University and what it means!

One of the advantages of our recent Trustee visit to Liberia (October ‘24) was that it gave Mark the opportunity to catch up with Esther and Otto, our first University students under the Bursary scheme. In this moving VIDEO, Otto says exactly what it means to attend college.

The Sean Devereux-Celia Reuter Bursary

In 2023 we are delighted to announce the inauguration of the “Sean Devereux-Celia Reuter Bursary”, our programme to facilitate the university education of young people in Liberia.

This new initiative has been made possible as a result of a legacy from the late Celia Reuter and we thank her wider family for this invaluable donation. As a result we can confidently initiative a fund to support, in the first instance, 2 young Liberians through their university education. Like our wider sponsorship programme, without this support the recipients would not be receiving this education support. As ever, we always need your support, and you can find out how in the detail below Otto and Esther’s story.

To use Maureen’s own words, “this would be Sean’s dream come true”, further enhancing the opportunity for the young people of Liberia to help them and their country.

Otto and Esther are the first two students on the Bursary Programme and here is a little about them as they embark on their university education. We hope to continually update this story with direct reports from both Otto and Esther in the future.

Both Otto and Esther have led challenging lives to date but, with the huge love and support of their family, have benefited from their education; in both cases their education has been supported through their younger years by the Sean Devereux Sponsorship Programme.

If you ever doubted the value of your financial support, these 2 young people are a testimony to how it changes lives!

Otto's story

Otto grew up in a displacement camp and was lovingly brought up by his mum and granddad, both of whom worked tirelessly in very difficult circumstances. It was Granddad who enrolled him at the Sean Devereux Elementary School, where he directly benefited from the Sean Devereux Scholarship Programme. Whilst this happened, the family lived very frugally with "one good meal a day and no good clothes to wear".

As Otto relates, "As I grew older, I realized that my family didn’t have anything, we lived in a makeshift hut with palm thatch and the roof covered with plastic sheets provided by UNHCR. Over time, these plastics got torn up and getting another to replace was never an easy process. As such during the rainy season, we wouldn’t sleep due to leakage".

Otto loved football but granddad always insisted that his burgeoning midfield career  had to be accompanied by studying and lessons. Both worked out well, with Otto captaining the school team and doing well with his studies, including successfully representing the Sean Devereux school at a spelling bee competition and in a quiz team.

As we all can sense, Otto is a driven young man whose background has been very challenging. The support of SDCF has assisted his determination and he very much deserves his opportunity at university. There is no better summary than Otto's own words:

"I see this bursary as an opportunity to attain university education, I didn’t imagine myself enrolling at any university this early. I am grateful to the Celia Reuter family. I will use this opportunity to be a help to my family, my community, Sean Devereux and the society at large".

Esther's Story
Esther too grew up in a dislocated family, whose mother worked tirelessly "to provide the meager (sic) needs of my brother and two sisters. Life became so difficult that I was the only one who continued going to school while my siblings remained at home".

As Esther said, "with the help of God, I obtained a scholarship and enrolled at the Sean Devereux School in Brewerville". For anyone who doubts the value of their continued support for SDCF, Esther is the embodiment of the benefits.
She has recently graduated from the school and now is going to fulfill a lifelong ambition to be a doctor by attending university.

"All my life, my career objective has been to become a medical doctor and help save lives of people especially poor children. I know how it was and it still is difficult for me and my siblings to access quality health care and treatment support. I want to work hard to fill that gap. As I am going to begin my health and professional doctor study program through the academic support of Celia Reuters and Sean Devereux Children’s Fund UK, I have already started reading health and medical books and doing own research before my studies pick up in earnest".

We all wish Esther and Otto the success that their determination deserves!

How can you help?

SDCF are hugely grateful to the late Celia Reuter and her family whose generous legacy has provided the “seedcorn funding” for this new bursary.

As a result we are committing to support both the university fees of Otto and Esther, as well as making subsistence support to both throughout their time at university. Both are vital in a country where all family members have to contribute financially, a factor that strongly mitigates against education at all levels.

However, we want to annually renew this scheme, not only supporting Esther and Otto but taking on 2 new students each year and in so doing support a talented cohort of SDCF Alumni. In order to do so we of course need to raise new funds to augment the generous initial funding.

We are therefore looking for some specific University Sponsors to support the Sean Devereux-Celia Reuter Bursary, a brand new scheme that will bring huge benefits in both Liberia as well as to the donors.