I was looking forward to being understood in England.  I was born in England and even though I moved to California when I was 5, I absolutely love the accent and don’t usually have a problem understanding it either.  Little did I know that people would have problems understanding me.  I tried to order a tomato on a sandwich and I was not able to pronounce it correctly.  After 5 attempts my uncle decided to step in and put in the order (at least he understood me! .)   I was trying to ask another woman where I could find the stairs in the restaurant to go the toilet.  She kept on saying , yes you can go up the stairs.

I guess the multiple viewings of the miniseries Pride and Prejudice have not improved my British English skills at all.

Unfortunately, my camera was stolen on the train ride.=(   Someone behind me asked me about a ticket so I turned around for a second to show my ticket (thinking it was a ticket collector) and the bag was gone.  I believe the person who was talking to me had a friend who took the bag. I didn’t even realize it was gone until I got into town.

Once I got off the train, a gentleman named Karim who I had earlier asked for directions told me he was going to Grand Place and he could show me the way so I started walking with him.  We walked into town and the tourist office was still closed so we sat down to get a hot chocolate. We were having a very nice conversation and I wanted to take a picture of him so I looked into my purse – and that is when I noticed the camera was gone.   It took a few seconds for me to realize it was stolen on the train and who had stolen it.

I was very upset- I had borrowed the camera from my brother and felt bad that I lost it.  Also, I was careful in Liberia but did not stop myself from taking any pictures – even going into crowded marketplaces – and nothing happened to the camera.  10 minutes on a train in Belgium and it was stolen! Luckily, I had uploaded most of my pictures from Liberia – the only pictures missing were the few I took my last day there.   And even luckier, they did not steal my purse, passport or other baggage. So in the end it was only the camera.

I should have been very relieved but unfortunately I tend to be very hard on myself so I started to get very upset that I let this happen. It’s strange how the mind works. I spent one month in Liberia and though there was so much going on -I had a lot of time to think and a lot to think about-I did not get upset with myself or mad at myself or berate myself once.  But one hour in Belgium and suddenly all the stupid things I have done in my life and mistakes I have made were racing through my head. I felt out-of-place and very uncomfortable in my skin.

Poor Karim – I know he could tell I was upset – and though he could not see these thoughts racing through my head, I am sure he could see that I felt lost. He walked me back to the train station where I filed a complaint (with his help since I don’t know French) and then he took me to a store to buy a disposable camera.  He was extremely kind and bought the camera for me, showed me a few places and even treated me to a delicious breakfast. I told him it was not necessary but he said that I just got back from volunteering and it wasn’t right that this one thing should ruin my day in Belgium and upset me on the last leg of my trip.

So many people welcomed me to Liberia and not once did I feel uncomfortable. 10 minutes into Belgium and I seemed to have lost the peace and calmness I had gained in Liberia and I was ready to head to the airport and wait for my flight– but because of Karim, I am so glad I made the trip.   He was great company and I had a nice time talking to him. But even more so, it’s rare to see people go out of their way for their friends, let alone a stranger.

Karim means generous in Arabic and he lived up to his name =) So thank you Karim – I ended up enjoying my few hours in Belgium and even though Grand Place was nice to see, and the story of the Manneken Pis (Little Pee Boy in Dutch) was quite funny, it’s the memory of your kindness to me, a complete stranger, that won’t fade.

Bonnie

In Ganta, I met Bonnie Hunt, who works for Journalists for Human Rights and Liberia Media Center.  She invited me to her home for a Christmas Party she was having for her staff.  We talked before the festivities began.   Bonnie trains local journalists on how to report effectively on human rights issues.  She is also a freelance journalist, and has some wonderful pieces on her blog.

I spent only 4 weeks in Liberia and only have a very small glimpse of international development and specifically the challenges of post-conflict development.  In this short time through it is clear how crucial it is to create sustainability in the local communities.  Journalists for Human Rights is empowering the local communities by helping to develop media that can create and inspire change and by training local journalists to produce content (instead of bringing people from abroad to be journalists).

