Judge graduate attempting to lift Liberia through education

Intermountain Catholic

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Karen Mathot Monson's four adopted children are part of the reason she works to education children in Liberia.

SANDY – A mother of eight and founder of a non-profit organization, as well as an active parishioner of Saint Thomas More Catholic Church, Karen Mathon Monson has her hands full.

Monson is the president of Lifting Liberia, a nonprofit aimed at providing education to children in that country.

"I started a journey a few years ago that has taken me down paths I never dreamed of going," said Monson, a Judge Memorial High School graduate. "I now have four adopted children from Liberia, West Africa."

Nearly a million children in Liberia go through life on a daily basis just trying to survive, finding their way alone, neglected, malnourished, impoverished and uneducated. Lifting Liberia’s goal is to make education a right, not a luxury, for these children. Monson believes education is the key to ending the cycle of poverty and suffering.

"In the past couple of years I have made numerous trips to Liberia and started the construction on a school in a small village outside of Monrovia," she said.

According to UNICEF, over 500,000 children in Liberia don’t attend school and of those enrolled in school, 42 percent sit on the bare floor without desks or properly trained teachers, and there are no adequate books in which to learn.

"Some of the classrooms are so overcrowded, there are no walls, no one can hear anything; it is just too noisy," said Monson.

Lifting Liberia will provide scholarships to get children into schools and build schools in areas where there are no adequate facilities.

Land has already been acquired for the first school and construction has already begun. "My goal is to have it open next September," Monson said. "I need to raise $100,000 to build the school, buy supplies, desks." In addition, she wants to start a school nutrition program. "These kids are hungry."

Once the school is completed it will be able to handle 500 students. Lifting Liberia has already secured a complete reading series for grades first through sixth, including teachers’ manuals, and they are already in Liberia ready for use.

"The school will be Christian non denominational," said Monson, who plans to have an onsite clinic in which the kids can receive medical attention, because "it’s also very important that the children receive medical care so they won’t die and they can be healthy."

Monson is still seeking donations to Lifting Liberia. "I have so many kids in Liberia counting on me, and I can’t build this school alone," she said.

"We are so happy for all she does," said Jo Dorsett, director of Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults at St. Thomas More. "They are a wonderful family."

For information, visit HelpUs@LiftingLiberia.org or go visit www.LiftingLiberia.org.