In the late 1980s a young British educator called Sean Devereux came to Liberia to work as a Volunteer of the Salesians of Don Bosco, a priestly religious order of the Catholic Church. When the civil war started in 1989, he and the Salesians working in Tappita, Nimba County were forced to move to Monrovia, Liberia’s capital. In 1990, he started working for the United Nations World Food Program as a volunteer, and remained in Liberia until 1992 when he was moved to Kismayo, Somalia as a UNICEF volunteer, where he was killed in January 1993 by an assassin’s bullet.

During his work in Liberia both as a Salesian and later UN Volunteer, Sean taught, worked with, assisted, and impacted positively on the lives of myriads of poor Liberian children and youth. Among the people he interacted with, Sean was seen as a teacher, co-worker, humanitarian, disciplinarian, one who lived by example, sportsman and lover of children.

Sean’s death news hit us all like a massive earthquake. Many did not know what to do. Others named their children after him, some founded a football club in is honour, while others named institutions after him. In October 2005, Sean’s former students, co-workers, friends and admirers amalgamated themselves into a youth service group called Volunteers of Sean. It’s motto is:”Volunteering like Sean”.

Its Mission Statement summarizes its objects:

To assist poor children to go to school

To foster peace, reconciliation and non-discrimination among people (conflict resolution)

To provide humanitarian relief/assistance to needy

To participate in/undertake/volunteer community initiatives worthy of emulation by young people

To undertake advocacy work/campaigns for children/youths empowerment through academic, vocational and apprenticeship education

To organise sporting events for underprivileged schools

Since it’s founding in 2005, Volunteers of Sean (VOS) have been involved in the following activities:

Assisted in undertaking community cleanup initiatives on 12th Street and in Larkpazee, Monrovia

Distributed relief items to needy schools, orphanages and elders

Provided academic scholarships to more than 100 poor children in academic year 2007/08 and 2008/09

Provided sewing machines and fabrics to needy seamstresses

Collaborated with partner institutions in organising and holding the Sean Devereux inter-high school basketball tournaments to foster peace and reconciliation among young people

Volunteers of Sean | 16th May 2009 @ 4:46 pm