Liberian Assistance Program 10th Anniversary Celebration

press release: Members of the public are invited to attend the Liberian Assistance Program’s 10th anniversary celebration set for Friday and Saturday, Sept. 7-8.

The celebration event will begin Friday evening in Fellowship Hall with the showing of an awarding-winning film about history and land rights in Liberia. “The Land Beneath our Feet”, co-produced by University of Wisconsin-Madison Prof. Gregg Mitman and London-based filmmaker Sarita Siegel, features Liberian Emmanuel Urey who recently completed his PhD at UW-Madison. Up uprooted by war, Emmanuel returns from the USA with never-before-seen footage of Liberia’s past.  The uncovered footage is embraced as a national treasure. Depicting a 1926 corporate land grab, it is also an explosive reminder of eroding land rights.

Following the film, a reception will be held for Jessie Kekula, a Liberian who is principal of the Barack Obama School that LAP built in Liberia, and Lyn Gray, a LAP advisory committee member and former Peace Corps volunteer, who lives in Liberia.

Saturday morning’s program begins at 9 a.m. with presentations by LAP Board members and addresses by Kekula and Gray. The afternoon program will include a panel discussion about other non-profit groups working in Liberia and a panel on education, government and medical care in Liberia today.

The two-day program is open to the public.