HELP LIBERIA FOUNDATION

A Look at Buchanan – Part One

Posted by Help Liberia Foundation on April 19, 2010

Buchanan is a port city located along the North Atlantic Ocean about 70 miles (about 113 kilometers) southeast of Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. It is the third largest and most popular city in the country.

Buchanan, founded in 1832, is named after Thomas Buchanan, the first governor of Liberia, who also happened to be the cousin of US President James Buchanan. The city’s population is about 34, 000 people (2008 census).

Because of its size and conditions, some people, especially those in the west, may consider Buchanan a large village or a small town. However, it is considered and called a city in Liberia.

Buchanan is the capital of Grand Bassa County, one of fifteen political sub-divisions the country is divided into. The main ethnic group of the of Buchanan, as well as the entire county, is the Bassa people, the second largest tribal group in the country.

Although Buchanan was one of the great cities of pre-war Liberia, the fourteen-year civil war not only damaged the city’s infrastructure, but also destroyed its economic opportunities and engines, causing scores of jobless citizens.

It is in this part of Liberia that our school, Help Liberia Foundation Community School, is established and helping to provide education to scores of children whose parents are poor and unemployed. We are able to do this through our child sponsorship program.

We are grateful to all the individuals and institutions that I helping Liberian children to go to school through the program.

Our students at the school in Buchanan

Partial view of Tubman Street, the main street in Buchanan

Partial view of the marketplace at the main parking station in Buchanan

Partial view of the main parking station in Buchanan; the yellow building is the head office of the transport union in Buchanan

A local shop; the soldiers in the photo are members of the UN peace-keeping troops serving in Liberia

Women selling cassava (manioc) at the marketplace at the Buchanan Parking Station

A peddler selling fish; Fishing is one of Buchanan’s main economic activities

Partial view of Tubman Street, the main street in Buchanan