Who We Are
The idea of Open to Learn came about through collaboration between Liberian born, Brownell Pealay and international volunteer, Mark Taylor. The pair met at Budumburam Refugee Camp in Ghana, where Mark was teaching and Pealay was a refugee. At the end of 2009, having seen the devastation caused by the war, they decided to get actively involved in rebuilding Liberia. They set out to raise the funds and build a school. Two years later the school was ready to open its doors and, in its first year, has received 80 children who would not otherwise have had access to an education.
Keen to build on this momentum and see, not just one, but hundreds of new access points to education, they set up Open to Learn in 2012 to raise international awareness of the issues in Liberia and give others the chance to help where help is needed most.
Open to Learn encourages and maintains open engagement with anyone who wants to get involved, either through regular giving to support the school in Bassa County and raise additional funds for new schools, libraries, adult education centers and sports facilities; or through hands on involvement in projects to allow others to learn, and for volunteers to grow in the process.
Brownell Pealay
Brownell Pealay was born in Liberia at a time when it was prospering. The country was quickly becoming an example to the rest of Africa: GDP was growing fast through huge reserves of rubber, gold and diamonds and literacy rates were among the highest in the continent.
But, with the outbreak of civil war, Pealay was forced to flee to the Budumburam refugee camp in Ghana, where he stayed throughout the war. Born into a family of teachers, for Pealay, education was always a vital ingredient to a successful life and key to ensuring the prosperity of his country.
After Liberia was declared peaceful in 2003, Paelay returned to Liberia. The country had been shattered by war and was in dire need of help to get back on its feet. School buildings had been destroyed and the whole country had to rebuild from scratch.
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor grew up in the UK and South Africa and now lives in Hong Kong. He is a keen traveller and always open to learn about new cultures.
After watching TV footage of refugee camps in Africa, he volunteered as a teacher in the Budumburam camp in Ghana, where he met Paelay.
Working on the camp, the need for education was clear and it was easy to see how those of us privileged to have been born into a developed economy can make a real difference to the lives of people who have not been so fortunate.
Mark quickly came to see see how education is the key to so many issues in these economies: HIV, sanitation, farming methods – even avoiding war itself.