Meet B. Abel Learwellie, a former child soldier who was kidnapped in 1990 and suffered the horrors of war, who escaped into exile. In his words, “I got my healing through camping, and that’s one reason why my life is dedicated to a camping ministry. I believe that some of the most difficult problems of this world can be addressed through camping. At camp, people, especially young people, learn so many positive things that have a lasting imprint on their lives.”
Abel’s ministry began in 1989, but was pre-empted by civil war in Liberia. He resumed his career in 1999, but a second round of war in 2002 caused a halt until 2005. At that time, he organized the Liberian Camping Association which brought together various youth groups from different cultural, ethnic, and political backgrounds. In 2011, the name of the Liberian Camping Association was changed to Camp for Peace Liberia, Inc., with a focus on rehabilitation and development through camp.
B. Abel Learwellie, Founder/Executive Director
Abel is a graduate of the University of Liberia with a master’s degree in educational administration. In 2004, he was an international camp counselor through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, assigned to Camp Mount Luther in Pennsylvania. In 2011, he served as an international fellow of the United States Department of State, assigned in New York with the Fellowship of Reconciliation where he conducted practical research on youth gun violence in the Bronx and south Chicago.
The fourteen-year Liberian civil wars that ended in 2003 have taken a toll of human life, human resources, and infrastructure. With few functioning schools, children have resorted to violence, and an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 orphans roam the city streets. Camp for Peace Liberia has the goal of contributing to the development, empowerment, and self-sustainability of young people in Liberia. Programs include organized peace camps, access to micro-finance education, HIV/AIDS awareness, and rehabilitation of former child soldiers and ex-combatants.
Abel affirms, “I have developed so much passion for this work that I can’t let it go for any other job. If I acquire nothing in this world, but to give my best in transforming lives, I will be happy that I contributed by making people whose lives have been devastated and suppressed to be happy and develop self-worth and values once again.”
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