everyday gandhis General Report May, 2024

Introduction

Over the past three months, the everyday gandhis (eg) Liberia Team has been actively involved in environmentally friendly farming training in a dozen communities experiencing deforestation's impacts. This training, a crucial step in our environmental preservation initiatives, has been well-received by the communities. Simultaneously, the team has been diligently engaged with culture troupe training, a vital effort that resonates with the communities, preserving the rich cultural heritage of the people. This is of utmost importance for future generations and is a source of pride for all involved. As my former high school (Ricks Institute) principal, Dr. Olu Q. Menjay, always said during each early morning devotion, “Giving is an attitude; when you are poor and give to people, if you get rich, you will continue to give more; but, on the contrary, once you cannot give when you are poor, you will not give if you are rich.” Therefore, through everyday gandhis supporters, eg was able to distribute crucial life-supporting items. Finally, the team hosted the first eg Women’s Cross Border Circle, a significant milestone that brought together women from different regions to discuss existing and future issues.

Permaculture (PC) Extension

For the benefit of our new readers, permaculture is a unique form of environmentally friendly farming that maximizes the use of a small plot of land to produce high yields using natural decomposing material like shrubs or bushes. This innovative farming method aligns with our environmental program by enabling communities to transition from traditional farming (shift cultivation) to farmland, thereby increasing forest land.

The people of Kormai have dedicated a plot of farmland for extension of eg PC training for locals and interested individuals. everyday gandhis demonstration sites are exhausted (space) with crops, and we intend to halt any further cutdown of the forest. Also, we have seen the opportunity to take the training to the community instead of the community coming to us. This allows many community members to benefit from the training. The team members have decided to lay out the land and plant crops in various sections of the farmland.

Culture Troupe & Traditional Musical Group

Here at everyday gandhis, as we care about people, so we care about their way of life.  Therefore, the groups regularly have their weekly practice sessions (Saturdays). The Culture Director, Orlando J. Soka, said they have extended practice sessions to Lawalazu and Johnny’s Town. The eg culture troupe has established these towns’ culture troupes. Recently, they purchased their costumes and designed them beautifully with traditional materials. As the troupes progressively grow, they have caught the attention of many who want to join.  

On the other hand, the Traditional Musical Group (the gingele) has started training some of our interested staff members. They have one practice session weekly while they fix or make the needed equipment to achieve practical training. These groups hope to have a cultural festival, inviting people from Sierra Leone and Guinea to attend.

Distribution

As we believe in giving back to needy people, we have distributed rice (stable food), mattresses, and sanitary materials to various traditional healers (herbalists) who provide traditional treatment to people for nearly free! Herbalists benefiting include Vargular Siezie of Malamai, Vargular Akoi of Bakuma, Tarnue Kowo of Lawalazu, Mohammed Siryon of Bakedu, and Makagbeh Sheriff.

everyday gandhis provides support to relieve the cost of food and provide easy access to accommodation for patients seeking healing or treatment. Both patients and herbalists were excited about the support and offered prayers for everyone who contributed to their smiles.  Old Ma Vargular Siezie said, “With these mattresses, each of my patients will sleep alone on their bed and stay until they recover fully.” Each of the first 4th names above received four mattresses with five bags of rice, while the 5th person received two mattresses with two bags of rice; this decision is reached based on the maximum number of patients regularly received.

Women’s Cross-Border Circle  

The everyday gandhis Women/Girls Learn Initiative hosted its first cross-border circle discussion at the eg Guest House with sixteen (16) participants from Koindu, Sierra Leone; Nongoa, Guinea; Foya and Voinjama, Liberia. The discussion primarily focused on Gender-Based Violence & Domestic Violence and Girls' Education.

On the day of arrival, guests were warmly welcomed by our Traditional Musical Group; as the welcoming program played out beautifully, many of the guests quickly joined the dance, indicating how glad they were to be a part of such an excellent discussion.  After the welcoming section, they got a warm bath, and food was served. They were also shown around the compound; during this time, we discussed the event overview even though they were part of the planning process.

At the start of the program, after prayer (in a local vernacular), Mulbah Richard (head of eg Liberia) gave an overview of the Women’s Cross-Border initiative and its importance to peace in the regions and encouraged women's participation. Participants from Guinea couldn’t understand the English language; they speak Kissi, a local vernacular spoken in the three countries. Therefore, Mr. Flomo from Liberia serves as a translator.

The discussion started with an open-ended question from Morris Kamara, “What do you understand about violence against women, and what are some of the things that cause violence against women?” after hearing so many views, it became clear that many beliefs buck is strongly tied to the widely accepted culture that man is the head of the home, which some abuse and try to marginalize women. Many also said that they assume men are the head of the house, but some men take advantage of it, and that’s the problem. One of the women made a reference to the West, “I believe the idea of men being the head of the house exists in the West, but men there do not take advantage of the position; instead, many see it as a position to serve the home, including the children; therefore, discussion of such should involve men.”      

To resolve violence against women, there needs to be legal solid backing from the governments, especially in the case of rape and sexual harassment, many said. Sierra Leone and Liberia seem to have similar legal systems with a penalty of several years to life imprisonment, and Guinea is quite different; they are unlikely to experience rape or sexual assault due to early marriage, even though there are existing legal systems for outliers. Some participants spoke of compromises that prevent laws from taking their course, some of which include family compromise, perpetrator with a giant financial hand, and victim compromise. On the other hand, few participants spoke of how parents should discuss family size, which is a primary cause of hardship (poverty) that plays a role in early marriage. If parents seek to have a small family size (2-3 children) or any number of children, it should be what they can support (feeding, shelter, clothing, healthcare, and schooling), to put it simply, live within their income.

The following discussion started with Beatrice Gizzie's question, "What are some possible challenges that prevent girls from completing high school, and how can we overcome those challenges?” The most recognized challenge is the lack of tuition and school supplies (books, uniforms, shoes, etc.). Another few participants spoke about the cultural belief that girls will go to another family; therefore, parents, especially fathers, prefer sending boys to school to maintain their name. Few women are believed to have realized the importance of girls' education; Mento Boima from Sierra Leone talked about how her daughter is helping her because she went to school, encouraged her friends to send girls to school, and also have a few children to educate them all.

The program ended with a series of sports events. Nearby towns were invited to play a peaceful soccer match, which some participants played. These matches are intended to spread peaceful messages and build relationships among participating towns, villages, and people.

As always, thanks and appreciation to everyone who makes this program successful, especially Ma Cyndie.