PCO MISSION STATEMENT

PCO is a humanitarian NGO dedicated to the well being of young people in West Africa, especially Liberians and Ghanaians.

Acknowledging the many crises that face young West Africans - including war and ethnic animosity, displacement, poverty, lack of education, pandemic illnesses, sexual violence and labor exploitation; and
Acknowledging that young people represent the future of the sub region, and that these continuing crises affect the social, political, economic and cultural well being of the entire West African region;

PCO aims to educate young people, their immediate carers and their communities in order to nurture the development of responsible, peaceful and productive citizens.

Our key efforts in creating a better future for young people are directed at the following activities:

Promotion of a culture of peace and democracy;
Provision of direct literacy and numerical skills programs to the most disadvantaged children in the Ghanaian and Liberian community;
Provision of skills training programs to young people and their carers with a view to developing sustainable livelihoods;
Provision of peace and conflict resolution education to school children;
Peace building and peace education in the wider community;
Awareness raising about child rights and domestic violence;
Developing a clean and healthy living environment for children and their families;
Promoting physical and mental well being of young people through sports and leisure activities; and
Raising awareness about sexual reproductive health.


PCO applies this set of core values in all its activities:

A commitment to creating progress through humility and purity of the heart;
A commitment to children’s rights;
A belief in the power of education as key to shaping a better future for Liberia and West Africa;
A commitment to tribal and racial equality and reconciliation;
A commitment to holistic, sustainable and collaborative approaches to tackling problems;
A commitment to extensive formative research and planning in project development;
A commitment to the promotion of gender equality, within the PCO organization and in the wider community;
A commitment to organizational transparency and democracy; and
A firm belief that prevention is better than cure!
PCO aspires to be able to work with young people and their communities throughout West Africa.



Introduction

Since May 2003, the Population Caring Organization has been working to improve the living conditions of Liberian refugees living in the Buduburam Refugee Settlement in Ghana. More specifically, the organization’s efforts are currently directed toward peace and reconciliation, education for out-of-school refugee children and vocational skills training for refugee mothers.

This report covers operations carried out between November 1, 2005 and October 31, 2006. It describes the activities we’ve undertaken in response to some of the many problems refugees face.

Our organization has made enormous progress over the past year. All of our projects can boast of great successes. We have appreciated the contributions of a considerable number of international volunteers. These people have made valuable contributions to the success of the PCO Primary/Junior Secondary School, the PCO Refugee Mothers Skills Training Center, the PCO Community Peace Cell Project and the Liberian Tribal Leaders peace and reconciliation Forum. They have also been involved in capacity building, publicity campaigns, and various other administrative activities.

We hope that this outline of our 2005/2006 activities serves to highlight some of the challenges many refugees face, even as it reflects a spirit of optimism regarding the various strategies we’ve designed to help them overcome those obstacles.



Activities Implementation


1. The PCO Primary/Junior Secondary School

The PCO Refugee School was established in August 2005 with the objective of providing the benefits of a basic education to underprivileged refugee children whose parents are unable to afford to send them to school.

Students were recruited from throughout the camp by means of the PCO community peace cell meetings (held regularly in the various zones). Several were recruited directly from the streets. This project targets our community’s neediest children, some of whom have been forced from their homes because their parents or guardians don’t have the resources to support them.

Summary of Achievements

The PCO Primary/JSS School is now occupying a more spacious building that provides a safer and more constructive learning environment as well as a larger playground for the children.

The construction of six toilets has eliminated the risks students incurred by using nearby bushes.

We have expanded our educational programs to serve children in Grade 7.

With outside support, we have been able to keep students and teachers supplied with necessary resources.

Finally, PCO has demonstrated that free education can be made available to underprivileged children. The school has created educational opportunities for some kids who would otherwise be unable to attend school; in other cases, it has relieved refugee parents of what had been tremendously burdensome school fees.

A Closer Look

Relocation of School

PCO’s school relocated to a new facility in January 2006. A local church had been allowing us the use of its building, but its close proximity to an open sewer and poor ventilation created an unhealthy learning environment, and the lack of classroom partitions often made it difficult for teachers to hold the attention of their respective students.

