A decade after Liberia was declared Ebola-free, many survivors and families are still living with the emotional, physical, and economic scars of the devastating outbreak. From grandparents raising orphaned children to survivors coping with lingering health challenges and trauma, their stories highlight the long road to recovery and the need for continued support, remembrance, and…
Nukanah Kollie
How a Gbarnga Tailor Built a School That Trains Hundreds and Offers a Model for Small Businesses in Rural Areas
What started with a single borrowed sewing machine has grown into the ACD Vocational Training Institute in Gbarnga, where founder Joseph N. Kamara has spent 25 years training hundreds of young people, most of them women, in practical skills that create pathways to employment and self-reliance. The institute’s success in combining vocational training with a…
Ten Years On, Liberia’s Ebola Survivors Still Fighting the Aftermath
By Nukanah Kollie with New Narratives Summary: SUAKOKO, Bong County — All was calm at Phebe Hospital on a recent afternoon. White buildings sat behind freshly cut grass. Ambulances stood nearby. The former Ebola Treatment Unit looked like an ordinary hospital ward. More than a decade ago, it was part of an hourly battle between life…
How a Gbarnga Tailor Built a School That Trains Hundreds and Offers a Model for Small Businesses in Rural Areas
By Nukanah Kollie with New Narratives Summary: GBARNGA, Bong County —A bright blue two-story building stands in central Gbarnga, overlooking Broad Street. Red railings surround the balcony, where freshly sewn school uniforms hang beneath a sign reading, “ACD Vocational Training, School Uniform Production, Literacy Program.” Inside, shelves hold colorful fabrics as sewing machines hum across the…
As Bong County Slashes Crime Rates Many Credit Community Watch Teams
Bong County is showing how community-led action can make a difference: crime has dropped by 86% thanks to volunteer Community Watch Teams who patrol at night, partner with police, and help keep neighborhoods safe. While challenges like limited resources and oversight remain, residents say these grassroots efforts have restored peace and confidence across the county….
As Bong County Slashes Crime Rates Many Credit Community Watch Teams
By Nukanah Kollie with New Narratives Summary: BARWOR QUARTER, Bong County—It’s just past midnight here in one of Gbarnga’s oldest and most crowded neighborhoods, as a small group of men move quietly through narrow alleys. Flashlights slice through the darkness. A whistle pierces the humid air. Seven years ago, residents say, few people dared walk…
Bong County Outpaces Nation in Crime Reduction: Community Policing Leads the Way
Fear of rising crime has been on the minds of many Liberians. But the truth is crime in the country is dropping. That’s particularly true in Bong County which has seen one of the largest drops in community crime anywhere in the country.Police records show that in the seven years to 2023, reported crimes fell…
Rural Maternal Health Providers, Already Battling Funding Shortfalls, Say USAID Cuts Will Kill More Mothers and Babies
By Nukanah Kollie with New Narratives PALALA, Bong County — There is joy, excitement, smiles and relief for Tetee Suah as she plays with her newborn daughter, just a day old, in the maternal waiting room of the Palala Clinic in Bong County. At 43, Suah is at an age where pregnancy and childbirth can…
Liberia’s First-time Voters Overwhelmingly Back a War Crimes Court Survey Finds
As Liberia commemorates 20 years since the end of the civil conflict that left devastated the country and left 250,000 people dead, a survey of first-time voters conducted in two of the country’s biggest counties found overwhelming support for a court….