The Christmas Party was fun – In Ganta I had a hard time remembering Christmas was near.  In the US, Christmas lights and decorations go up in the malls at Thanksgiving and there are constant reminders everywhere.  In most of Liberia electricity is rare and 24 hour access to it even more so.   I also had not heard any Christmas car carols on the radio.  The first sign of Christmas besides at Bonnie’s place was the marketplace, which was packed with people buying last-minute Christmas gifts.

Monrovia was different – there were lights up on the bridges, and decorations up at some restaurants.  And the marketplaces were even crazier.   In Monrovia, I was able to reconnect with both Sidi and Rosie.  Sidi invited me to join his family at a friend’s house, where they were having a get together for a friend Amadou, who was leaving for Washington DC.  Amadou worked at CHF International specifically at Liberian Enterprise Development Finance Company which offers technical assistance and loans to SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises).  Entrepreneurship will  vitalize the economy here and I hope programs like this encourage more Liberians to start their own businesses.

I met Rosie for lunch one day and it was great to see her again and catch up. By this meeting, I had heard quite a few horrific stories of gender based violence and the atrocities against children.  I spoke to Rosie about my experiences and the stories I had heard and we continued the discussion on violence against women and children.  There was a girl at THINK who had lots of marks on her back (I thought she had been whipped).  Rosie told me about the traditions in the “bush” which are areas outside of villages where many tribes live.  She said that they usually mark childrens’ backs with a knife.  In the bush the children do not receive an education and their marriages are arranged early.   They also do not have access to or they don’t seek medical attention and many get infected and die.

Rosie told me abortions are still illegal except when a woman’s life is at stake.  Recently, they were able to fight for an exception that abortion is legal when a pregnancy has resulted from a rape (with parent guardian approval).  I told her about my discussions with the students at school and how they mentioned they do not receive sex education.  She said that they have been working with the government to  include it in next year’s curriculum (starting September).  Of course the hope is that the government not only updates but also distributes the curriculum to the schools.  I am amazed by Rosie and feel privileged that I met her.

Jennah

Jennah Scott was born in Liberia but grew up in Atlanta.  She spent a few months in Liberia in 2007 and is now working in Monrovia for the Philanthropy Secretariat Office of the President.  The Secretariat works with philanthropic organizations in Liberia to identify  the best places for support and to facilitate partnerships between the government and philanthropists. Jennah was the only “repat” I met in Liberia and it was great to hear about her life in the states as a Liberian and her opinion of Liberia so far.  We discussed the difficulties of working in a community and country that is so used to receiving aid from NGOs and also from families that have left Liberia.  Is there a sense of entitlement, and a perception that there is no need to work because the aid will always be there?  And it is more complicated than that- many of the young adults (20-30 year olds) spent a majority of their childhood and teenage years in war, many victims of war- both as combatants and victims.  As NGO’s start to pull out or decrease their aid that is when we will see how sustainable the help has been.  I think Jennah and I both left the conversation with a sense of uncertainty mixed with hope.

And finally, on Monday I met another inspiring woman, Farzana Rasheed, who runs an IT company in Monrovia, New Liberia Technology (http://newlibtech.com/newlibtech/) and I thought it would be interesting to visit an IT consulting company in Liberia. Little did I know that we would end up spending 3 hours talking.  Farzana is Pakistani but her father was in the Foreign Service so she grew up in many countries.. Senegal, turkey, Romania..  She also worked in development for the UN in several countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan and then Liberia. In contrast, I have lived most of my life in California and besides this recent trip to Africa, have not traveled internationally outside of India (and England and Canada –if you can count that).

Farzana with her IT team

I ended up spending dinner with her and met two of her friends, Rebecca  and Haresh.  Farzana took me for a walk around downtown Monrovia the next day and I had dinner with Haresh and her that evening and also met with the two of them the next day as well before I left for the airport.  Like several others I met in Liberia, the 3 of them made me feel so welcome. I didn’t get a chance to see Rebecca again unfortunately, but both Farzana and Haresh treated me like one of the family since the day I met them.

Road to Karnplay

Schools    

 IRC participates in Education in various ways: training teachers, encouraging women to teach, youth resource centers, raising awareness, increasing enrollment and vocational training. One of my assignments here was to distrubte items to schools and assess the needs of schools, speaking with principals, teachers, students and other education professionals.    

