Rotary International Hosts Liberian Official and Fellow Rotarian

GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - A Liberian government official visited Gridley on Thursday, January 12, meeting with the Gridley Rotary Club.

Augustus Flomo, Deputy Minister for Economic Management at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning for the country of Liberia visited our local chapter with his wife Cecilia and daughter Gusce as a guest speaker. He happens to be a Rotarian as well.

The Gridley Rotary Club welcomed their international brother. Gridley’s Rotary Club, along with other clubs in District 5180, have been working to aid Liberia for roughly the last 15 years after becoming aware of its struggles. Their mission has been supported by local churches as well as service groups. 

According to Dan Boeger, who has had the role of the International Chairman for the local Rotary Club, clubs across the district have joined together to send four shipping containers, one 20 ft and three 40 ft, full of goods and needed equipment to their fellow Rotarians in Liberia. The Liberian Rotarians are accountable for the grants and goods sent, ensuring that they reach areas in need.

Boeger shares that some of the items sent to their fellows in Africa include used rice farming equipment, rice mills, a truck, clothing, schoolbooks, and other goods to help support the regrowth of the farming industry, schools, and development of infrastructure within Liberia. Rotary has also supported a clean water education project, which played a pivotal role in the country when the Ebola outbreak struck.

Flomo presented to his fellow Rotarians the adversities that have impacted the economic development of Liberia over the past years, including recovering from corruption, civil war, the devastating Ebola epidemic, followed by the Covid pandemic. Flomo shared the progress the country was making in overcoming those hardships.

Flomo stated that Liberia, a friend to the United States, is completely dependent on imports, unable to produce staples such as rice, consumed at every meal, due to infrastructure deficits. After Ebola shut down the country, Covid shut down the world, creating a crisis for Liberia and their ability to import. In addition to this, Flomo informed that only 5 of the 15 counties that comprise the nation are connected by paved roads creating connectivity and supply issues during the rainy season, which lasts about 6 months. Infrastructure development is a key focus of the Liberian government currently.

Flomo shared that the Liberian government is working to establish trust with its people, trying to rid the nation of corrupt officials and businesses. For instance, they have developed a technological system to track and streamline the delivery of incoming imports through its ports, reducing the ability for selfish interests holding up the delivery of said goods. Boeger added during the meeting that this had happened to one of semi-portable rice mills that Rotary had sent to the country so that local farmers could make better use of their rice crops – it had become lost in the ports and held hostage until a ‘bribe’ was paid.

As part of the humanitarian aid, Boeger has traveled to Liberia, reporting back to our local chapter on his experiences and the progress that Rotary’s donations have been able to make. In turn, international partners, in this case Flomo, are asked and invited to speak to contributing clubs.

Flomo’s report was informative and eye opening. He was grateful to be a part of Rotary International and the Gridley Club was honored to have him speak.