The Bassa Project

The Day of the African Child.

Today, we celebrate the Day of the African Child by uplifting the voices of Liberian children.

This year, the committee has decided to celebrate the day under the theme "Planning and budgeting for children's rights: progress since 2010".

For us, this year’s focus reminds us that true empowerment begins with education in our native languages, which is a right of every child.

And just as the brave children of Soweto demanded to learn in their own tongue, so must we ensure that Liberian children are taught in Kpelle, Bassa, Lorma, Kru, Vai, and all native languages.

The harsh truth is that Language is identity. And when we teach our children in their native languages, we honor their heritage, build their confidence, and preserve our culture.

As part of the official celebration in Liberia, tomorrow we will join the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection to demand native language education in Liberia for every child.

We invite you to invest in native language or bilingual education and secure a future where every child is heard.

As always, we remain committed to ensuring that every child learns their mother tongue.

Our first in-person Bassa class will start in May at the Liberian Learning Center near Paynesville City Hall.

If you want to be part of the first cohort, please call us at this number: 077 044 1297

As always, we are committed to empowering lifelong language learners.

Congratulations to our team!

Big News for Our Indigenous Languages

We are excited to announce that LIBELP (Liberia Endangered Language Project) has been officially accepted into the Meta Language Technology Partner Program.

This global partnership supports our mission to preserve and digitize Liberia’s endangered languages using cutting-edge AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools.

Through this program, we will contribute speech and text data, participate in expert workshops, and gain access to tools that will help us build modern technology for Liberia’s Indigenous languages.

This is a huge step forward for language inclusion and tech equity — and it’s just the beginning.

Our commitment to creating free language learning resources, AI-powered translation tools, and engaging content for all Liberians remains stronger than ever.

As always, we are dedicated to rescuing Liberian languages, breaking barriers, and bringing our languages to the future.

Join us to save Liberian languages.

Liberia has many indigenous ethnic groups, each with a rich history, unique culture, and distinct language.

These languages belong to three main linguistic groups: Mande, Kwa, and Mel (Southern Atlantic)—all part of the Niger-Congo language family.

The Mande languages are spoken in the northwest and central regions of Liberia.

The well-known groups include the Kpelle, Vai, Loma, Dan (Gio), Mano, Mende, and Malinke (Mandingo). The Vai people even created their own writing system.

The Kwa languages are spoken mainly in the southern half of Liberia and include the Bassa, Kru, Grebo, Dey (Dei), Belleh (Belle), and Krahn. The Bassa are the largest Kwa-speaking group in Monrovia.

The Mel languages (Southern Atlantic) include the Gola and Kisi, who are some of the oldest inhabitants of Liberia and are also found in Sierra Leone.

Sadly, many of these languages are disappearing. Younger generations are not learning them, and as a result, a big part of Liberia’s history and identity is at risk.

But with a collective effort and support, we can revitalize, preserve, and promote Liberia’s indigenous languages.

We are committed!

We’re proud to unveil this beautiful artwork representing the Liberian Language Institute (LLI) — featuring some of our 16 indigenous Liberian languages:

Kpelle, Bassa, Loma, Kissi, Maan, Gola, Krahn, Gbandi, Mandingo, Vai, Grebo, Dan, Dey, Belleh, Kru, and Mende.

Each panel captures the culture, traditions, and unique identity of those who speak these languages.

At LLI or LIBELP, we believe that preserving our languages means preserving our roots, stories, identities, and strength as a nation.

Let’s work together to keep our languages alive and celebrate who we are.

And as always, we remain effortful in revitalizing, preserving, and promoting Liberian Languages.

What are your thoughts?