You may be wondering why there’s a post about Liberia, a poor country in West Africa, on a website dedicated to Ogden, UT. I have a goal to raise the money needed to build two bridges in rural Bong County that will provide better access to and from this community. Through each sale, I will put the profits toward the construction. My goal is to raise $10,000. With your help and your purchases, I know we can do it. Now let me explain the “why” behind this project.

In 2018, I was fortunate to travel to Liberia, a West African country that has been ravaged by civil wars, political unrest, and the Ebola virus, all within the past few decades. This experience helped me realize that any time I feel inconvenienced by construction projects on Harrison Boulevard or bothered by a popular local restaurant being closed down to make room for a national chain car wash, these inconveniences and annoyances would be considered a major blessing to people in Liberia.

During my time there, I had the opportunity to meet Esther Ricks, a strong African woman who, after leaving Liberia due to political unrest, raised her family in the US and later decided, along with her husband, to return to Liberia and start a school deep in the African jungle to serve the community of Bong County. It's an extremely rural part of Liberia, with about 10,000 residents who are mainly farmers. It is one of the poorest regions in one of the poorest countries in the world.

Just six months into setting up the school, Esther's husband, Francis S. Keleekai, passed away, leaving the task to Esther. The thought of quitting most likely never entered Esther's mind. She continued building the school in honor of her husband and to provide this impoverished area of Liberia with what they needed most—a school. Today, the Francis S. Keleekai Technical Institute employs over a dozen teachers and educates nearly 400 students.

Over the past several years of communicating with Esther, I have asked her about the school's needs, and there are many. However, Esther, being the amazing woman she is, thinks beyond the school and has told me what would benefit the entire community—the construction of a few concrete bridges. In the photo above, you can see one of the main "bridges" into the community. After every rainy season, members of the community must repair these bridges to keep the main road open for the residents of Bong County. When I asked Esther why the bridge maintenance fell on her, she simply said, "If I don't do it, who will?"

Esther wanted me to share that school is becoming self sufficient. On the school grounds there is a palm farm, where countless palm nuts are ready to be harvested. The agriculture students harvests the precious nuts of the palmyrah tree. Then the students take the nuts to be made into the precious palm oil which their community requires. To be able to transport our products to the market, they need a reliable bridge and to be able to process it in the modern way, we need to invest in an oil processing machine in the near future. Esther says it is only through such investments that her community can thrive.

Now in her 70s, Esther wonders if she'll ever see the day when there will be better access to the school she has built and the entire community of Bong County. That's where we come in. With every purchase of this calendar, the proceeds will go toward the materials and construction of two crucial bridges along the road to Bong County, Liberia. As mentioned before, my goal is to raise $10,000 through the sale of these calendars this year. I will keep everyone updated on the progress via our Instagram account (@thisisogden) throughout the year. From our great Ogden community to Esther's, let's build bridges—figuratively and literally.

If you would like to donate directly to the Francis S. Keelekai Technical Institute, visit https://www.fskfoundation.org/donate. Any amount helps with the administrative costs and operation of the school.