Yesterday evening, Liberian Ambassador Jeremiah Sulunteh visited the Elizabethtown College campus to speak about his home country, Liberia.
Sulunteh has been an ambassador to Liberia since May 2012. He attempted to run for Vice President in 2005 and plans to run for President in the future. He previously served as a professor of economics at the University of Liberia and Cuttington University. Since becoming an ambassador, he has worked to help rebuild Liberia’s infrastructure following the country’s civil war.
The main focus of Sulunteh’s speech was on the struggle to rebuild the economy of Liberia. As a small, independent country, it has faced hardships tying into the country’s natural resources. Since the country’s resources were not being managed correctly or distributed evenly among its people, a civil war arose that lasted forty years. “This war destroyed the fabric of Liberia,” Sulunteh said.
Sulunteh continued by describing the state of Liberia’s educational system following the war. Average tuition per semester in Liberia is approximately $2,000 at a basic university. Because of the poor economic state following the war, most students cannot afford to go to earn a higher education. Very little money is offered to student to assist them in their education. “Of the jobless in Liberia, 58 percent of them are youth,” Sulunteh said, most likely resulting in poor education. As a result, Sulunteh said they are not trained for jobs or educated to earn money. “The youth of Liberia have no education because of forty years of war,” he said. “What do you do with such a group of people? The educational system has broken down.”
He briefly mentioned the Ebola outbreak, of which Liberia was one of the countries affected by the disease. “We are looking beyond Ebola,” Sulunteh said. “Ebola is, today, just as hard as forty years of war. So, we wish to look into the future for reforming an educational system that would provide vocational, technical education that would provide college education for middle-level managers to take charge of that company.” His main concern is focused on the future of Liberia through education and recovering from the war while dealing with Ebola on top of everything.
Sulunteh placed emphasis on the importance of being a student. “What I have come to tell you is that you are blessed young people,” he said. “When you leave here today, just look into the mirror and ask yourself, ‘Had I been born in Africa or Liberia, would I have the opportunity to be the student that I am today?’ Students in Liberia should have the opportunity to learn.”
In response to the crises Liberia has had to face, Sulunteh proposed partnering with the College. “And, so, we have come today to seek partnership,” he said. “Building the leadership that will recreate the future of Liberia can start right in Elizabethtown with your support.” By donating to the country, doing service work or spreading education in Liberia, Sulunteh said, college students can make a difference to a country in need.
