our program

​THE CHALLENGES – AND WHAT WE'RE DOING ABOUT THEM.
​

THE CHALLENGES WE FACE. 

We have had positive impact on Kolahun since 2014. 
RESTORE HOPE: LIBERIA developed its innovative and unique approach – integrating  health care, education, and opportunity to better lives.

But it's only the beginning.  Now we tackle the challenges that remain:
Lack of sanitary facilities. 

93% of the program's households do not have a toilet.  None of the area’s communities have a public toilet.  The result:  85% of the residents of Kolahun defecate in the bush.  That’s 85% of 49,500 people.  Without saying, this has serious health repercussions.
Lack of safe water.

No child enrolled in our school lives in a household with easy access to safe drinking water.   The Kolahun District has a total population of 49,500 inhabitants but there are only 56 hand water pumps. And with such heavy use, there are frequent breakdowns.  Most often, only about 23 are operational.   76% of the region’s households must rely on an unsafe source of drinking water.
Poor access to health care. 
The average Liberian must walk three hours to reach a health facility.  90% of communities have no health facility.  Even where a facility exists, often there is a lack of skilled staff and basic supplies.
  
Liberia's health indicators lag those of virtually every other nation.  The country's maternal mortality rate is nearly 1,000 women per 100,000 live births.  The rate in the United States is 25 per 100,000.

Substandard housing. 
65% of our enrolled children live in homes that are in deplorable condition.  Use your imagination for what deplorable in one of the poorest regions in Africa means.  None of the children have a mattress or sleeping pad, much less a bed.

THE SOLUTIONS WE PROVIDE  

Educational support
  • Payment of school fees
  • Educational tutoring, as needed
  • Provision of school uniforms and supplies, as required

Health support
  • Baseline health assessments and periodic health and nutrition checkups
  • All recommended vaccinations
  • Insecticide-treated bednets and training in their use, to prevent malaria
  • Education in basic hygiene, to prevent Ebola and other infectious diseases
  • Education in the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases
  • Psychosocial support, including identification of children suffering from post-traumatic stress
Scarcity of food. 

Less than 9% of the Liberian population overall has enough to eat, and the statistics for Kolahun are even worse.  27% of the children under age 5 are underweight, 39% suffer stunted growth due to chronic malnutrition, and 7% are severely malnourished.

Lack of educational opportunities. 
Many villages in the Kolahun District have no schools.  
Where schools do exist, many families cannot afford the school fees.  


Water, sanitation, and housing support
  • Repair of the region's 33 broken water pumps and provision of new pumps
  • Construction of public toilets—as a start, 45 public toilets in the 22 communities where enrolled children live
  • Assistance in housing repairs

Nutritional support
  • Assessment of children's nutritional status
  • Provision of supplemental food
  • Nutrition education for caregivers

Livelihood improvement
  • Vocational training for family and older beneficiaries, to give them a means of earning a living
  • Starter kits for such vocations as farming and tailoring
THE PROGRESS WE’VE MADE.

Today, RESTORE HOPE: LIBERIA’s 100+ children are enrolled in good schools, both public and private, often faith-based schools. 
​Both public and private schools in Liberia impose fees, so there is no economic disadvantage attending private schools.

All the RHL children and their households have been provided with hygiene kits to help stop the spread of Ebola and other infectious diseases. Kits include hand sanitizer, bath soap, washing soap, chlorine, and bath buckets. Mosquito bed-nets have been provided to all beneficiary households to help prevent malaria.

Home and school visits are made regularly to all the beneficiaries. These visits monitor progress and assess needs for tutoring or additional support. Regular food supplementation is provided to all enrollee households. Efforts have begun to construct public toilets, repair broken water pumps and install new ones, distribute water purification tablets,and undertake housing repairs.

But all this is just the start. RESTORE HOPE: LIBERIA needs your help to continue its progress.

​You can read more about our program and annual budget in our recent 2017 Annual Report - click on link.