Mentoring and football showed us the best of PSJ
By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh 
He lived and died a poor man, but was forever rich in kindness.
Decent?
Oh yes, he was kind, and that puts him in my book as one of those I
truly admired since people like him are hard to come by in
Liberia.
In the swamps and slums of the Old Clara Town was PSJ, as all
referred to this giant of a man, including the many adoring kids he
mentored during his life on Earth.
I got to know Peter Slewion Jarkloh, this true Liberian hero when I
was growing up in New Kru Town, and during my many visits to Clara
Town in the early 1970s to see my mom, and at times to watch some
of the games that were being played in those Clara Town/Gibraltar
swamps.
Our means of transportation at times were those Renault
“Holay, Holay, De Dun” buses, (the ones from France that only started
by turning the iron in the front of the hood).
Some of the buses - the new ones could start with a key the
conventional way. However, as the buses got older they proved too
difficult to start.
Let me get back quickly to the story of PSJ before I lose my train of
though, because the life and good deeds of this great man are what
movies are made of.
PSJ was a man of unwavering loyalty and devotion to his sports
(football), and the inner city kids he spent his
entire life mentoring. PSJ proved to be a man of goodwill whose love
for kids robbed him of his own time.
With no help from the Liberian government, the then
Ministry of Labor, Youth and Sports, and the redundant and often
corrupt Liberian Football Association, (LFA), PSJ was a lone ranger
who did thing his own way.
His home was transformed into our version of the “Boys and Girls
Club of Metropolitan Monrovia,” where abandoned and neglected kids
were given love, attention and food to eat. The kids also used their
time at PSJ’s home to sharpen their skills to be somebody.
Humble and patient, PSJ was a teacher among teachers. An avid
football fan and player during his younger days, PSJ taught his
“children” the fundamentals of football. He organized football
matches, he taught those kids how to win games, he encouraged them to stay
in school, and he also watched their development from kids to adults.
George Oppong Weah, who hails from nearby Gibraltar, and
other prominent football players, plus his nephew, the Russian-trained
Telecommunications Engineer, (Joseph) Nyenetu Jarkloh benefited from
PSJ’s mentoring.
PSJ’s services to his “kids” didn’t stop in Clara Town either, because
when that city was destroyed by orders from the Executive Mansion
during the early days of the Tolbert administration, and with the
urging and blessings of the United Methodist Church, PSJ left his
beloved Clara Town for New Kru Town by the road to Duala, where he
resumed his services until his death years later.
The story about PSJ is one of unselfishness and unconditional love.
It is also one of patriotism, because a strong country is one that
invests in its children’s future.
As a private non-government employee, PSJ used his meager resources
to foster his beliefs by investing in Liberia’s vulnerable children, since
most Liberians with money don’t care to mentor or even sponsor kids
other than their own children and the children of their relatives.
We constantly hear about Liberians, the ones living in Victorian homes
overseas, whom, because of their own selfish reasons will never, never
help a needy child even during difficult times.
These individuals, instead would rather send their wives,
girlfriends, and children to live abroad with their
stolen riches while their husbands or friends live in Liberia with the
mindset of stealing more money from government.
Those are the Liberians who “don’t want to be bother with those Liberians,”
because “Liberians talk too much.”
PSJ was a surrogate father to many children. He died poor with no
recognition from the Liberian government or even a private
organization.
It is time that the Liberian government do the right thing.
Honor this patriot!
Category: Editorial, Featured Articles
