Engaging and Educating the ECC Youth Group

Life is at its best, when you can do something that you love! Well, this was made possible by my dear friend Elijah Wreh, who had invited me to be the guest speaker for the Ebenezer Community Church (ECC) Youth Group today (February 26, 2012). Back in January, Elijah texted me that he was recently appointed as the new Youth Director and stated that he would be seeking my help. I was eager to learn more about what he needed, because it is my passion to work with youth development.

Before I go into some of the highlights of today's presentation, I want to share more about the leadership of this group. I can say without hesitation that the young people in this group are very fortunate to have not only Elijah as a leader, but also his wife Gradieh. I have known this vibrant couple for about two years. They are both  intelligent, hardworking and constantly seeking ways to make this a better world. These two inspire me greatly that I do what I can to support them. For nearly two years, Elijah and I have been working periodically on a project that he is developing that would help support the educational efforts of young people in Liberia. Gradieh is a co-owner of Hairitage Creations Beauty Salon in Brooklyn Park and I have been a her client for 18 months. 

Now to the highlights! It was an honor to present to some very smart and spirited Liberian youth from ages 13 to 25 about my experience and research of their home nation. Everyone of them was eager to "test their knowledge" on Liberia's geography and history at the start of the presentation as a way to 'break the ice'. While they were quick to answer most questions, they did have two challenging ones.

The first one was "How was Liberia created?" and it did stump the group as they made several attempts to answer it. Their answers were more about who founded Liberia and not the one act that made it possible. So, I finally gave them the answer and explained that Liberia was created when U.S. Congress passed the Anti-Slave Trade Act in 1819 that gave the American Colonization Society (ACS) the money--$100,000--to establish a colony in West Africa. Prior to the passing of this act, ACS was unable to raise the money needed for their purpose.

The other question was "Why did Liberia declare Independence?" which this was implying to an economic reason. After receiving some good efforts from other participants, this one was answered correctly by one of the young men. He mentioned how Liberia had trade relationships with other nations and they would not pay customs for the goods they were trading as long as it was not a sovereign nation. Until their independence in 1847, Liberia was under the auspice rule of the ACS and the trading nations did not consider this organization as a nation. Plus at this time, the ACS was extremely broke and were ready to pass on the responsibility of governance to this fledgling new nation.

The rest of the presentation focused on the present situations such as limited electricity, no running water, high unemployment and poverty rates, and other factors that still challenge this war-torn nation's recovery efforts. Then we discussed the future opportunities such as mobile technology, alternative energy sources, agriculture (i.e. supporting local farmers) and human resources development.

I wanted to engage these young participates on what are some of the possibilities of making a difference back home. Though many were born in Liberia, some had moved away when they were younger and were now accustomed to U.S. living. It appeared that most really hadn't thought about returning to Liberia or how they could be a catalyst for change.

We ended the presentation with an energized question and answer session. One of the young men was eager to know what programs were available to volunteer with that were helping Liberia. This was a great question and I shared with him that there were several organizations in the Twin Cities focused on projects in Liberia. They were hungry to know more and yet our time was running short. We closed with Elijah saying a final prayer and everyone gave me a resounding thank you!

Later in the day, Gradieh called me and provided some great feedback about today's interactions. The young people were still talking about my presentation after I was gone and how much they learned surprisingly from a "white women." She also shared that they will be looking for organizations that their groups members can sign-up to be volunteers. This put a smile on my face, because now these young people felt empowered to do something good!

This post will end with the following pictures of my great day with some amazing young people:

Elijah Wreh, Ebenezer Community Church Youth Director

This is my audience of about 25 to 30 young people.

Close up of some of young people sitting at the back.

All eyes are turned at the young lady in the second row as she answers one of the geography questions.

Many hands were raised as the history questions were being asked.

This group was quite eager to answers questions and share their knowledge.

Giving some hints about the first challenge question "How was Liberia created?"

