Tarmu in Lofa

hello hello to anyone reading this!  sorry for the lack posts, life is crazy busy up here.  thank you to everyone who wrote back to me after that last mass email.  i haven’t forgetten about you!  as they say here in Liberia, i’m coming.

a bunch of new photos of Lofa are up on the flickr site.  i’ve tried to include some captions so you actually know what’s going on.  i’ll try and get something new up here by the end of the weekend.

 happy Labor Day to all those in the USA!

i’m writing from the UNMIL staff welfare center amidst happy hour here in Voinjama.  this is a modular installation that is home to the watering hole/internet point/food provider for many expats and local ngo staff here. 

 this town is absolutely wonderful and work exceeds all expectations. over the past week we’ve held two “play days” where an average over 150 kids and 8 leader came out to lead structured play activities focused on peace.  today is a national holiday, flag day, so most operations are closed.  i did however tag along with a Refugees International research team to attend a briefing at PakBat-8 HQ at the new B2 base on their operations.  the battalion is unfortunately not very active these days aside from some humanitarian support and continued show of force throughout the county.  this afternoon i headed to the market (friday is the big market day here) and bought a little of the very limited food available.  the available produce consists of onions, hot pepper, potato greens, cassava, and the occasional plantain.  meat is extremely rare.

that’s all for now.  i’ll write more when the party isn’t raging here at unmil.

Tomorrow morning at 6am I head out to Voinjama, Lofa County.  I tried to highlight my route on the map, but I don’t have the tools on this computer.  Voinjama is all the way up in the northwest, close to the Guinean border.  If all goes well, the trip will take somewhere between 8 to 12 hours.

goodbye Monrovia!

Leaving the secure womb of Brown University presents me with some challenges, foremost among them is how to safely navigate through life without the the deluge of security warnings and safety tips sent directly to my inbox from the folks at Brown Public Safety. Not to worry! Here in Liberia I find myself coddled by a new forms of safety consciousness: UN military advisers. Today I received an extremely detailed safety sheet above snakes, complete with links to photos and powerpoints. The authors asked me to disseminate the email as widely as possible, and snakes do live amongst us all over the world, so without further ado I present the UNMIL Security Information Coordination Unit safety briefing #1:

Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 5:56 PM
Subject: [MSG Liberia 2020] SAFETY/SECURITY AWARENESS: Snakes

UNMIL
Integrated Security Section

SAFETY AWARENESS
Snakes

As a safety reminder, staff members should be aware that Liberia has some impressive snakes to include poisonous as well as non-poisonous ones.

Recently a python was found at the UNMIL CITS Warehouse in Star Base. Other snake sightings were reported in 2005 when three pythons were found at the Spriggs Airfield area and a cobra was found in Buchanan outside the residence of an UNMIL Security Officer (on the cement landing taking advantage of the heat in the heated surface). Please note with the heavy rains and flooding, more snake sightings are reported.

Nearly ALL snakes will avoid man, if possible. The danger of being bitten by a poisonous snake is very small compared to other hazards like malaria, dysentery or other diseases. Most snake bites results as a chance encounter very unexpectedly. Most snakes will “get out of the way” if given the chance unless aggravated intentionally. It is important to be aware of your surroundings and familiarize yourself with the snakes and animals that inhabit the area where you are.

How to Avoid Snake Bites
· Exercise Caution - avoid putting your hands into dark places such as rock crevices, heavy brush or hollow logs without first investigating thoroughly.
· Wear proper foot gear - hiking or heavy walking shoes - do not go barefooted or wear sandals to exploring or in habitats that snakes are likely to be found (next to brush, tall grass, large boulders or trees where snakes are known to live and nest)
· Exercise care around fallen trees and when in heavy brush - look before you step!!
· Do not try to pick up snakes or handle them unless you have formal training and are able to handle them efficiently. Most experts advise against trying to handle even a freshly killed snakes as their nervous system may be still active and they can still deliver a bite!

