WORCESTER — Retired Bancroft School English teacher Elizabeth Johnson of Holden has spent many years teaching, but it was a trip to Liberia that launched her on a learning — and working — adventure to help bring education to that ravaged country.
In 2013, Ms. Johnson was invited by one of her former Bancroft students, a Liberian refugee, to come to that country and do some professional development.
It was aid the teachers and students of Liberia sorely needed; the country's difficult history had eroded the education and training of all.
Established in 1822 through the influence Americans who wanted to repatriate American slaves, the country was first named Monrovia after President James Monroe. It became Liberia in 1847 and was African's first republic.
With a government modeled on American government and even a flag that resembles the U.S. flag, the country set out on a road that blazed a trail on the African continent.
The country is now made up of about 5 percent descendants of the original repatriated slaves and 16 other indigenous groups.
While all of that sounds positive, the country was not immune to the upheavals that have plagued many West African countries.
A 14-year civil war that began in 1980 wasn't the only unrest. It continued intermittently in the 21st century and has left the country with a damaged economy and infrastructure, in fact, Liberia was once labeled the poorest nation in the world.
When Ms. Johnson visited in 2013, what she experienced gave her an intense admiration for the Liberian people.
"The Liberian people are so strong," she said. "They have been handed more than their share of problems, but they're survivors. They're good people."
In spite of an infrastructure that's left them with no electricity and therefore little of the contact with the outside world that we've come to expect, they persevere, and inspired Ms. Johnson to help.
"While I was there I was working over the materials that they had for their students and I realized that they were not very good," she recalls. "Basically they were like black-and-white photocopied pamphlets."
That wasn't the only shock for a teacher accustomed to well-equipped American classrooms. One teacher who asked her to visit his school showed her a scene that resonated: "What I saw was a bio teacher trying to teach a room full of students about gene expression with one textbook and a blackboard."
Ms. Johnson came home with a mission: Help those teachers and students with the books they needed. Why books?
"I'm just a teacher and I happened to see a need and I live in an area where there are some great and generous people," she said.
She said that's especially true of her hometown: "Because I live in Holden, I can shake the trees and books fall out," she said.
In other words, telling folks about the need, especially when it comes to books, would touch residents. She was right.
Among her donors in her hometown are not just many individuals but organizations, including the Gale Free Library and Holden Chapel.
Other donors include St. Leo School in Leominster, Seven Hills Charter School and St. Mary's in Worcester, her own school, Bancroft, and a local soccer organization that donated not just 800 books but some soccer balls as well.
While she admits to being no bookkeeper, she estimates that she's collected about 6,000 books that have mostly been distributed to libraries, schools and foundations that support education.
She's arranged with these and other organizations in Liberia to receive the books and sometimes the supplies, they need, and she's established some local contacts to help with the effort as well.
Ms. Johnson found a shipper in Providence that will ship the books for far less than the more mainstream shipping companies would charge, and several local organizations as well as individual have held book drives for the effort.
The country's greatest needs is math and science textbooks, though literature is welcome as well. Encyclopedia's that are not too out of date are also helpful for a country where Internet information is not available. Books are needed for children all the way up to age 15.
While the need for books continues, Ms. Johnson needs cash donations as well to support shipping to keep up with the volume of donations. She estimated that she has nearly half of the books still to ship.
Since Ms. Johnson began her Liberian Book Drive, the country has been ravaged by the Ebola epidemic. She recalls hearing about the beginnings of the epidemic, and worrying that it would affect Liberia. It has, indeed: The illness has killed more than half of those who have become infected. In some cases schools have closed to prevent the spread of the disease, adding to the country's difficulty in educating its students.
Ms. Johnson hopes that addressing at the very least their lack of textbooks will help with a future more educated and aware when faced with disasters like Ebola.
To support the Liberian Book Drive, email liberiabooks@gmail.com.