Therefore the school moved into an unfinished building located in zone 10 of the Buduburam Refugee Camp. The lease agreement stated that PCO would pay the landlord five years rent totaling ¢42 million, and the landlord would in turn use that money to complete construction works on the building.

Completion of payment and construction work

PCO allocated ¢19 million of its regular budget and received support from individuals (totaling ¢5 million) and from INSEAD (¢18 million) to fulfill this rent obligation.

The landlord has upheld his end of the agreement, and the work on the building structure is nearly complete. This has involved plastering, whitewashing and painting the interior and exterior walls, as well as installing windows and doors. We’re now enjoying the use of nine classrooms offering our students and instructors well ventilated spaces protected from outside distractions. There are a few interior walls that have yet to be entirely plastered and painted, but we anticipate this will be taken care of in the near future.

Construction of a 6-room toilet

Funding for a six-room modern toilet building with a large septic tank (22’ long x 10’ wide x 12’ deep) was donated to the school by the Charanjit Arora family 0n July 25 This project was completed at a cost of ¢14 million. Prior to this, our students had been using nearby bushes to toilet. Besides being unsanitary, this practice was dangerous because of the risks posed by snakes and other potentially harmful creatures in the vicinity.

Staff and Enrollment

We began the 2005/06 school year with 215 students and ended with 175, owing to repatriation, resettlement and dropouts. We had a total of 12 staff, and our expenses were ¢72,755,000. The availability of space in our new building enabled us to expand the primary school in September 2006 to accommodate students in Grade 7. The new PCO Primary/Junior Secondary School (JSS) has 250 children enrolled and is operating with a budget of ¢67,538,000. We now have 14 employees (13 trained and experienced teachers and one janitor/caretaker).

The school is tuition-free. Instruction follows the Ghanaian syllabus taught throughout the country. All of our teachers have previous professional experience from a range of schools in Liberia, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, and all have completed additional training provided by the UNHCR here at Buduburam. They are paid a monthly stipend by PCO.

Materials

PCO undertakes the responsibility of providing the children with textbooks, copybooks, and pens/pencils. Equipping students and teachers with basic resources is a major expense, and we are grateful for the assistance of our supporters. Most notably, our school was among the schools on camp that received sizeable consignments of instructional and learning materials donated by the UNHCR through the Buduburam Central Education Board.

We are in the process of providing school uniforms for the students. The project is utilizing the sewing expertise of women at PCO’s Mothers’ Skills Training Center, many of whom have their children enrolled at the school. This mutually beneficial arrangement enables us to keep expenses to an absolute minimum while giving some parents an opportunity to more meaningfully contribute to their children’s education.

Goals

In addition to completing the plastering and painting of the building interior, we plan to finish construction works on the property by erecting a fence to enclose the area. We have already received funding for this project, and are only awaiting official confirmation of the property boundaries.

At this time our budget allocation structure reflects the priority of maintaining well-qualified teachers and equipping them with necessary resources. We are currently seeking additional sources of funding that will enable us to provide more modern teaching and learning materials.

We are still in the early stages of supplying school uniforms; we would like to secure funding to complete this project by May 2007.

Our next big project will be the initiation of a feeding program. Many children come to school without having eaten breakfast, and we are concerned about the impact that hunger is having on their ability to fully engage in the learning process. At the close of the 2005/06 academic year, about 30% of our students were retained in their grades because of poor performance. We anticipate that providing nourishment during the school day will improve the present rate of promotion and decrease the number of dropouts. We plan to undertake a fundraising campaign to finance this effort, which will require an estimated ¢100 million.


2. The Mothers’ Skill Training Center

The PCO Refugee Mothers Skills Training Center empowers refugee mothers with literacy and vocational skills they can use to support themselves and their children. The program is especially targeted toward women raising young children without the help of a husband or other male in the household.

The center was established in July 2004 and initially provided instruction to ten mothers. An additional 40 women were recruited in March 2005, followed by another 45 in October of the same year.

The project ultimately aims to improve mothers’ financial and intellectual capacities to be involved in their children’s education. Educating the next generation will be a crucial element in Liberia’s future development; the full participation of all stakeholders, especially of parents and guardians, is likewise critical to the process.

PCO believes that the strength of families, especially poor families, will play an important role in the success or failure of the millennium development poverty reduction goals. We therefore seek to help parents/guardians to better appreciate the value of education, and empower them to assume responsibility for it.

