In Memory of
Professor Emmanuel Korkoya
The Teacher Who Never Stopped Teaching
Even as war raged around him, Professor Korkoya continued to hold classes under mango trees for children who had nowhere else to go.
Professor Emmanuel Korkoya believed that education was the one thing that could not be taken away. When the University of Liberia closed its doors during the civil war, he refused to stop teaching.
Under the shade of mango trees in Paynesville, Professor Korkoya gathered children and young people who had been displaced by the fighting. With no textbooks, no chalkboards, and no guarantee of safety, he taught them mathematics, history, and English.
"Knowledge is your armor," he would tell his students. "They can take everything else, but they cannot take what you have learned."
A Legacy of Learning
Professor Korkoya was killed during the fighting in 1996. But his students — many of whom went on to become teachers, doctors, and leaders — have never forgotten the man who gave them hope when there seemed to be none.
Every year, his former students gather to honor his memory and to support education initiatives in communities affected by the war. They call themselves "Korkoya's Children," and they carry forward his belief that education is the foundation of peace.