“In the past Liberians suffered from no structures, corruption, bad governance, no plans, no ownership, no strategies. The Bowier Trust Initiative supports the new Liberian Leadership in its endeavours to make a sustainable impact for a more fortunate life for Liberian People!” (Felix Walz)

The many years lasting civil war and the post-conflict time after the United Nations provided full security responsibility and reconciliation in Liberia, it has been a matter of fact, that the family structures were disrupted. Widely devastated infrastructures, lawlessness and incapacitation of governmental and community authorities and structures made it a constant hardship for the poor population, in particularly for children and woman, less fortunate ones, hence they were trying somewhat to survive. International efforts to stabilize and consolidate peace and reconciliation in Liberia became more and more effective and, nowadays, most of the children can regain access to public schools. But the time in between cannot be forgotten, nor ignored. The lack of civilized and functional basic mechanisms sustained throughout and caused an almost complete loss of family structures. No structure, no plans, no self-sustainability, no strategy. One of the negative effects may have been the exposure to violence generally and to sexual abuse in particular. Domestic violence, homelessness, no food, no hygiene, no work, alcohol- and drug addiction prevails throughout. Justice and Police in all sections ought to understand, that there is a direct correlation between Schooling and public safety. If children gets access to education, that means children have a time table, a schedule to provide a daily structure to be followed. If parents understand the importance to support their children and send them to school, children will spend time in schools, come home, eat, play, do some homework, help in household matters, go to bed, because they have to get up in the morning for next school day. If this simple concept is understood well enough by parents and by the society, then one of logical consequences will be, that the likelihood of being unattended on the streets at night times and being exposed to sexual abuse are reduced significantly. This must be addressed and considered on all levels of the Justice pillar, as well as of the Education pillar. Once the importance of a balanced interaction between education and public safety is considered, understood and endorsed by all with a supervisory function, will make a stepping stone to make Liberia a rape-free country and offers its children fruitful perspectives. 

When children have access to education, it means that children have a schedule; a schedule to follow a daily structure. When parents understand the importance of supporting their children and sending them to school, children spend time in schools, come home, eat, play, do homework, help with household chores, go to bed because they have to get up the next morning for the next school day. In this way, they learn to follow a natural rhythm. If this simple concept is understood well enough by parents and by society, one of the logical consequences will be that the likelihood of being unsupervised and exposed to sexual abuse on the streets at night will be significantly reduced. This needs to be addressed at all levels of the justice/police system, as well as community and school structures. Once the importance of a balanced interaction between education and public safety is understood and shared, this will form the starting point for making Liberia a rape-free country and providing positive prospects for its children.