MONROVIA, Montserrado – For seven months, schools across Liberia were ordered closed by the government due the Ebola epidemic.

Schools across the country finally commenced in February of 2015 although the Ministry of Education abruptly issued a notice for all schools to be closed by July 31 to allow for a revamping of the education sector.

With the start of the 2015 – 2016 school year approaching, The Bush Chicken asked a cross-section of primary, secondary and university students what they did for the school break.

Morris Tarr helping sell chicken feet. Photo: Zeze Ballah

Name: Morris Tarr
Age: 17
Hails from: Grand Bassa
School: Len Miller Salvation Army School

Morris is an 11^th grade student who was recently promoted to the 12^th grade during the condensed school year. He took time during the break to help his mother with her chicken business.

He also said it is through the business that his mother is able to pay his school fees. Morris explained that he purchases a carton of chicken feet for L$1,850 and gets L$300 as his profit after selling all of the chicken feet. As for the chicken wings, Morris said they are purchased for L$2,200 and he gets L$300 as his profit after the entire quantity.

Lusu Kaivah sells fish for her older sister. Photo: Zeze Ballah

Name: Lusu Kaivah
Age: 16
Hails from: Lofa
School: Len Miller Salvation Army School

Lusu is a 9^th grade student at the Len Miller Salvation Army School. She said during the 2015 school break, she helped her oldest sister sell fish at a local market.

Lusu said the break was boring and it was tough selling her sister’s fish. She added that it was difficult some days for her to wake up from bed early in the morning to purchase fish for sale.

Although she did not find the experience “meaningful,” Lusu said she enjoyed it overall. “It was a great experience for me selling fish for the first time as I made a lot of new friends,” she said.

Yatta Doe slices greens. Photo: Zeze Ballah

Name: Yatta H. Doe
Age: 11
Hails from: Grand Cape Mount
School: Trinity Lutheran School

Yatta, a 5^th grade student at the Trinity Lutheran School, was 10 years old when her father died from a protracted illness. The last of three children, Yatta said since the death of the father, her mother has been finding it very difficult to send her to school.

She was promoted during the condensed school year and she said she helped her mother cut and sell potato greens during the school break.

“I wanted to attend a computer school, but my mother did not have the money to send me there so I stayed all day with her in the market selling greens,” Yatta said.

She said her school break spent with her mother in the market was rewarding because while the mother was away purchasing greens for sale, Yatta received the opportunity to manage the business.

Bendu (shown sitting) cuts greens in the market. Photo: Zeze Ballah

Name: Bendu Mulbah
Age: 12
Hails from: Lofa
School: Trinity Lutheran School

Bendu is a 3^rd grade student of the Trinity Lutheran School. She said all she did during the break was to help her mother sell water and potato greens.

“I did not expect schools across the country to close that quickly after seeing myself back in class in February due to the Ebola crisis,” Bendu said.

Bendu she also traveled with her mother outside of Monrovia at times to purchase greens for sale.

“I did not want to be one of those loose children in my community during the [vacation] so with no school in session, I decided to be in the market with my mother selling greens where which pays my school fees,” Bendu said.

Photo: Zeze Ballah

Name: Mark Dolo
Age: 18
Hails from: Nimba
School: El Memorial Baptist School

Mark is an 11^th grade student of the El Memorial Baptist School. During the impromptu school vacation, he chose to help his unemployed parents sell toiletries, using a wheelbarrow to visit various communities.

He added that though it was very hectic work he chose to do it because there was nothing meaningful for him to do during the break.

“As time went on, I got myself adjusted and enjoyed doing it every other day of the week,” Mark said.

Mark repeated the popular adage that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop; he did not want to engage in unscrupulous activities in and around his community.

Eric Dolo reads a book. Photo: Zeze Ballah

Name: Eric Dolo
Age: 17
Hails from: Grand Bassa
School: El Memorial Baptist School

Eric, a 9^th grade student of the El Memorial Baptist School, said the school break came as a surprise to him.

“I, in particular, did not expect the early school closing to happen and since the decision was taken by the Education Minister George Werner, I took off time to read as many books to improve on my vocabulary,” Eric said.

Eric also said he reads novels (fiction and nonfiction) to help encounter new words and get to know their meanings.

“It was a wonderful time for me during the [vacation] to spend more time reading new books,” he said.

Bessie Hinneh at honme. Photo: Zeze Ballah

Name: Bessie Hinneh
Age: 35
Hails from: Maryland
School: University of Liberia

Bessie is a senior student at the state-run University of Liberia. She majors in Accounting and minors in Management.

Bessie said during the break, she was privileged to have worked with a non-government organization called ‘More Than One’ for the period of one and half months.

“Afterwards, I stayed home looking after the house and cooking for my young brothers and sisters,” Bessie said. She added that the break was very boring because she ate and slept a lot, which she never did when school was in full session.

Bessie lights a coal pot to cook for her siblings. Photo: Zeze Ballah

Bennedict Wesseh. Photo: Zeze Ballah

Name: Benedict Wesseh
Age: 29
Hails from: Maryland
School: University of Liberia

Benedict, a sophomore student at the University of Liberia, is majoring in Forestry. He helped plant oil palm on the father’s farm during this school break.

Benedict said he was also contracted to paint houses in some communities, which earned him some money.

Benneta Henna. Photo: Zeze Ballah

Name: Bennetta S. Hena
Age: 18years
Hails from: Maryland
School: Social Organization Society School

Bennetta, an 11^th grade student of the SOS School, said she used the time off during the summer break to review her chemistry book, in addition to reading new books in order to expand her vocabulary.

Abraham Ketter at home. Photo: Zeze Ballah

Name: Abraham Ketter
Age: 15
Hails from: Bong
School: Social Organization Society School

Abraham, a 9^th grade student of the SOS School said he had a packed schedule during the school break. He did some computer courses including Introduction to Computer and MS Word Processing at ICAFE.

He also helped at home with the chores, in addition to reading books and playing basketball with his friends.