Forty one Liberian educators from Bong, Bassa, and Nimba counties received training in July during LEAP 2000, the second annual workshop led by FOL volunteers at Cuttington University College in Suacoco. The participants were 20 principals, 20 teachers--mostly kindergarten instructors--and one kindergarten supervisor. The program focused on early childhood concepts and how to teach language arts, math, science and music.

Mornings were spent on the subject areas, with sessions led by five returning trainers: Joan Keenan doing hands-on science, Joan Safran Hamilton doing early childhood education, Lucretia Goe doing language arts, Dick Stuempges doing arithmetic, and me doing music. Afternoons were taken up by special sessions: sensitivity toward the disabled; language acquisition; how music and art lead to language; and suggestions for income generation for schools.

We were fortunate this year to have two volunteers from Winthrop University in South Carolina: Dr. Alice Burmeister, an African art specialist who divided her time between helping with the workshop and reviving the remains of the Cuttington Museum, and her student, Erin Demery, who helped on many details of work on campus. Another American visitor, Dr. Sally Simpson-White, a trauma counselor from the Ruth Cooper Center for Behavioral Health Care in Florida, conducted counseling sessions with the teachers.

This year, U.S. teachers arrived a week early to work with three co-trainers selected from last year's participants: Thomas Kerkulah from Sinyee, Yatta Nrotoe from Phebe Community Schools, and Ernest Shaw from Johnsonville. But because of a brief episode of student unrest at Cuttington over the weekend, we began our work at nearby compound of Phebe Hospital. The Phebe Hospital staff, headed by Dr. Walter Gwenigale and administrator Bill Martin, welcomed us warmly until the troubled waters at Cuttington were calmed.

The opening ceremony took place Monday July 3, and classes began, proceeding smoothly despite a notable lack of chairs and limited electricity and water. However, there was excellent food and service from the entire cafeteria staff. A variety of good meals were served promptly, and many of our evening activities took place in the cafeteria's congenial, informal atmosphere.

About midpoint in the workshop, we held a forum for LEAP 1999 participants. It began at breakfast on a Saturday with cries of joy as approximately 20 of last year's 34 trainees greeted each other and their American friends. Funds provided by one of the donors made this day possible. The 1999 participants returned to report outcomes of the initial workshop: what they learned, how they shared what they learned with their colleagues at school, and what worked for them in their situations. Newcomers on the team were introduced, and, while "Leapers" 2000 attended a session presented by a team of Liberian environmental educators, Leapers 1999 took turns sharing with the trainers their experiences during the past year.

We had two surprise visits that confirmed for us that we had "done well." The first was from Dr. Ed Ed Holmes, grants chairman of the International Foundation, one of our major funders, in Liberia on another mission. The other was from U.S. Ambassador Bismark Myrick and our friend of Friends of Liberia at the Embassy, Sarah Morrison, a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Liberia and now Public Affairs Officer. Ambassador Myrick was escorted into each of the four classrooms where the participants sang (impromptu) for him. Then in Joan Keenan's Science Room, he gave each trainer and co-trainer a pin depicting the American and Liberian flags. He told the group that he too remains a certified teacher and can identify with what is being done at the workshop in Liberia. Needless to say, we wear our pins proudly.

A word about Sarah: It was through her efforts and those of her trusted staff that we were able to bring into Liberia two barrels and numerous boxes of basic school materials for the program and its participating schools, so that we did not arrive "with empty hand". Plus, our entry, exit, and many other processes were expedited by Sarah and her team. A great deal was said by all during our stay about the values of such a true friendship.