Foundation Brings ‘Hope’ to Liberia

Giving youngsters a safe place to learn, eat and grow is the mission of Hope Foundation Liberia, according to Columbia attorney Mark Arden, a board member for the non-profit and guest speaker at Capital Rotary’s first Zoom meeting on May 6 (shown in photo).

Arden detailed efforts to improve the lives of rural kindergarten students “physically, emotionally and mentally” in the poverty-stricken nation wracked by 14 years of civil war, followed by the Ebola epidemic. Hope Foundation renovated buildings to serve as a temporary school and dug a new well to bring clean drinking water to the community.

A new school on seven acres of land is nearly finished. It has enrolled 160 children and has a curriculum including etiquette, agriculture, being kind to others and trusting in God in addition to reading and writing. Children are fed two meals daily and will learn how agriculture can promote sustainability for the school. Arden is a partner at Chappell, Smith & Arden and graduated from the University of South Carolina and the university’s School of Law.