Recent history

I have wanted to write this entry since Friday evening, but I was sick of sitting in front of my computer!

Recently I was discussing Liberia's recent history with my housemate Guthrie, and we realized we were both in awe of what a pivotal time this is for the country. While clearly more dangerous and frightening and restricted, life under Charles Taylor was economically easier for most Liberians than it is now. If the primary takeaway after a full term of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's democracy is that it's harder for everyday Liberians to get by, there may be some serious unrest here.

Are we really only less than five years out of Liberia's last civil war? What was it like here for those Liberians who couldn't escape?

One of our drivers, a spirited person and amazing storyteller, gave us some insight on Friday. His story had four of us completely caught up in his narrative; we paid little attention to the groceries sitting in our laps or the car getting warmer after he cut the engine so as not to idle in front of our apartment. I don't really remember what got the story started, just that as we were driving home from the grocery store he began discussing some of the ethnic tensions driving the first civil war here. His parents are descendants of Americo-Liberians (freed slaves from the U.S.) and Congos (freed slaves from the Caribbean), which make up roughly 5% of Liberia's population, but the majority of the country's leaders since the nation's founding. This was a major source of tension among the population (I'm simplifying here) and an impetus to civil war.

When our driver was caught in the street one day during the war and asked to speak in his dialect, he had to say he did not have one, which was a telltale sign of his identity (all Liberians speak English, but those with tribal or native roots -- all except the Americo-Liberians and Congos, I think -- also speak a dialect). The solider who stopped him pointed to the side of the road, where several corpses were lying in a puddle and demanded he "swim" with them. Our friend told him he could not; his life wasn't more valuable than theirs; if the soldiers wanted to kill him they should just do it. A child soldier was tasked with committing the crime, and he ordered our friend down the road. Luckily, he was able to overtake the child, and, as shots were being fired at him, ran into the bush, where he hid out for two days.

When he emerged the fighting was still strong, but he believed he could seek refuge in one of the country's many bodies of water. He hid out near a port, staying submerged with only his head above water for nearly a day, ducking underneath entirely when the gunfire got too intense. When things quieted down, he managed to make it back to his family, which was living in Monrovia. His mother, who had heard he had been stopped on the road and feared the worst, knowing he had no knowledge of any rural dialects, was speechless, and grateful.

A bit later he enrolled in high school (he was older than the traditional high school student, as school often stopped and started during the civil war), and understood quite quickly that the government was not supporting the schools or teachers. Most teachers were not paid and schools were underfunded, and students felt the impact. Our friend found this unacceptable -- that students who wanted to learn were essentially denied a quality education. He began organizing students in Monrovia, and they came together on a pre-determined day to publicly protest the government's actions, targeting officials and their property to make a bold, unified statement.

It's hard to convey the energy with which our friend told these stories, and the passion in his voice when speaking of this country's current president, what she stands for, and the promise of Liberia today. Liberia receives a lot of aid money from the international community, particularly the U.S., but I am confident that its funding would double if our friend went on an international tour, sharing his perspective on where the country has been and where it's going.

What I found particularly powerful was his revelation that many people who led the rebel groups, including now-young adults who are former child soldiers, walk the streets of Monrovia today. He told us that many of them were people we would never imagine holding a weapon, but who were responsible for killing dozens, sometimes hundreds, of Liberians. He sees around town, and he knows what they're accountable for. In a country where former rebel leaders hold seats in the Legislature, this should not come as a surprise. Politics and corruption go hand in hand; some Americans feel that way at home. But there's something eerie about people who used to terrorize their countrymen, disarmed now, going about their lives in very ordinary ways.