian state and private colleges a Liberian Studies Program leading to the awarding of a bachelors, master’s, and PhD degrees in Liberian Studies. As of today’s date, the AME University and AM Zion University have informed LIHEDE that they will begin offering Liberian Studies as part of their curriculums effective the 2006 Academic Year, after signing a formal memorandum of understanding between these institutions and LIHEDE. We are happy that a Liberian Studies degree program is soon to become a reality in Liberian higher education through consistent discussions with Dr. Evelyn Kandarkai, Minister of Education; Dr. Al Hasan Conteh, President of the University of Liberia; Dr. Henrique Togba, President of Cuttington University College; Dr. Levi Zangai, President of African Methodist Episcopal University; Rev. Sam Mulbah, president of African Methodist Zion University; Dr. Oliver Duncan, president of United Methodist University, and Sister Mary Lawrence Brown, President of Don Bosco Polytechnique Institute regarding the value and impact of a degree program in Liberian Studies on the national consciousness and productive capacities of Liberian youths. 

We believe that with the introduction of Liberian Studies at two of Liberia’s higher institutions of learning, we are well on our way to creating the environment that will help Liberians learn more about themselves and cultivate a new sense of nationalism that would propel increased individual productivity and so national developments in Liberia. We are fully aware that sometimes we need the validation of our friends and acquaintances in order to appreciate our own worth, no matter how many times we look at ourselves in the mirror and see our own pretty faces. And so throughout the 158 years of our national existence as a nation and people, we have relied on outsiders to tell us who we are by carbon-copying the cultural norms and values of other countries instead of identifying a set of intrinsic national values and cultural principles for which we may all be proud as Liberians.

As a result, we have a school system that teaches not Liberian values but foreign values, thereby leaving us without any national symbols to hold fast to in times of great uncertainties as in the 14-year Liberian civil war. We need to reverse this trend by renegotiating, reorganizing, and revamping the Liberian school curriculum to teach intrinsic Liberian values to our youth, which will then serve as their pillars of strength and national symbols should they face adversities in the future such as famine or another civil war.

We need to reverse this trend by renegotiating, reorganizing, and revamping the Liberian school curriculum to teach intrinsic Liberian values to our youth, which will then serve as their pillars of strength and national symbols should they face adversities in the future such as famine or another civil war.

These are the pillars on which the Liberian Studies Program proposed by LIHEDE is based. The Liberian Studies Program is a unique starting point for conscientizing our people about Liberian values and symbols.

We want to make sure that your administration is behind us as we continue to ask for international assistance. And this is why we are writing to congratulate and acquaint you with our project for our nation.  We will be greatly appreciative of your administration support.

2.         Malaria Control

As you know all too well, Liberia’s and Africa’s people are suffering terrible, unsustainable losses of human life, human resources, capital investment and economic growth. The source of this tragedy is malaria, one of the three worst infectious diseases and causes of death in our global community. An estimated 4,500 Liberian children die each year. At this rate, our nation has buried 700,000 infants and children since its founding 158 years ago, or 3.5 times the number of Liberians who died during our barbaric civil wars. We are tired of seeing our children die daily from a disease that is readily preventable.

This terrible death toll is equivalent to sending 27 fully loaded Boeing 757 jetliners crashing into a mountain every single day, year after year. The economic effects of malaria is just as tragic, as it costs Liberia over $35 million a year in lost gross domestic product.

What makes Liberia’s situation especially grave is that – because of its topography, rainforests and the configuration of its capital city entrenched around a major wetland – the country is home to all four species of mosquitoes that vector three species of the malaria parasites. It is essential that programs be developed and implemented that will rapidly and permanently bring malaria under control. Even with fair elections and with our war behind us, as long as malaria is in our midst, Liberia's people will be too weak to work or attend school, unable to defend themselves, and left with little hope for the future. But this calamity is not ordained to be our future, and it must never become the symbol of our nation.  

In August 2006, LIHEDE hosted the first ever and largest symposium on malaria control in Liberia, which brought together participants and presenters from Liberia, Canada, and the U.S., including the Director of Malaria Control at the Liberian Health Ministry. The two-day symposium was not only broadcast live via the Internet, but efforts are being made to hold a follow-up health conference in Liberia next year. We have the chance to do it.

During a meeting at the Executive Mansion, the Interim Government under Chair Grude Bryant embraced the LIHEDE Symposium 2006 Resolution, the Liberian Studies Proposal, and empowered his Health Minister, Dr. Peter Coleman, Education Minister Dr. Evenyl Kandarkai to mobilize all available resources to make both programs a success. LIHEDE in collaboration with the Government of Liberia and other health professionals in Liberia   will host a follow-up symposium on December 14-19, 2006 in our nation capitol, to bring together health workers, international partners, sports organizations and other citizens to discuss the post-war health needs of our country and cutting edge technology to control malaria.

LIHEDE’s plan is to accelerate Liberia's efforts to control (out-or even eradicate) malaria in Liberia over the next five to ten years by engaging other organizations to support its plans to attack Malaria with similar successful strategies used elsewhere, but with adaptations and innovations   to kill mosquitoes and control diseases transmission that so severely threaten the quality of life and existence in Liberia.

3.         Other Projects

LIHEDE’s  other projects include the “Liberian Center for Youth Empowerment & Athletics (sports academy)" project, which is being negotiated with Brazil, Spain, and UNICEF-Liberia. A meeting on the sports academy project has been scheduled between UNICEF and LIHEDE by the end of August, to which the Liberian Minister of Youth and Sports has graciously accepted to participate.  LIHEDE is also in ongoing discussion with some foreign governments, UNESCO, and other international agencies and organizations for donation to establish the first ever post-conflict public library in Liberia, in addition to an indigenous crop mini-farm project being negotiated with the Israeli government of Israel and USAID.

As you can see Madam President we have made all these contributions to our nation out of our own resources.  We want to continue doing what we are doing but we definitely need the support and endorsement of your administration as priority areas for our national development.   I fervently hope and pray that the God of our Ancestors will guide you continue to work hard to restore and uphold the national honor, liberty, and glory associated with our national sovereignty and history.

Madam President, I beseech your support of the Liberian History, Education and Development, Inc., and its efforts, including the Liberian Studies Program, Malaria Control Campaign, Center for Youth Development, Mini-Farm- Pilot Projects for the 15 political subdivisions, and the LIHEDE Model of Restructuring of the Liberian Military of our nation a part of your national platform. We therefore hope that our initiatives is congruent will your general direction of finding practical solutions to the many problems facing Liberia today.

As you know, we need to create a national blueprint for the reconstruction and development of Liberia not just for political, but education, economic, agricultural, cultural, institutional, media, social order. Together we can create a great legacy of immeasurable treasure of knowledge for Liberian youths and the next generation of Liberians by teaching our history and value systems at the university level.  Again, LIHEDE congratulates you on your election as President of Liberia.

Respectfully yours,

Syrulwa Somah, PhD

Executive Director, LIHEDE

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