LSA Malmö Chapter Hosted 2019 Liberia National Flag Day Event in Sweden

August 24 is Liberia National Flag Day, a day set aside to commemorate and celebrate the adoption of the Liberian national flag. This day is usually celebrated in grand style among Liberians living in Liberia and abroad. Speaking of such, Liberians living in Malmö, Sweden third-largest city came together under the auspices of the Liberian Swedish Association, LSA to host this year National Flag Day Event in Sweden.

According to Statistics Sweden, Malmö is home to 316,588 inhabitants of which several Liberians are part of. Historically, Malmö is considered one of the earliest and most industrialised towns of Scandinavia, and the sixth-largest city in Scandinavia. Since the construction of the Øresund Bridge (an approximately 16 km long road and rail link between Sweden and Denmark), Malmö has undergone major transformations with modern architectural developments, and has attracted several new biotech and IT companies, and particularly students through the Malmö University. Moreover, the city contains many beautiful historic buildings and parks, and also known as the commercial center for the western part of Scania - the southernmost province of Sweden.

According to several Liberians living in Malmö, the city is a beautiful place to live and since it is closer to Danmark, they usually travel there for brief visits especially during weekends whenever they feel the need to change environment. Some also revealed that the city has increased of job opportunities, which makes it easy for Liberians to obtained jobs and become fully integrated and self-sufficient in Sweden.

With regard to the National Flag Day Event, the day was hosted in collaboration with a reconciliation meeting at ”Pildammsparken”, one of Malmö’s most beautiful and popular parks. The park is known for its beautiful landscape and a mixture of natural flowers. LSA President, Mr. David Ford, along with the head of LSA Sports committee, Gad S. Jaryenneh traveled from Stockholm, the capital of Sweden to Malmö to be part of the occasion. Also at the event were the interim leadership of LSA Malmö chapter, co-headed by Mr. Charles Massaquoi and Madam Susanna Leith. In addition, several Liberians from Malmo city, including LSA Queen, Miss Ayo Wuo were present to commemorate the event.

The event started off with a brief meeting to discuss issues of differences and to craft strategies of reconciliation to facilitate Liberians in Malmö to overcome their long-lasting differences for the sake of a better and unified Liberian community in Malmö. During this time, Mr. Ford encouraged Liberians to put aside their differences, continue to work closely with LSA and its entirety for a better and unified Liberian community in Sweden. He also encouraged them to be proactive in their efforts to encourage more Liberians to come onboard the LSA Malmö chapter. Also speaking, on behalf of the LSA Malmö chapter, Mr. Massaquoi thanked everyone for coming out to be part of a historic event, intended to reconciled Liberians in Malmö and to make LSA Malmö chapter great again. He also expressed his gratitude to Mr. Ford and Mr. Jaryenneh for traveling from Stockholm to celebrate with them. Mr. Massaquoi added that he and his co-leader, Madam Susanna Leith will work diligently to keep the community vibrant and united. In addition, several Liberians expressed their views and asked questions on issues pertaining to their community and LSA. Mostly, Mr. Ford responses to these views and questions were in efforts to clarify doubts and reassured the community that the best way forward for all of the Liberian communities in Sweden, is to be united and committed under one LSA.  Afterward, the meeting was followed by a grand celebration with nice Liberian music and serving of delicious Liberian dishes and variety of drinks.