One of the problems I mentioned earlier is that the government has not yet provided textbooks and curriculum to the schools. (According to the county education officer, the books should be distributed by mid January – but there is no word on the curriculum).   In many cases, there is only one textbook for the hundreds of students, and it is impossible for them to finish an assignment. In visiting the schools, there is a lack of space, especially in the lower grades. 100s of students fit into a small classroom.  In many cases, classes are held

Classroom in Garplay

There are so many needs and they cannot be met with the funds allocated to this project (this is the case in the  health and gender-based violence programs also). Some funds were given for school books and supplies and I am struggling with how to best allocate them.  I do not feel that we should use funds for items that the government will give for free.  But at the same time, if the government is going to take months to a year to give them out, should we wait?   Another issue is making sure that the items donated are used and used properly. Many times books that are donated sit on the shelves unopened collecting dust.  And other items like lesson plan books are given without any instructions, so the teachers do not know how to use them.    

I talked to a few students to find out what they think about school. and getting an education.  Andrew is 17 year old in the 4th grade in Yekepea.  His father passed away and his mother worked as a farmer on the pepper farm.  During the war, he helped his mother on the farm so he did not go to school for a few years.  His mother works very hard to help pay his school fees but she does not have enough money.  He studies hard and wants to be an English teacher in Liberia.    

Many students drop out from 4th to 6th grade, sometimes because they don’t want to go to school, others because they cannot afford fees.  And many of the girls drop out because they get pregnant. Mathusa is a 17-year-old in 8th grade in Karnplay.   She had to leave school for a while because she got sick with Malaria.   She said that many of her friends dropped out because of pregnancy.   Her parents cannot afford sending her to school so she usually asks people to help her to raise the $550/year school fee.   She wants to be a doctor.    

In Garplay I talked with some high school students about sex education. I spoke to Louise, a 19 year old in the 11th grade.  In her class there are only 5 girls and 85 boys, most of the girls dropping out because they got pregnant. Since this is such a huge issue, I asked if the students are taught sex education, on how to be safe and use protection.   She said that it was not taught in schools- that whatever she has learned has been through community programs, like the women’s centers.  Louise wants to be a gynecologist but she has a few hurdles to cross.  One hurdle is that her high school only goes up to 11th grade. The only high school nearby with 12th grade is in Karnplay which is already overcrowded.  In addition, the only universities are in Monrovia and most people cannot afford to go and live in Monrovia.  There are scholarships available, but those are usually prioritized by special interest and the people who should get them do not get them.   

The unemployment rate in Liberia is about 85% (though this seems to be the rate in 2003 as well so not sure how accurate it is).  There are not enough professional jobs out there so it is difficult to empower kids to study when the incentive is not there.  However, many kids want to get an education so they are prepared when an opportunity presents itself.  

It was great to meet the students, talk to them about their hopes and dreams,  learn the difficulties they have gone through in life and what motivates them to stay in school.  My hope is that all of them stay in school and  achieve their dreams, as this generation is the future of Liberia. Health   

In Monrovia, I met with the Health Coordinator, Dr Tahlil who explained the health program and said that health staff need to learn how to use what they have efficiently. The three most important things needed for great care are prompt diagnosis, prompt referral and prompt transportation. Prompt diagnosis is difficult without qualified staff and Dr Tahlil estimated that only 31% are qualified. Unfortunately, when a lot of people get training, they end up leaving for jobs elsewhere and don’t stay to work in the local clinics. Prompt transportation is also a huge challenge first because of the horrible roads and because many people do not have the means to get to a hospital/clinic on time.   

Crowded Maternal and Child Health Room

 However   

 With all that is lacking, children are going to school; many have come back after years of being out of school due to the war, illness or other factors.  Students want to be educated, learn and make something of their lives: as a doctor, teacher, auto mechanic, electrician.. etc.  In Sokapa, they are using a government building as a school.  The school is very small and some classrooms only have enough space for 6 students.  The town has worked together, raised some money and is doing the construction themselves.   In Monrovia, students go to school in a church. The community has come together to build a school.  When the community and families get involved, then it stresses the importance of education to everyone., especially children.  

Clinics are crowded, but people are coming – using the free services for vaccinations, immunizations,  for pre natal and post natal care.  There may not be running water, but the water used is clean.  Rooms and instruments are sterilized. Staff  are trained to teach patients about preventive care- how to prevent malaria, treat diarrhea, malnutrition. Patients can come for HIV testing and counseling.  

