“I can’t find the right words to describe the community health workers. They are God-sent. God truly sent them to help people who are sick,” shared Shirley N. Teah, 38, while reflecting on the essential role of community health workers (CHWs) in Maryland County. She emphasized that without these dedicated individuals, like her assigned CHP, Sarah Poe, many community members would not have survived various illnesses.
“My family abandoned me, but the CHW and Partners In Health became my new family,” Shirley said.
My CHW treated me like her own. She has been more than family to me. She would call me regularly to remind me to take my medicines, sometimes as early as 6:00 a.m.,” Shirley recounted during an interview at the 4th International Community Health Symposium 2025 in Lake Shephard, Harper City, rural Liberia. Shirley was diagnosed with MDR-TB at the PIH-supported James Jenkins Dossen Hospital in February 2025, after having struggled with what she thought was pneumonia or a chronic cold for years.
Shirley sits with community health workers during the CHW 2025 Symposium Thailand at Liberia’s virtual center in Maryland County. Photo by Ansumana O. Sesay / PIH
PIH Liberia organized the Harper virtual gathering to decentralize exposure and foster inclusion at the local levels where our technical experts in community health reside. It brought together a diverse group of people, including patients and representatives from community governance structures such as Community Health Committees (CHCs) and Health Facility Development Committees (HFDCs), to view the symposium. Community health workers, community health promoters, community health assistants, community health nurses, the Maryland County Health Team, and faculty and students from William V.S. Tubman University also gathered. This inclusive environment illustrated the symposium’s core principle of “leaving no one behind,” ensuring that those at the forefront of community health were included in global discussions.
As an officer of the Liberia National Police (LNP) and a mother of three, Shirley believes that CHWs deserve robust support from the Government of Liberia for their critical role in reinforcing the health sector, especially in Maryland County.
The 4th International CHW Symposium provided a platform for knowledge sharing of best practices, research, and innovations in community health from across the globe. The symposium emphasized the vital role of CHWs in building resilient, equitable health systems, especially in crisis-affected communities. Held from November 12 to 14, 2025, under the theme “On the Front Lines: Empowering Community Health Workers to Create Equitable Health Systems in Contexts of Conflict, Migration, and Exclusion,” the symposium assembled over 700 participants, including more than 300 community health workers from around the world.
Kennedy T. Williams, a security officer at William V. S. Tubman University, noted the symposium’s enlightening nature and highlighted the challenges CHWs face globally.
“I want the government to pay CHWs. The people are working for us, helping people in the communities, so they need to be paid like other healthcare workers,” Kennedy stressed.
Shirley Teah poses with community health workers after the CHW 2025 Symposium Thailand at Liberia’s virtual center in Maryland County. Photo by Ansumana O. Sesay / PIH
Liberia was among over 68 countries represented at the recent symposium in Thailand. PIH-L, in collaboration with the Maryland County Health Team, showcased community health initiatives through three peer-reviewed abstracts, two posters, and one oral presentation, all highlighting the years of hard work to enhance community health systems in Maryland County. Topics included strategies for improving child health services and service delivery through community-based initiatives.
Representing Liberia at the symposium were PIHL staff members Bendu V. Sannoh, Anthony Blay, and Lassana Jabateh, who presented on crucial advancements in maternal and child health, malaria, TB, HIV, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), mental health, and neglected tropical diseases. Their findings on innovative approaches, such as structured escorts and community-based screenings, aim to improve patient outcomes in rural post-crisis contexts. By sharing these insights on a global stage at the CHW Symposium, PIH Liberia and its partners made significant contributions to the worldwide discourse on strengthening community health systems.
The event elevated the visibility of Liberia’s community health work, affirmed PIH Liberia’s leadership in CHW capacity-building and innovation, and reinforced the country’s role as a key contributor to global conversations on health equity, systems resilience, and community-driven care.