That smile I am wearing indicates that this group was great to work with!

The young man in the middle is answering one of the questions.

The young lady in the second row wearing the white dress with the black jacket, demonstrated her knowledge by naming all the Liberian Presidents.

One of three group pictures at the end of the presentation. Gradieh Wreh is in the black jacket and red skirt.

Group photo number two.

Group photo three with some position changes!

My Recent Trip to Liberia - Part 3

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope that 2012 brings about great adventures, new possibilities and fulfilled dreams! Though we live in a rapidly advancing and changing world, we need to take some moments to breathe and appreciate the many splendors of life...otherwise another year will slip by before we know it. So, as this new year moves forward, I wish you all the best as you start each day with a blank canvass to create a life that that each one of you deserves.

Since my last post, I was able to share my experience with some of my supporters on December 15. It was an attentive crowd of retired women, who many have been active throughout their lives in community outreach and most of them continue to find ways to serve as volunteers or activists. I gave them an overview of my PowerPoint that I had presented in Liberia and then followed with pictures and video clips of my trip.

We enjoyed a thoughtful Q and A session afterwards discussing the challenges and opportunities for Liberia. Based on their interest from my presentation, they decided to follow it by watching the documentary "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" that they will view this week. This is a powerful film that shows the sacrifice and courage of Liberian women--both Muslim and Christian--who demonstrated for peace and ushered in the end of a long and devastating civil war.

Now I will return to finishing this three-part post by sharing my second and final week in Liberia.

Before leaving Kakata on Sunday, November 7, many of the pastors were invited to various churches to give the sermon. Most of the pastors committed to preaching at two churches so they could reach out to more people. I was asked to join one of the pastors at the two churches he had committed to. I was invited to give a brief statement, which I thanked them for their hospitality and shared what had been accomplished during our week in Kakata.

Afterwards, we returned to the guest house to gather and pack our luggage before stopping at Kakata's City Hall to say our final good-byes at their closing program. Since we did not have to much time to visit, one pastor went in on our behalf  to express our gratitude and farewell. The rest of us remained outside saying goodbye to people that we had made connections during the week.

Pastor Destaye, Hawa and Naomi standing by our team's luggage before departing the
Booker Washington Institute guest house (courtesy of Pastor Crawford's camera).

As we were heading out of town, we made one vital stop at the police station to secure our luggage that was stacked in the back of the pickup. Our favorite police chief came to our rescue and borrowed us some tarpaulin and rope, which some of her officers helped tie down our luggage. As we waited, I treated everyone to an ice cold glass-bottled soft drink before we departing for Monrovia.

Kakata's Police Chief Goldoe overseeing the securing of our luggage
outside the police station (courtesy of Pastor Crawford's camera).

Enjoying a cold drink while taking this group shot
(photo taken from Pastor Crawford's camera)

Pastor Destaye and I cheering a successful week!
 (photo taken by Pastor Crawford's camera)

We arrived in Monrovia before dusk and joined our team to have dinner before settling into our respective accommodations. The men resided at the home of a Liberian man, whose family still lives in Minnesota, and is close friends with some of the pastors. He provided free lodging for the men and also free nightly meals for the entire team. The women also had free lodging at the newly built home of one of our teammates, Gladys. Our two locations were within 10 minutes of each other in the Dwazon area.

Our location did provide one challenge, because we were on the eastern outskirts of the metropolitan area and our travel time could be anywhere from one hour to four hours (going one-way) factoring the time of day and traffic congestion.

On a side note, let me briefly illustrate where we stayed using this Map of Liberia (click here). Monrovia is located in Montserrado County (third one from the left along the Atlantic in yellow). I was staying along the coastal highway in the eastern part of Montserrado, bordering Margibi County. The international airport is on the same highway heading east to the border of Grand Bassa County, which is indicated by an airplane icon near the place marker for Robertsfield. Furthermore, Kakata is due north from the airport (not quite one inch distance) in the center of Margibi County. I hope this illustration gives you a better idea of where I was moving around during my two weeks in Liberia.

