Landscaping Liberia, Rebuilding Lives

The school serves as an anchor for village life, so Rollet-Crocker focused her planning there. She began by siting trees in front of the school to create a shaded spot for town meetings and gatherings.

“We wanted to draw on the culture of the community to develop our plan, and it is part of their culture to meet under trees,” she said. Rollet-Crocker also drew up plans for a “palaver” house — an open, roofed structure built from raffia palm — that would shelter community events.

Rollet-Crocker augmented the lone recreational amenity, a dusty soccer field, with a play space, swing sets and a vegetable garden where the school could grow food for cooked lunches.

Her plan also routed the road to a parking area away from the school to ensure the children’s safety. Two homes for teachers completed the plan, though Rollet-Crocker reworked landscaping for the houses after consulting with villagers.

“My western idea of putting shrubs in front to ensure privacy turned out not to be necessary,” she said with a smile. “It’s a very open culture.”

In addition to planning, Rollet-Crocker met regularly with an environmental club, primarily boys in their late teens, to educate them about conservation issues.

“The primary challenge that Liberians face is the preservation of the rain forest, not an easy task for a country rebuilding from the ground up,” Rollet-Crocker said. She also helped students to document and conserve valuable plants, including the raffia palm, which is used in building native houses.

“I taught them to make maps, and many of the students were very talented artists,” Rollet-Crocker said. “The sad thing, though, is that many of them aren’t fully literate due to years of unrest.” The environmental club has begun to implement Rollet-Crocker’s plan, planting trees and clearing space for a play area.

Rollet-Crocker began her career as a park planner in Michigan and has taught in the University of Arkansas’ landscape architecture department since 1985. She helped found the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association, and has been active in developing two Bentonville organizations, the Peel Mansion Museum and Garden and the Compton Gardens. She is collecting books for the Royesville school, and hopes to return to Liberia next spring.

“Our faculty members are always looking for opportunities to share their knowledge and experience,” said Frances Beatty, head of the landscape architecture department. “Karen Rollet-Crocker has a long record of community service here in northwest Arkansas, and we’re proud to see her extending her planning and educational expertise to the global community.”

For more information on the Mercy Ship organization, please visit http://www.mercyships.org/.