As I was walking through the clinics, I had in mind what Dr Tahlil told me, that they need to learn how to use what they have efficiently.  The clinic that uses a bathroom as a delivery room: as I walked through it, I noticed that they had quite a bit of unused space.  One big room was partially used to hold files, but the rest of the space was not used at all.  They also had a couple of areas which could be used as storage, and free up space in the clinic itself for patients and patient care.  Along with another staff member at IRC, we talked to them about their use of space and asked them to think how they could utilize it better.  I said that moving forward, there was no reason that another delivery needs to be done in the bathroom.  At another clinic, the staff mentioned they do not have any space for a delivery room, but as I walked through I noticed the same thing, that the space they have can be used more efficiently.  The items we are able to provide will not solve all their problems, but I do hope that they can look at the resources they already have and realize that some of the needs can be met.  

In January and February, I will be working with IRC staff to see the estimated costs of items, give my assessment of priorities and hopefully come to a final decision on how the money will be spent.

A coworker told me that marriage was important in Liberia, especially for women and the status of women.  Then I started to realize that many couples live together, have families for years and never get married, or get married much later.   According to some of the men, marriage is very expensive (costs up to $3,000) and many cannot afford it.   My driver Franklin has been talking about his wife and kids for the past two weeks.  Today I asked him if he was married.  He said no but he was “legally loving”.

In Liberia, kids as young as nine were given AK-47s and other weapons and sent directly to the front lines with no training. This was done by both the government and rebel forces during the civil wars. The kids only had one choice, to fight or die. Many child soldiers were killed or wounded.    For those that survived, they spent up to 15 years fighting and violence and power over others became an integral part of their life.

Innocence was destroyed during this time; there was no such thing as a childhood for many.   Girls were abducted and forced to become sexual partners of the abductors.   For those children that did not fight or were not abducted, they were working,  or in refugee camps and watched their country destroyed right before their eyes.

In the last three weeks,  I have had a chance to speak to quite a few Liberians about their lives during the war, or what their lives are like as a result of the war.   Some are not much older than me and were going to school and supported by their parents before the war.  During the war,   they lost their parents and had to work to support the family.   Others lost everything,  home and businesses, and the kids had to go to work to help support the family, putting aside their education, and any dreams they may have had for their future.   Many were separated from families and lived in refugee camps in Guinea or Sierra Leone.   As one mentioned to me, the women who went to refugee camps had it much easier. The ones who stayed back in Liberia faced assault, rape, etc.

As I have been traveling through many towns and villages, I have seen what guns and the war have destroyed: mosques, churches, schools, businesses, and homes. These destroyed buildings are a small symbol of what has been broken and lost during the war.

Mosque destroyed in war

I spent most of the weekend lying on the couch, watching movies on the hallmark channel, reading and sleeping.   I planned to work this weekend, update my blog and upload more pictures, but had no energy to do so (the internet was also slow).   I do feel a little better but not 100%,  though I have a packed schedule this week especially today and tomorrow.  I am heading back to Karnplay and then Garplay, where I will not have any access to internet.    I hope to have an update by mid-week.

By last Thursday the 3rd, I had most of the next two weeks scheduled out.  I had several towns/villages to go to, health clinics, women centers, schools to visit, and it had to be carefully lanned out becuase of staff schedules and travel time.   My original plan was to leave Ganta Friday the 4^th to go to Sanniquellie, the capital of Nimba County.  And on Monday I would start distributing items and visiting health clinics, schools and women centers. But Friday came and I took a look at the items and realized that the checker boards we were going to distribute to the kids were not sanded properly ( the kids could easily get splinters). I also had to work with the program manager of education to figure out some criteria and realized it was easier to do it face to face than on the phone.  So I decided to leave Sunday.

Sunday came and went and I could not go because the President of Liberia was in Sanniquellie , so the drive would take too long because of all the check points along the way.  So I decided to leave Monday. (Ever since I got here, I have learned to be flexible and open to anything and not be too attached to any plans). On Monday the plan was to do the first distribution,of mosquito nets to the Liberian Swedish Vocational Training Center in Yekepea.

