| www.bongeducationcenter.org |
 |
About Bong Education Center Alumni Association (BECAA)Brief History of Bong Education Center
The workers, being enthusiastic and excited about the literacy program and the expected benefit it held for them, appealed to Mrs. Miller for the establishment of a formal educational program. She, in turn, consulted Dr. Moritz – the German pioneer of the Company – who was in charge of operation. With the consent of Dr. Moritz given, Mrs. Miller also sought -the approval of Pastor Ezra Keller and Moede Langleland, officers of the Lutheran Church, for the beginning of a formal literacy program. Cognizant of the role of education in the life of an individual and the development of a society, the Pastor granted the request, and subsequently, a combined religious and academic program was established in 1958. The first literacy teacher was Mr. David Kokoli, an evangelist from Zankpiyama. Evangelist Kokoli could not continue with the program due to ill-health. He was temporarily replaced by his students, Sii Leopord and Bono Freeman, both of whom spoke and wrote the Kpelle language well.
|
|
The history of education in what is known as Bong Mine is as old as the Company
itself. As early as 1958 when the German-Liberian Mining Company (DELIMCO)
began surface prospecting, Mrs. Mariam Miller, an American missionary
who was stationed at the Kpolopelle Lutheran Mission in Haindii came in to
conduct church services with workers in Camp I and Moritz Camp which was the
staff quarter. Moritz Camp was located at what is now Zaweah Park. Soon, a
Bible and literacy class was started.