“You thief, you gone cheat that girl, youes go’n ta hell!” I am squeezed in the back of a shared taxi in Monrovia on my way back from day two of my internship with Search for Common Ground in Liberia. This is my second time taking a shared taxi without one of my Liberian colleagues; this morning I took one to the office, or at least I thought I did until I got out my 30 LRD to pay the guy driving and he refused the money. I never really got the whole story, but I think a nice Liberian family that was on the way to drop Mom off at work took pity on the confused white girl standing on the corner in the rain and decided to give me a lift, so I guess technically this is maybe my first real shared taxi ride!
I’m squashed in with three other people, loads of bags and we are all dripping wet. We have started along the same route I traveled yesterday with my colleague, Tanima so I recognize all the landmarks; only today we run into a political rally so the rush hour traffic is especially bad, the cab driver decides it is going to be too difficult to stay on the main road so he takes a side street. It doesn’t take long until I am completely turned around and don’t know what direction the convent is in, this was not part of the plan, although I am quickly learning that in Liberia “having a plan” might be the worst idea of all. I am under strict instructions from Tanima that I should not ask how much money it costs to go from one point to the other, rather I should just hand over the crumpled 50 LRD she told me it would cost to get home. Unfortunately, I am feeling pretty lost and know it is probably best if I ask the driver to take me directly to the convent so I don’t get too lost in a part of town I am not familiar with yet.
“Excuse me but how much to go all the way to Mumba Point, St. Teresa’s Convent?” “Ten USD” is the driver's reply. I know my total cab far home should cost me about $.90 so a few extra blocks to the convent should not cost 10 times the amount, I am really being taken to the cleaners. Before I have a chance to start to negotiate the women in the front seat lays into the driver calling him a thief and ever other name in the book; many which I don’t understand because her Liberian English is strong and the sayings unknown to me at this point. What I do gather from the interaction is that this woman is sick and tired, tired of the corruption, the lying and the cheating.
After being here for a week, I gather most Liberian’s are tired of conflict and I don’t blame them; 14 years of civil war, for many young Liberians conflict is all they have known. Liberian’s have seen every thread of their social fabric deteriorate; the loss of life was high and the loss of trust and security even higher. However, since the signing of the peace accord in 2003 (much thanks to the strong will of the women of Liberia; I highly recommend the film Pray the Devil Back to Hell for a very insightful depiction of this time in Liberian history) and the election of the first female head of State in Africa, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2005, the country has been stabilizing and rebuilding.
The gains that have been made are slow and small, but they are coming nonetheless and now with elections scheduled for next month on October 11, 2011 the country is buzzing. There are those who feel that President Sirleaf has had her time to make contributions to the rebuilding of Liberia. There are others who are still concerned about the fragility of the country and worried that many of these gains could easily slip away if the head next head of state is “not correct,” as Liberians would say. Of course, there is also the other important factor of all the international connections and networks Mamma Ellen was able to build during her many years of international work with the IMF and the UN, this has contributed significantly to her ability to persuade the international community to forgive Liberia’s debts and start to reinvest in the country.
This past Saturday I was able to attend the Unity Parties political launch (Mamma Ellen’s Party) in Monrovia, the excitement and energy in the crowed was palpable. I have been trying to read the newspapers daily since I arrived and the media has painted the picture that President Sirleaf’s followers tend to be part of the older, well-educated elite. What was great about going to the rally on Saturday was that it was clear people from all aspects of society are supporting the reelection of President Sirleaf and the Unity Party. It was especially amazing to see so many women, both young and old out on the streets, raising their voices loud and engaging in the political process freely and confidently; Mamma Ellen may be the first female head of state in Africa but I certainly hope for the sake of African women and women everywhere she will not be the last.
