PHOTO: Dr. D.E.S. Kandakai and cover of her fifth book
By Samuel G. Dweh
“Liberia: Accelerated Education for Accelerated Development will be launched at the end of October of the current year, 2021,” Author Dwaboyea Evelyn S. Kandakai revealed to Edu-Diary during an interview on the seventh of October. “This Book is my fifth,” she added.
The Book comprises of 144 pages.
The Author is a former Minister of Education of Liberia (1997-2006), and former Chairperson of the West African Examination Council-WAEC(2015-2018)
Giving some details of the Book, she said the Book documents the highlights of her leadership days at the Ministry of Education from August, 1997, to January, 2006.
“The period represents what was done to restore Liberia’s post-conflict educational system by the Ministry of Education, the Government of Liberia, and the Government’s International Partners,” she explained during the interview with Edu-Diary.
According to the Author, she believes that her fifth Book “is my most challenging one,” she admitted during the interview with Edu-Diary.
Responding to the paper’s question on the list of her other Books, she narrated: “The Village Son, a Novel, first published in 1995. Normal Times, a booklet of Poetry; Facing the Sun, non-fiction published in 2019, a Memoir about my family’s struggles and triumphs during her country’s civil war. And Sinkor, a Novel, published in 2020.”
In the written synopsis Sinkor, shared with Edu-Diary, Author Kandakai states: “The discovery of minerals in Kinjor, Grand Cape Mount County, Western Liberia, where gold is presently being mined by Bea Mining Company.
It has some bearing in the thinking of the Author in arriving at the theme of the Liberian novel, Sinkor…Inevitably, as in the case of Bea Mountain mine area which the Author visited in the course of writing this novel, some of the inhabitants would be directly affected…But what about the real Sinkor, the setting of this story, what is its origin and or meaning of the word for the place called Sinkor?
The Author, seeking answers to to this question, was told by a certain Ma Wata Fofana, the erstwhile wife of one Chief Sekou Doudu, that her grandmother had told her quite sometime ago, “When people ask you about Sinkor and its meaning, tell them that Sinkor means ‘under the rock’…This description of Sinkor, to mean under the rock, was corroborated by Counselor Gloria Musu-Scott, a public servant of Liberia who has served in all three Branches of Government…Counselor Scott was a long time resident of Sinkor”. Note of Edu-Diary: In present-day Liberia, “Sinkor” is the name of the most popular residential place in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, with the best paved streets, street lights, and best first-class hotels. Sinkor is divided into 24 Streets, each branching off the main road named Tubman Boulevard—named in memory of Liberia’s 18th Head of State, William V.S. Tubman.
Author Dwaboyea Evelyn S. Kandakai told Edu-Diary said she is interested not only in Education for every Liberian.
“I also have deeper interest in peacemaking, gender and development,” she said.
She has written several professional articles.
The Author is the current Ambassador of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) project of the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Health.
During a chat with the Publisher of Edu-Diary and former Senator John Ballout, of Maryland County, she expressed her disgust on majority of Liberians’ shared negative perception toward their compatriots suffering of Elephantiasis, one of the tropical diseases.
“Most Liberians feel anybody with an abnormally huge leg, a sign of Elephantiasis, is a witch or wizard,” she said.
“This is one of the several negative mindsets in our country all educated persons should fight harder to dispel by carrying out nation-wide awareness through all the media outlets, Town Hall meeting, in the nation’s schools, in religious organizations, and other places,” Hon. Ballout offered solution methods.
Dr. Kandakai told the former Lawmaker she’s engaged a Radio Station to carryout regular awareness on NTDs in Liberia, as part of her Ambassadorial duties on NTDs in the country.
The full information of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) is on page 10.
SHORT BIODATA OF AUTHOR DWABOYEA EVELYN S. KANDAKAI, Ed. D. (AS REFLECTED ON DOCUMENT SHE PRESENTED TO EDU-DIARY ON REQUEST)
- Grade Schools: B.W. Payne Kindergarten School; Monrovia Demonstration Elementary School, St. Philomena Catholic School, Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County; and College of West Africa, Monrovia.
- Higher Education: Tubman-Wilson Institute; Cuttington College and Divine School—all in Liberia; University of Pennsylvania, USA (obtained Master of Science Degree in Curriculum Instruction, Educational Tests and Measurement); Columbia University’s Teaching College, USA (obtained Doctorate Degree in Curriculum and Teaching, Ed. D.)
- National (Liberian) Services: Minister of Education, Republic of Liberia (August, 1997-January, 2006); Executive Director, Liberia Education Trust (2006-2010); Vice President for Research, and later Academic Affairs—United Methodist University, Monrovia (August, 2011-October, 2015); and Interim President of Cuttington University for Academic Years 2015/2016, November, 2015 to July, 2016
- Regional (African) Service: Chairperson of West African Examination Council (WAEC), March 15, 2015-March 15, 2018.
- Non-Education Professional Service (Liberia): Installed as Ambassador of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) project of the Ministry of Health of Liberia on the 19th of October, 2016.
- Matrimonial Life and Family: Married to Mr. Chris Kandakai, II (now late), union blessed with two children, has three grandchildren.
- Religious background: Christian, an Episcopalian (member of the Episcopalian Church)
- Professional Productions: Five Books (listed in the news story above), several professional articles
- Hobbies: Reading, Writing, and Praying