Local Mentors for the Next Generation

A Long-term Strategy…

Throughout the past 12 years of conducting our work in Liberia, L.A.C.E.S. has been adamant about recruiting and hiring local community members to mentor and coach the children enrolled in our program. This decision was not made carelessly, but in fact remains one of the most vital and beneficial strategies we use in our efforts to create lasting change for at-risk youth. The reason? It’s simple. According to industry experts, “The importance of sourcing and managing local staff has become increasingly crucial to the success of nongovernmental organizations and consultancies working in development cooperation.” At L.A.C.E.S., we care deeply about the long-term effectiveness of our program and believe that enlisting local community members to lead our initiatives overseas is the only way to achieve this. To see holistic healing and transformation occur in the areas we work, local men and women have to be engaged and leading the efforts.

We are proud to acknowledge how blessed we’ve been to be gifted with such caring and incredible staff working for L.A.C.E.S. throughout the years. In over a decade of facilitating our program in different communities throughout Liberia, we’ve had the privilege of hiring more than 300 local staff members and have empowered them to serve as coaches, mentors, operations coordinators, and national directors. Today, L.A.C.E.S. has 24 staff through our operation in Kakata, Liberia. Among them is our boys’ head coach, Allen, who was gracious enough to share about his experience working with L.A.C.E.S.

From Death to Life…

Allen has been serving with L.A.C.E.S. for the past three years in Kakata and has become one of the most influential and caring coaches we’ve had to date. During our recent staff interview with him, he became emotional as he described the brutal circumstances that street children in Liberia are up against. “Most of the children’s parents are not living. So they depend on us to coach. Liberia is a very hard country, so we are trying to be a substitute to them for life,” Allen explained. He went on to say that, “they are facing so much difficulties when it comes to peer pressures, care taking, etc. Only at L.A.C.E.S. do they feel good.” When discussing where Allen believes the L.A.C.E.S. children would be without our program, he went on to say, “most of the children would be dead by now.” While his perspective is sobering, it’s one that is needed to be heard by many of us who are unaware of the issues street children face.

We asked Allen what some of his favorite aspects of his job are as the boys’ head coach. He smiled and took his time trying to articulate the fulfillment he receives while working with our vulnerable children. He finally responded by saying, “The most rewarding part of this job, as a human, is seeing our kids living the life that God wants them to live and seeing them getting on track day by day. I am seeing that they are changing… leaving from death to life.” Allen went on to inform us that he has a son of his own named Joseph. Each day when Allen goes home, he’s greeted by Joseph and thinks of how his own son could have just as easily been orphaned or abandoned. This has given him a powerful perspective of our mission and encourages him to work diligently each day.

We asked Allen what he believes has been the biggest accomplishment for the work L.A.C.E.S. is doing in Kakata. He said that, “for now the biggest success is that these children are getting to know who they should be in life. As time goes by, with the help of God and their companions, we will see it. I believe we will succeed.”

More In Store…

We at L.A.C.E.S. love working with Allen and value his commitment to our mission and vision to serve at-risk kids from all over the world. While the circumstances surrounding the communities we serve appear bleak and even hopeless at times, we know that there is more in store for the future. By hiring local community leaders to facilitate the work needed to be done, we are seeing not only individual children being transformed, but entire communities. At L.A.C.E.S., we take our commitment to the long-term healing and restoration of the people we serve seriously, and will continue to hire and empower local staff members to facilitate change.

How You Can Help…

Through our research-backed mentorship curriculum, devoted staff, active feeding program, and competitive soccer leagues, L.A.C.E.S. leverages the power of sport to change lives. We love the work we do, but understand that none of it would be possible without the commitment of our faithful donors. As an organization, we hold ourselves accountable to use donated funding to the highest ethical standard possible and ensure that any donation we receive is treated with reverence. If you’re interested in donating to our life changing work today, you can do so by clicking the link here! If you’d like to know more about our specific programs and approach, you can do so here. At L.A.C.E.S., “It’s More than A Game…”