10/28/23 Virtual Tea Time Replay
We held our fifth Virtual Tea Time and enjoyed a wonderful conversation with two guests in Minnesota, twelve academic students, and one staff in Liberia. Our Virtual Tea Time allows people who cannot travel to and from Liberia to learn from each other and have fun. Please save the date for January 27, 2024, Virtual Tea Time.
As mentioned above, twelve students participated in this event. They were recently selected as vocational training scholarship recipients from two recent birthday fundraisers. They all struggle to meet their tuition needs, and many sell in the market to pay for schooling.
We started with introductions from the US to Liberia that included an icebreaker question, “What is your favorite thing to do?” We had two people who enjoyed walking, one playing games, two reading books, four working, two selling in the market, one singing, two like quizzing contests, one playing music, and two playing football.
Let’s introduce the students and staff from Liberia.
- Konjay Mardeh, 10th Grade, Age 20
- Louisezer A. Somah, 10th Grade, Age 17
- Marthaline Yarpah, 8th Grade, Age 15
- Favor B. Morwu, 9th Grade, Age 17
- Elder J. Larmouth, 9th Grade, Age 17
- Godgift M. Barrolle, 10th Grade, Age 18
- Abigal Karbah, 10th Grade, Age 19
- Rebecca M. Mulbah, 10th Grade, Age 20
- Marayata B. Kamara, 8th Grade, Age 19
- Matthew W. Geebeor, 8th Grade, Age 19
- Benetta K. C. Dahn, 10th Grade, Age 20
- Lawrence Tarr, 10th Grade, Age 18
- Godfrey Solomon, Staff and Teacher
- Kelvin Fomba, Co-Founder, Director & Teacher
Guest Questions
What do you do before school, and do you have breakfast? The students said they take their baths and get ready, but no breakfast.
What is your goal after high school? One answered that she wanted to be an airline ticketing person, three girls said doctor, one girl said lawyer, one girl said international chef, one boy said military and another boy said a professional football player.
Do you look up at the stars? No, because of the city lights, and they are often busy with school, work such as selling in the market, and chores that they don’t get to look up.
Why did they like going to the UDS School? Some of the students responded that the teachers help them to learn reading and writing, public speaking, etc. Another said they teach not only lessons but also life. They liked how they guided them on the right path to better themselves. Also, the support they get when they struggling with school work or life’s stressors.
Student Questions
What did you do to earn a living? Both guests are retired but shared their various career paths that included computer programming in the 1960s, helping women learn non-traditional trades in vocational tech school, stacking books in the library, cleaning bathrooms in an office building, customer service, and working on university study, to name a few.
How old were you when you graduated high school? Both were 17, and one graduated in 1956 and the other in 1969. If you look at the ages of the students above, you will see they will all graduate in their early 20s.
What high school did you graduate from? Patrick Henry in Minneapolis and St. Louis Park, both in Minnesota.
In our setting now, we are fighting for our society to be bright. In bright in the sense that is education. Education is the only thing that can make change happen for us on this end. In which UDS make it necessary to be a blessing. So I much appreciate all those people out there; I really appreciate it a lot.
Quote from Godfrey Solomon
