Youth Empowerment Services (YES) Liberia to Launch Online Resources to Assist with Critical Ebola Education
Philadelphia, PA, October 06, 2014 --(PR.com)-- The Youth Empowerment Services (YES) of Liberia says it will respond to the Ebola crisis in Liberia by creating a one-stop online information center to help raise awareness about the virus within the Liberian community in the US and in Liberia. Z.J. Jallah, founder and president of YESLiberia board, made the announcement a few days after the charity’s annual retreat late last month in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Jallah also said that YESLiberia has suspended activities in Liberia until the Ebola virus has been contained or eliminated.
Mr. Jallah, a native of Liberia, is a devoted Christian and an advocate of information technology in education and healthcare. He is a survivor of the brutal civil war that assailed Liberia for 14 years until hostilities ended in 2003. He says he launched YESLiberia in 2008 to provide opportunities for Liberian youth to improve their lives and the future of their communities. “To date, we’ve distributed over 350 scholarships in Africa, partnered with 9 schools there, worked with approximately 90 volunteers, and provided school supplies and textbooks to over 3000 children,” declared Mr. Jallah.
YESLiberia’s operational structure relies on the expertise of its 10-member board as well as the work of volunteer staff and student interns in the USA and Liberia. The sudden spread of the Ebola virus in Liberia, says Jallah, should not hinder YESLiberia from continuing its fundraising activities and to assist with information destined to improve awareness of Ebola. He added “YESLiberia will conduct a collaborative information campaign to improve awareness both within and outside Liberia, targeting the Liberian diaspora as they can more effectively inform their relatives at home of best practices to prevent and treat Ebola. We intend to do the following:
· Provide credible information to Liberian Families wherever they may be, especially those living in the USA, Europe, Liberia and abroad
· Work with community and private industry leaders, including the Liberian expatriate community, local charities, the media, students, academia and health professionals
· Develop trustworthiness and collaborative leadership to reduce the challenges in collecting, integrating, synthesizing and sharing information on Liberia
· Manage a web-platform to coordinate efforts and engage families and friends of Liberia using data visualization.”
From March this year, the Ebola virus began to spread from Guinea to Liberia and Sierra Leone, with cases also identified in Nigeria and Senegal. The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed this week that a case of Ebola has been identified in the US. On September 20, a patient allegedly sought treatment in Dallas, Texas, but was mistakenly sent home from the hospital, and there are fears that the patient might have been in contact with several individuals prior to being confined to an isolation hospital unit on September 25.
Liberia is bounded on the west by Sierra Leone, on the north by the Republic of Guinea, on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the east by Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The country has an area of 43,000 square miles and a coastline of 350 miles. It is roughly the size of the US state of Pennsylvania, with hilly and rolling plains, along the coast, and a hilly plateau and low mountains in the northeast. Liberia’s upward economic swing is now threatened by the Ebola crisis. The country is rich in rubber and iron ore, and oil deposits have been identified along its coast. The country’s President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was a recipient of the Nobel Peace prize in 2011.
About Youth Empowerment Services (YES) of Liberia
YESLiberia, Inc. (www.YesLiberia.org) focuses on enhancing the lives of disadvantaged youth through service-learning opportunities while promoting intercultural understanding to foster global citizenship and improve communities in Liberia and abroad.
For some recent facts on Ebola in Liberia, please visit: http://www.EbolaOut.com and https://medium.com/matter/world-war-e-99dc164a257d
Mr. Jallah, a native of Liberia, is a devoted Christian and an advocate of information technology in education and healthcare. He is a survivor of the brutal civil war that assailed Liberia for 14 years until hostilities ended in 2003. He says he launched YESLiberia in 2008 to provide opportunities for Liberian youth to improve their lives and the future of their communities. “To date, we’ve distributed over 350 scholarships in Africa, partnered with 9 schools there, worked with approximately 90 volunteers, and provided school supplies and textbooks to over 3000 children,” declared Mr. Jallah.
YESLiberia’s operational structure relies on the expertise of its 10-member board as well as the work of volunteer staff and student interns in the USA and Liberia. The sudden spread of the Ebola virus in Liberia, says Jallah, should not hinder YESLiberia from continuing its fundraising activities and to assist with information destined to improve awareness of Ebola. He added “YESLiberia will conduct a collaborative information campaign to improve awareness both within and outside Liberia, targeting the Liberian diaspora as they can more effectively inform their relatives at home of best practices to prevent and treat Ebola. We intend to do the following:
· Provide credible information to Liberian Families wherever they may be, especially those living in the USA, Europe, Liberia and abroad
· Work with community and private industry leaders, including the Liberian expatriate community, local charities, the media, students, academia and health professionals
· Develop trustworthiness and collaborative leadership to reduce the challenges in collecting, integrating, synthesizing and sharing information on Liberia
· Manage a web-platform to coordinate efforts and engage families and friends of Liberia using data visualization.”
From March this year, the Ebola virus began to spread from Guinea to Liberia and Sierra Leone, with cases also identified in Nigeria and Senegal. The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed this week that a case of Ebola has been identified in the US. On September 20, a patient allegedly sought treatment in Dallas, Texas, but was mistakenly sent home from the hospital, and there are fears that the patient might have been in contact with several individuals prior to being confined to an isolation hospital unit on September 25.
Liberia is bounded on the west by Sierra Leone, on the north by the Republic of Guinea, on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the east by Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The country has an area of 43,000 square miles and a coastline of 350 miles. It is roughly the size of the US state of Pennsylvania, with hilly and rolling plains, along the coast, and a hilly plateau and low mountains in the northeast. Liberia’s upward economic swing is now threatened by the Ebola crisis. The country is rich in rubber and iron ore, and oil deposits have been identified along its coast. The country’s President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was a recipient of the Nobel Peace prize in 2011.
About Youth Empowerment Services (YES) of Liberia
YESLiberia, Inc. (www.YesLiberia.org) focuses on enhancing the lives of disadvantaged youth through service-learning opportunities while promoting intercultural understanding to foster global citizenship and improve communities in Liberia and abroad.
For some recent facts on Ebola in Liberia, please visit: http://www.EbolaOut.com and https://medium.com/matter/world-war-e-99dc164a257d
Contact
YesLiberia, Inc.
Luisa Piette
512 468 8569
www.yesliberia.org
Luisa Piette
512 468 8569
www.yesliberia.org
Contact
Multimedia
Board Members
Some of YesLiberia's board members during the board retreat at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, September 2014.
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