Poisonous Versus Non-poisonous Snakes

No single characteristic distinguishes a poisonous snake from a harmless one except the presence of poison fangs and glands. Only in dead specimens can you determine the presence of these fangs and glands without danger.

The following links are provided as reference sites to photos and descriptions of the snakes that are found in the area.

http://www.tigerhomes.org/animal/poisonous-snakes.cfm

http://www.tlcafrica.com/tlc_snakes.htm

Photo of Star Base incident:

http://security/maps/StarBaseSnake.ppt
or
http://security.unmil.dpko.un.org/maps/StarBaseSnake.ppt

EMERGENCY CONTACT NUMBERS

UN JOINT OPERATIONS CENTRE LIBERIA (JOC)

VSAT 4237 and 4243
Mobile Phone 05 31 4444; 05 31 9372 or 06 532 605 (Security operation 24/7)
VHF Radio Channel 4 - HF Channel 1 - Call sign “ZULU Base CEL 9001

PLEASE GIVE THE WIDEST POSSIBLE DISSEMINATION

Best regards,
Security Information Co-ordination Unit (SICU)
United Nations Security Section in Liberia

i’ve felt unsettled all day after hearing the news of the earthquake in Peru.  I spent a bit of time down in Pisco, which is home to a startling marine reserve that is said to be somewhat similar to the Galapagos with hundreds of birds (including penguins!) and sea lions.  the offshore islands also contain an enormous concentrations of guano, so much in fact that it’s harvested for fertilizer.  having been down there, the news hits a little closer to home and makes me realize our vulnerability to natural disaster.  speaking of which, it looks like we were rocked by a small earthquake here in Monrovia just yesterday.  i didn’t feel and thing but found this reference on the website of the US Geological Survey.

let’s hope the Peruvian government and other organizations can provide adequate relief to ease the losses incurred and assist the tens of thousands of displaced.

I’ve spent my entire week over at UNMIL headquarters combing through the weekly reports of county law monitors.  Similar to many UNMIL sections, the law Section has representatives in nearly all fifteen counties in Liberia.  These embedded monitors observe the judicial processes in their various locales and assist in whatever means possible to see that the judiciary is functional and acting in accordance with the law.  This is a task much greater than you might imagine.

Consider this:
The highest court in each county is the circuit court, basically run single-handedly by the judge, who receives minimal support from the clerk and sheriff.  Each county has one County Attorney, responsible for prosecuting all criminal cases, and one public defender.  It’s an extremely rare occurrence when these three official are present in their assigned locations at the same time.  From what I’ve read, I would estimate this occurs no more than 25% of the time, meaning court is rarely held, let alone investigations conducted.  Add to mix that these officials usual seek out their own corrupt endeavors, fail to practice law as it’s written in the legal codes, and operate within a destroyed judicial infrastructure, where courts are held in private homes, police lack vehicles, clerks don’t have paper, and detention centers exist as makeshift cells in police stations five times over capacity.  This is just the tip of the iceberg of the highest court before the national Supreme Court.

Below circuit courts are Magisterial Courts, run by Magistrates who rarely have formal legal training.  These guys (and as far as I know, it’s all men) run what we would consider a kangaroo court in the wild west.  Decisions are made on an ad-hoc basis, bail imposed to extort money, and cases forwarded at random onto the circuit court level.  Many of these courts operate according to quasi-codified law, often a mix of tradition with written law.  People are charged with crimes that don’t formally exist, like “letting criminals run away,” and rarely serve a full sentence.

Again, these are just cursory details of an extremely complex judicial system.

