Messages from Zondo 2008

Zondo school Principal Arthur Crusoe and Academic Dean and Counselor Bill Dean sent messages to Family of Hope supporters for the 2008 Fall Fundraising Banquet in Minnesota. The transcribed text of those video messages is below. The pictures are taken from a DVD shown at the banquet.

The Speakers

"You Have Saved Us from Destruction"

Arthur Crusoe's Message

Greetings. My name is Arthur Crusoe. I’m the principal of the Family of Hope Zondo supported school. I was born and raised here in Zondo. It was during the days that the missionaries were here, and I benefitted from them spiritually, socially, morally, and academically. Before our coup in 1980, the missionaries had all left.

What the children had missed

I was always sad when I visited their homes and saw what the children had missed. So in 1989, after I graduated from Bible college, I came back to Zondo to help the children. But a civil war hit us in 1990 and I was forced to leave Zondo. My hope of coming back to Zondo to help was lost after my two brothers, who supported me there, got killed. So I got a teaching job at J. J. Roberts United Methodist School in Monrovia and I also started the Steve [] Memorial Academy in memory of my brother. I felt I was doing well, but then a call came through Family of Hope for me to go back to Zondo and work. It was hard to accept, but I’m glad I did.

I know a Liberian pastor who once had an opportunity to speak to an American audience. Up to the time he boarded the plane, he hadn’t know what to say yet. All the books he read were American books, most of the speakers he listened to were Americans, so he thought to himself, “What can I say to an American audience?” The more he thought, the more confused he became. Then he felt the Lord speaking to him. “John, haven’t I done anything for you?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. Then he felt God telling him, “John, tell the Americans what I have done for you.”

Absolutely no story

I speak to you on behalf of the people of Zondo, and like John, I know that I can impress you with good speech. I can simply tell you our story, and I trust that you will listen, for I know that you love us. What story could be more interesting other than the story of how God is blessing us through this organization, Family of Hope? Absolutely no story. At least, that’s my earnest opinion.

So I want to tell you three things. I want to tell you how your support has benefitted us. I want to tell you many, many thanks. And I want to ask you to please do more.

You have saved us from destruction

How your support has benefitted us. You have saved us from destruction. In 2003, the residents of Zondo were issued a six-day notice by the authority of a nearby rubber plantation to leave their homes so that plantation work could go on, also that the plantation would extend. When the people saw the notice, they met in a church. They cried. They prayed. And they felt moved to say “No” to moving. They had lived on this land for 600 years—almost 600 years—according to their oral history. That’s long before the country Liberia was founded. So they felt the notice was cruel, illegal, and not to be honored. It was a struggle. When a U.N. helicopter flew to Zondo to perhaps investigate if people lived there, they landed near the huge Family of Hope Zondo school. They met close to 400 students. They were spellbound. Now even the youngest child in Zondo feels their community will not be destroyed.

Let me also inform you that Zondo was connected with a motor road just a few months ago. NGOs working in our war-ravaged country don’t work where there is no motor road. Family of Hope is the only organization that did what they did in our country, and the people of Zondo are the only group of people who, without a motor road, got what they got. Family of Hope is true to its name.

I have a son who’s about 17. I picked him up from his dying mother—grandmother—during the war. The mother named him “Diyadeh,” “Diyadeh,” in the Bassa language, means an object of pity. When he became my son, I renamed him “Mwahndeh,” meaning “an object of joy.” I remember when I first took Mwahndeh to a shopping center to get him some used clothing. He wanted everything he saw. “Oh, papa, llok at those shoes! Why don’t we buy that?” I was tempted to scold him. Then I remembered that my biological children do the same thing, and I was amused.

Objects of joy

We, the people of Zondo, were once an object of pity. We are now an object of joy, all because of Family of Hope. So, on behalf of the people of Zondo, I want to say “Thank you” to Family of Hope and our many, many supporters. Words fail us. We cannot express how we feel.

Pray with us

So, I have said, “Thank you.” And now, I’m ready to ask you to please do more for us. The school needs the requisite resources and the personnel, and I must earnestly admit that we don’t have all the answers. We need help, we need your prayers. I have one more concern. We know that Family of Hope support of the school is not perpetual. What will become of the school when Family of Hope pulls out? How can we survive? I believe this can be done through community empowerment. If we can grow all the food we need, if we can create jobs for many, many people in our community, we will be well on the way to helping ourselves. Please pray with us.

