Rolanda DeShield

Be kind to each other. Children need to be respectful of their adults. They need to listen to their parents and teachers and be kind to each other.

Rolanda DeShield

My name is Rolanda Deshield. I was born May 31 over 30 years ago in Monrovia, Liberia, located in West Africa. We had the rainy season and the dry season. I was the cutest little baby in the family. My grandmother would sew all my clothes.

Liberia is the oldest Republican country in Africa, founded in 1876 by free slaves from America. Our first President was Joseph Jenkins Roberts. The capital city is called Monrovia named after James Monroe, the American President who helped the people form the country. Our constitution is similar to American constitution. Our flag has 11 stripes and one star, which represents Monrovia.

When I was five years old I went to school. My mom was a teacher. I got to go to school every morning with my mom. I remember going to school to draw, color, sing songs and write poetry. The school was so similar to the school here. All through school I loved school. I went to a Catholic Junior High School. The teachers were nuns. It was so strict in school. I went to a Methodist High School. My family was Methodist. I then went to college and it was great. Now I took classes and made my own decisions.

After three years in school something terrible happened. We had a coup. My stepfather was the Finance Minister. When the coup took place he was arrested and put in jail. The military people executed President Tolbert. It was so sad and all of a sudden my whole life changed. We went to another city with an aunt and all that night there was shootings and killings. The only thing I had was the clothes I wore. Our home was destroyed. Everything was in chaos. That was in May of 1980. I had to leave because my country wasn‘t safe anymore. It became a dictatorship. There were no jails or courts anymore. The person who had power was the person with the gun. They would kill and get away with it. My mom went to the embassy of America and got us a visa. This is a travel permission to leave and enter another country.

I had to leave Liberia and come to America. I was 21. I was fortunate enough to come to Minnesota because my uncle lived here. It was cold here. I went to California and went back to school. I finished my degree. I started to work for a bank. I got married and had two boys. I stayed in California for 15 years and loved it. Then, things didn’t go well. I got a divorce and left California and I came back to Minnesota. I hooked up with my high school sweetheart. Now we’ve been married for 12 years. My oldest son is Ricky, my younger son is called Ryan and my daughter is Renelle. My name is Rolanda. R is the pattern.

I came to work at North Junior High in Hopkins. I was hired to be their learning coordinator to work with 7, 8, and 9 grades. I helped with homework and problems. After I worked for a year a two I went back to school to Concordia. I will be a licensed ESL teacher. I’ll be able to work with kids. I am so thrilled. I love making a difference in their lives.

My favorite place is Liberia. So many good things happened to me there. I hope my country will become stable where people can return home. We all want to go home and see our friends and be comfortable and safe. The U.S. wants Liberians to go home and help rebuild their country so they can be independent again. They have a democratic government. Now we have a lady President, the first female President in the continent of Africa. Still there’s no electricity in the whole place. No running water. She is trying her best. She is working with people outside of Liberia to help bring all those things that the terrible people destroyed and took out.