Liberia is a West African nation emerging from a prolonged civil war. No system of public education exists within the country and parents do not have the financial resources to send their children to private schools. Children who have been orphaned by the war and the scourge of HIV are further disadvantaged. Many lack safety, food, shelter and educational opportunity.

The infrastructure of Liberia is broken. There are no public utilities, telephone, water or sewer services. There is no reliable mail service within the country or from Liberia to the United States. Unemployment rates exceed 80%. There are educational needs everywhere. Here is where we can offer Hope. In Liberia, many opportunities can be created with very little in the way of resources. At Hope Village, employment opportunities, via the orphan homes and school, will be available to both caregivers and teachers who become associated with "Hope Village."

In 2005, a few like minded individuals from Rapid City, South Dakota purchased a 50 acre "farm" in Liberia for the purpose of building a school and orphanage to meet the educational and physical needs of the many orphan children living nearby. Even though they had recently come out of a civil war, there is hope in the eyes of all you meet. Hope for an education. Hope for the future. Hope for a better life.

In 2006, a team of volunteer civil engineers and an architect surveyed the farm, developing a site-plan and sketching plans for a K-12 school, surrounded by a village of 40 orphan homes. The school is built of concrete block and the homes will each accommodate a husband and wife, their own children, and two - four orphans.

The surrounding land is being farmed to help make Hope Village self-sustaining. The soil will allow several rotating crops to be grown each year including rice, beans and peanuts. A local man trained in agriculture supervises these activities. Pigs and chickens will be raised, bringing fertilizer to the farm and protein to the diet. Streams flowing through the farm will allow irrigation and construction of a series of fish ponds that will bring a harvest of 200 fish from each pond every six months.

As of October 2008, over 400 students grade K-11 are attending classes in the newly completed school.