4:12 p.m., Oct. 15, 2007--Mamawa Fofana, a junior mechanical engineering major from Baltimore, was crowned Miss Liberia in the U.S. 2007-08, in July.

Fofana, Maryland's Miss Liberia in the U.S., competed against contestants from 12 other states. For the talent competition, she did a combined cultural, hip-hop dance.

As the new Miss Liberia in the U.S., Fofana will attend community service events to help raise money for Liberian causes. “I feel blessed and am happy to be the new title holder,” she said.

The scholarship pageant was developed and sponsored by Liberian United Women in Progress (LUWIP), a nonprofit community-based resource group headquartered in Philadelphia. LUWIP helped found the Miss Liberia in the U.S. pageant seven years ago as a way for young women of Liberian decent to embrace and promote their culture and demonstrate their talent, beauty and accomplishments.

Liberians began emigrating to the U.S. in the early 1990s when Charles Taylor led an army into Liberia and overthrew the democratically elected government, leading to 20 years of civil unrest that took the lives of thousands. The country stabilized after Taylor was overthrown and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was elected president in 2005. During those 20 years, a substantial Liberian community formed in the U.S.

Fofana was born in the U.S. after her parents left Liberia at the start of the civil war. She said she stays in contact with the Liberian community in Baltimore. “I do plan on going back to Liberia after my education to work on projects that will help further the development of the country since the war.”

Article by Barbara Garrison