Students at LSVTC

Monday morning came and I discovered that the nails and string to put up the mosquito nets had been ordered weeks ago but had not arrived at the IRC warehouse.  There is a process at IRC where a PO needs to be filled out for every order, logistcs figures out pricing and gets approval from a  manager, the item is bought and placed in the wharehouse.  Elizabeth   turned in the PO weeks before I arrived in Liberia but it was never entered into the system because of some internal confusion.  The frustration was that Elizabeth was never told there was any delay in the process so we assumed that the items were in the warehouse and we only discovered they were not the day we  needed it.  Without nails and string, there was no point for me to go to Yekepea, so my trip out of Ganta was delayed again.

I also realized that in order to get the checker boards sanded, I needed to put a PO for sandpaper (I wasn’t told this before), so I did that on Monday as well.  We also had backpacks with many items, notebooks, pens, pencils, markers, calculators.. etc but those had to packaged together.  So I wrote up a store release for that, and worked with the warehouse staff to put the bags together.

Recreation Equipment to students at Youth Resource Center

I did end up having a very productive week – In 4 days, I was in 5 towns/villages (Ganta, Sanniquellie, Karnplay, Yekepea, New Yekepea).   I visited 3 health clinics, 1 health center, 1 hospital.  I participated in another GBV event, had meetings with the Superintendent of Nimba County,  Ministry of Gender and Ministry of Youth and Sports, superintendent of Gbehlageh district and visited a Radio Station.  I also went to a school, youth resource center, and vocational training center and spoke to 4 students.

Women, men, girls and boys chanted in a local language Mano as they marched through the town of Saclepea.

Student activists

“16 days of Activism against Gender Violence” campaign began on November 25^th and goes to December 10^th.  This is an international campaign  with the theme “Commit- Act- Demand: We can end violence against women and girls”.   In Liberia, the theme is “Men as agents of change in ending violence against women and girls” and there have been many marches and celebrations across the country.

On Friday I went up with the GBV Staff for one such event in Saclepea.  The event started with a march through town.  Almost everyone was wearing a hat with sayings like “Women rights are human rights”, “Control your emotions, stop wife beating”, “Stop child abuse and sexual exploitation”, “Respect for women brings peace” and marched across town singing songs in both English and Mano.  It was great to see young boys and girls marching

Joining the march

A couple of days ago, someone mentioned a “tradition” in Liberia that when a younger sister goes to live with her older sister and husband some husbands will want the younger sister to act as his wife, and expect sexual favors from her.   If the younger sister complains, her own sister and society will probably blame her. We need to break this cycle of “traditions” and that occurs when you educate people, especially boys/youth since then we bring change to a whole new generation of men and women.

“Women today, women tomorrow, women yesterday – we are special people!”

Sun setting over the Ganta Market

I went out a couple times with the housemates, once with Pasteur (originally from Burundi) for dinner, once with Jackson (native Liberian)  for a drink. Many of the people who are working/managing the businesses were former combatants back in society. Since many of the combatants were children when they were given guns, there a lot of focus on disarmament and reintegration of the ex-combatants into society. 

I had my first taste of Liberia food in Ganta.  Mostly it has been rice with sauce (which is curry) and fish.  I haven’t had many vegetable dishes, but it has only been a few days. According to a few people I have spoken to, Liberia used to have a good agriculture industry, producing most of their fruits and vegetables.  Now they mostly import  – though in Ganta we do get some home-grown produce. 

There is no hot water here, so I boil water in the morning  and mix it with cold water to have a lukewarm/cool bucket bath.  I like  bathing with a bucket.  When there was a drought in California years ago, my dad asked us to take bucket baths instead of showers to save water.  The last time I had a “bucket” bath was in San Francisco when I was not getting warm water in the morning, so I boiled some water and mixed it with the cold water.  The weather here is pleasant in the mornings and after the sun sets, but it is quite hot during the day.  Since there are dirt roads, even if you walk for 5 minutes, you get dirty and sweaty so I end up taking another bath in the evening as well. 

Henrietta, one of the staff here in Ganta,  gave me an African name – “Kineh” (pronounced kee-nay)  which she says means fine, well-shaped.  I started laughing when she said that, but I like how the name sounds.