By Gabriel M. C. Parker
BOMI COUNTY – In the quiet town of Jarwajay Varney Bone—birthplace of Liberia’s First Lady, Her Excellency Kartumu Boakai—a silent emergency is unfolding. Over 500 residents are battling a severe water crisis, forced to rely on contaminated creek water after the town’s only hand pump, built in 1983, dried up.
What was once a lifeline has now turned into a memory, leaving an entire community vulnerable.
“This is a major challenge,” said Konnor Freeman, the town’s Chairlady, her voice heavy with frustration. “We are suffering. The only hand pump we had has dried up, and we are now drinking from the creek like animals. This is unacceptable.”
A hand pump built in the 80s
The consequences are already visible. Freeman reported a sharp rise in waterborne illnesses—especially among children and women—ranging from diarrhea to skin infections. “Our people are falling sick, and there’s no one to turn to,” she said.
Despite being the First Lady’s hometown, Jarwajay Varney Bone has seen little to no development. Residents say their expectations of support from the Unity Party-led government have gone unmet.
“We feel abandoned,” Freeman stated. “This is the birthplace of the First Lady, yet our lives are getting worse by the day.”
Beyond the water crisis, the town faces a host of other challenges: impassable roads, spotty mobile network coverage, no healthcare facility, and complete absence of electricity. “We are living in conditions that are not just difficult—they are humiliating,” Freeman stressed. “It’s shameful and unfortunate. We deserve better.”
She is now appealing directly to the national government and the Office of the First Lady to intervene. “We need hand pumps. We need basic services. We cannot continue to live like this.”
Until help arrives, the residents of Jarwajay Varney Bone remain in survival mode—drawing water from a polluted creek and battling a reality that threatens their health, their dignity, and their hope.
