This Can't Be Good!

At a guest house in Bong County: The cord for the TV was too short to reach the outlet, so the managers came up with this solution. Tell me if I'm wrong...but this can't be good!

When there are no working gas pumps, gas station attendents have to suck a bit of the gasoline up through the tube to get it flowing, and then quickly put the tube into the tank. (That's a one-gallon mayonnaise jar in his hand). This can't be good!

We were heading to Gbarnga at 120km/h (!!) when I took this photo of the taxi in front of us. This can't be good! Actually, this is not an unusual sight upcountry, and often the drivers even let one or two people sit on the hood. Gosh, where are the police officers when you need them? Oh, that's right - they don't have cars.

Shelter by Nature

Obadiah Gondolo is building a house out of sticks. He will make the walls out of mud, and the roof out of palm thatch. The whole process will take three weeks, and will cost him nothing since the kind landowner has let him have the small space in her yard for free.

Obadiah learned how to make a shelter out of nature's gifts when he enrolled in a free vocational training program offered by Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in 2005. "JRS really did well for us," he says, referring to himself and the 30 others who were in his class. "It's the first institution that really taught me something useful."

Obadiah and his family (wife and two children) look forward to moving into their new place, which, though small, will also include a little shop. They are among the last Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) still living in a nearby IDP camp in Salala, Bong County. Obadiah is from the Salayea District of Lofa County, but has chosen not to return until he graduates from high school. Because of the long civil war, however, he is still an 8th grade student at St. John Elementary and Jr. High School. "Before I go back to Lofa I will also learn to be an automechanic," he adds.

(Salala, Bong County, March 2, 2007)

Jerrilyn - Our Star is Rising!

Sold by a caregiver in exchange for a fish during the Liberian Civil War (yes, people were that hungry), Jerrilyn Mulbah was taken to live with an old woman in Saclepea, Nimba County. She was there for 2 years while her mother searched endlessly for her. Finally, someone recognized her picture as the little girl who sang in the Children's Choir in a Saclepea church.

Well, just look at her now!

Just as I knew she would, Jerrilyn made it to the Top 10 in the Idols West Africa singing competition. Our Liberian nightingale took the audience off its feet with a song by Aerosmith and won the most votes from callers in participating African countries.

If you live in Africa, catch the excitement on M-Net or Africa Magic. If you live elsewhere, visit Idols West Africa to see the auditions and Top 24 performances.

Fisherwomen at Work

I met a lovely group of women in Bong County using a fascinating method for catching fish. They line up their handmade nets, then wade towards them using their hands underwater to shoo the fish in! They will do this almost a hundred times to get enough little fish for a day's meal. (CARI Compound, Sunday, February 25).

Jerrilyn Mulbah: Liberian Idol

I've been watching the auditions for Idols West Africa and mostly laughing my head off at our aspiring singers. A couple of days ago though, a Liberian girl grabbed my attention and had me in tears and jumping for joy at the same time. Her name is Jerrilyn Mulbah. A sweet and pretty 23 year old with a beautiful voice and songwriting talents. She lives in Calabar, Nigeria, and has made it into the Top 24. Jerrilyn will soon be competing for the Top 10. Look for her story and see her audition on the website, and be sure to call in your votes when she performs in the next few days with Group 2! (and please forward this post to all your buddies!)

International Women's Day: A Sit-In at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia

The all-female Indian police contingent served as security along with female officers from the Liberia National Police (LNP) and the AFL (Armed Forces of Liberia).

Photo taken from inside the Temple of Justice, where a woman is not allowed if she is wearing pants.



Mrs. Massaquoi and the Girl Guides of Liberia. The three fingers signify honor to God, Country, and Self.




Perhaps change should begin with modification of this discriminatory and exclusive motto written in large letters on the Temple of Justice. How long will we allow it to remain as it is? Language is powerful. Simply remove the word "men" and everyone will begin to feel the difference as the new motto sinks into the psyche of our society: "Let Justice Be Done To All."

Picture Quiz

Can you guess what this is??

Nimba Portraits

Brothers in Butuo, Nimba County, where the Liberian civil war began in 1989


One of Butuo's most vocal activists for the rehabilitation and training of former combatants.

Laokay

This is Laokay, a pretty little Gio girl. I asked her brothers what her name means. They replied, "When woman in de house, de house can be hot." (Saclepea, Nimba County, February 18, 2007)

Saclepea Snapshots

Saclepea is one of the major towns of Nimba County. These photos were taken on Sunday, February 18, 2007)

Ma Kou? For some reason the people in your ad just don't look like the type to drink gin - and certainly not straight out of the bottle!
A small market laid out on the ground. Pasta, beans, salt and other items are wrapped up in tiny quantities and sold for a dollar each. Since our smallest bill is a $5 note the buyer must get at least 5 items.

Martha (in the sunflower blouse) and her daughters cut and bundle freshly picked potato greens and palaver sauce leaves to sell at the market for $10 a bunch.

Back to Buckets

It's back to bathing in buckets for us. Our well is apparently not deep enough to keep our water pump pumping water into our pipes for very long during the Dry Season. The "well guys" are digging to add three or four more cement culverts. They dig from the bottom, and all those heavy culverts fall down deeper. A dusty and muddy job!

China's President Visits Liberia

Today thousands of people lined the streets to welcome China’s President Hu Jintao to Liberia. There was not one protestor in sight, though my activist self had considered holding up a sign asking Hu to end human rights abuses in Tibet and free the Panchen Lama.