We’ve found that the mothers at PCO’s skills center are generally enthusiastic about being able to support their children’s education, and their contributions in that area have helped to restore their hope in a brighter future for themselves and the next generation.

Summary of Achievements

PCO’s Mothers Skills Training Center provided free sewing instruction, literacy training and classes in health and peace education to 37 old students and extended its outreach with the addition of 58 more mothers in 2006. We are encouraged by the high level of interest the community has demonstrated in the program.

Our women’s cooperative generated total income of $351 for 8 mothers through the sale of 60 quilts.

A Closer Look

The sewing vocation

New students are evaluated to determine their placement in one of three sewing classes.

The general objective of this instruction is to enable refugee mothers to understand the idea of sewing as a vocation and to develop their abilities in this area. Lessons are based on the teaching syllabus for vocational skills prepared by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Ghana and covers the following topics: Sewing as a Vocation, Tools, Equipment and Materials, Fabrics, Processes in Sewing Stitches and Seams, Patterns and Crocheting.

To help students better understand these concepts, instructors seek to follow the four-learning-behavior model with its emphasis on Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation. Our training employs the practical skills method, which involves project work, case studies and creative practical tasks.

Our advanced mothers learned basic fashion design by means of the same processes and teaching techniques described above.

Beyond skills training

Adult literacy, health and peace education classes are provided to all students at the PCO Mothers Skills Training Center.

Vocational skills alone cannot create peace of mind and domestic stability, particularly for women operating in stressful environments. Parents at Buduburam are often still recovering from trauma in their own lives and have sometimes neglected to give adequate attention to training their children to be productive citizens. In fact, many of these people have poor literacy skills themselves and do not fully appreciate the importance of what they have learned to live without.

For this reason, PCO has made its literacy classes a central component of the activities at the center. We hope that by helping these women develop their reading and writing abilities, we will enable them to relate to the world in new ways – to consider new ideas and see new possibilities where none had been before. When a woman sees her own horizons expanding, she sees them expanding not only for herself, but also for her children. All of our classes at the center (literacy, health and peace education) are designed to empower mothers to take a more active interest in properly training – academically and socially – those children who will be the leaders of tomorrow.

Literacy classes are held Monday through Thursday; Peace Education and Health are taught on Friday afternoons. All classes last an hour and a half.

Literacy

New students are interviewed and undergo an assessment to determine their placement in one of four classes:

Level 1 is for those mothers who had not been to school before and did not know the alphabet. There were 28 students in level 1 class. Those in Level 2 (33 students in our current class) could recognize the alphabet but couldn’t read or write well (not past the 2nd grade level). Our 18 Level 3 students generally read at a grade 2 or grade 3 level. The most advanced students are placed in Level 4 and would generally be considered to be in grade 4 or 5. We have 17 students in Level 4.

Health

The Health class introduces a variety of issues deemed relevant to the prevention and treatment of illness, particularly in a refugee camp setting. Topics covered in this year have included HIV/AIDS, nutrition, asthma, breast cancer, the menstrual cycle, the reproductive system and family planning, colds, personal hygiene, sanitation, the immune system, (drinking) water safety and self-esteem.

Peace Education

The curriculum for the Peace Education classes is designed to help our students develop more constructive relationships in their homes and communities. The center serves a large number of women from a variety of backgrounds, whose past experiences have often made them pessimistic and distrustful in the way they view others. They don’t have confidence that “the system” or anyone else will look out for their interests; this self-reliance can in turn lead to bitterness and despair. The Peace Education initiative seeks to help students develop more balanced attitudes that will enable them to contribute to and benefit from positive social networks. The classes also advise mothers regarding parenting techniques that promote peaceful familial relations.

Hard Work Rewarded

The program at the center aims to encourage single women to establish small businesses by providing skills training and by giving them an increased sense of confidence in themselves and in their abilities. Many women were able to begin to realize the benefits of their training this year through the sale of quilts. A partnership with Bridges for Africa yielded total income of $351 for eight of our students whose aptitude for sewing has qualified them to join our women’s cooperative. This money is a huge help to individuals struggling to support their families, but the additional psychological benefits that accompany such an achievement should not be underrated. An additional $526 has been returned to the training center for use in purchasing materials and maintaining equipment.

