Most of you who are taking the time out of your very busy lives to read this blog are likely already aware they I am currently in Monrovia, Liberia doing an internship with Search for Common Ground.
For those of you who I did not have the opportunity to see or communicate with these past few months during my brief sojourn to Canada here is a quick rundown:
What: A 3 Month internship with Search for Common Ground
Who: Search for Common Ground is an international conflict transformation and peace building NGO seeking to transform adversarial conflict into cooperative action.
Where: Liberia. Not to be confused with the Liberia in Costa Rica (easy to make that mistake, especially since I was just living in C.R), we are taking about West Africa here neighbours with Cote D’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
And why does that sound so familiar…You have probably heard the name Charles Taylor, currently on trail at the Hague for crimes against humanity (ironically enough he is being charged with crimes committed in Sierra Leone although he made time for committing his fair share of atrocities here in his home land).
Why: This past year I was in Costa Rica doing a Masters in Gender and Peace Building from the United Nations Mandated University for Peace. Although, I learned a tremendous amount from this experience I did not want to complete my Masters without having experienced first hand what post conflict rebuilding looks like in action.
What else… Liberia is about to hold its second democratic elections since the signing of the peace accord back in 2003, on October 11, 2011. 2005 marked the first round of elections, when the first women head of state was elected in Africa. Incumbent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is currently running for her second term.
Want the Coles notes version of Liberia’s extremely complex and tumultuous history, might I suggest Google and Wikipedia. Not satisfied with the Coles notes? Here are a few good reads:
This Child Will Be Great LP: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President
Author: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood
Author: Helene Cooper
Pray the Devil Back to Hell (2008 Film)
Director: Gini Reticker
Oh and why is this blog entitled 213 – Da my area? Well for those of you who are interested in contacting me while I am here 213 is the area code for Liberia.
Da my area…it will all start to make sense in the upcoming posts.
As a small aside – I apologize if some of the posts I make are delayed from the time of writing, the internet situation here is precarious at best!
