Monrovia – The St. Paul’s Presbyterian School, along the Barnesville Road in Gardnersville, has distributed rice to parents and guardians for the upkeep of their children amid the global pandemic of Covid-19..
The children are all students of the school that used to be heavily sponsored by the Growing Liberia’s Children (GLC), a US-based charity organization, but has now closed down its operations and support to the school has dried up.
At Thursday, June 4th distribution ceremony, parents and teachers jointly appealed to the former President of GLC Michelle Des Jardins and former Founder of GLC Malia E. Harris to continue to support the school. GLC provided to St. Paul’s Presbyterian School financial, educational material and logistical support for 10 years.
Mrs. Harris who was the first principal of St. Paul’s School told FrontPageAfrica from her home in the US that Mrs. Des Jardins was instrumental in the construction of the second storey of the school building.
“In 2015 during the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, GLC under the leadership of Michelle Des Jardins provided food to the teachers and students. Each of St. Paul’s 200 students received two 100-pound bags of rice and five gallons of vegetable oil,” Mrs. Harris said.
The former GLC Founder further stated that her friend Des Jardins paid tuitions fees for St. Paul’s students and a student at the Catholic University. “The San Diego Thursday Bible Study Women have also made contributions to the development of St. Paul’s School,” Mrs. Harris said.
At the Thursday rice distribution on the school campus, Mrs. Marvis Stryker, Chair of St. Paul’s Parents, Teachers Association (PTA), thanked Mrs. Harris and her friends who contributed money to purchase the rice distributed to them for their children.
“We are asking all of you to please continue to help support the school. It is only for the love you have for us that you people made it possible for us to have a modern school building today,” Ms. Stryker said.
Stryker said parents and teachers were saddened to learn of the closure of GLC, and that they are appealing to former GLC’s officers and members to continue to render support to the St. Paul’s Presbyterian School especially during this crucial time when Liberia is faced with a steep economic downtrend. Mrs. Stryker said parents are now beginning to worry that after the pandemic is over, where they are going to find money to send their kids to school. She also used the occasion to thank other “Good Samaritans” friends of Mrs. Harris in the US who include Virginia Whitelock, Charlotte Halicioglu and Linda White for providing for St. Paul’s School a generator, water tower, kitchen renovation, lunch for students and WAEC fees for sixth and ninth grade students. “To all of you who have helped us over the past years, and to you Malia and your family, we say a big thank you,” said the PTA Chair.