Now getting back on topic. The following day (Monday) was scheduled a free day, so I setup two meetings.
The first one was with THINK (Touching Humanity In Need of Kindness) Liberia, which was located about 15 minutes from where I was staying. Since our group had limited transportation, THINK was most generous in transporting me to and from my location. THINK is an organization that I had been following on Facebook for awhile, because I was interested in their work in helping former child (girl) soldiers with education and basic life skills training. So, I was eager to learn more about their program.

I was able to visit both their office and the site of their training program (see the pictures below). They have converted a single family house into a training center and dormitory for about 20 girls in their program. About half of the girls have babies or toddlers, which they are welcomed and nurtured by everyone. THINK's program offers academics, life and job skills training to the girls who have suffered one or more of the GIANT problems caused by the civil war that Rosana Schaak, THINK's Executive Director defined as violence, separation, prostitution, illiteracy, addiction, slavery, and HIV/AIDs.

THINK's Office

THINK's training and dormitory facility

Main classroom for academics and life skills training

Sewing classroom

Outdoor kitchen - they use a 'coal pot' for their cooking, which is the apparatus with smoke rising  up

They used bunk beds so that they could comfortable house all the girls.

My second appointment was with the American Refugee Committee (ARC) Country Director-Abraham Leno. I have been volunteering at ARC headquarters in Minneapolis for one year. I was aware of ARC's work in Liberia from my previous trips, so I was looking forward to this meeting. We had planned to meet around lunch time after our team checked out the site of the next conference on Bushrod Island (just north of downtown Monrovia) at The Bethel Bushrod Island Missions Church (see picture below).

 The Bethel Bushrod Island Missions Church (photo taken by Pastor Crawford)

This only took about an hour, so I arranged for Abraham to pick me up at a Money Gram near Liberia's Free Port. Well, our plans were quickly derailed when a riot broke out not far from the ARC headquarters in Congo Town (suburb east of downtown Monrovia) as Abraham was on his way to pick me up. One of the political parties whose headquartered in Congo Town organized this demonstration to oppose the October 11 election results for the president and their participation in the runoff election the following day. Sadly, two or three individuals were killed as the situation became tense between the demonstrators and the police. Gratefully, Abraham and his driver were able to find safety, and we were also able to reschedule and meet on Friday.

Strangely, after I called one of the pastors that was in the area to come get me at Money Gram the phone service went dead. Our team was using the same telecommunications company, which also happened to be located in Congo Town across from the riot area. So somehow during the chaos their service was comprised for a few hours.

The communication may have been down, but it did not stop us from making our dinner appointment at the Bethel Pastor's house in Brewerville (small town north of Monrovia's metropolitan area) where we enjoyed a delicious home cooked meal. It was now time to make our journey home and rest after a long, exhausting day. However, we soon discovered that the riots diverted the traffic from downtown Monrovia to Somalia drive causing a major traffic jam. This two-lane road turned into six lanes as everyone was heading the same direction going nowhere fast.

This was not a strange occurrence to me, since I had lived along this stretch during my second year in Liberia. So as we crept along, I kept telling my fellow passengers that eventually we will meet up with the oncoming traffic. And sure enough, we did at the New Georgia Estate junction (where I lived). It was here that we were now reduced to one lane by the new traffic controllers (i.e. former combatants). Normally, the police are in control since there is no traffic lights; however, when situations like this happen they give up and head home for the evening.

Well, it took us about four hours to get back home. My fellow teammates were overwhelmed by what they experienced, so we decided that everyone must be prepared to bring along what they need for the day, because we would not return until the revival meetings ended at night.

