Liberia Updates - Saturday summary

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Today being Saturday meant that everything was very relaxed. Turns out that despite the relaxed pace, it was the better of the first three days for productivity. More rain and the Saturday ‘tude made for an 11:30 start, which allowed me some time to connect to the Internet and answer a few key emails.

It also offered a relaxing time of coffee and conversation with a few of the LBTS faculty members. I am coming to understand their way of decision-making and measuring progress through these conversations. Here in Liberia, the civil war may be over for 6 years, but it frames everything.

• Why is that building falling down? Because of the war.
• Why can’t you get electricity nationalized? The government has to be rebuilt.
• Why can’t students get here on time? There are too few roads.
• Why don’t you just partner with an American school for some online course work? Because the power isn’t on long enough for consistency and the internet connect is too slow.

The list goes on, and it all points to the infrastructure that was once solid and aiding the emergence of Liberia as a place of economic opportunity but is now laid waste by war. The government buildings have been burned. The airport is now run through the former cargo warehouse/terminal because the passenger terminal was destroyed in war. Land and real estate were seized by the government through imminent domain, leaving the formerly affluent in a state of poverty. It is impossible to estimate the loss of intellectual capital – how many brilliant minds with limitless potential were blown away at the end of a gun? How many wizened and experienced people are no more because they were macheted to pieces?

I’ve been in the third world many times and have stared straight into the face of systemic poverty. This, however, is a different kind of poverty. Nothing here is untouched by war, especially the people. I’m told here, “It takes hundreds of years to build a country, but only one year of war to destroy one. We had sixteen years of war.”

And yet:

There is a glimmer of hope and optimism. There is a sense of joy that abides, and some say that the lingering peace is re-creating the trust necessary for people to do the work of rebuilding and personal investment. In no way can I say whether that’s accurate in the short time I’ve been here, but I do see signs. For example, there is new construction underway. A lot of it is going on, though I’m pretty sure little of it would meet OSHA safety standards for workers. There are small storefronts with new signs and windows. There is an air of hope about the future among the students with whom I’ve talked. They see opportunity and want to bring change to their country. They don’t want more violence, and all the political rumors are that the current president, Ellen Sirleaf, will be reelected quite easily this coming Fall because she is trusted and seems to be working toward restoration and against corruption. There is much talk about modeling the country and its businesses on Western models, perhaps to a fault.

My basic conclusion is that these Liberian people have the talent, natural resources, and the hope to see their country rebuilt into something better than before the war. The question of their will and drive remains to be decided. A lack of unifying vision is present. The question of American aid also remains. Naturally, the complexity of the situation leaves me wondering just what America should be doing, if anything. We are invested here and owe at least consideration for the way in which this country served as our dumping ground for freed slaves of the 1800’s. The country is US friendly and follows US Foreign policy on most practices. They are our friends, they are, in fact, our kin.