I write all of this not as a criticism of the judiciary.  I’ll be the first person to say that the reforms and progress in the judicial system are substantial.  Justice according to written law was a concept rarely practiced in the counties over the long history of dictatorial leaders in Liberia, especially during the last throws of war in 2003. These seemingly insurmountable challenges begin to explain the inadequacies of consolidating rule of law solely through the debilitated formal legal system.  With such serious corruption and low capacity of the judiciary, Liberians throughout the counties turn to informal mechanisms to resolve conflict and find justice.  We need to look outside  the struggling court system to understand justice in Liberia.

finally, here are three humorous things I’m come across in the past week:

-a safe driving campaign with the motto “drive safely to arrive alive”
-a circuit court judge who based his ruling on a (misquoted) bible passage
-a Magistrate who sentenced a man convicted of “simple assault” to 6 months, 6 weeks, and 6 days in prison

I came across an interesting post on Africa Media highlighting a new US Military plan to build high speed internet connections throughout Africa.  The plan falls in line with the larger goal of spearheading US involvement on the continent with a the creation of centralized African Command (Africom), to replace the various division under which US military involvement in Africa is current organized.  As a stalwart US ally in Africa, Liberia may become a central base in the new structure.  Undoubtedly, such a move would have serious ramifications here and throughout the region.

This is all news to me.  If anyone has any resources on Africom, please send them my way.

balcony shot

Originally uploaded by akwaaba.padi

testing a post from flickr

i’ve been playing around with putting my photos online.  at this point, it looks like flickr is the easiest way to go.   you can click on the flickr widget to the right or here to see them.  be warned, at this point i only have one photo of Liberia…

I saw this on youTube when I was still in the States and had internet fast enough to watch videos.  It contains some interesting shots of Monrovia back in the ’70s when the country was still under single party rule, well before the start of twenty years of violent conflict.

Today I made my first visit to the classrooms of University of Liberia. Previously I attended a meeting with University President Conteh (formally a professor at University of Pennsylvania), where the discussion was more business in nature and didn’t allow for any interactions with students. Today’s visit was entirely different; my collegue/employer/undergraduate adviser was invited to give a guest lecture for an anthropological and sociological theory course.

I’ve found myself in these situations thanks to my brief three week stint working on a research project sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace and led by this professor of mine from Brown. (I’ve also had the opportunity to meet personally with numerous government ministers, UNMIL officials, and NGO officers, as well as the Speaker of the Liberian House of Representatives and the Vice President of the Country). Thirty-one meetings in seven days plus a two night stay in the hospital. I’ve been busy.

The research project I’m working on is a rule of law study in post-war Liberia. Unlike most rule of law projects which set out to understand the contours of law by examining legal code, this project is anthropological in nature and therefore focuses on the lived experience of law and justice. This is seriously complicated by the fact that Liberia has three systems of justice, none of which have clear boundaries: statutory law (that which informs the dysfunctional Monrovia-based legal system), customary law (codified “traditional” practices, falling entirely under the jurisdiction of the Minister of the Interior), and informal practice (justice carried out in the hands of individuals and communities). The particularities of these three systems are fascinating from what I’ve already learned I’ll try and expand on them in the future. In short though, the project aims to uncover the everyday practice of justice.

As it sounds, this is a momentous project and luckily we’re very well funded. In total, the research will last for a one year and will culminate in a national conference with the key stakeholders on law and justice issues, where the findings will be presented and possibilities for long term policy change discussed. The prof has the idea that the most effective sorts of policy change come from cultural compromises rather than judicial mandates. We hope this research will provide evidence to aid in the consolidation of the rule of law in Liberia in such a way that respects the varying meanings that Liberians attach to law and justice throughout the diverse communities in this country.

This stage of the research has taken us into the offices of many so called key players to explain our project, survey the situation, and look for opportunities for collaboration. Today we rolled into U of L in response to an invitation for the Prof to give a guest lecture, as well as meetings with the Institute for Research and the Kofi Annan Institute for Conflict Transformation. The invitation traveled through the care two of my other esteemed colleagues, Jimmy and Saah, both members of the Liberian diaspora from Holland and USA, respectively. Saah is my buddy from Providence and is back for the first time in seventeen years. These two men are absolutely hilarious together and attract attention in their every step through this country. The duo were good friends before they left, both leaders in student politics, a powerful forum in West Africa. Saah spins jokes like the true poet he is, and Jimmy is always there to hit right back. It was therefore no surprise today when the two men entered their alma mater that heads turned and many introductions were in order.

