Liberia: “Drugs Addiction, Violence A Menace in Our Society” ….Says Madam Ireland

Madam Rita Rose Ireland, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Precious Pear Ireland Foundation (PPIF), has claimed that drug addiction and violence are menaces in Liberian society.

Madam Ireland told the media on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, at the (PPIF) Ask First Edition Summer Ball Clinic 2023, which was held at the Telecom Basketball gym in Paynesville. She claimed that campus-based violence and substance use are serious problems in Liberian communities and on campuses and are stealing the very souls of Liberian children.

According to her, school administrators need to make sure that the proper policies are in place to protect the kids and that their facilities are monitored to the point where kids are not just left to do whatever they feel like doing.

The administrators should have educational material to inform the children about the importance of being safe, preventing violence, and having self-esteem. 

In addition, Madam Ireland stated that Liberians must recognize the problem and fight it until everyone is safe and no longer in danger from the threat.

She continued by saying that Liberians also needed to approach the problem of drug abuse and violence holistically, band together, and develop a mindset to end it.

She also revealed that the founding of PPIF was motivated by the deaths of her son, who was addicted to drugs and lost his life, and her daughter, Precious Ireland, who was killed by gunfire on campus in 2021.

“The Precious Pear Ireland Foundation was founded as a result of what happened to us as a family. In 2021, we lost our precious daughter to gun violence on campus. Not only that, but we also had a son who was addicted to drugs and lost his life. We sought help for our children, and it was difficult to find help in Liberia, we had to send them away from here to see whether they could get help.

So we thought that it would be wise to rise up and do something about the situation instead of sitting and watching it happen,” she said.

“So we are looking for people of like- mind who have the expertise to be able to preach the awareness message and advocate for children's safety on campuses,” she added

The CEO mentioned that the goal of the PPIF is to preach the message of non- violence on campuses.

According to her, PPIF has already started to preach the message of non- violence and drugs on campuses to the young people of Liberia in order to eradicate the menace.

“We have been promoting non- violence messages on campuses, non- violence messages among youth,” she said

Meanwhile, Madam Ireland noted that PPIF is involved in empowering the youth of Liberia with skills like; tailoring, arts and crafts, computer basics, and music to ensure that they get the regressed information and education needed when it comes to character building, relationship building, dating, and violence prevention.

“We have also gotten involved in empowering the youth of Liberia. We have been empowering them with skills like; tailoring, arts and crafts, computer basics, and music.

“All of this is to get their attention and ensure that they get the regressed information and education they need when it comes to character building, relationships, dating, and violence prevention.”

“So, this is the message we preach when we empower them with these basic skills and realize that the youth are interested in sports as well,” she said.

We thought that since they are interested in sports, what we can do to get this message across to them is engage the youth with sports as well.

We started with basketball and the group has grown to over 145 and we meet on a weekly basis and do live coaching with them and we also do coaching with them when it comes to the basketball sport,” she added