A manual sewing machine was donated to the center by Bridge For Africa

Counseling

A group-counseling program for mothers at the center was organized in June 2006. Activities mainly focused on helping students work through trauma and grief. The persistence of psychological damage brought about by wartime suffering often makes it more difficult for victims to cope with present day challenges. The counseling program was designed to restore hope and confidence by helping people to identify the underlying causes for some of their struggles. International volunteer Jessie Blumberg undertook the project.

Goals

In the next year PCO’s Mothers Skills Training Center will be focusing attention on maintaining and improving its current programs.

We would like to begin replacing some of our sewing machines with newer equipment that will make it easier for students to make high-quality products and enable them to take greater pride in their work. This will also help us cut down on the expenses involved in repeatedly replacing and repairing broken parts in very old machines.

We are currently designing a program for individual counseling, to be implemented in the early part of 2007.

The center currently occupies two adjacent buildings; one is used for sewing instruction and the other for the literacy, health and peace education programs. We intend to construct a gate across the opening between the two buildings to eliminate distractions caused by pedestrian traffic in this area.

We would also like to arrange for the construction of a toilet on the premises. Currently students have to find facilities elsewhere. The convenience of a toilet nearby would cut down on lost class time.

Some students find that they either don’t enjoy sewing or don’t have the talent to produce excellent work. There is an enormous amount of interest in expanding the Mothers Skills Training Center to provide students with an alternative to sewing instruction. At this time we are exploring the possibility of adding a tie and dye program. This training could take place outdoors, and we expect the burden of such a program on our limited resources would be minimal.


3. The Peace Cell Project

PCO’s Peace Cell Project was established in May 2004 to help create a lasting peace in Liberia by identifying and responding to the emotional and psychological needs of its citizens. More specifically, the project seeks to:

Promote dialogue as a vital element in conflict resolution;
Encourage victims of trauma to confront buried emotions (e.g., fear, hatred, or desire for revenge)
Raise awareness of causes of conflict within the community;
Break down negative stereotypes perpetuated by a culture of tribalism and to build a spirit of unity among Liberians in our community
Explore possible methods for rehabilitating child soldiers and other ex-combatants;
PCO has ten active community peace cells – one in each of ten of the camp’s twelve zones.

Each “phase” of the project extends over a six-month period and is designed to address a specific topic. Project staff and volunteers collaborate to determine the topic and to develop a set of relevant questions to be raised at community meetings held each evening in the various zones (on a rotational basis) throughout the duration of the phase. PCO currently pays nine Cell Leaders to moderate these meetings. These discussion leaders generally live in the zones to which they are assigned, enjoy good relations with other members of their respective zones, and exhibit strong interpersonal and communication skills. All receive training to further develop their abilities to effectively facilitate community meetings.

Some of the topics addressed in peace cell meetings have included anger management strategies, causes of and solutions to domestic violence, causes of and solutions to tribal prejudice and hatred, practical pathways to forgiveness and reconciliation, and basic mediation and negotiation strategies.

The project benefits from the administrative and academic support of international volunteers who are responsible for taking notes (and recordings, when equipment is available) of all Peace Cell meetings and making typed transcripts. These transcripts are critical for measuring the progress of Peace Cells and for supporting research. Volunteers are also encouraged to help construct, or contribute to, discussion topics for meetings, and to help ensure that Peace Cell leaders are adequately trained to moderate the discussions.

Summary of Achievements

The end of 2005 brought a successful close to a peace cell phase designed to address the problem of domestic violence.

Project staff decided to focus activities for the year 2006 on the theme of Transitional Justice and subsequently developed a curriculum that would promote effective and meaningful discussions at the cell meetings.

In March we began some basic training with cell leaders to help them improve their abilities as meeting facilitators.

A three-day workshop in May was held to prepare cell leaders for the task ahead by providing information and a forum for discussion concerning the idea of transitional justice and the TRC in Liberia. Cell leaders also collaborated during this time to develop a set of quality indicators that would make the project more responsive (and therefore more effective).

Peace cell meetings were held from June through November, with discussions structured around the subtopics of Transitional Justice, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Reintegration, the Perpetrator and The New Liberia.