The next day (Tuesday) was the runoff election for the Presidential candidates. We started off the morning in prayer asking for peace as the Liberian people headed to the polls. Also, there was much reflection on reconciliation and forgiveness for the Liberian people. Many of my Liberian teammates had experienced the war before finding refuge in the U.S. and had lost many loved ones. They too were still haunted by the realities of the brutal civil war and knew it was time to forgive those who harmed them and families. It seemed that there was a great weight lifted in the room from this prayer vigil, and I hope that they were all able to move on to the next phase of healing.

This session ended about lunch time, so the rest of the day was considered free time. Some of the pastors headed back to Kakata to finalize some plans for the land of the future library. The rest of us stayed back and took sometime to relax. I joined some of the group by walking down to the beach. Then I went to my room and took a much needed nap since I was working on an average of four hours of sleep a night.

Liberia's Atlantic Shoreline

As the day ended everyone in Liberia could breathe again, because peace was maintained at each polling station. Regrettably, some Liberians opt out of voting due to fears from rumors that more riots were planned. Regardless of the results of the election, I believe that most Liberians were happy that they were able to maintain a peaceful election (minus the one incident) and this is another positive sign that this nation is looking towards a better future.

For the next two days, we held our conferences and revival meetings at Bethel Bushrod Island Missions Church. The crowds were much smaller than in Kakata, because Monrovia is the economic center for Liberia. Most people are either at their jobs, market tables or hustling for work so they can provide for their families. Also, the city is grossly over populated, so finding a taxi or bus is quite difficult.

Here  I am presenting to a group at Bethel Bushrod Island Mission Church.

On Thursday, I was asked by Hawa (our dental assistant) to help her as she would clean teeth for the conference participants. Well, I soon found out that there would be no cleanings since everyone she saw needed teeth removed...usually a minimum of two. My job was to hold the heads of the patient as Hawa worked to extract the infected tooth. As I held the person's head I could feel the pressure as the tooth resisted being removed. Please don't be alarmed here, each person received Novocain to numb the pain and then given pain medicine and antibiotics for aftercare.

Here is Hawa extracting a tooth as another woman hold the head of the patient.

Hawa explaining to the patient about what she should expect in the next few days about pain and discomfort.

We concluded our conferences and revival meetings at Providence Baptist Church located downtown Monrovia. Originally we had planned to have our morning/afternoon conferences on Friday and Saturday, but we cancelled the second day to attend the funeral for the mother of one of the pastors of our group. This was his first time home in about 15 years and two weeks before he arrived his mother passed away. So, his return to Liberia was bittersweet.

Providence Baptist Church in the background, which is the oldest church in Liberia. From left to right Rev. Goba, Gladys, Hawa, Rev. Kaffey, Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Reeves, Jr. (Providence's senior pastor), Rev. Dr. Tabla, Pastor Crawford, me, Rev. Dr. Howard, and Rev. Collins.

So, Friday was our last day of conferences and it was decided that I would present to the combined group since mine was focused more on healing and reconciliation--the theme of our conference. This was my third time presenting during these two weeks and I enjoyed getting the feedback from the participants. Again, as I stated in my last post I will share my presentation in an upcoming post.

Giving an opening prayer before giving my final presentation.

Saturday was the final day of our mission and we ended it strong. The revival meeting that night focused on reconciliation by having representatives of all 16 ethnic groups come up to the front. I believe that all groups were represented as they joined hands and formed a circle. This was a powerful moment for everyone there that night and hopefully this will continue.

Prayer vigil for healing and reconciliation among Liberia's ethnic groups.

The circle of unity and hope for Liberia's future

Wow! Just like that the two weeks were over and I would be making the long journey home. So, on my final day in Liberia I was invited to attend the services at World Harvest Church in New Georgia Estate. This is a family-run church (Pastors Stephen and Annette Tour) that has seen tremendous growth since I left in January 2010. I was asked to make a brief presentation, which I shared with the congregation the highlights of our team's mission and how each and everyone of them can be an instrument of peace and reconciliation for Liberia.

