I’m Joseph Nah, teacher and librarian at the John S. Varfley Public school in Liberia.

We have faced a lot of challenges here. The civil war had a great impact on my education. My uncle who was sponsoring me in school was killed in the war and I had to find work so I could continue my education and graduate. 15 years of civil war slowed down our school system. Then Ebola came and that also had an effect, stopping our children from going to school. Covid also had an impact in our community. We lost a lot of friends and it broke my heart, but I carry on because of my love for education.

It’s not easy for the children to get to campus on time, because the majority of our students walk long distances, some are walking over an hour to get here and have even been attacked on their way to school. Parents don’t have money to transport them. It’s very, very challenging to get everyone here on time because of the distances.  

Education is important. Once, when I was doing a reading course with the children, I asked them this question – what is the importance of reading? Some said reading is important because it gives direction. Some said reading is important because it gives light to the darkness. Education is the light in the darkness. Without education, I tell you, we are nobody. It is very important, not only for my community but for Liberia.

Reading is one of the most important things in school. If someone says to me books are not important, the first question I will ask them is – do you believe in education? Do you believe in the future of your children? When they say yes, I will say, then why do you say books are not important?

Books mould the mind. Books serve as a light to you, to us. The children, the books, they are reading, they are the future.

I love being with my students and want to mould the minds of our children. They are the future leaders for this country. Those children that we are teaching will be the next president, representatives and senators, so if we do not give them the right education, this country will go down the drain.

In 2019, Book Aid International supported us to establish our school library, providing a collection of books, funds to refurbish our library space and training for teachers like me to become librarians. Our children’s reading skills were low, their research skills were low.

This library has transformed the student’s reading skills.

Now it is much easier for students and teachers to study and research.  Sometimes we use the books to plan assignments. Then, when we give our children their assignments, they come and find the answers from the books that have been given to us.  We even have books for the High School. We have physics here. We have biology here. So, it helps us a lot.

Book Aid International, we want to say thank you. This whole township, not only this community, was built out of a library. I’m going to be frank to you, this library has served as a light in our community. My hope for the future of this school, this library, is to be even more effective. This library will bring light to this community.

Photos (c) Carielle Doe