The experience today brought a mixed bag of emotions.  Parts of the university, from upper administration, down to students, are incapacitated due to lack of funds and other vital resources, and left unable to carry out the proper functions of their positions. The physical infrastructure of the campus is atrocious,. One building we entered, a mess of cracking concrete, stripped of fixtures and accessories, and riddled with bullet holes, should have been condemned. Desks are in short supply, light bulbs a rarity, and books nearly non-existent. Because of the brain drain and deadlocking of education during the war, the faculty are predominantly first degree holders and unqualified to teach in a university environment. Students range widely in ages and capabilities, all attributable to the 20+ years of war. Some students even graduate with elementary level literacy skills. It’s a known fact that money serves as the prime means to obtaining a degree.

Nonetheless, I witnessed some very encouraging activities, including the conversation we had with the director of the Kofi Annan Institute about the need for national dialogue on issues surrounding diasporic wartime involvement and contemporary return. His experience of trying to bring various fighting factions together during the war in his role as leader of a church mediation program heavily informs his perspective on the issues of today. Unfortunately, our conversation was cut short by the Prof’s scheduled guest lecture.

Speaking to a room filled with eighty students and many listening from the windows and hallways, Prof gave a lecture on the importance of anthropological theory in understanding life in the post-war. Sweating profusely and trying not go over the heads of students, he hammered out some of basics of anthropology and argued outdated theory never dies but rather lives on in unusual forms, for example the activities of many development NGOs grounded largely in modernization theory. The prof urged the students to look critically at the world around them and challenge the status quo of development. I think students enjoyed what he had to say, although it might have been a bit over the top for some. After the lecture we met up with the Anth and Soc Students Association, who I hope to get back in touch with in some capacity upon starting my second job.

And with that, I’m out. I’ll try and post more about the research in the near future,

i’m struggling with slow internet connections and unsteady electricity to get this blog up and running. as you might have guessed, that banner image up above isn’t Liberia.

right now i’m writing from the United States. i’m on US soil here at the embassy compound, where i’m spending the night a friend’s place. nighttime travel is bit precarious here due to restrictions on using public transportation. if i want to go anywhere in the evening hours, i have to call on our driver to pick me up, something i’m still uncomfortable with. this embassy pad feels just like a vacated suburban home. the structure of american life remains (floral pattern couches, wall to wall carpeting, and maxed out ac), yet this resident has yet to add any personal decorations. this hotel feel is the unfortunate reality of expat life. when i was putting together pasta puttanesca for dinner, i riffled through endless empty kitchen drawers, only to come across the bounty of paper plates and a single stockpile of utensils, tools, napkins, etc. there’s also a mean supply of goldfish, the snack that smiles back.

work is heating up and cooling down. i’m still adjusting to the lingo of development and project management. i’m resisting my entry to life as a development practitioner, something i’ve long known was in the works. as we plan our programming, I instead think about the intricacies of liberian daily life that are glossed over, ignored, or counted as irrelevant. development speeds ahead like a train here, screaming through time to reach the next destination, exceed expectations, and push further into the world of funding and expansion. and the acronyms. CM, DCOM, RBCP, ECE…

i did finally get into “the field” today. we headed for West Point, one of the largest slums in Monrovia. i sat in the front seat of the pickup as we entered the single road heading to the community. West Point isn’t built to accommodate motor vehicle traffic, but the area isn’t safe enough to enter by foot. coming in, a sea of pedestrians, merchants, and street folk part to the sides of the road, still inches from our truck.

