Friends of Liberia Health Program

In January 2024, Friends of Liberia sponsored its fifth faculty development workshop to enhance the teaching competency of Liberian nursing and midwifery educators in delivering evidence-based, effective, and quality teaching-learning strategies and evaluation methods. The Professional Development Workshops were initially inspired by a conversation between Liberian and US educators who were RPCVs.

Friends of Liberia (FOL) has two health teams: the FOL Liberia Health Team and the FOL US Health Team. The Liberia Health Team consists of highly trained healthcare professionals who now coordinate with the Liberian Board of Nursing and Midwifery and the Liberian Nurses Association to improve the quality of nursing services in the country. The FOL US Health Team was formed to mentor, provide technical advice to Liberian Health Team and to fundraise for the FOL health-related projects.

A pilot faculty workshop kicked-off in January 2020. Workshops were held at the Phebe-Esther Bacon College of Health Sciences Campus where Phebe Hospital is located in Suakoko, Bong County. Keeping health care nursing and midwifery clinicians up-to-date and competent is a continuous challenge for nurse/midwife educators in the Liberian healthcare environment. These workshops were expanded to include clinicians, along with educators in 2021 with the ultimate goal of improving the skills of practicing nurses and midwives to better meet the needs of their patients. Workshop attendees come from accredited nursing institutions and hospitals throughout Liberia. Upon completion participants return to their workstations to put into practice and share the new skills and knowledge through local workshops at their employment site.

In January 2024, Front Page Africa highlighted the success of these workshops.

Friends of Liberia Health Projects Timeline

The following provides a brief summary of key Friends of Liberia health-related projects in the past 10 years.  For more information about all of Friends of Liberia projects, click on “History” under the “About Us” tab. 

2024

Care for Totota Burn Victims. Friends of Liberia donated $2,500 to Phoebe Hospital for specialized medical equipment and supplies to care for the burn victims from the gasoline tank explosion that occurred inTotota in December 2023.

2022

Shipment of Medical Supplies. In coordination with Global Health Ministries, Friends of Liberia shipped a 40-foot shipping container of personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies. The supplies included hundreds of thousands of disposable and cloth face masks, face shields, exam gloves, isolation and sterile gowns among other supplies. The supplies were delivered to Phoebe Hospital and the FOL Liberian Health Team helped deliver the supplies to hospitals and clinics throughout Liberia.

2021

Shipment of Oxygen Regulators for Covid-19 Relief. Friends of Liberia shipped 150 flow regulators to Liberia. Monrovia was experiencing a sudden spike in Covid-19 cases due to the deadly Delta variant. The regulator is the piece that fits on the top of an oxygen tank to increase the oxygen flow up or down according to the patient’s need. Without the correct regulators, oxygen tanks were going unused while many Liberians died gasping for air. The Liberian Minister of Health and administrators of five major hospitals in Liberia received the regulators

2020

Friends of Liberia kicks-off the first Nursing and Midwifery Professional Development Workshop.

2015

Friends of Liberia awarded the remaining Ebola funds in grants that included; psychosocial support to Ebola orphans; nutrition and hygiene curricula plus teacher training in eastern Liberia; a program to establish water, sanitation, and hygiene clubs and training in schools in two counties, and a program for the development and dissemination of radio messages to reintegrate Ebola survivors into families and communities without stigmatizing them.

2014

Friends of Liberia donated over $100,000 to help address the Ebola crisis. Assistance went to the following agencies: (1) MSF (Doctors Without Borders) to direct care; (2) Global Health Ministries to buy essential isolation-related materials; and (3) Liberian clinics, a hospital, and school and community health programs that both supported patients and addressed prevention of Ebola transmission.