Brenda’s road to activism began with a simple realization: there are no public libraries in Liberia. During the 2014 Ebola outbreak, Brenda began teaching her children at home when the public schools were closed. She quickly noticed that there were many other children who were simple idle and had no way to access educational materials. She began supporting them with free worksheets and educational packets, starting a program which eventually reached more than 7,000 students across the country. Ebola has retreated as a threat, but the lack of educational opportunity remains. “My country currently has no public library. This means that for thousands of school children across the country, doing things that many others take for granted like visiting a library, researching, etc., these are far-fetched illusions,” Brenda says. Her organization has already established seven reading centers around the country and hopes to open one in each district. Brenda’s activism also extends to issues of child exploitation and sexual abuse, and she is passionate about the need for non-governmental organizations to be locally designed and led.
