Bromley's History

The US shares a rich historical connection with Liberia as freed slaves from Virginia voluntarily repatriated their homeland and established the country. Bromley was founded over 100 years ago by The Rt. Rev. S.D. Ferguson, the first black Episcopal bishop in the US. Missionaries from Virginia were also instrumental in the school's success.

Liberia has recently emerged from 14 years of war and genocide where entire villages were often destroyed, over 200,000 people were killed and more than a million were displaced, many of them children. The country now has a destroyed national infrastructure with no electricity and no running water.


Education is a luxury in Liberia as the country begins the slow process of rehabilitation after many years of war and political instability. Bromley was forced to close during the most violent part of the war, during which time the campus was decimated. It reopened in 2003 with rescued orphans from refugee camps and with few resources. The school now has almost 200 students, some are orphans, but all have been traumatized by the horrors of war. The children's hopes and dreams rely on education.

In a country with staggering rates of illiteracy and unemployment, the children receiving an education are the future leaders of Liberia. The Bromley girls have big dreams and ambitions. When you ask them what they would like to be, they say, "Doctor, lawyer, teacher, engineer, journalist, nurse, president..." But, they have no help of achieving these dreams without a little help first.

Once the school's campus has been restored, Bromley will emerge as a self-sufficient entity, but without our help, they will not have hope.

When girls cannot attend school, they face a horrific life of hard labor with little or no pay. Many girls end up prostitutes just to survive.

One girl who receives an education can positively impact her entire family, her entire community and even her entire nation.

Many letters are sent to pen pals from girls at Bromley expressing their love asking the recipients to be their "playmother." It doesn't take long in Africa to realize that words are often more sacred than they are here. This is not play at all. Once you agree to be a child's playmother or playbrother/sister, you have created a covenant. You are their guardian. You promise to remember them and love them forever.

In fact, most of their letters contain a recurring phrase, sometimes, three or four times in one letter, "Please, do not forget me." If they know there is someone out there who remembers them, they feel like they are not entirely lost.

It is important for us to remember that this is a country we helped establish. This is a school we founded and these are orphaned children who need our help. But, even more than that, imagine, taking these girls' examples and the example that Jesus left us...and loving a stranger, imagine sharing a tiny portion of our abundance, imagine changing the world with a little kindness.

Related links:

"The Legacy of Margaret Mercer"