My last word goes to the board. I want to say thank you for inviting me [to the Fall 2008 Fundraising Banquet]. I would have loved to be with you, but it is impossible for now. Thank you very much, and the children of Zondo say, “Hi.” top

 

"Our Better Days Are Before Us"

Bill Dean's Message

My name is Bill Dean, a native of Zondo. Zondo is about 35 miles east of the city of Buchannan, the provincial capital of Grand Bass County. In 1931, missionaries from Canada and the United States came to Bassaland seeking a place to establish a mission. They came to [Clan Chief Gaba] Zondo, and with their permission established the Mid-Liberia Baptist Mission. The Mid-Liberia Baptist missionaries worked among the Bassa people for many decades, educating and converting many to Christ. My maternal grandparents…[?] were among the first converts. Between 1959 and 1960, the missionaries unexpectedly pulled out of Zondo despite the cries and the pleadings of the nationals not to go.

A major disruption

The departure of the missionaries created a void, especially in the area of education. The few students who could made their way to Buchannan to continue their schooling. Many, however, never went back to school. Learning of the situation in Zondo, James Morgan, who had earlier graduated from the Mid-Liberia Baptist Mission, and who was now teaching for the [???] community, resigned, came to Zondo, and established the Gianda Elementary and Junior High School, thus filling the void that had been created by the departure of the missionaries. 

A major disruption in the lives of the people was caused by the fourteen-year [old] civil war in Liberia. The people left their towns and villages and lived in the forest for fear of being dehumanized or killed by fighters of the war. There they ate wild roots and nuts. Many died in the forest. Those who returned home met collapsed or burned-down buildings. Many lost their livelihood. The people did not benefit from the rehabilitation, reintegration, and reconstruction program instituted by the government and non-governmental organizations after the war. The government and non-governmental organizations focused their attention only in areas accessible by motor road. Zondo was not connected by motor road, and therefore was never a recipient of any humanitarian gesture. The people had no food, no medication, no school for their children to attend, simply because they had no motor road. Thank God, we do now have one.

Turning a sad story into a joyous one

This was the condition of the people to whom Family of Hope turned to help. Today, Family of Hope is turning Zondo’s sad story into a joyous one. Today, Zondo can boast of its more than ten-classroom building with an administrative wing, financed by Family of Hope. There was an enrollment of a little over 400 students last year. The student enrollment is expected to increase by 100 to 150 this year. We have some of the best teaching materials. Our library has some of the most recent publications. Many good things are happening in Zondo, all because of the generous giving of Family of Hope. Hundreds of children who had no hope of going to school are now going to school with smiles on their faces. Parents who could not send their children to school because they lacked the funds are now happy because their children are going to school. Every morning I watch the children come to school from their villages and towns. I mean hundreds of them. As I watch them come to school, I only say, “Thank God for Family of Hope.”  

Much more to be done

Much has been done, but there is still  much more to be done. It is necessary that both our students and teachers be computer literate. In the developed and developing world, it is almost impossible to cope with the times without computer knowledge. Our students, especially the young ones, need to spend much time on campus. This will enhance their learning. Four hours a day in school for a village child is not enough. The child goes home after school, and he or she may never hear or speak English again until the next school day. Staying on campus and interacting with other students and teachers will help them. We need things that attract these young ones on campus. A recreation center or a playground could be one of the things to help keep them on campus. Volleyball, basketball, and soccer all help to develop the children physically and mentally. We need a generator in order for the teachers and the older students to use the library during the evening hours. Most of the students do not have light and so do not study when it is dark. Running a generator for two or three hours a night will greatly help.  Though we have a success story, unfortunately we do have some concerns as we gaze into the future. In a few years time, our graduating class will get larger and larger. What will become of them after they have graduated from the ninth grade? Will that be the end of their education? Our community is growing rapidly, and we do need to learn new methods of farming that will enable us to grow enough food to feed our family well. How do we raise the living standard of our people? These are some challenges we see in the future.

We see a great Zondo

Beyond these challenges, however, we see a great Zondo. We see a Zondo that will be a center of learning. We know that our better days are not behind us. Our better days are before us. With a determined mind and faith in God and people, we are destined for those better days. Let me say that every dollar that you invest in Zondo will in return yield progress and development for our people. Again, thank you, and may God richly bless you.