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!