Project Liberia
For the love of Liberia
For the love of Liberia
But then something happened. The people of Liberia touched her heart. “The people just need hope,” Bablitch emphasized. “But just my presence
there for that three weeks, I felt like I touched lives. I gave ae lady $20 to pose for me and I used her photo on the ad for this event. Her husband had
beaten her up and I didn’t know what to do. So I gave her $20 to comfort her. Two weeks later, she came back to say hello to me. Her life had changed.
She had bought a bag of coal for $2.50 and made a profit of 20 cents off of each bag. Two weeks later, I couldn’t recognize her. She had a new outfit.
She had her own place. She was able to move out. Her rent is $2 per month. After just $20, all that happened.”
Bablitch’s life was changed. She came back to Madison with a singular determination to help Liberia. She cleaned out her closets of what she
refers to as “gently-used” shoes and then her friends and their friends did the same and before she realized it, Bablitch had collected 6,000 pairs of shoes.
She hopes to collect 10,000 pairs and then sell them to support children at Gus’ Home, an orphanage in Liberia.
Since world grain prices started going through the roof, the situation for many children in Liberia has gone from bad to worse. “Due to the recent
increase in the price of rice, Yeh who runs Yeh’s House, an orphanage, called me recently to see if I could help her,” Bablitch said. “So she was a new
addition. I asked her why she was taking on more kids because the war is over. Six months ago, rice was $25 per bag. Now it is $60. People who took in
children during the war to help — and if your average income is $60-$80 per month — they have to let the kids go. So Yeh is getting an influx of kids
and so is Gus. I told Yeh I would help her. It’s just a matter of time before the next person finds out and I hope to be able to do a lot more. Every bit
helps.”
And so, Bablitch has taken on this “magnificent obsession” to help the children of Liberia. Through Project Liberia, which she founded, Bablitch
and others have 260 children they are sponsoring and helping to feed. She has spent much of her savings and cleaned out her closets and is now busy
raising money to help the children. And that is why she was outside Wal-Mart on a beautiful Saturday selling brats with her daughters and other friends, to
in essence feed the children.
Bablitch has found a deeper meaning in life and on some level, has followed in her father’s footsteps. “I have so much here and I am so fortunate,”
Bablitch reflected. “Seeing the little that they have, I realized I don’t need all of this material stuff. I’m perfectly happy with sharing as much of it as I
can.”
And Bablitch hopes others will feel the same way as she works in her own humble way to rebuild Liberia.
For more information about Project Liberia, contact Bulleh Bablitch at 577-6711 or e-mail her at project.liberia@yahoo.com.
there for that three weeks, I felt like I touched lives. I gave ae lady $20 to pose for me and I used her photo on the ad for this event. Her husband had
beaten her up and I didn’t know what to do. So I gave her $20 to comfort her. Two weeks later, she came back to say hello to me. Her life had changed.
She had bought a bag of coal for $2.50 and made a profit of 20 cents off of each bag. Two weeks later, I couldn’t recognize her. She had a new outfit.
She had her own place. She was able to move out. Her rent is $2 per month. After just $20, all that happened.”
Bablitch’s life was changed. She came back to Madison with a singular determination to help Liberia. She cleaned out her closets of what she
refers to as “gently-used” shoes and then her friends and their friends did the same and before she realized it, Bablitch had collected 6,000 pairs of shoes.
She hopes to collect 10,000 pairs and then sell them to support children at Gus’ Home, an orphanage in Liberia.
Since world grain prices started going through the roof, the situation for many children in Liberia has gone from bad to worse. “Due to the recent
increase in the price of rice, Yeh who runs Yeh’s House, an orphanage, called me recently to see if I could help her,” Bablitch said. “So she was a new
addition. I asked her why she was taking on more kids because the war is over. Six months ago, rice was $25 per bag. Now it is $60. People who took in
children during the war to help — and if your average income is $60-$80 per month — they have to let the kids go. So Yeh is getting an influx of kids
and so is Gus. I told Yeh I would help her. It’s just a matter of time before the next person finds out and I hope to be able to do a lot more. Every bit
helps.”
