USS volunteers support revival of
the Lutheran Training Institute

Excerpted from reports by from Ruth Koble, Upper Susquehanna Synod, ELCA

Adult Literacy Program

The primary goal of the 2007 Women’s Empowerment Team was to assist in developing an Adult Literacy Program in Lofa County, Liberia. This focus was jointly established in February, 2006,  by Bishop Sumoward  Harris of the Lutheran Church in Liberia (LCL), Esther Thomas, coordinator at Lutheran Training Institute (LTI), and Ruth Koble from Sunburgy, PA, Women’s Empowerment Team Leader from the Upper Susequehanna Synod of the ELCA.  Esther and Ruth further planned to equip women as tutors using materials donated by Susquehanna Adult Literacy Coop during a Training of Trainers Workshop.

Joining Ruth Koble, was Sandra Nelson from Trout Run, PA, and Marlee Yant from Springfield, MO.  The three arrived at the Lutheran Training Institute (LTI) on January 19, and were hosted by Esther Thomas.  In consultation with Esther, it was decided to invite 10 women (who could already read and write) from 4 surrounding parishes, to a training workshop scheduled several weeks later. When there is no mail service, one must allow plenty of time to send invitations and receive responses. One parish had 4 villages, so 7 invitations were hand written by Sandy, and delivered by persons traveling to those 4 villages plus the other 3 parishes. This territory covers a large section of lower Lofa County; of which, half of the participants are Loma and half  Kpelle speaking.

Workshop participants were asked to arrive on Monday, February 5 in time for supper at 6 pm. to allow ample travel time. Meals were to be provided by the trainers and housing by LTI. One woman walked for 5 hours to attend the training event; another woman teaches Kindergarten and was granted 3 day’s leave by her school principal. One young participant was sent to training by her head of household brother. It is indeed encouraging to know women are receiving family and community support to further their education. And one respected older woman thoroughly enjoyed the workshop, but lacked sufficient prior literacy preparation to fully participate. A total of 8 participants were trained and sent home to their villages with directive to select a motivated individual student with whom to work. Follow-up visits were scheduled. For a craft project, each participant stitched a quilt by hand from patches sent on the November shipping container from the Upper Susquehanna Synod.

Visits with the tutors in their villages were most rewarding for the USS volunteers.  Oretha, whose brother sent her to training, took us to her home in Gbanway, to meet her student. When noting that the student was already reading and only one week had passed since the training, I asked how often they meet for study.  Oretha replied; “For one hour every day after she comes from working on the farm. When she finishes Book 2, I will start another student”. Daylight (approximately 12 hours/day all year) is precious during dry season planting and there is only firelight at night.  Oretha, who would like to continue her own education with hopes of becoming a nurse, requested a tutor reunion next year.

A proposed new Literacy Center will be housed in the Home Arts Building at LTI and renovated for less than $5,000 from funds provided by members of ELCA’s Upper Susquehanna Synod. An additional $4,000 made available from USS Women of the ELCA will provide manual sewing machines and furnishings for the building. The grant from WELCA will also provide free tuition for women and annual salaries for part-time instructors in Tailoring (sewing) and in Adult Literacy. The Literacy program will be available to LTI students. By February 28, twenty students had already registered for sewing.

Rice Mill Project

The Rice Mill Project evolved as a result of acres of rice planted in 2005 by the first class of agriculture students at Lutheran Training Institute (LTI). Traditionally, rice is harvested by hand and processed by mortar and pestle for home use or for sale. The mortar is a hollowed-out log and the pestle is a sturdy stick. Realizing it would take dozens of women countless hours of hard labor to process that quantity of rice, LTI staff investigated feasibility of a mechanical rice mill.

A suitable Chinese manufactured machine was located in neighboring Guinea and purchased for just under $2,000 from a grant of $3,500 donated for this purpose by the ELCA’s Upper Susquehanna Synod, (USS) in late summer, 2006.  The remainder of the USS Rice Mill Grant provided for delivery of the mill to LTI and construction of a special Rice Mill House.  During operation, the mill vibrates and produces clouds of dust, requiring adequate ventilation.  Also, secure storage is needed for rice prior to and following processing.  A small office area will provide for sales and necessary record keeping.  Anticipated processing requests from local rice producers can generate income for LTI.

As so often happens in projects, a small thing can cause disproportionate frustration; in this case, lack of 5" nails to construct a sturdy base for the rice mill. But finally, after searching all over Monrovia, the necessary nails were located in a small shop in Gbarnga. A day later, a long road trip (in a vehicle donated by the Church of Sweden) fetched an installer for the rice mill
from Bokezo, near the Guinea border. Another technician transformed a steel drum into a water cooling tank for the rice mill; the installer successfully put everything into place and demonstrated processing of the first sack of rice.

The mill processes a large bag of rice (perhaps 60 pounds) in about 10 minutes. The by-product rice husks will be fed to the hogs at LTI,  and in turn, the hogs will provide manure to nourish the soil. It is especially rewarding to see this kind of sustainable agriculture being implemented using relatively limited resources. Some interior finishing work remains to be completed in the rice mill house, but essentially, it is ready for business.

About the history of LTI