About Enlighten Nimba

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Gipo Township suffered serious setbacks to its learning environment and education after 14 years of civil war, In 2013, Liberians representing Gipo Township, the Ghannah Clan, and Nimba County drafted a Village School Project to address this problem. This project would create a self-help vocational training center offering the 37,000+ area youth training thus reducing poverty and illiteracy, while adding self-reliance, confidence, and empowerment through education and training. The school offered vocational training and high school education for grades 7th – 12th. 

The project consisted of building the school, teacher’s quarters, boys’ and girls’ dormitories plus other vocational areas on the campus. It was projected to be completed in 2 years, and cost $65,000USD. The project was dependent on donations from friends and donors. 

Work on the school started in 2014. A mission group, from the Brooklyn Center, MN, Brooklyn United Methodist Church (BUMC), spent two weeks in Gipo clearing the land and creating the school’s foundation. This group became the heart of funding for the project. In 2019, a second BUMC mission group spent two weeks preparing the foundation for the dormitory. The dormitory would allow students to live on campus and not have to commute great distant to attend school. Physically and financially, the ability to complete this project was far greater than the BUMC group could manage themselves. The 2019 mission team returned home with half the project completed. 

Back in Minnesota, the BUMC group expanded their donation base. Enlighten Nimba, a 501(c)3, was established to broaden their fundraising efforts. Solar energy was added to the project to add an extra incentive for donors.   Enlighten Nimba, unfortunately, was established just before Covid-19 attacked the USA, affecting donations. Construction of the dormitory slowed as well.  

The pandemic affected enrollment at Gipo Vocation Technical Institute(GVTI), as well as elementary schooling in the area. GVTI added grades 1-6 education. The few teachers left in the area did double duty, elementary in the morning and vocational in the afternoon.

In the spring of 2024, a third BUMC mission group returned to complete the dormitory. Funds raised by all fundraising efforts couldn’t cover the escalating costs. The dormitory is 75% completed. Both Enlighten Nimba and the BUMC fundraising are gearing to complete the dormitory by mid-2025. Enlighten Nimba was established to bring solar power to GTVI. Its mission continues to change to meet the school’s changing needs.