An Archdiocese in Liberia says "Thank you!" for Help in Purchasing a Vehicle for Pastoral Work

Success Story

Thanks to your generous support, ACN has been able to help the ongoing work of 27 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Monrovia, with the purchase of atruck. There are officially 140,705 Catholics in the archdiocese, and in Liberia generally, Christians make up some 40% of the total population (Catholics 6%, Protestants 34%). Another 40% of the population still adheres to traditional, animist religions, while Muslims account for a sizeable minority of close to 20%. Success Story

The area of this region is very extensive (9,700 sq. miles) and the roads are untarred, so a robust vehicle is essential for travel. Archbishop Lewis Zeigler wrote us that the two vehicles in use by the diocese already had around 43,500 miles under their belts and, given the increasingly high cost of repairs, were coming to the end of their useful service. Needless to say, such vehicles are essential to the smooth running of the 27 Catholic schools in the archdiocese. “We need to visit each school at least five times in order to be able to supervise them effectively,” the archbishop told us.

The new vehicle is used not only for the visits of the school inspectors, however, but also for transporting school meals, books and other teaching materials and equipment for the schools –  altogether serving some 15,500 students, for the most part from very poor families. Liberia is today only slowly recovering from the massive economic collapse that followed the 14 years of civil war, from 1989 to 2003. At the same time the population has now been hit by the frightening spread of the Ebola virus, which has already infected over 6,500 people in the country and claimed more than 2,500 lives to date. Father Sumo Varfee Molubah, who is responsible for school education within the archdiocese, wrote to us in November 2014 saying, “The ongoing crisis and the rapid spread of the Ebola virus has brought many of our activities to a standstill. We thank God that the vehicle has reached us nonetheless.”

Because of the crisis, teaching in the schools has been temporarily suspended. The vehicle is currently being kept in a secure place until the schools can be reopened again. Father Sumo writes: “We are most grateful for your support, and we send our deepest thanks to all the benefactors of ACN!”

Project Code: 132-08-29

 

Return to Success Stories

Aid to the Church in Need commits to invest your funds where they will have the greatest impact for the Church that we serve. Funds donated to Aid to the Church in Need’s projects will be used towards the greatest need in our programs to help keep the Faith alive.

 

All active news articles