On my way out

Thanks to all my readers who followed this blog while I was in Liberia. I had a lot of fun observing life in Liberia and writing it down, someday Ill come back and reread it all after I have had time to reflect on my stay here. Thanks again!

the Final Stroll

I took one last walk into the heart of Monrovia and snapped a few pictures, maneuver around the the beggars and ex combatants, and made it safely back home. Since it has been raining, the smells of garbage have increased, I gaged at one spot right outside my compound, I leave Liberia on Sunday, and only have a few more things plan before I am out of here. the four months have flown by, It seems like yesterday I was worried about my visa and what not. Now I am ready to move on and see how this experience has changed me, and to to hopefully live live full of gratitude. I dont think I fully know the impact this journey has had on my life, but I think I will soon know. Enjoy the pics. The first picture is looking up randall street from my compound, the second is a liberian music vendor, the third is a remeinder of where not to pepe, the last picture is of Providence Church on Broad Street,

Temple of Justice

I get to Monrovia and renovations are finished at the Temple of Justice, I like to think they built it because they knew I was coming, even if they did misspell it. As I took this picture, the driver at the time (Thomas) said he didnt understand or like the Justice System becuase how it had to work so hard to provide proof and how things take so long and how corrupt judges are, I was astonished, knowing how a decent judicial system can work, yes it takes time to lock away criminals but those who are innocent can prove their innocence!

Then again I havnt grown up in a society where the Government is wholly corrupt as are the officials down to the policemen, there is little trust, and I understand, even though I DONT, how the 14 year civil war on top of 30 years or more of corruption.

My favorite signs

"Do not Urinate here" or Dont PePe here typical sign all over Monrovia except most misspell peepee...

Monrovian Field Day

Today I attended a Field day behind City Hall put on by one of the NGOs in town. As we walked up to the pitch (soccer field) I noticed a LARGE crowd of people obviously upset because a front end loader was "levelling" the field stopping valuable soccer time. The first part was a girls kickball tournament. why the girls can't play soccer I dont know. But it was probably the first time the field had been cleared to let girls play on it. A group of local footballers through a fit about letting these people on 'their' pitch and had a minor sit in in the the infield preventing play, there was a giant discussion(2nd picture) and they cleared off. The girls got to play in front of a huge crowd. I think this is a neat deal, because the girls/women of Liberia face a daunting challenge as most of the violence is done unto them.

View of Monrovia

I know Ive talked about the trash around Liberia, so I thought Id give you a picture of some of the trash, this picture is standing under the bridge over providence island. the river is the Montserrado River and the shore is lined with trash and underneath the water is lined with trash. People were out throwing cast nets and setting crab traps right along the trash.

An enjoyable evening

The internet has been out at our compound, and since I have not had it, I have found other things to entertain me. Last night, a Thunderstorm blew in off the Ocean and I sat out side and just listened to it thunder and watched some spectacular lightning. After a hard day, it was nice to sit and just relax. The day was hard because I had several people ask me for money, and one of which was one of our drivers, who followed me home and talked to me there. It was a bit overwhelming to have several people ask you on the same day. I am growing tired of being a "target", (not in danger) to people, in other words I stand out. I have a short time left here, and my goal is not to look ahead but to do the best I can here, and now.

The Rainy Season

The rainy season seems to be upon Liberia, and right now its quite nice, the temperatures have dropped out of the 90s and the humidity, along with the smell has decreased. It rains during the night and gets cloudier earlier. Will put a dent into pool sitting, but the cooler temperatures are nice. Once it reaches full force I hear it just rains everyday, all day. I hope it doesnt get that bad while I am here. I can imagine the Rainy season being very miserable to the normal Liberian who lives under a tarped roof with dirt floors. I don't think it floods here too bad, or that would really make things difficult for the locals!

a local market

The local markets are the life blood for many Liberians, and one can find a wide variety of items at prices that are affordable for most Liberians. The price of rice is going to continue to rise, and soon I believe most wont be able to afford that. The first floor had non meat food items along with clothes and other necessities. The second floor had tables of meat, chicken, fish, and bush meat (anything not beef, chicken, or fish) The above picture is that of a hand of whay I think used to be a monkey. This piece has been pulled off as are most items into small servings costing 5 Liberian Dollars, (10 cents USD) or the smallest bill that Liberians can use. Most people live on 60 LD a day (one USD). I couldnt stay long on the second floor because the smell of fish and bush meat was almost unbearable to me. The vendors weren't forcing us to look at anything, like most of the vendors around the expat hangouts, and I think most werer suprised to see us there

View of Monrovia Part III

This is a view of Broad Street, one of the main streets in Monrovia from atop the Ducor hotel. Monrovia is a slender piece of land surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and swamp/Montserrado River on the other. Haze covers the top.

On a sad note, walking to work today I saw a kid kicking a plastic water bottle, kids use anything and everything as a soccer ball, and a car came by and crushed it. He was devistated. I helped him find a new waterbottle among the trash which he kicked on down the street. I have never seen a more crushed look on a face when the car ran over that bottle.

