-As Foundation Celebrates Day of the African Child on Saturday, June 15

The Co-founder of the BEATHA Foundation, Mr. Johnny B. White, has vowed that the foundation is going to continually advocate and work toward improving quality education for every child in Liberia.

BEATHA Foundation, a registered non-for-profit organization, is dedicated to the development of a productive society. Its comprehensive programs include strengthening the capacity of women and children in Liberia through educational support, mentoring, vocational skills development, and community outreach interventions.

Serving as the official launcher of the Foundation, Johnny, as he is affectionately called, told his audience, who were predominantly primary and secondary schools’ students that by the beginning of the next academic year, the Foundation will launch a Back-to-School Initiative aimed at providing backpads, containing school materials, and other benefits will be included in the package for 25 students. The students are going to be nominated randomly and will be vetted.

He, however, told them that the foundation is not here to fish for them continually but will teach them how to fish for themselves so that they can become whatever they have dreamed of.

He being a co-founder, the other founder is his wife, Mrs. Joan Tally-White. Both of them named the Foundation in honor of their mothers—BEAtrice for Joan’s mother and AlberTHA for Johnny’s mother—hence BEATHA.

At the moment, BEATHA Foundation is being funded out of pocket of the Whites. But Johnny disclosed that they have reached out to other Liberians who share similar dreams, in this drive, to help provide quality education for every child and to also empower mothers.

Even though the Foundation has been longed actively working with students and schools, Johnny officially declared it launched, which also coincided with the celebration of the Day of the African Child, annually celebrated on June 16. But they (BEATHA Foundation) chose to celebrate ahead on Saturday, June 15, because the main day fell on Sunday, June 16, 2024.

Speaking earlier on the importance of the Day of the African Child, one of the Foundation’s board of directors, Mrs. Ciata Stevens-d’Almeida said the Day’s commemoration reminds everyone of the outstanding courage of thousands of African students in Soweto, South Africa on June 16, 1976. She narrated that those students took to the streets to protest the bad quality of education they were receiving from their government of the day and some of them were gunned down by the ruthless Apartheid police. So, to honor their memories, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) now AU, setup this day—The Day of the African Child in 1991.

The Beatha Foundation board member also among other things stated that the day, which is celebrated annually every June 16, came into being to also mitigate and find solutions for every problem facing the African children and to protect them from all forms of violence and human rights abuse.

In view of the above, the BEATHA celebration aimed to empower the younger generation by providing key messages through meaningful discussions and educational enriching activities that will draw their attention to issues affecting children worldwide and develop in them a sense of global citizenship. The event also officially introduced the Foundation and set the tone for the implementation of programs that will contribute to its vision. The program created awareness on the important of quality education and obtain inputs from a diverse range of stakeholders for the implementation activities and projects for Beatha Foundation. Stakeholders who graced the program included educators, civil society actors, members of international organizations, members of the Legislature, as well as students. The students came from eight different primary and secondary schools in the Garnesville School District of Montserrado County.