Liberia takes a National Census and so does LACES

The President of Liberia Ellen Johnson-Sirlief (also known as the "Old Ma" by most Liberians) declared yesterday a national holiday. She asked everyone to remain home from work so they can begin performing the National Census.

Monrovia, Liberia (AHN article) – “Liberians will be counted for the first time in decades. The Liberian government will begin its National Housing and Population Census on Friday, the first in 24 years. The Director-General of the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS), Dr. T. Edward Liberty announced that everything is arranged and all is set for the six-day census. LISGIS has enlisted approximately 10,000 census field staff. These included enumerators, supervisors, inspectors, coordinators, monitors and senior trainers recruited from all over the country to carry out the 2008 national census. The field staff will knock on every door of every household nationwide to get information as to the number of residents in every household.”

Even though I am not being counted, it was a great reason to stay home from work and take this opportunity to perform a current census of the LACES program here in Liberia and our projected census of our new expansion project in Konia (I will have to ask LISGIS if that is technically allowed :))

While statistics are not our focus at LACES, I believe sometimes it is great to reflect on how the generosity of so many and the faithfulness of God has allowed us to work and impact so many children and people in Liberia in just 9 months.

As of March 23rd, 2008 LACES Liberia will include:
• 2 international volunteers – Seren Frost and Jennifer England (intern for new Konia project)
• 5 paid Liberian staff members – James Moore (Program Coordinator), Pastor Louis Roberts (Mentoring Coordinator), and three Community Supervisors
• 36 Volunteer Coaches (18 from our current programs and 18 more for our upcoming expansion project in Konia)
• 6 Volunteer Referees
• 262 Children being Mentored while playing Sports (80 of them are from our upcoming expansion project in Konia)