Beyond the Palm Trees (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781505458985)

The author is a product of the Demographic Unit of the University of Liberia and Sir David Owens Population Center in the United Kingdom. He holds a doctoral degree in social anthropology; a master's degree in economic and social studies from the University of Wales; a postgraduate certificate in post compulsory education and training (PGCE/PCET) from Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University; and a higher diploma in psychology and criminology in the community. He is also a mental health first aider and a trained transactional analyst, specializing in stress management. The author was for many years, a school teacher at the Samuel Grimes Memorial Institute in Kakata City, rural Liberia, before becoming a senior statistician and assistant director for research and statistics at the then Liberia Ministry of Rural Development in Monrovia from 1980-1989. He was an associate tutor at the Cardiff School of Social Sciences from 2009-2011. He co-authored the research findings into the mental state of refugees and asylum seekers in Wales for the Welsh Refugee Council, entitled "Healthy Minds at Work," published in 2009. He has served in various capacities at the Welsh Refugee Council, including inclusion officer for refugee education and training (2010-2011), policy and research officer (2011-2012), quality information officer (2012), and subsequently advice case worker (2012-2013).The author also served as volunteer international welfare officer for the British Red Cross Society in Cardiff from 2000-2007, where he assisted with the tracing and delivery of messages to people separated by civil conflicts and natural disasters. He simultaneously served as volunteer administrative assistant with Oxfam Wales headquarters in Cardiff from 2000-2007, where, among other administrative duties, he helped take phone calls from potential donors and the general public in times of natural disasters, including the catastrophic 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.