“Liberia is a green jewel of forests set along the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean on the West side of the great African continent. Rich with natural resources, resilient people, with a particularly fond love of democracy, Liberia is unique as the first Democratic Republic on the African Content, the only American foray into an Africa colony during the 19th Century, and the first country in Africa to have a female President in the modern era of the 21st Century. Liberia is the 2nd African branch to form in IDEAS history, and since its launch in 2013, IDEAS For Liberia has been one of our most active. The origins of IDEAS For Liberia can be traced back to Stephen Lavalah, esq. who became a celebrated IREX Fellow and traveled to the United States to live with IDEAS founders Chris Castro and Clayton Louis Ferrara. There he trained and studied for four months the art of community organizing, sustainable development, and building a mindset around resilience. Upon returning home, launched the “Building a Sustainable Liberia” project that will take decades to complete. IDEAS For Liberia now stands as a unified force to help people, heal the planet, and build prosperity for current and future generations.” – C.L.F
Please reach out to Liberia@ideasforus.organd we will connect you with the current leaders in their respective cities OR follow IDEAS For Liberia on our Facebook or Instagram to learn more.
Stephen B. Lavalah is the leading member of IDEAS For Us: Liberia branch. He is a community organizer, team leader, public speaker, lawyer, environmental justice advocate, passionate climate activist, an ocean champion dedicated to ensuring greener, safer, healthier, and cleaner environmental for all. To contact him directly, please email Libera@ideasforus.org or fill out the form below to receive our newsletter!
Objective: To produce a community run, sustainable garden with Liberia’s native flora population to combat food insecurity and heighten environmental education.
Goal 1A: Diminish food insecurity by creating local sources of nutrition from Liberia’s edible plants while simultaneously supporting the area’s biodiversity.
Goal 1B: Uplift communities, building togetherness and stronger interpersonal relationships to make a safe space for environmental education and action.
Objective: Provide students and faculty with clean drinking water and sanitation to improve their chances of success.
Goal 1A: Purchase 2 WASH facilities and install them in Wolala Public School.
Goal 1B: Host 3 assemblies educating students on public health and proper sanitary practices.
Objective: Promote climate action and spread awareness on global warming by engaging locals in learning more about sustainability.
Goal 1A: Connect more than 1,000 volunteers, students and community leaders to join the IDEAS Hive meetings once per month.
Goal 1B: Form action projects to help mobilize activists.
We planted 750 trees under the “One Tree Planted” Event with the help of City Mayor Honorable Emmanuel Fill who also encouraged citizens to continue contributing actively for the community. By organizing a workshop, we educated 100 individuals on sexual-gender based violence and reproductive health. A beach clean-up event was organized from Nana Lodge to Kru Town beach alongside the coastline in Robertsport City, Grand Cape Mount County where we collected 67 trash bags. We partnered with Youth Exploring Solutions and launched a program called “Canvassing for Environmental Committee” with over 115 attendees to discuss, learn and exchange ideas with speakers. They also elected officials to account for environmental, conservation and climate issues.
With the help of 100 volunteers, we planted 1250 trees and restored 3.2 hectares of land in a rural school with a vision to create Liberia’s first organic school fruit trees garden. We carried out a reforestation drive, planting 1000 coconut trees in Sembehum Town to recover the loss of over 375 trees lost due to soil erosion. 500 trees of various species, local to the area, were planted in Borbor Town to serve as catalysts to lift poor households out of extreme poverty and pave the way for communities to prosper through the planting of fruit trees owned and managed by the members themselves. All the projects conducted during the year contributed to increasing and maintaining the rich biodiversity.
In the muslim dominated town of Mageima, we planted 1000 trees in a single day. Through three intensive Stakeholder Engagement Dialogues and a workshop, we also educated the community on the importance of fruit trees planting and its benefits, along with promoting inclusivity and diversity to encourage entrepreneurship and women empowerment. 75 volunteers from four villages and towns joined hands with us to carry out a maintenance project in Borbor town to replace fruit trees that had been damaged due to extreme weather conditions or animal consumption. 2475 trees were planted under this project.