World Harvest Church in New Georgia Estate. This was taken shortly after I presented Pastor Tour with a new world map, which they were in need of one.

After the service, I was invited to lunch at the Tour's house and got to visit with their family for awhile. Before I knew it was time to change into comfortable clothes and head for the airport, which I was escorted by Pastor Stephen and my Liberian family. I was able to say my final goodbyes and proceed into the terminal for what seemed to be an extra long check in process. While I was riding the bus to my flight, I saw the most beautiful sight of two international airliners on the tarmac, which has not occurred since before the war. To me this was another sign that things are progressing positively for Liberia.

As I conclude this post, I want to Thank all my supporters again for making this trip possible. It was great to be back in my second home and being able to see some positive signs that gives me hope that things are changing for the better. It is my wish that I can return soon to work in the capacity of empowering and equipping disadvantaged young Liberian adults to become contributing members of society. Blessings to all!

My Recent Trip to Liberia - Part 2

Before I continue on with the recap of my recent trip to Liberia, I want to Thank all of you who provided comments about last week's blog post! Your feedback is very much appreciated and gave me the incentive to keep blogging! Now let's get back to business...

Well, the main purpose of this trip was the healing and reconciliation conference. While Liberia has maintained peace for over eight years, the healing has just begun and it will take more than this two-week trip to mend the wounds that were inflicted in 14 years of war.

Granted there have been attempts to bring this nation together since the war ended in 2003. For example in 2005, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established, which was similar to the ones in Rwanda and South Africa. The purpose of these commissions is to gather the stories of the victims and give them a chance to face the individuals who either caused them great harm, and/or killed someone they loved. Usually, these proceedings will give amnesty to those who admit to the atrocities they have committed. However, there are exceptions for those deemed the worse perpetrators, which they could be tried for crimes against humanity at an international war crimes tribunal.

For about four years, the TRC worked tirelessly on interviewing countless people in Liberia and the Diaspora in the U.S. They submitted their final report in July 2009 with their findings and recommendations. I happened to be in Liberia when the news broke about this report. From what I observed, there was cause for confusion, anger and in some cases fear. Majority of the Liberian people had no access to the entire report, so they were limited to what was being disseminated through the media. They got to hear some of the disturbing finding such as the list of the most notorious perpetrators and the heinous acts they committed. Also, it listed individuals (included President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf) who should be banned from running for any political office for a 30-year period, and people/businesses (included Firestone Corporation) that are still being investigated for economic crimes that sustained the war.

Up to now, none of the recommendations have been implemented. In fact, no one in Liberia has faced any criminal charges for the atrocities committed in this 14-year civil war that included torture, rape, kidnapping, dismembering, killing, forced conscription of child soldiers, and other egregious acts. This has allowed certain former war lords and key perpetrators to freely run for all levels of political office including president, which some were elected in the 2005 elections. Some of you might be aware that Former President Charles Taylor is currently on trial at the Hague, but this is for alleged war crimes in the neighboring country of Sierra Leone...clearly not Liberia.

It would seem our arrival to Liberia, shortly after the results were announced from the October 11 election, was nothing more than miraculous. As a result, we would be on the ground for the November 8 run off presidential election since no candidate received more than 50% of the votes. This seemed like a perfect time to talk about healing and reconciliation as the Liberian people prayed and hoped for a peaceful outcome to their second post-war election cycle.

We spent our first week in Kakata, a thriving small city in Margibi County that is located about 15 to 20 minutes from the Firestone Rubber Plantation. It is the home of prominent education institutions such as BWI (mentioned in last week's blog) and Cuttington University. It is also the training center for the newly recruited Peace Corp volunteers.

We were warmly received by the people of Kakata from the first night we arrived. They had been eagerly waiting our arrival for the past couple months. Their enthusiasm made our first week in Liberia a joyous time.

