I went to Liberia for work, fully expecting to find a bombed out country. I was not disappointed. My company has a team on the ground to help fix some emergency water problems. Think 1.5 million people with barely enough water for 20% of them, all served by a single, 40 year old, diesel-powered pump.
So far, Liberians have been very friendly, and nobody (except for some small kids) has asked for money in the street. Everybody seems busy with some work, and the streets are crowded with vendors, water sellers, people sweeping garbage, security guards, etc…
The president seems very popular, and those I’ve spoken to seem to want to give her time. Because people speak English, albeit with a strong accent, you can easily exchange ideas with them. In this way, it’s very much like Uganda . That’s where the comparisons end (besides the slight smell of burning plastic that hangs in the air) because Kampala is a first world country compared to here. I will take some pictures to show the devastation, but I’ll try to be fair and not pick sights that are particularly bad or good.
There is a weird thing about Liberia, is the non-African African-Americans, who are called “ Congo ” here, because they don’t belong to any particular local ethnic group, and are typically lighter skinned than the locals. The 13 other groups were barred (officially or not, I don’t know) from office and political responsibility for nearly all of the history of the country (since the mid 1850s, I think). They’ve recently regained some power. This all seems very complicated and would probably take years of study to understand.
Street in Monrovia
Another Street
Venders
View from Greg's Office
Massonic Temple
Main Street
More Photos from Liberia
