This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the Investigating Liberia Project. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia. The funder had no say in the story’s content. …
Summary: · Health experts are urging swift regulatory approval for “Coartem Baby”, a groundbreaking new malaria drug for infants under six months, warning delays could cost lives. · Liberia continues to battle one of Africa’s highest malaria burdens, with nearly one million cases and an estimated 3,500 deaths in 2023 — most among children under…
This report is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the “Investigating Liberia” project. Funding was provided by the Swedish embassy in Liberia which had no say in the story’s content. …
This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the “Investigating Liberia” project. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy. The donor had no say in the story’s content….
By Gloria Wleh with New Narratives Summary: • Many Liberians are misusing antibiotics, antiparasitic, antifungal and antiviral drugs without prescriptions, creating what experts call “superbugs” – infections that are resistant to commonly available drugs. • Families are spending hundreds of U.S. dollars on ineffective treatments as superbugs lead to prolonged illnesses and hospital stays, with…
By Joyclyn Wea, senior reporter with New Narratives D. was 18 and had just entered the 12th grade in 2017 when she discovered she was pregnant. Like all teenage students, ambitious for a successful future – in her case as a banker – she feared having a baby would end her dreams. She also feared…
By Augusta S. Lafalay with New Narratives Summary: · Liberian mothers face a hidden postpartum depression crisis, with cultural stigma, spiritual beliefs, and lack of diagnosis leaving many to suffer in silence. · Experts warn that inadequate screening and minimal funding are undermining maternal mental health, destabilizing families and worsening outcomes for children. · Survivors…
In rural Liberia, Nancy Howard’s dream of journalism faded after 9th grade. With no local school, she turned to farming—now 25, a mother of three, working her family’s sugarcane field….
A report accuses Bridge International Academies of financial opacity and conflicts of interest in Liberia’s education system. Former officials’ involvement sparks outrage as stakeholders demand audits, reforms, and greater transparency….
When Amelia Nyanamah entered the eighth month of her pregnancy her village midwife advised her to go to the nearby maternal waiting home for a safer delivery. The 38-year-old mother of four had already made the arduous 10-kilometer trip by foot from her remote village to the Lugbeyee Clinic waiting room when she gave birth to her fourth child in 2020. She thought she knew what to expect….
Countries across Africa are on guard as a more severe strain of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, has killed 1000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo and sickened more than 30,000….
Junior cries to his mother as another stranger approaches the front of their house. The two-year-old has met too many new people since he came down with mpox in August….
Having a child is a time of profound joy for most mothers, and so it was for Anita when told she had given birth to a girl who she named Maureen. But Anita’s dream of living happily together with her family fell apart when she learned that her child had autism spectrum disorder, a neurological condition that affects communication, social interactions, and behavior….
Liberia is set to receive 10,000 doses of the mpox vaccine to help protect the country from the outbreak which has claimed at least 1,000 lives worldwide….
Like too many people across Liberia Fatu Washington spent much of her youth “living with rejection from friends and neighbors”, as she put it, in her home village of ‘Joseph Town’ in Bomi County….
Liberians are facing the latest and most dangerous wave since the Covid-19 pandemic started 15 months ago. This latest wave, caused by the highly infectious Delta variant which entered the country a month ago, has taken dozens of lives including journalists and high-profile personalities. As of July 11, 2021, the National Public Health Institute of…
In 2016 US-based Bridge International Came To Save Liberia’s Schools. In the first of a two-part investigation with New Narratives Eric Opa Doue finds Bridge schools doing little better than state schools. YARPAH TOWN, River Cess County – Babygirl Smith helps her mother to sell snacks at the town market every Monday. The 17-year-old should…
This two-part series examines the county’s school system. MONWEH, River Cess- Jacob Beegar sits on a rattan chair under a palaver hut while his friends run around. Jacob doesn’t join them. The 15-year-old doesn’t want to play. He would rather be in school. Jacob should be in the 4th grade at the nearby Giemengbleh Public…
Listen here: Liberia is one of just three West African nations where female genital cutting is legal. New Narratives’ Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh finds strong resistance to the bill from traditional leaders and little political will to challenge them. At the same time membership of traditional societies is plummeting.This story was a collaboration with Ok FM…
In part two of this two-part series with New Narratives, Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh finds Liberians are abandoning the Sande traditional society leading some leaders to resort to kidnapping and forced cutting. MOUNT BARCLAY, Montserrado – Deborah Parker was 15 when she was sent to a “Bush school” run by the Sande traditional society in her home…
Liberia is one of just three West African nations where female genital cutting is legal. In this two-part series with New Narratives Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh finds strong resistance to the bill from traditional leaders and little political will to challenge them. At the same time Sande’s membership is plummeting. MOUNT BARCLAY, Montserrado – 18-year-old Dearest is one…
