Oretha's Story

Oretha is fourteen years old and is in the first grade at the Sir Kerry St Johnston Memorial School, built by Children in Crisis and FAWE Liberia, in the Liberian capital of Monrovia. Oretha used to live in a village in the Eastern region of Liberia. Tragically her entire family, including her two younger brothers, were killed during the war. Oretha managed to escape and with her aunt and uncle she headed for the relative safety of the capital, Monrovia. 

Oretha had never been to school before but longed for the chance to be able to read and to write. When Children in Crisis held a community meeting about the new school, Oretha knew this was her chance to finally begin her education. 

Now Oretha’s days are demanding but she said she doesn’t mind as going to school is the best thing in her life. She gets up at 5am and collects water from the well. She then lights the fire and boils the water ready to bathe her younger cousins. After that she sweeps the rooms and if there is any cold rice left over from the night before she will have a small breakfast but sadly this is not often the case.

She then leaves for school to continue her new life of learning. She told us:

“I love school and the best thing about it is the teachers. My favourite subject is reading because when you can read, you can understand anything and nothing will embarrass you.”

She told us that she still feels very sad whenever she thinks about her family and the war but being able to read and write makes her happy. The opportunity to go to school has given Oretha the gift of hope. Before she went to school, a life selling in the market stretched before her. However, now she is learning the skills she needs to work towards a better future. 

“When I finish school I would like to be a teacher. Somebody has given me the chance to learn and so I would like to be able to do this for someone else.”