COWEA History

COWEA was formed in 2015 by Romeo Dennis based on an desire to help women and children who were widowed and orphaned by many years of civil war in Liberia and then an Ebola outbreak in 2014.  Romeo attended Asian Research Institute (ARI) in Japan during 2014, learning self-sustaining organic farming techniques.  Returning to Liberia in December 2014, Romeo saw the devastation caused by the Ebola virus and resolved to help as many people as possible.  He determined to start an organization that will provide for women and children; thus, COWEA was born in the spring of 2015.  We started with one community (Telbomai) of 48 women close to Romeo’s home in Voinjama city, Lofa county, Liberia.  We purchased land and cleared it for farming, then provided seeds, instruction and oversight for the women to learn self-sustaining organic farming techniques.  Over the past six years we have establish six more COWEA community farms, each in different stages of development.  Today Telbomai is completely self-sufficient as are two other farms we helped start.  Our goal is to provide food and income for women and children in need, empowering the women to care for their families through farming and education.  We provide the farms and teach how to become self-sustaining in agriculture and personal finances. This allows the women to grow crops and share the harvest among themselves.  Some of the women choose to sell a portion of their harvest, thereby earning money to send their children to school, helping to break the cycle of poverty and empower the next generation.      

COWEA is a non-governmental organization (NGO), registered in Liberia.