Traveling Over

I have arrived in Liberia and want to give the disclaimer that I'm delirious and typing on my iPad. On the way over I read "The House at Sugar" beach which is an autobiography by Helene Cooper who grew up in Liberian in the 70's and now writes for the New York Times.

Cooper was a descendant of the ruling elite created by freed American slaves who founded Liberia 150 years earlier. What struck me was how American her life was in Liberia. Her foster sister, a native poor liberian given up by her birth mom to be a playmate for Helene, lived in a three story house, were driven around in Lincoln's, grand prixs and other nice cars, worried about what to wear to the Sadie Hawkin dances, had crushes on the high school athlete, and tried to do their hair like Charlie's Angeles. In Cooper's innocent silver spoon life, she had no idea how much the native Liberian resented them until the coup in 1979 when rebels stormed their home, raped her mom, in exchanged for not raping her and her foster sister, and executed several of her family members and friend's parents broadcasted on TV. Her family successfully escaped and in the two suitcases she was allowed to take, she fretted over taking her Michael Jackson Album or Nancy Drew books.

This was the beginning of what would be two civil wars that would destroy almost every piece of infrastructure in the nation from roads, to hospitals, to schools, to any semblance of economy. Additionally, almost anyone with capital and intellectual knowledge fled the country.

This brings me to my other plane reading, the Liberian Poverty Reeducation Strategy. This 150 page document was a reminder that Liberia is basically rebuilding a country from square one since the end of the civil war in 2003 and more specifically since the election of the current president in 2007. This document covers everything from peace and safety, including protecting village women from rape, to rebuilding roads, the number one thing Liberians said they need to prosper, to the need to educate people as teachers before they can rebuild their system.

I'm looking forward to a good night sleep and getting out from the sanctity of our hotel room and seeing the projects our Liberian "Returnee," a termed used for people educated in American who have return to benefit their country, has organized for us. She's done a good job of pulling together a variety of projects at all levels and making sure we get everything from time to speak with diplomats to time in local villages, schools, markets, and clinics.