Harper

Just got back into Monrovia from Harper, and it was a good trip. I was able to gather enough information to write 3 success stories. Harper is absolutely beautiful, yet building lie in rubble, the once proud home of former President Tubman. Its amazing to me that little has been done to rebuild. Some of the buildings are frames of once beautiful houses. The helicopter is a Russian made chopper and flown by Ukranian or Russian Pilots. The flight was hot, but only two hours long. Had we driven, it would have taken us 22 hours over two days. 12 hours the first and 10 the second, Ill take the helicopter any day!

here are a few pictures from our trip.

Census 2008

Liberia and USAID is currently working on the Census to count the Liberian people. Friday, March 21 was declared a National Holiday and all Liberians were to stay home to be counted. I was counted yesterday, March 23, 2008 and answered the questions. Today, at work I asked around and only ONE Liberian has been counted in my entire office. I know the census will be ongoing as the census people hit different areas of Monrovia and the rest of Liberia. As of now, there are 3 million people living in Liberia, and a million of those in Monrovia. I imagine this censuse will see a considerable increase in the population. I don't know how accurate it will be, or could possibly be given the situation and remoteness of most Liberians. Quite an undertaking. glad I was able to stand and be counted as an American in Liberia.

Dance

One of my favorite sights to see as I walk around is to see the children dance when they hear music that appeals to them. There are music salesmen who walk around pushing wheelbarrows filled with CDs and tapes and pump tunes out of a speaker connected to a CD player wired to a car battery. Kids of all ages will drop whatever they are selling or doing and dance, as if it natural. Then as soon as the music guy moves on, the kids stop dancing and go about there business. I think this could be used a metaphor for life. It does sadden me to see kids as young as 6 selling things!

This is the view of the 9th hole from the clubhouse at Firestone about 50 Km outside of Monrovia. Firestone Plantation produces most of the rubber for the now Japanese owned tire company. The course is nice, because it is CLEAN, and the ability to get out and walk 9 holes is just amazing. The 'greens' are oiled sand, which makes for putting nightmares for me, because it is inconsistent depending on consistency of the oil, the heat, and so on.
When you step out of your car you are instantly surrounded by 30 15-20 year old boys wanting to be your caddy. Ricks the pro knows us, and has 'assigned' caddies to us. Jr. has been assigned to me. He is a quiet 17 yearold, and I appreciate the quiteness, because when I do make a bad shot the other caddies tell you, "no, thats bad." Really? thanks I couldnt see that!
I ask him all sorts of questions, and he talks sparingly but I tip well, so he doesnt mind. I hope to continue to golf at Firestone!

View From Monrovia

Every morning I walk down Randall Street to the Jmart where I work, and I pass the Captan Rattan Center. Captan Rattan was a small-small captain or captan, I guess he hadn't earned the 'i' yet, in the Liberian civil war. I assume he once sold furniture but now his center is an autoshop like the rest of the shops on my end of Randall Street.

View from Monrovia

One of the more random statues that I have seen in Monrovia, and I can't figure out what it is symbolizing. I think it has to do something with distress because the face of the women is one of horror. I can't tell if it shows the horrors of women during or post war Monrovia. I hope to find the meaning of this and also to take more pictures around Monrovia.

Cultural Difference part III

I attended the funeral of our co-worker last Saturday (3 weeks after she passed away) and the funeral was quite different than anything I had ever seen. We promptly arrived at 9:15 expecting traffic and for a 10 am start. Everyone else showed up at 10:00 am and started singing Hyms (Church of Christ Style) and the sound people and the video crew all set up. I didnt recongise the first few hyms but then they started Amazing Grace and that is sweet in any tounge, even Liberian English. after an hour of singing the crew was ready to start. Part of the service involved groups close to the deceased to give tribute. The group goes to the front, says something about the person, lays a wreath at the casket. The program had 10 groups for tribute. Two hours later the 20th group made its way to the front. We had been there for four hours in the swealtering heat and we left as quietly as we could to try not to be disrespectful. I think it is a correlation of how you lived your life and how many tributes you ahve at your funeral. However the difference was too much for me, as I think in America the wailing and beating on the casket and the tributes as well as the video cameras would just be too much for the familes.

Follow up Picture from Classroom

This is the same classroom I posted the other day, It makes it easier to think about teaching here when it is filled with little kids wanting to learn. It was fun to go to the classrooms and see all the smiling faces. This school received a small grant to spruce up the inside. It was painted a brighter color, and transparent roofing was put in to allow for more natural light to flood the classroom. It was a much needed improvement. This room is shared by two other ALP classes and are separated by dividers. This is an ALP Level I class. The ALP is an accelerated learning program that combines two grade levels into one level, so level I is grades 1 and 2. The teachers receive training on participatory learning so their techniques are better.

Solar Power

In the search to provide Liberia with sustainable power, Creative, has donated solar powered radios and lanterns for teachers and students to use in their night classes for overage war affected youth. The teachers use the radios to tune into teacher training broadcasts and the students use the lanterns to keep fuel costs low by not running the generators. (gas over 4.40 a gallon) The technology is still expensive but is sustainable! I think more of it should be used in reaching Liberia's remotest areas with light.

Shadow of a President

The traces of President Bush's visit to Liberia still remain, here were just two of hundreds of billboards noting the visit.