Project Donor: Misereor

The primary goal of this project is to ensure that all dwellers of rural communities realise the full benefits of their customary land and natural resources and are sustainably managing them (their land and natural resources).

The project’s main objective is that land tenure rights of the rural population are fully secured and benefits from natural resources governance are realized every dweller of target areas in Bomi and Grand Cape Mount County. The target achieving this through the following specific objectives:

1. Target communities jointly go through the required steps provided for customary land formalizations and thus acquire a legal status on their land(s).
2. Communities’ local land and resources governance structures are empowered and positively influence inclusive benefit-sharing from land and natural resources.

More pressure is on the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) and National Oil Palm Platform of Liberia (NOPPOL) – Ministry of Agriculture- to improve implementation of the Land Rights Act (LRA) and National Oil Palm Strategy and Action Plan (NOPSAP) 

Project Donor: KinderMissionsWerk

Project Summary:

SAMFU will leverage existing relationships with stakeholders working to address challenges relating to improving conservation practices, and stakeholders seeking to address challenges hindering early childhood and primary education development, particularly in rural Liberian communities. The project will work towards improving early childhood and primary education services and make free and compulsory education accessible to rural Liberian communities – particularly park’s 5 affected communities of Sokpo Clan, Porkpa District in Grand Cape Mount County.

During the collaboration, the project will work to provide one improved education facility. This intervention will carry out a series of sub-activities including;

1. Holding at least three local stakeholders’ meetings. The meetings will be held for local communities to identify a site to construct a seven classroom school (along with a latrine and hand pump) that is easily accessible to kids from Camp Israel, Soso Camp, Fula Camp, Johnny Town, Green Bar City and other neighboring villages can easily access for school. The meetings will target local community leaders (town chiefs, youth and women leaders, landlords, clan and paramount chief and district commissioner), district and county education officers and park managers.
2. Aside from identifying site to school construction, the key for the meetings will be putting in place a plan for local communities to jointly manage the facilities. This plan will ensure local communities take ownership of and maintain the facilities after the project’s life span. Commitment to maintaining the facilities fully functional and for the benefit of every child will be backed by a signed memorandum of agreement. The agreement will be signed and annually monitored by SAMFU after the project ends.
3. Following construction activities, the project will equip the school with at least 50 school desks for pupils, 5 reading desks for teachers and 20 wooden chairs for teachers and school guests. These materials will be produced by and purchased from local craftsmen in the project area.

The construction of the facilities will be done using the combination of appropriate technology and local expertise. These will be useful in sustaining the impacts of the project as the facilities will be fully managed for and by the communities.
Currently, the existing schools available to target communities are operated by volunteers residing in these communities. The project will identify and support training for at least 5 community volunteer teachers. The training will focus on enhancing Early Childhood and Basic Primary Education Development for rural school-going kids. The training will also provide these volunteers with hands-on teaching and learning materials prescribed by the Liberia Ministry of Education. In collaboration with the Ministry of Education through its Rural Teachers Training Programs, the project will partner with ‘The WeCare Foundation’ – a national early childhood education development NGO to provide the needed training.     

The communities targeted by the project are amongst the poorest with scarcity of incomes generating options and are hardly reached by national programs. As such, parents find it difficult basic learning materials for their kids, thereby causing most kids to stay out of school. So, the project will provide annual education packages to at least 100 kids in school. Each package will include (project customized) a back pad, composition notebooks, textbooks, pencils, pens, crayons and other education materials necessary for early childhood and primary education development. The provision of these materials will help save parents from the stress of accessing learning materials for their kids.