A Closer Look

Planning Stages

A needs assessment was conducted in all the twelve zones during the first two weeks of February. This effort was intended to give peace cell staff a better understanding of the challenges refugees face at Buduburam, which would enable them to design the project’s activities in a way that would most effectively meet those needs. More specifically, we wanted to identify attitudes in the community that might help or hinder the success of potential topics of discussion. The information gathered through this effort was critical to the development of a set of objectives for the project in 2006, as well as to the design and implementation of appropriate strategies to meet those objectives.

The needs assessment and subsequent analysis and discussion among peace cell staff led to a decision to structure the project’s activities for the year around the theme of transitional justice. We agreed that as the situation in Liberia normalizes and the government begins to confront the legacies of human rights abuses through its Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), it is vitally important to prepare the Liberian public for this process. It is critical that both victims and perpetrators be engaged in order for everyone’s needs to be adequately addressed.

During the second half of February and first part of March, staff worked to formulate a comprehensive schedule for activities through the end of the year.

In March we began some basic training with cell leaders to help them improve their abilities as meeting facilitators. The task of moderating a cell meeting is not easy, and we want our leaders to be well prepared to respond to the myriad of challenges they are likely to face. For example, we offered guidelines on how to discourage participants from using cell meetings to appeal to the international volunteers, the UNHCR or “the West”.

Forgiveness and reconciliation are complex concepts, and the road forward won’t be easy. We realized that in order to overcome the inevitable obstacles arising out of human psychology and cultural sensitivity, the project’s implementation would have to be monitored carefully in order to correctly identify and respond to underlying emotions (fear, hatred, suspicion, etc.) or other factors (misunderstanding) that could limit the effectiveness of the cell meetings.

It was determined that a set of indicators should be developed to aid cell leaders in identifying various kinds of emotions. This would improve their ability to effectively respond to individual participants during the course of discussion, and would also provide a more standardized method of recording and analysing data from the meetings.

In May a three-day workshop was organized for cell leaders. The event was designed with two general objectives: 1) to prepare meeting facilitators for the task ahead by providing information and a forum for discussion concerning the idea of transitional justice and Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and 2) to develop a list of quality indicators that would make the project more responsive.

Community Peace Cell Meetings

The regular meeting schedule began on the 1st of June. A meeting was held each evening from 5:00 to 6:00 in one of the ten zones with an active peace cell. Each zone therefore hosted a community discussion once every two weeks. Following is a list of subtopics and related questions:

June - Transitional Justice:

What happened during the war?
Who was involved?
Who was responsible?
What is Liberian unity?
How can Liberians work together to achieve this unity?
How do you see the future of Liberia?

July - The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC):

What is a law?
How does one respect the law?
Are there times when it’s okay to break the laws?
Are laws different during War?
What should happen to those who committed crimes during the War?
What do you know about TRC?
Is the TRC the best option for Liberia?
What are some problems that the TRC could have?
What are some benefits that the TRC could bring to Liberia?

August - Reintegration:

People who were on different sides of the war live together side by side here at Buduburam. How do you feel about this situation?
How do people who were on different sides during the war treat one another on camp?
Are people who actually fought during the war treated differently than those who did not fight? How?
What are some ways that people who were on different sides of the war, cooperate with each other on camp?
What are some ways that the relations between people who were on different
sides in the war are different on camp than they are in Liberia?

What are some issues that might cause conflict between people who were on different sides of the war when they return to Liberia?
What are some ways that people who were on different sides in the war can cooperate after they go back to Liberia?

September & October - The Perpetrator:

What motivates people to commit crimes against each other?
What are some things that might make it hard to forgive those people who did evil things?
How can we manage our feelings toward those who committed crimes against us during the war?
There is peace in Liberia now, but do you think people who did wicked things during the war will do it again, or can they change?
We now know that most people who committed crimes during the war are not going to jail. Can we really accept these people to live among us in society?

November - The New Liberia:

How are you planning on returning to Liberia?
What will your role be in the New Liberia?
What do you expect a peaceful Liberia will look like?
What should be different now about Liberia, and how will this prevent future civil conflicts from happening?

