Alice Diamond's Connection to Liberia
How Alice and her late husband, Doug, came to support locally led work in Panta District
Longtime SDWF member Alice Diamond often describes her life with her late husband, Doug, "in thirds": the first focused on their education, the second on building the resources that would allow them to give back, and the third on giving those resources away. It was a way of living grounded in their shared commitment to "looking for the good in the world."
That outlook quickly took them to investing in a project in Liberia. A friend first introduced Alice and Doug to Q Karmue's story after hearing him speak at Warwick's. Alice recalls that they "were interested in knowing what [their friend] came away with." That introduction would deepen their understanding of Liberia and lead to years of personal support.
Quanuquanei A. Karmue, known as Q, is a Liberian American author and the founder of the organization now called Panta Pride Foundation. In his memoir, Witness: A Civil War Through the Eyes of a Child, he recounts his childhood experiences during Liberia’s civil war and his family’s journey to safety.
For Alice and Doug, the book opened a window into Liberia's history and the work the Karmue family was leading there. Liberia's ties to the United States reach back to 1822, when the American Colonization Society established a settlement for free Black Americans, including formerly enslaved people, on land already inhabited by Indigenous communities. The settlement became the independent Republic of Liberia in 1847.
By the time civil war began in 1989, Liberia had endured nearly a decade of authoritarian rule and political instability. Two periods of conflict continued until 2003, killing an estimated 220,000 people - about 8 percent of the population - and displacing many more. Between 1989 and 1995, the country's real gross domestic product fell by nearly 90 percent.
The Karmue family's response began with children affected by the war. In 2009, Q's parents, Neyor and Fungbeh Karmue, established Christ Children's Home in Liberia to nurture and educate children who had lost family members during the conflict. Q later created Save More Kids to support the home. As the children grew, the work broadened to address challenges facing communities in and around Panta District, including food insecurity, economic opportunity, education, health care, and infrastructure. In 2023, Save More Kids became Panta Pride Foundation.
The organization's agricultural work is one example of that evolution. Panta Pride is helping bring more land into rice cultivation, including brown and red varieties that the organization hopes can create stronger markets for local farmers while expanding the local food supply.
Panta Pride has also undertaken construction of the Neyor & Fungbeh Karmue Medical Center in Garmu, where the closest existing facility is approximately two hours away by car or truck, Alice shared. "Just try converting that to how long it takes to walk," she adds, underscoring the barriers rural residents can face in accessing care.
Supporting Panta Pride became one way Alice and Doug put the final third of their life together into practice. They were drawn to the organization’s evolution and to the commitment of the Liberian leaders developing long-term solutions within their own communities.
“It has been great to get more involved with the group who are making real changes,” Alice says.
If you are interested in learning more about this work, please contact SDWF staff. We would be happy to connect you with Alice, who may even be able to provide you with a copy of Q's book, Witness.
Editor's note: The causes and organizations featured in this series reflect the personal interests of individual SDWF members and do not constitute an endorsement or grantmaking recommendation by SDWF.