Oh boy.....

I have been in Voinjama for four days now and I will be honest, it has been quite the adjustment of which I am still in the process. Liberia is intense. I keep trying to rationalize and reason myself with it but at the same time it is as if I can’t put a finger on it. During the drive on Sunday the weight of my decision started to hit me. After three hours on semi-paved roads, we made a turn onto a narrow gravel road which would take us the remaining five hours. Here, Steve (the VIA country director), turned around to me and said “this will be your nearest hospital- just remember it will take you five hours to get here.” (The International Red Cross is actually just down the road from the VIA compound, but there are only two doctors for the entire district.) We would continue our conversation throughout the trip, but all I did was accumulate a list of “Don’t”s: Don’t drink the water. Don’t walk around at night. Don’t go to the police if you have a problem. Don’t get into a helicopter crash. Don’t leave your door unlocked. Don’t get sick. Don’t die. And on and on and on. And as he is telling me these stories of how he came upon an accident once while driving back and he saw a little girl lying on the side of the road with her head split open and how just yesterday one of our field officer’s sons was hit by a car and killed and how just the other day a truck full of people and cement tipped over and 27 were killed and how during the war these very people we were passing on the road were forced into the bush (as if they weren’t already in it) and watched their children starve to death as they were forced to eat stray dogs, my stomach began to sank and reality began to set in. I am not in Kansas anymore.

I thought that I was prepared for this- I thought my experience in Uganda would prepare me for anything. But this is an entirely different ballgame. Post-conflict development is tricky, the people are traumatized, the infrastructure and economy are destroyed, and the people are completely dependent. The idea of sustainability is a foreign concept. What captured my heart about Africa were the people and the smiles and zeal for life. Here, that zeal has been squelched. I’m not saying that the people aren’t friendly (I am really enjoying getting to know my coworkers and look forward to getting to know the farmers) but there is an intensity about them that almost scares me. Each and every one has a story, and probably a horrendous one at that. Since I have been here I have met some of the other ex-pats in the community- the majority of them are working in the medical field (particularly mental health) and crisis management. While at dinner the other night one of the mental health clinicians was telling me some of the atrocities that the people of Voinjama and Liberia have suffered. Horrible things like gang rape, forcing a parent to choose which of their children would live and then killing them both anyway, the rape of little girls and little boys, parents being forced to watch, children being forced to watch, and the list just goes on. I watch the news, I read books, I know these things have happened throughout history, but I guess I have never seen their faces or actually met the victims. But now, everywhere I turn, I can’t help but wonder: what is their story?

Driving and getting out hasn’t been helping much. One of things about Uganda that I cherish so deeply is when I to go outside the atmosphere exudes vitality. Here, I am constantly faced with a UN checkpoint, a bullet-ridden building, or a “Welcome” sign that was obviously used for target practice. When I go outside and walk down the road I am greeted by the Pakistani Battalion UN Mission Force (the Pak Batt as they’re known around here) and their barbed wire fences, watchtowers, and tanks. I can’t imagine why they would possibly need a tank, even if Guinea (15 km away) is on the verge of a coup, but anyway. So while I am “safe” I am by no means at ease.

So, I am struggling but I am willing to give it a fair shot. We’ll see how things work out and if nothing else then I feel that I have already learned a great deal. But with the negative there is also positive and that is something in which I keep trying to remind myself.

The internet is practically nonexistent here and so I am fortunate to be able to post this while visiting another NGO. While my posts may be a little few and far between I will do my best to keep them coming. There is so much I have yet to write (my work, the house, my new roommate, etc.) but I guess those will just have to wait for another day. Thank you to all of you who have kept me in your thoughts and prayers- I treasure your emails and words of encouragement.

I've Arrived!

Greetings Everyone!

I arrived safe and sound into Monrovia, Liberia yesterday evening just as the sun was setting- it could not have been more picturesque. As I walked off the plane I was struck with the scent of woodsmoke, fuel, and......sunscreen? Perhaps it was the breeze coming off the ocean. The humidity hit me straight it the face and nearly took my breath away- quite a shock after the weather back home in Iowa! I felt as if I was right back in Iquitos, the Peruvian Amazon. A tropical country indeed. The aiport itself was about the size of the Ames airport and was filled with UN workers, trucks, helicopters, officials, etc. There were more mzungus (white people, although since they speak English here and not Swahili, they don't shout mzungu- they actually shout "White Woman!" or will refer to you as "bright") than I expected on the flight, but I would say 98% were affiliated with the church.

An hour later, with luggage and a stamped passport in hand, I finally made my way out of the crowed airport to meet Joe, the Visions in Action logistician, and self-declared first member of my new family. Awww. Now, they claim that they all speak English, but I can barely understand a word. I wish I could understand enough to give you an example of how they talk, but that would be impossible at this point. Joe and I had a good conversation on the hour long journey from the airport to Monrovia and what (I think) we talked about was how he used to be a refugee in Sierra Leone in the late '80s, he referred to Charles Taylor as "The Octopus" because of his far reach of terror, and how Liberia's new president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is an angel. When Joe was talking, I felt the landscape emphasized his every point. For example, there are no livestock (it was one of the first things to be wiped out during the war) and no powerlines (the power grid was also destroyed). Everything was dark. I think that is how I will always remember my first night in Liberia: DARK. In fact, I didn't even realize it when we were driving into Monrovia- there were some street lights which President Johnson Sirleaf had recently commissioned that are run by a large generator and a little more traffic, but otherwise I would have thought were driving away from the city as opposed to towards it. It is already apparent how much poorer Liberia is than Uganda- fewer people, fewer animals, less infrastructure.

Upon arriving at the Visions in Action compound I met my bosses/roommates for the next couple days.  I am staying at the compound (includes a house and an office) until we make the 10 hour trek north on Sunday to Lofa County where I will be based.  Right now the plan is that I will come back to Monrovia once a month to stock up on supplies (and preserve my sanity) using the UN helicopter.  This morning I met the staff and Steve (the country director, boss, and temporary housemate) briefed me on the various projects I will be working on.  There are about six different ones but nothing will be final until I actually get to Voinjama and talk with Akoi, the agricultural director.  For lunch Steve, Nat (the deputy country director) and I took VIA's brand new vehicle (I came on a VERY special day!), which was given to us by the World Food Program, to a Lebanese restaurant (the Lebanese have disproportionate control over the economy here- similar to the Indians in Uganda) and then they gave me a tour of the city.  Monrovia is small- smaller than Des Moines- but has quite the history as my tour consisted of "And this is the beach where President Doe lined up the 13 ministers and executed them in public" and "This is where Charles Taylor lived while wreaking havoc throughout the country."  For a country that has been through hell and back, however, I was surprised at how un-war-torn it looked.  If you ask anyone, they will accredit that to President Johnson Sirleaf.  

I actually got a little work in this afternoon as Nat and I went through spreadsheets of books sent by Books for Africa. VIA acts as one of the distribution centers and we actually have a big shipment from Oprah that we need to pick up from the port.  I am proud to say that my Iowa State education served me well while we were trying to categorize because I basically sorted each subject by the ISU "college" they would fit in.  Yes, I actually created a "Human Sciences" category.  :)  Let's hope it works!  We had a nice dinner back at the house (rice, fish, and collard greens) and then went to the beach for a drink. It was a beautiful way to top off my first day.

So folks, that was my first 24 hours in Liberia.  I don't know if my next posts will be as detailed or how frequent they will be, but I am happy to say that I am really excited about what the next seven months have in store.  I think I will learn a lot and who knows, maybe even contribute something.  I wish you all the best and look forward to catching up with you upon my return!

Cheers!