Goals

Peace cell staff is currently engaged in analyzing the data collected over the last six months and compiling a comprehensive report that will 1) accurately reflect the attitudes expressed by community members over the course of the phase, 2) evaluate the effectiveness of these discussions in meeting the project’s objectives and 3) offer suggestions for how this data can be used to inform the design and implementation of future activities.

We would like to establish connections that will enable us to share our findings with outside parties interested in the Liberian situation in particular and/or post-conflict issues (more generally). It is our hope that this data would be helpful to others doing similar work in the region. We also plan to submit our report to Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Project staff would like to secure funding to purchase benches for use in the various meeting venues. In the past we have relied on the generosity of nearby residents to provide seating for participants, but locating such chairs and benches is sometimes a difficult chore. What was available for one meeting might not be available for the next.

We are in the process of exploring the possibility of extending the community peace cell activities to Liberia. We feel the model we have developed is a valuable tool for promoting dialogue and strengthening relationships between people in conflict.


4. Liberian Tribal Leaders Reconciliation Forum.

Established in collaboration with the Liberian Refugee Welfare Council (with the support of Mr. John Thompson – Camp manager), The Liberian Tribal Leaders Peace and Reconciliation Forum has been in operation since September 2004. The group brings together leaders from each of Liberia’s 16 tribes (all of which are represented at Buduburam) to discuss the obstacles to peace and reconciliation among the tribes and to derive strategies for overcoming them to foster a spirit of peace and unity within the Buduburam community. The project aims to develop a model for intertribal dialogue and cooperation that can one day be re-created on a larger scale to serve the needs of the entire country.

Summary of Achievements

The previous phase of the Forum’s activities ended 17 December 2005.

21 December 2005 witnessed the formation of the Liberian Peace and Reconciliation Elders Council. The group held its first elections to determine its leaders, on 22 December 2005, a day after it was formed.

In mid-July, PCO held an appreciative inquiry workshop in which the tribal leaders were encouraged to develop a new project or program to promote peace in the community while providing themselves with fresh opportunities for collaboration and compromise. The workshop led to the formation of the Peace and Reconciliation Awareness Team (PRAT).

At a workshop in September, members of the PRAT team were trained to serve as advocates for peace within their respective communities.

A Closer Look

On 17 December 2005, the first phase of the Tribal Leaders Forum, designed to foster reconciliation among tribal leaders themselves, came to a close with a program in which each leader expressed his commitment to peace. The Camp manager Mr. John Thompson, and a number of Ghanaian chiefs also participated in the event with a show of support for their Liberian brothers.

At an Appreciative Inquiry Workshop on the 28th and 29th of July, tribal leaders came together to discuss ways in which they can cooperatively promote reconciliation within the Buduburam community. At the conclusion of the event, it was agreed that a team of community leaders should be formed to take the message of peace to their “constituents” (utilizing existing channels of communication with people who know and respect them). The tribal leaders also expressed interest in continuing regular meetings and in arranging visits to schools, churches and other groups on camp to talk about peace.

On the 18th of August, county elders and county representatives gathered to discuss the implementation of the ideas developed at the July workshop. They were eager to take ownership of what would be known as the Peace and Reconciliation Awareness Team (PRAT). The objective for the group would be “to educate the community about reconciliation, peace-building, government accountability and democracy by respected leaders of the community”. The meeting participants also agreed to serve as members themselves and encouraged PCO to move forward with the development of a curriculum for the project. PRAT was comprised of two representatives each from the Buduburam Imam council, and Christian council, the 16 ethnic groups and women and youth groups.

The curriculum was designed by PCO staff and international volunteers and was structured around eight basic topics: 1) Causes, Effects and Resolve of the War in Liberia, 2) Managing feelings toward those who did bad things to you, 3) Civics Education, 4) Uniting Liberia, 5) Tribal Cultural and Religious Awareness, 6) Non-violent Conflict Resolution, 7) Education and 8) Re-integration. Each topic would be addressed for a period of two weeks and would be reinforced by parallel discussions within the Tribal Leaders Forum and the community Peace Cell meetings.

The PRAT initiative was presented to the Welfare Council on 1 September. PCO outlined the curriculum and solicited feedback.