Despite the heat, the energy was high and the celebrations were genuine: President Hu’s visit was seen as yet another sign that Liberia is becoming a respectable nation once more, after 25 years of murder and mayhem.

From the comments overheard, it sounded like people were most impressed that Hu is President of the most populated nation on earth. I, for one, was happy for the promise of new schools and hospitals, and the cancellation of Liberia’s $10 million dollar debt. But I was also stunned by how easily we shift alliances. During Charles Taylor’s days we danced for Taiwan, who helped us when no one else would. But when the Chinese came bearing bigger gifts, Liberians simply turned to them with a wider grin and a more frenzied dance.

I hope it wasn’t actually that easy. I like to imagine that choosing to support the One-China Policy was an act done with gritted teeth for the good of the Liberian people who have absolutely no clue about China’s darker side.

I wonder what Liberians would do if they did know the facts. But I already know the answer: most of us would dance just the same.

For Better, Or Worse?

This is the corner of Broad & Randall Streets (the heart of Monrovia) almost two years ago. Recently, the long row of trees in the median, once majestic with their bright orange blossoms aflame all the way from Crown Hill to Snapper Hill, were cut down. The tiny booths too, where one could buy newsmagazines, were destroyed.This is Broad & Randall today. The trees are gone, and the luggage sellers driven off the corner (several months ago) with their black bags and rainbow umbrellas. The renovation isn't finished yet, but for now I miss those trees and the rich color we used to have at this intersection.

A Quick Update

I'm back home in Liberia after a nice long vacation in the USA. Mornings are cold and foggy, and there's a film of dust on everything (inside and outside) as the Harmattan wind is blowing from the North. The days are still hot though, and it gets dark around 7:00pm

The good news: Our pipes were fixed while we were away so we have running water in our home at last, having lived here for two years using buckets of water (sometimes muddy) from the well. Now that we have running water I don't know how we managed for so long without!

The bad news: Sometime before we left, our little dog Frisky was stolen, most likely to be killed and sold for meat. (Yes, that's a new reality here. People had to eat dogs during the war and some apparently developed a taste for it.) I just couldn't bring myself to write about it when it happened. And now, despite leaving him in 24-hour care, our other dog Skipper, who was a lovely lively white dog when we left, looks like a mangy stray with cuts and sores and patches of fur falling out, with flies following him everywhere. We are keeping him in the yard and nursing him back to health.

The Liberian Ski Team

Hey, why not? Skiing is the only thing that can get me out in the snow willingly and joyfully. Here we are, me with Keyan and Tyne, at Ski Brule in Michigan last Saturday. We are now winding down our month-long vacation which was full of lots of firsts for the boys. They truly enjoyed being in a Winter Wonderland (Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan) and, because the winter was unusually "warm", I didn't mind being in the US as much as I thought I would. (This is our first Winter in 8 years!) A few more days in New York and Washington DC, and then we will head back to hot and sunny Liberia where I look forward to a New Year of living, loving, learning, and blogging.

Twilight in Foya

View from a hill in Foya City, Lofa County

Mob Violence in Broad Daylight

On my way to the Urban Chateau for lunch today, the talk in the taxi was all about an incident of mob violence that had happened this morning, in broad daylight, right on Tubman Boulevard in the heart of Sinkor.

Everyone had their own version, but the gist of it is that two people, a man and a woman, were using using a stolen car as a taxi and robbing the passengers. The victims chased them down, the woman got away, and the man was beaten to death right there on the street by a crowd of angry people.

"You ain't mind, de man slippers still on de ro," the cabman said. I didn't believe it was possible, but sure enough, as we drove past Greenland Supermarket there they were - two yellow rubber slippers, thrown several meters apart.

Sunset at La Lagune

La Lagune is a nice new spot for swimming on Sundays. Even swollen with Rainy Season water, the lagoon is less than five feet deep (and maybe waist-level when it hasn't rained for a while). They have tables shaded with rainbow-colored umbrellas, drinks, beach volleyball, and large inflatable boats for hire. We like to stay until sunset. (Congo Town Back Road, Monrovia, LIBERIA)

Car Shopping

Prompted by stories upon stories of violence and robberies after dark, plus the difficulty and indignity of running and fighting and pushing to get a space in a crowded taxi on Broad Street at the end of the day (since even the taxi drivers are too afraid to let anyone charter them), I spent the morning looking at used cars for sale. There was not much of a choice, and the lowest price was about $3,800 US Dollars. Just as I was considering happily going back to the indignity of Broad Street rush hour, I saw a nice little white Nissan Sunny at the lot on Carey Street and the Capitol Bypass. It'll do just fine!

Rogue, Rogue!

After several attempts, rogues finally broke into our yard two nights ago. They broke into Shaun's truck and stole the radio, and they cut the screen of our porch and came in for the plastic chairs. Nothing major, but still unnerving considering the fact that we were at home, and that we had two security guards on duty who were supposed to be awake all night keeping watch. The funny thing is I always get up to investigate every little noise, but I heard nothing. The good thing is Shaun has now been spurred into action on taking more safety measures. He got two fire extinguishers - one for our residence and one for his office, which is right next door - and he has hired a 4th security guard so that there'll always be three on duty. Today the welders are here building a tall wire mesh fence around the office and putting up another gate, all with razor wire on top.