HOTT FM Crime Watch donates Water and Food to WASSEC Students in Bomi

On Friday, May 19, 2023, a team from the Watch Hour Night Program or HOTT FM Crime Watch in Monrovia made a donation of 150 sachets of water and several bags of rice to senior students writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination or WASSCE at the Jenneh Junior and Senior High School in Bomi county.
For several years now, the Crime Watch Program has been helping to make Montserrado and other counties a safer  place at night from criminals. The Program on HOTT FM 107.9 is a nighttime phone-in radio program that receives dozens of calls every night from all across the country and keeps surveillance on community happenings, allows residents to report criminal acts and other life-threatening incidents ongoing and mobilizes law enforcement agencies to respond to emergencies and protect life and property.
It was during one of these nighttime phone-in that the program received calls from students and several residents in Jennah Town and other surrounding towns along the Bomi-Monrovia highway about the lack of safe drinking water and other basic items for the students as they sit for their exams.

The students and residents complained about the dire need of assistance. There are currently 65 students from various towns  in Bomi sitting for the WASSCE in Jenneh to include Hayes Mission, Jenneh #1, Demeh, Karnga, Bowein, Sass Town, Jenneh #3,  and Amadu Town. Other are Folley Town, Levuma Town, Bolobahn Town, Dorleylah Town, Zohn Tarr, Vincent Town, Bonjah Town, Legbeh Town, Golodee Town, Vaizoelone Town, Sayou Town, Vija Town, Bombor Town  and Gangama Town
The program host and Chief Executive Officer Zeze Ballah then used his radio platform to appeal to individuals both in Liberia and the diaspora for assistance to help the students.
Presenting the items, Mr. Ballah said his organization [Watch Hour Inc.] was touched by the plight of the students adding “ one who gives water, gives life”.
He emphasized the importance of listening to the plight of the students and responding promptly to their needs.
Mr.  Ballah stressed that education is not just about providing textbooks and classrooms but also ensuring that students have access to basic necessities that allow them to focus on their studies.
 “The provision of sanitary pads is particularly important at this time for female students sitting the WASSCE in Bomi as it would help address the issue of girls missing from school during their menstrual cycle,” he stated.
 “We’ll also be going to the Gertrude Yancy Public School in Klay, Bomi where a total of 23 students are also sitting for the exams to address similar needs in the area,’’ he asserted.
Mr. Ballah explained that his organization is not only about crime watch but also into humanitarian works adding “his team has also been helping pregnant women who enter labor during the night hours and have no means of transporting themselves to a health facility for safe delivery”.
 “We’re helping the government to reduce the issue of maternal mortality in the country,” he stressed. According to the World Health Organization, Liberia has a high burden of maternal deaths estimated at 1,072 per 100,000 live births.
He said the organization's general goal is to find, expose and amplify the life-threatening conditions of people, mainly women, children and physically challenged persons, and get prompt relief from their trapped situation by benevolent people and institutions and individuals in the country.
Due to the lack of available ambulances at night, Mr. Ballah said pregnant women run into labor and lack access to service. With no such help, some have given birth in the streets in Monrovia at night while the unfortunate ones and their unborn baby died. Other women he said suffer domestic violence, and in their pains and agony, help is often not in sight immediately. 
Children go wayward at night also and at times go on the run from harsh treatments at home. At night, the physically challenged persons face adversity and are often unable to get help readily.
 “My team has also been helping pregnant women with vehicles who enter labor during the night hours and have no means of transporting themselves to a health facility for safe delivery.’’
In some instances, Mr. Ballah pointed out  that the Crime Watch Team has gone to the extreme to pay the medical bills for pregnant women who cannot afford it.
Mr. Ballah also used the occasion to appeal to philanthropic organizations both in Liberia and the diaspora to help the Crime Watch Program with motorbikes and ambulances for its night operations.
Towards the rainy season, Mr. Ballah mentioned that more challenges to his team efforts are expected to get on hand. “It is against this backdrop
that I humbly appeal for assistance in materials of rain gears for the continuation of our all-important program”. He indicated that their work will be elevated to another level if the needed materials and  logistics are available.
He lauded everyone who contributed to funding the initiative, especially the Diaspora Liberians. “Words are inadequate to express to Bernard DJ Blue Benson who has made his radio station available to the Crime Watch Program to help reduce crime activities in the country along with the Liberia National Police(LNP) and render assistance to others in dire need, especially pregnant women”.
Receiving the items, Theophilus Boimah Qui, a senior at the Jenneh Junior and Senior High School,  expressed gratitude to the HOTT FM Crime Watch Team for the kind gesture, adding “the visit to their school campus by the crime watch team was a surprise”.
 “These items brought by the crime watch team will help us focus on the studies and exams because no student will be able to study his or her lesson on an empty stomach,” Mr. Qui said.
Another female student Veronica Kolie,  who could not hide her joy,  praised the crime watch team but emphasized that they [students] are in need of more food.