And so, Bablitch has taken on this “magnificent obsession” to help the children of Liberia. Through Project Liberia, which she founded, Bablitch
and others have 260 children they are sponsoring and helping to feed. She has spent much of her savings and cleaned out her closets and is now busy
raising money to help the children. And that is why she was outside Wal-Mart on a beautiful Saturday selling brats with her daughters and other friends, to
in essence feed the children.
Bablitch has found a deeper meaning in life and on some level, has followed in her father’s footsteps. “I have so much here and I am so fortunate,”
Bablitch reflected. “Seeing the little that they have, I realized I don’t need all of this material stuff. I’m perfectly happy with sharing as much of it as I
can.”
And Bablitch hopes others will feel the same way as she works in her own humble way to rebuild Liberia.
For more information about Project Liberia, contact Bulleh Bablitch at 577-6711 or e-mail her at project.liberia@yahoo.com.
Front row: Bulleh Bablitch (l-r), Carli Kopaz, Nancy Norkeh,
Laytee Norkeh, Jessica Carlson and Payla Garmia Back row:
Steve Jordee (l-r), Kayla Lee, and Bailey Murphy
Laytee Norkeh, Jessica Carlson and Payla Garmia Back row:
Steve Jordee (l-r), Kayla Lee, and Bailey Murphy
By Jonathan Gramling
It had been 23 years since Bulleh Bablitch had been to Liberia, the land of her birth
and where she spent the first 12 years of her life. Her parents, retired Wis. Supreme Court
Justice William Bablitch and Payla Garmia, met when Bablitch was a Peace Corp volunteer.
Bulleh had embraced life in Madison and lived the good life. She married Dr. Frederick
Norkeh and raised a family. They had been spared, obviously, the deadly effects of Liberia’s
14 year civil war. She hadn’t returned to Liberia and may not have if the civil war didn’t end
and Ellen Johnson-Sirleef, who lived in Madison for a period of time, hadn’t been elected
president of Liberia, the first woman president in Africa’s history. She may not have returned
to Liberia if Johnson-Sirleef hadn’t placed a call to her husband to come back and help
rebuild Liberia.
“I said ‘No, you can’t,’” Bablitch said as she and others managed a brat stand outside
Wal-Mart on July 26. “’I’ve worked this long to support you and now it is your turn to pay
back.’ He said ‘Let me go and try it.’ He went and said ‘Honey, you have to come and see
this.’ I said ‘No, I’m not’ because my kids are here and all I knew was there had been a war. I
said ‘I can’t just uproot the kids and move there.’ I went with an attitude that I was going to
convince him to come back with me because we had everything going for us here.”
It had been 23 years since Bulleh Bablitch had been to Liberia, the land of her birth
and where she spent the first 12 years of her life. Her parents, retired Wis. Supreme Court
Justice William Bablitch and Payla Garmia, met when Bablitch was a Peace Corp volunteer.
Bulleh had embraced life in Madison and lived the good life. She married Dr. Frederick
Norkeh and raised a family. They had been spared, obviously, the deadly effects of Liberia’s
14 year civil war. She hadn’t returned to Liberia and may not have if the civil war didn’t end
and Ellen Johnson-Sirleef, who lived in Madison for a period of time, hadn’t been elected
president of Liberia, the first woman president in Africa’s history. She may not have returned
to Liberia if Johnson-Sirleef hadn’t placed a call to her husband to come back and help
rebuild Liberia.
“I said ‘No, you can’t,’” Bablitch said as she and others managed a brat stand outside
Wal-Mart on July 26. “’I’ve worked this long to support you and now it is your turn to pay
back.’ He said ‘Let me go and try it.’ He went and said ‘Honey, you have to come and see
this.’ I said ‘No, I’m not’ because my kids are here and all I knew was there had been a war. I
said ‘I can’t just uproot the kids and move there.’ I went with an attitude that I was going to
convince him to come back with me because we had everything going for us here.”