Liberia Reads!

in early 2016, Pastor Peter and I heard about an amazing reading program designed for early elementary Liberian classes. It focuses on helping teachers get grounded in the fundamentals of teaching reading from a Liberian perspective. In 2017, Ma Annie, Richard and I observed several classes using the Liberia Reads curriculum and methods. We were so excited by what we saw! They were implementing the critical reading strategies in a systematic way that was working! We saw students engaged and eager to participate in their reading class!

Great King Academy elementary teachers with Liberia Reads! certificates

With the help of generous supporters at the Teamwork Africa Celebration in June, we were able to raise the funds to send nine teachers from Great King Academy to the training in July.

The teachers were all so grateful for the opportunity to participate in the intense two and a half week training! They expressed deep satisfaction in knowing the training increased their teaching skills exponentially! One teacher, Jessica, says she’s looking forward to me observing her new skills.

Classes are already underway at Great King Academy, and our teachers are eagerly putting to use the excellent training they received in their training for Liberia Reads!

Teamwork Africa: A Time of Transition

As our second year in Liberia was coming to a close, our Executive Director, Dale McCaulley, announced his plan to resign at the end of May to work with one of our partnering organizations, The Timothy Initiative. We hope that TTI will be a great fit for Dale. As of June 1, I became the TA director again.

This also meant a change of direction for our family. As the U.S. Teamwork Africa director, I would not be able to be based in Liberia. So, our family is transitioning to living in Eau Claire, WI once again. God has been extremely gracious to us! The housing market is crazy! However, we were able to find a great house. We arrived in Eau Claire June 9 and moved into our new home July 27th.  Thanks so much to Dana Yoder of Edina Realty for guiding us through the process!

Peggy Halvorsen, Teamwork Africa Director

This summer has been extremely busy for us as we found a house, a car and a van. The kids registered for school, and Mark is loving his new job in Sales with One Source Imaging, while also still occasionally filling in at WWIB. 

With the change in staff, Teamwork Africa is also refocusing our efforts in Liberia. We want to be intentional about developing self-sustainability and partnership. 

We are so grateful for our friends and partners who have continued on this journey with us! Together, we know God has more ahead for all of us!