Computer Donation Brightens Lives of Students in ‘Liberia Camp’ in Buduburam, Ghana

On 16 August 2023, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated computers, printers, and other technical equipment and supplies to the Matthew Cares Foundation School in Buduburam, Ghana.  The school is located inside Liberia Camp, a community of Liberian refugees who left the violence of their homeland during the first and second Liberian Civil Wars.

The school serves 150 students in primary and junior high age groups.  The students are primarily Liberian, as are the teachers and staff.  The children’s families are not charged for them to attend the school. The teachers and staff are all volunteers.  In 2012 the refugee status of the Liberians in the camp was revoked and since then, neither the United Nations nor the Ghanaian Government has provided funding for schools in the camp.  Consequently, the schools within the camp are all operated by non-profit organizations and rely on donations to provide educational services for their students.

Representing the Church was President Daniel Allotey of the Ghana Kasoa Stake. “The struggles to receive an education in Liberia Camp are well known.  We are blessed with this great opportunity to help these dear children,” said President Allotey.  “We want to thank these dedicated volunteer teachers and hope that our gift will make their lives easier as well.”

Liberia Camp was originally established in 1990 to host refugees who sought asylum in Ghana after the first civil war in Liberia between 1989 and 1996. The United National High Commission for Refugees opened the camp but pulled out when Liberians were no longer given refugee status in 2012.  The camp currently has over 42,000 refugee residents including those from other West African countries like Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire.

The school was founded by Matthew Davis, a Liberian who first entered the camp in 1996.  Matthew joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1988 in Liberia.  As a young man he witnessed the violence of the first civil war but remained in Liberia with his family.  After serving a mission for the Church in Ghana and Sierra Leone, he returned home to Liberia to find his country in the midst of its second civil war.  He decided that it was too dangerous to remain and decided to return to Ghana where he had served as a missionary, and where the Liberian refugee camp had been established in Buduburam.

Matthew made good use of his time while in the camp, receiving his degree and teaching certificate. He took a job teaching in Takoradi Ghana but had several spiritual manifestations that told him he needed to return to the camp to help his people.  He left his job and returned to Buduburam with the goal of starting a school for Liberian children.  Arriving without money, he opened an internet café and with the profits started the school that became the Matthew Cares Foundation School.  

The school shares space with the Refuge Baptist Church and has classrooms, a library, a computer room, and a small cafeteria.  The students come from all areas of Liberia Camp. 

“We are very grateful to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for this important donation.  We receive no government assistance and are reliant on donations such as these to provide educational opportunities for our students,” said Matthew.  “We have had computers in the past, but they were very old and broken. These computers will enhance the learning experiences of the children and be a great blessing to our community.”