In 2006, Mike and Ann Cambra of Rochester owned New England Groupage, Inc., a shipping company out of Holbrook, Mass. They were approached by a church pastor named Joseph Deranamie, who asked if they would be able to ship a 40-foot container of shoes and clothes to the western African nation of Liberia. After learning from Deranamie of the brutal history of the Liberian civil war and refugee situation, the Cambra’s offered to donate the services of their company to ship the container across the Atlantic, and offered to pay for the pastor to meet the container at the Liberian port in Monrovia.
“We thought we were done, but when he came back, he showed us pictures and videos of the orphanages he went to, the schools he visited, and we were just amazed by how much he was helping other people,” said Mike Cambra.
When Joseph said his next idea was to ship health and medical supplies, Cambra was all ears.
“These kids had never even had an aspirin in their lives,” Deranamie told Cambra.
Out of that simple connection MissionToLiberia.org was born. In 2007, the Cambras and Deranamie assembled a board of people from the Worcestor area and South Coast to help run their newly-founded charity and received 501(c)3 non-profit status.
“That was a big milestone for us,” Cambra said. Next, they build a health education center. “We could bring people in and teach them about issues like prenatal care, HIV, nutrition, and sanitation,” he said.
At the time, they were shipping all the supplies from the containers to a local out-reach center for distribution but have since built a small hub to house the goods before they are passed out.
Since its inception, MissionToLiberia.org has shipped over a $1 million worth of goods and supplies to Africa. What began as a response to basic wants and needs turned into an initiative to offer sustainable assistance. This included over $500,000 worth of textbooks, computers, and technology for the university medical school, which traditionally relied on instructors teaching from memory or notebooks and transcribing lessons on chalkboards.
“They didn’t even have a microscope,” Cambra said. Most of the materials were donated as the charity has an annual operating budget of about $15,000.
Even though they are retired, the Cambras dedicate most of their time to advancing the cause of MissionToLiberia.org. Currently, they are working to get electricity to a local elementary school and to improve access to clean water throughout the area. Stateside, Cambra said his focus is on service learning programs and getting the word out to area schools about ways they can help.
“I’ve worked with dozens and dozens of schools from collecting school supplies to sporting goods. The Rochester Memorial School, a few years ago, did a program called Flip Flops and Crocs and they collected all kinds of shoes, sneakers, and flip flops,” Cambra said.
For more information on their work and how you can help, visit MissionToLiberia.org.
By Eric Tripoli
