We are happy to announce that two of our students, Janet and Caroline, have been reunited after being separated due to accusations of witchcraft.

The two sisters are nine years old, and until recently have been living in a foster home. Their mother, unable to care for them on her own, sent them to the home after their father died tragically from a snake bite.

However, things took a terrible turn when, after the death of a child in the foster home, Janet was accused of witchcraft and sent away into the bush. The mother, who resides in a remote area, was merely told that her daughter had been sent away for “talking back”.

When lifting Liberia discovered what had happened an effort was immediately made to locate her and reunite the girls. Janet was soon discovered making palm oil, a dangerous process which often uses child labor in its creation. Overjoyed at being found Janet explained what had happened, and expressed gratitude and shock at having not been forgotten.

The mother was immediately informed of what had happened. Yet like so many woman in poverty, she felt powerless to do anything about it. However, we offered our support and encouraged her to speak up about what she wanted done with her children. She demanded the children be removed from the home, and with Lifting Liberia’s help a boarding school was found for them to attend in safety.

Witchcraft remains to this day one of many challenges facing women in Liberia. Superstition is common especially among the poorly educated. Women are regular targets of such accusations, and twins in particular are regarded as having mystical powers. Lifting Liberia continues to work hard to protect these vulnerable groups through providing access to education and cultivating a personal investment in the well-being and progress of each of its students. We believe that through education we can fight the cycle of poverty, ignorance, and oppression of the kind these girls face, one child at a time.