Misc Thougts

Band playing covers in Royal Hotel

Today was another busy one. We got to the office (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) early and got to work. Basically worked all day but I got to get out briefly to head to the Ministry of Gender. I got to see UN Drive and the Executive Mansion and Capital Building. Still haven't made it downtown yet but we hope to go out this weekend sometime. Last night we worked in the lounge of Royal Hotel again. Tonight, it was packed with so-so Americans. There was also some American band doing covers. It was odd to hear and see. Entering the fenced in place takes you into a more "Western" world. I guess the Americans love that about places like that. I am recognizing more places but it's hard b/c the city is so crowded and many houses that I might recognize are hidden behind huge fences with razor wire. My hope is that someday, the country will be safe enough to lower the fences a few feet so that we can see the architectural beauty of our country.

I can smell the ocean from Sinkor and I can't wait to go to the beach!!! I was just telling a friend, one of my major concerns was to see whether I could actually live in Liberia once I came back. I believe I can!! I really could see myself living here, though it is extremely expensive...more so than the cost of living in DC. An American volunteer here told me that a box of cereal is $8 USD! But all we've eaten is Liberian food which is cheap and GREAT! I ate torbohgee, potato greens and today dry rice and fried fish.

Also, some new LIB lingo: my friend heard this...they needed air in the tire and the guy bent over and said "something embarrassing the hood." I also heard another person today say, " this guy keeps calling me and embarrassing my phone." TOO FUNNY! It's now 8 pm and we're still at the office, so there is def work work work to be done. We're about to head home then back to the hotel lounge to do more work!


All taxis had their own personalization


Colloquium billboard in Monrovia


Folks playing football near Airfield

Our Satellite Office

Working at the Ministry is distracting and hectic. The bathroom situation is...how shall I put this..."hurrrrting!" It is a bit of a running joke that everyone holds their pee until they get home b/c the restroom is so gross. Thankfully, we've found a secret bathroom on another floor that is clean. I'm noticing a few egos here, and seeing how some people, young and old alike, speak to others. One thing I have always had a problem with in Liberia and regarding Liberians is the way some people speak to others whom they feel are beneath them. It really irritates me and I need to prove in my own actions that not all successful Liberians are have this elitist mentality.

Since we can barely get any work done at the busy Ministry, the de facto satellite office for everyone here is the restaurant at Royal Hotel. It's a nice spot with (sometimes-sketchy) WiFi, and an indoors restaurant as well as a deck outside, where you can find anyone from Liberians to Americans. The food isn't that great, and I wish they served Liberian dishes, but the atmosphere is pleasant. We also head to Palm Casino at night to either work or to just wind down with a drink. The view from Casino's top floor is nice! The Chinese Embassy is all lit up and you can see the ocean from there as well. I wouldn't mind having a home here on Congo Town Back Road. One day o, one day.


Debra in our office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs



Front of Royal Hotel's restaurant


Deck at Royal Hotel's restaurant


Inside Royal Hotel's restaurant



Restaurant at Palm Casino

About the "Colloqua"

Sunset one evening leaving the Foreign Ministry

As I said before, I am in Liberia to volunteer for the International Women's Colloquium. This will be a two-day event that will bring together 400 local and 400 international women to exchange ideas, impart knowledge and to establish the Angie Brooks Centre in Monrovia.

I am working in the Office of the Secretariat, at the Foreign Ministry, with the event planner, Maya Padmorem, under the manager, Yvette Chesson Wureh. Climbing the stairs up to the 3rd floor where we'll be working, I know that between sweating like a hog and the stairs, I'll HAVE to lose some weight here. :-)

There are several American women working there but mostly an all-African team. It is nice to see women empowered and making it happen. I am tasked with taking over the registration process, which is handed over to me in a disorganized mess. I have my work cut out for me now.



Traffic on my way to work



On my way in to work at the Foreign Ministry.
View is of the UN Headquarters

Day One in Liberia

Everyone has a bike, or 'pehnpehn' in Liberia now.


It's my first day in Liberia and I went out onto the porch to take it all in. Two lovely women live with Maya (Comfort and Sonnie), whom I can see befriending before this trip is over. Comfort takes care of Tiger, Maya's son, and Sonnie is the best cook in the world.

I look over the balcony and see children going to school in their two-color uniforms, market women walking with their load atop their heads, and boys wheeling goods in wheelbarrows. I'm in Sinkor, at Payne and 18th street (beachSIDE) and I can see the ocean from here. The main road, Tubman Blvd., is brand spanking new, but the side roads can cause whiplash! I've missed seeing the red-dirt roads but abhor the stench in areas where trash is dumped on the side streets. I hope that someday soon the government will implement a "clean your neighborhood' program where everyone chips in one day a month to clean up. We need it.

We're hitting the ground running and will head straight to work. We stopped by the Samuel Kanyon Doe (SKD) Stadium where the Colloquium will be held in two weeks. The infratstructure is in great condition! I remember it from before--it was the place I saw my first concert at (Reggae SunSplash in 19 oo oo.) and wasn't too surprised to hear that the Chinese had refurbished the stadium over the last few years.

There is a lot of work to be done and I can't wait. Still trying to get my bearings here and there is so much to do and see!


