No Ordinary Graduate Student
Liberian UK student makes sacrifices to help students back home
by Rachel Lewis
August 20, 2009
Lexington, KY – For any “ordinary” graduate student at the University of Kentucky, pursuing a Ph.D. in biomedical science is a challenging endeavor. Mosoka Fallah is not your ordinary graduate student. Using his meager graduate stipend, he not only supports two family members here in Lexington, but also five students in his home country of Liberia. His 2005 arrival at the University of Kentucky rekindled a historic connection between Lexington and Liberia.
Lexington and Liberia share a link that dates back to Henry Clay’s involvement in the establishment of Liberia in the 1820s. Today, Liberia is struggling to recover from the destruction caused by a decade of civil war. As the people there start a new chapter in their country’s history, rebuilding the educational system is a key component to establishing peace and economic growth. In April, Lexington had a role in this rebuilding, thanks to a partnership between Mosoka Fallah, the International Book Project (IBP), and Firestone Natural Rubber Company. This partnership provided more than 8,000 English, math and science textbooks to a wide range of Liberian schools, from primary through university level. Most of these schools have no library and very few have more than one textbook per 10 students. Courses are taught through verbal instruction and the use of a single chalkboard.
As with most of IBP’s projects, many of the books provided for Liberia were donated by local schools, individuals and bookstores. Dozens of volunteers from the Lexington community, including many Liberian and Ghanaian immigrants, helped sort and pack the books to be shipped abroad. Lexington-based Virginia Clark Hagan Foundation provided the financial support for the project.
The success of each project IBP undertakes in the developing world hinges on two things: a reliable overseas partner and adequate funding. This project would never have come to fruition without the passion and Liberian connections of Mosoka Fallah. The story of his journey to Lexington sheds light on why he cares so deeply about education and helping those back in Liberia.
Fallah remembers his father often saying, “It is so hard for you, because I am not educated, but I will make sure that you are educated, so your children should not have to worry.” When the choice was between education and food in Mosoka’s family, education took priority. Fallah recalls the time when he needed a scientific calculator for school and his father took the most recent harvest of okra to town to sell and returned with the $87 scientific calculator and only $3 left for food for the entire family.
Just three months into starting his bachelor’s degree at the University of Liberia, the first civil war broke out. Rebels ransacked the campus and the school closed indefinitely. Mosoka’s family fled for their lives to a displacement camp. His father, a police officer, was captured by the rebels, but later managed to escape with his life. Throughout the next few years, Mosoka struggled to finish his undergraduate chemistry studies in a university that was barely functioning.
His chemistry classes were taught by a Pakistani businessman who the students begged to teach them even after the university could no longer pay him. He agreed, with the condition that despite their circumstances the students would commit to academic excellence. In the upper level chemistry classes, there was only one book for 15 students. Each student had to take a turn copying from the book by hand.
Many days Mosoka would walk over seven miles through the warring city to school, uncertain whether or not it would be open or if he would be killed by a stray bullet. Because of multiple school closings, it took 10 years for Mosoka to finish his bachelor’s degree.
In 2001, he enrolled in the College of Medicine at the University of Liberia, but three years later he was only able to complete one and a half years of coursework because of continued civil war. Frustrated, he gladly accepted the opportunity to take a fellowship at Kent State University in Ohio to earn his M.A. in education. It was during this time that he applied to the University of Kentucky’s Integrated Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program. Dr. Jane Harrison, assistant provost, remembers reviewing his application.
“His application was reviewed several times without a decision, mainly because he was finishing up a master’s in education and nothing in his background suggested he would succeed in biomedical research,” remarked Harrison. But she kept coming back to his application because of his remarkable persistence in seeking his goals, despite unimaginable hardship. He was offered admission in 2005 and is now defending his dissertation on biomedical research to improve vaccines for streptococcus pneumonia and meningitis. “He is an unusual human being who mostly travels under the radar unless he is stirring up ‘trouble’ to help Liberia,” remarked Dr. Harrison.
When Harriet Van Meter started the International Book Project more than 40 years ago, her mission was to improve the lives of people throughout the world by providing quality books and building international friendships. Today, this mission continues by providing bright, motivated students, like Mosoka, the opportunity to give back to their local communities throughout the world.
Books are loaded for shipment at the International Book Project in Lexington