once on the peninsula, we met our local contact who works for our organization, who kindly took us on a quick tour of the area. the entire community is build on an eroding beach, with thousands of one room shelters constructed from all available and imaginable building supplies. homes are built inches from each other, leaving only snaking alleyways to traverse the land. occasionally we came across a non-residential space, which was usually a large collection of fish smoking barrels, the primary industry in the community. most people i passed didn’t appear too excited about my entourage of young white kids parading through the neighborhood. a few people greeted my smile with a hello or watsup, but usually i received only a cold stone stare.  a few young guys, clearly high, most likely ex-combatants scared me. watching how excited some of little kids were about the ongoing activities of our organization was encouraging. but above all, briefly bearing witness to life in the endless slums of Monrovia, sent me into a state of mourning.  these sorts of living conditions should not exist, but wishing them away won’t do a thing.

one last note before i head to the king sized bed awaiting me in the guest room. after leaving the community we headed to Mamba Point to check out the views from Ducor Palace. during my brief trip to Liberia last summer with Chrissie, we visited Ducor, met a few residents, and made friends with the generator guard who brought us up to the roof of the building. the return this afternoon was eerie; the buzz of the hundreds (maybe thousands) of residents was replaced by crackle of Captain Ibrahim’s radio. The captain was guarding all access to the building, i imagine by orders of the Libyan government. with his permission, we had a quick look around the grounds and out on the pool deck. looking up to rows of glassless window frames, i saw the shreds of improvised curtains and the silhouettes of industrial trash left behind by the evicted residents. i did however find out that my dear friend James the security guard still works at the site! last summer James, Chrissie, and I spent an entire day together, cruisin downtown Monrovia and talking about American and Liberian life after war. i’m very excited to rekindle this friendship, especially at this time when I feel surrounded by a sea of expats.

  -took a short break from our office retreat at St. Teresa’s to attend a monthly UN Law Monitoring Meeting.  My purpose was simply to make contact with the various monitors, each representing one of the thirteen Liberian counties.  i think they were just as surprised to see me as i was to see them. 

-ate Lebanese food for dinner for the fifth night in a row (that is if you include food procured from Lebanese merchants). still, nothing matches up to feasts of freetown, 

-reflected on yesterday’s night of drinking with three American Marines (here to guard the embassy) together with a few other embassy folk.  one told me he’d rather be in iraq (where he already served three tours of duty).  “here we just sit in the box all day.  no action.”  another Marine explained, “Liberia and Iraq are basically the same.  The only difference is people here are black.”  most of these guys are all my age.  i have nothing to hold against these boys, they’re just doing their job.  but what kind of life am i living here in the Land of Liberty, where I pass nights with guys carrying guns to the interests of the USA? 

-someone told me today that the majority of men between 18-28 who never left liberia during the war are ex-combatants 

-CM (country manager) assured me that the new SUV being purchased for my project site will be fully equipped with a long range radio, as well as a base station at home and a handset here in Monrovia -listened to more rain slap the roof of this fourth floor flat 

-watched Filipino soldiers conduct a single-car escort/defense of Alan Doss or some other UN dignitary.  their actions consisted of swerving madly across the road to push away all other traffic, wheeled and otherwise, while shaking fingers out the open windows of their SUV and holding up a hand painted STOP sign. 

-learned that the father of our finance officer plans to set out on Sunday to drive from Monrovia to Accra.  once at the border with Cote d’Ivoire, he will receive a military escort.  he’s already driven from the Gambia to here. 

-introduced to operations plans for my team in Lofa County.  goal #1, get 30,000 kids involved in regular play activities (ie two, forty-five minute sessions with trained coaches/leaders per week). -finally met up with my dear friend Saah, an American-Liberian (not Americo-Liberian) who i’ve known for years back in PVD.  we’re working together on the research team during my first month here.  we never directly discussed how incredible the setting of our surreal encounter.  i can however assure you we were both beaming with rhody joy. 

-i’m sweating from the heat of my laptop resting on me as i slouch on the this musty love seat.  i could reach for the remote to power the ac, but that would eat more fuel from the generator.  next stop is the bathroom to try and plug the leak in the hot water heater.