Selling club beer


Kids going to school


SKD Stadium

Home Sweet Home

Shot of RIA as I disembark (I was also reprimanded for snapping this)

I am in LIBERIA! I just can't believe it...think I have to wake up after a full night's sleep to really believe I'm actually here. The experience at the airport, RIA, was much as I'd expected it to be. The arrival area looked dingy, small and out-dated, and wasn't what I recalled leaving at all (I came to later find out that the original part of the airport had been destroyed and this was now the airport). Everyone wanted "cold water," or their "dash" (some cash for you non-Liberians). I understand that the UN has been trying to alleviate the problem of begging and that it's currently much better than it's been in previous years.

Nevertheless, I came prepared with a pocketful of dollar bills for just this occasion. My first 'tip' was to the immigration guy, who said I had some issue with a 'missing' stamp in my passport. One dollar quickly made that stamp 'reappear.' I was standing in the line for Liberian nationals when a guy came to make sure I was in the right place (I guess I looked too American to be Liberian). But I proudly let him know in Liberian English that I have a Liberian passport.

When I stepped out of the airport, it was hot, but no hotter than any DC summer day. The smell was different, fresher, more organic (there's that word again). Everyone came rushing to ask if I needed help with my bags (I had to tip two airport workers who helped me) and if I needed a taxi. "No tenk you. My ma comin foh me," I say. There was an instant sense of bonding that happened. I was excited to tell folks this was my first time back in a long time. "Welcome home," they all replied.

I saw my mom and hugged her hard! Driving back was surreal. I didn't recognize much of the place, and getting into the city, I saw how crowded and packed it was. There were only a handful of places I recalled, like JFK hospital and the apt building I lived in once. Once we got to my mom's house--the house we spent many years in, I was amazed! The neighborhood had changed drastically (it's known as Liberia Las Vegas--and not in a good way either) and the house looks much like an older version of herself as opposed to the 'young' house I remembered. I ran to touch the tree I had planted as a child, that still stood in the yard. I smiled remembering how I used to climb that tree and hide from the world when things bothered me. The country may have changed, and I sure did change, but it was good to see that some things still remain just as I'd left it.

I arrive at Maya's place, where I'll be staying for the next two weeks. The apt is big and nice, and I'm updated on how things work around here: Lights go out from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm (with the exception of 2 hours during the day), and if the well isn't filled, water might run out. There is working A/C and we sleep goood at night!

As I lay down for my first night in Liberia, exhausted from traveling, I thank God for bringing be safely home. Outside my window, I hear Liberian English, and I smile to myself before crashing into sleep.


A cool tree on the way back from the airport


A cool tree on the way back from the airport


Sugar cane on top of a van

Touchdown!

I've reached Africa! When the plane landed, people actually clapped! From overhead, the aerial view was very different from that of the US'. There are no longer perfect geometric shapes, instead there are more organic, if you will, shapes. The green is greener, richer. The dirt is like spilled cayenne breadcrumbing its way to some unknown destination. The rooftops in Accra, Ghana, are more unique than any I've ever seen over the US. Not quite home yet, but o so close!


View of Ghana from plane


Welcome to Ghana

Over Africa!

After the longest, most boring layover in JFK and a plane ride seated in front of a baby that cried most of the time and kicked my chair when he wasn't crying, I CAN SEE AFRICA! Well, sort of. I'm above the clouds over West Africa, and through the breaks in them, I catch glimpses of the continent I was born on! The info graphic on board shows that we are over Cote D'Ivoire--I am SO close to home and all this feels like a dream.

I'm Leaving, On a Jet Plane...

I am sitting on a small jet--the smallest plane I've ever been on--on my way from BWI to JFK. This is but one leg on my long trip back home. I am filled with overwhelming emotions, just bubbling under the surface, for my trip home. I am unsure of what to expect but that makes it all the more exciting. Liberia, here I come!


The view from my plane in BWI.

In Preparation

I am going to Liberia in less than a week! There's been so much to do to prepare for not only my first trip out of the Continental US, but my first trip back home since I left in May 1990. I was almost 16 when my father packed my sister and I up, one suitcase each, to go for the summer only, until things cooled down in Liberia after the fighting started in December 1989. Nineteen years and one nine-year-old son later, I am finally going to the L.I.B!

It doesn't seem real, but all the vaccinations, the malaria medicine, and searching for a suitable suitcase makes it more real the closer I get to my date of departure. I spent my last day, today, with my son (it is his ninth birthday) and plan to sleep anxiously, awaiting my flight.

I am going to Liberia to volunteer for the International Women's Colloquium on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, Peace and Security, hosted by Presidents Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia) and Tarja Halonen (Finland). My good friend, Maya Padmore, is the event planner and I've worked with her for months getting press releases out, writing for the website, etc etc. Now it is time to be on the ground and help. There couldn't have been a better set of circumstances under which to return home.

Liberia is on a precipice. After 14 years of civil war, the only pictures I see of Liberia show no familiarity to me. I have always planned to return home someday, not just to visit, but also to live. I am nervous about feeling as if my country will welcome me back in the way that I hoped she would. For 19 years, I've dreamed (literally) about Liberia. And as the years passed, my dreams would become more unfamiliar--my mind's eye struggled to recall places I knew well and my subconscious pulled images from a mix of opaqued memory and flighty fantasy. It is time now to put a 'face' to the voice that has been haunting me all these years and I'm more than ready to roll!


Spending my last day with my son on his birthday.