Looking Back at Liberia after 22 Years

A common quote written on the back of buses and taxis in Liberia is “God’s Time Best”. It emotes, in my opinion, less a religious theme and more a Liberian (and likely African) perspective that an individual’s fate is outside one’s control and best left managed by a greater “power.” Such has been the case for Liberians who only now are emerging from a brutal civil war to piece together their country, their families, and their personal lives. Twenty years after my service as a PCV in rural Liberia, I recently returned for a 2-week trip to visit this war-torn nation that during much more peaceful times had incredible influence over my development as an individual and how I view myself and the world. My brief visit back only served to remind me that my experience as a PCV in Liberia has been forever imprinted and integrated into my conscience. What I learned or actually re-learned, is that the relationships and personal bonds we build as PCV’s are incredibly strong and mysterious at the same time. Although almost impossible to describe, there is a magic there and perhaps that intangible is what makes our “Peace Corps experience” so special.

Liberia is a small nation of 3.2 million located in the tropics of the West Africa sandwiched between Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Cote D’Ivoire. As Africa’s first independent republic and founded in 1847 by returned slaves from America, Liberia has never been colonized by a western power. Many Liberians like to view themselves as “America’s little brother” although most Americans have never heard of Liberia much less can find it on a map. After more than 130 years of rule by the Americo-Liberians (who make up less than 5% of Liberia’s population), a 1980 military coup brought to power a man from one of Liberia’s 17 ethnic groups or tribes. After a rigged presidential election followed by a failed coup attempt in 1985, rebel troops led by the infamous Charles Taylor invaded Liberia in December 1989. After years of periodic civil war followed by several more volatile and violent years with Taylor in charge, 2005 saw stability return to the nation with the election of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa’s first woman leader. Ellen, as most Liberians fondly call her, is tasked with healing the wounds of war and leading her country back to its normal stable economic and social conditions.

After years of being blocked by the civil war and U.S. State department travel advisories, I finally set course for Liberia in December 2007. Although the trip included a 3-day stop in Ghana and another 3 days in Monrovia, Liberia’s coastal capital, the primary destination was my former Peace Corps post of Bahn city (pop 5,000) located about 250 miles inland from Monrovia. Although NGOs and United Nations peace-keeping troops are commonly seen buzzing around in their jeeps and range rovers, I think its been a long while for many Liberians to see an American travel “Peace Corps style” in crowded local transport cars and vans. From the moment I arrived in my town, I was bombarded with familiar images of my former home. I could remember where certain paths and roads lead. The faces of former students, friends and colleagues came sweeping back. Unlike the first time when I showed up as a young and nervous volunteer, this time I came back with full confidence of someone being welcomed by to his “second home.” It was as if the war froze the town in time with only minor changes to the small commercial district that was burned down by looting rebel soldiers and re-built with buildings with striking alikeness to their predecessors. However, what could not be replaced are the many Liberians who died during war time (estimated to be 200,000 nationwide). My time in Bahn consisted of days roaming around town and meeting, eating, and talking with my re-found friends. People were shocked that I would come all this way just to visit. Older people would constantly stop me on the road or stop by the house where I was staying to greet me and thank me for remembering them. After hosting Peace Corps volunteers from the late 1960’s until 1989, I was told that I was the first from this town to return for a visit. Conversations bounced from funny stories during my time in town in the mid-80’s to heart-breaking stories of harassment, humiliation and hardship during the war era. However, people really liked to talk about the future: their plans and ideas for themselves and for a better Liberia. The war stories are told with a sense of pride as they were the one’s who did not flee. “We all could not become refugees” they would tell me; “Someone had a stay and protect the town from looting soldiers”. Without doubt everyone seemed convinced that such a war can never return and Liberia is committed a long-lasting peace. Many NGOs have arrived now that war is over and their work is evidenced by numerous hand-pump wells and latrines in Bahn and other towns throughout rural Liberia. The town market is extremely busy and people seem to genuinely feel optimistic for the future. At long last, a sense of normalcy is returning. There is even talk of Peace Corps returning to Liberia within a year or two.

At a relatively low cost to myself, I have funded the purchase of land and construction of three homes for Liberian friends trying to put their lives and families back together again. Two of them built homes in Monrovia and live there with their families. The third house (80% complete at the time of my visit) is in Bahn. The new home owners were so proud and grateful for their dwellings. In addition to the re-union nature of my trip, I decided to make the most of things and add in a “Peace Corps aspect” to it as well. With money donated by colleagues at my job in San Francisco, I was able to buy and deliver building materials to “Craig Cooper Elementary and Jr High School” located in a village about 15 miles from Bahn. The school was built in 1985 as a self-help project by the local villagers and as my secondary PC project. I figured that after 22 years of enduring a tropical climate and war, the school would be in need of some renovations. Earlier this year, I dispatched a former student of mine in Bahn to conduct a survey of the school and discuss priorities with school and village leaders. Therefore, I was able to arrive in the village with the needed bundles of roofing materials, materials to build new desks (which were looted during the war), paint, stationary, office supplies and some dollars for the school’s volunteer teachers (there are 3 government and 4 volunteer teachers at the school). I was greeted in this village with traditional dancing and music which was followed by countless meals and program in my honor. It was a tribute that I will never forget….and yes, I promised to commit continued assistance to my namesake school. A local radio station recorded the program and broadcast it the next day.

Saying good-bye to everyone brought up lots of emotions on all sides. At my “Farewell Party”, we enjoyed overflowing plates of rice with chicken and goat meat and cassava leaf. Everyone expressed heartfelt thanks to me for remembering them and coming back to visit after all these years. I spoke with fondness of my two years in Bahn and how it made me a better person. Without warning as I spoke, I felt tears streaming down my cheeks as I described my deep concern for the fate of my friends during the war years and the dread I felt of not knowing the town’s causality list when I came to visit. I then turned to David, who stayed with me during my PC time, and thanked him for taking good care of me back then. I then explained that although I did not pay David back then I promised him to help him a significant way if he did well in school and graduates from high school. Little did I know that 15 years of war would interfere with the repaying of my debt. But now I could not be happier to be here today seeing David alive, in good health, and now building a new home of his own.

Now that I am back in California, my two weeks in Liberia almost now seems like a dream. Feeling again like a recently returned PCV, I am relegated once again to my journal and photos of my friends in that far away hot, dusty town landscaped with a lush green tropical forest. It’s doubtful that I will ever return to Liberia, but I am so grateful that I was able to return this one time after so long. It as if I have updated my faded PC memories with a supplemental set of fond memories from a place that I consider my “second home”.