The team met for its first training workshop on 8 September and addressed the first topic in the curriculum (Causes, Effects and Resolve of the War in Liberia). They also discussed 1) ways in which PRAT can effectively reach the community through existing channels and 2) how to take their message to those groups (like children and youth not attending school) not reached through existing channels.

Goals

The Tribal Leaders Forum remains dedicated to promoting tribal and county reconciliation by fostering cooperation among leaders of all Liberian tribes and the Americo- Liberians.

PCO staff is in the process of designing the next phase of the Tribal Leaders Forum. The theme for the next year will be Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and will focus on educating about the idea of transitional justice in addition to discussing the structure and activities of the commission itself.


5. Income

The following individuals and organizations have supported the organization with grants in 2006:

INSEAD
Bridge For Africa
International volunteers through GVN
International volunteers who made personal donations:
Charanjit
Nicholas Barber
Sara Bristol
Guy Threlfo
Ainsley Szweche
Katherine Gerber

International volunteers provided books, stationeries, and toys were provided to the children. Also, UNHCR through the Buduburam Central Education Board, provided consignments of copybooks, pens and pencils for the students as well as teaching materials and other items for the teaching staff.


6. International Volunteers

International volunteers have been the core supporters of PCO and its projects.

International volunteers mainly from the USA, Canada, Australia, and Europe worked with the organization.

Their main areas of contribution have been to provide literacy and numeric skills to young children and their mothers. Several of the volunteers taught at the PCO Refugee Primary School. Many also provided Peace and Health education, and adult literacy classes at the PCO Refugee Mother’s Skills Training center.

The volunteers have also been heavily involved in identifying and recruiting most needy mothers through the peace cells to attend PCO training program.

Most important of all is their contribution to the peace and reconciliation projects. With their academic and professional expertise, many of the volunteers helped to design and direct the focus of our peace efforts.

In short, in addition to their energy, skills, etc, the volunteers have also supported PCO materially and financially. This put us in a better position to improve and expand our activities. The volunteers are making enormous impact in the lives of the refugees here. The PCO Refugee Mothers Skills Training center and the school are unique in the history of Buduburam- it is not so common to operate an absolutely free school or skill training center in Buduburam since its establishment in 1990. The volunteers have given the refugees here a new hope for their families, especially their children’s future.


7. Offices

The organization maintains its headquarters behind the Eagle’s Nest Café. The Eagle’s Nest Café is located across from the entrance to the Camp along the main road. PCO offices are opened between 8:30 AM and 4:00PM daily from Monday to Friday. PCO can also be reached at the following telephone number: 0243 95 27 63


8. Partnerships

PCO has established partnerships with the Harvedvod University, Global Volunteers Network, Bridge For Africa foundation, The Liberian Refugee Welfare Council, the Student World Assembly and the Human Skill training and Resources Development.



Conclusion

From all indications, one can see that PCO is a growing organization. The organization has grown from a community based group into a fully-fledged NGO reaching a lot of people in need. Its projects and achievements are also growing. PCO has initiated very important peace activities that are having impact on the lives of the refugees that we hope will be transported to Liberia as they get repatriated, resettled, etc.

It is hoped that with the new partnerships the organization has established and many opportunities available now, much progress will be achieved in the next operation year.


Future plan

The primary plan and focus of the organization at the moment is to improve its already existing programs. The lack of funds has been a serious problem for most of PCO programs especially for the peace projects. Sourcing funding for the various projects will be our major concentration.

Additionally, the organization is planning to extend its peace programs into Liberia this year, based on the improvement of the political and security situation there.

Lastly, PCO will begin the planning of a multi-purpose complex to be called West Africa Peace Village. In four years we hope to have this project completed in Aboansan Village which is about 30 minutes drive from Awutu. Upon completion in four years PCO is hoping to move all of its Ghana programs there.



PCO Management Team

Emmanuel G.V. Dolo – Executive Director

Mercey Neblett - Deputy

Charlotte Pobee - Secretary

Samuel Barlue - Finance Officer

Evon Sloboe - International Volunteers coordinator

Madison Z. Gaye - Project manager, Peace cell Project

Morris Koisee - Project manager, PCO Refugee Primary and JSS

Dayton Kumeh - Project Manager, Tribal Leaders’ Forum

Dekontee Tarlue - Project manager, PCO Refugee Mothers Center