Liberia suffered its fist civil war from 1989-1996, and its second from 1997-2003. Jonathan Worlobah and his wife Yassah both grew up in the capital city Monrovia living with their uncle and aunt respectively. During the civil wars they lived at a science college where people who ran from the war went for refuge. They survived on palm cabbages and the small fish they caught when fishing. Like everyone in Liberia, they each had family members killed in the war, including the uncle with whom Jonathan had lived.
When the war was over, Jonathan started to work for a private security firm on the Lutheran compound. While working there, the director asked him if he could make a cross from an emptied shell. This led to ongoing meaningful and sustainable work for Jonathan which has enabled him to buy food for his family and send his children to school, and even to continue some school studies himself. His wife Yassah works with the women at their church, and their children, Cathrine and Vivian, sing in the church’s choir. The crosses made from bullet casings are very powerful symbols of hope from hate, and life from death.
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