We officially started the conference on Wednesday, November 2, which was held at the Kakata's City Hall. We offered a variety of daily workshops in the morning and afternoon. Then during the evenings the revival meetings were held, which included a fundraiser for the people of Kakata to partner with the LMA on completing some important initiatives. These projects included a public library, microphones for radio stations, grating primary dirt roads, and a motor bike for the police station.

During our stay, we were graciously hosted by the Kakata's Police Chief Douwe Goldoe and her staff. Chief Goldoe had the opportunity to visit Minnesota this past year and was able to participate in some training sessions with the St. Paul police department. She is amazing woman with a strong spirit to serve her nation. She went out of her way to ensure that we were well taken care of during our stay in Kakata. Mid-week she invited us to the police station where she gave us a formal greeting. Click here to watch a short video clip of her introducing some of her staff during our welcome visit. Right after this meeting, she took us to her place for amazing lunch that included Togbogee and Rice plus some fresh, sweet pineapple--never tasted anything like it in Minnesota.

 Kakata's police force (taken by Pastor Destaye Crawford)

 Kakata's police force continued (taken by Pastor Destaye Crawford)

 One of my teammates Rev. Zephaniah Kauffey standing by 

Chief Goldoe in her kitchen. (taken by Pastor Destaye Crawford)

Going back to the conferences, we were successful in engaging the people of Kakata. We offered a variety of presentations that focused on forgiveness, praise and worship, church leadership, healing and reconciliation, and much more. We had originally planned for four days of conferences, but changed it to three. Each day, the first presentation was for the entire audience and then we offered two during the three breakout sessions. I delivered my presentation "Transforming a Shared Suffering into a Shared Healing: on the first day during the second session. I will dedicate one of my future posts on showing my PowerPoint presentation and briefly explaining each slide.

Here I am presenting in Kakata wearing a dress given to me 

from one of my teammates, Pastor Destaye Crawford!

The nightly revival meetings were very impressive. Liberians know how to praise and worship by singing and dancing with great joy! We watched in amazement as the crowd grew each night-- from Wednesday to Saturday--to where it was standing room only. Also, the fundraising was a huge success, because each night the people exceeded that day's goal. I believe the first night the goal was to raise $10,000 (Liberian dollars) and the final total was $15,000 LD. This amount in USD is about $214, which may seem like a nothing to us. However, for people who live on meager budgets, this amount was quite amazing. Their effort supports something I have learned from my experiences in Liberia is that 'those with the least have the most to give. '

Here are some pictures from the nightly revival meetings:

 

These are the ushers for the nightly revival meetings

Dr. Rev. Josef Howard, LMA's Executive Director was the team leader. 

He was very instrumental in ensuring our teams success.

 Dr. Rev. Francis Tabla, LMA's Asst. Executive Director gave some 

powerful sermons and engaged the audience in the nightly fundraisers.

Another plus about our trip was the food! While in Kakata a few of the local pastor wives cooked our daily meals. We usually ate our breakfast at the guest house before heading to the City Hall. We broke for lunch at 1PM, right after our last breakout session and ate at the conference site. I must say, these women did an outstanding job in preparing our Liberian cuisine. I got to enjoy some of my favorites such as Jollof Rice, Potato Greens, Check Rice and Gravy, Cassava Leaf and many more. I should mention that the LMA provided a free breakfast and lunch for all attendees, which probably gave many the opportunity to have more than one meal a day.

Here are pictures of us enjoying some Potato Greens and Rice, which these photos were taken from my teammate Pastor Destaye Crawford's camera (she is from Ethiopia and now a U.S. citizen).

 More of my teammates (from left to right) 

Rev. Zephaniah Kauffey and Rev. Daniel Goba

 Rev. Destaye Crawford and me (wearing a borrowed 

Africa dress from another teammate Naomi Hard)

 Conference attendees

 Me and Rev. Alexander Collins

 Some of the women who cooked and served the food

 A pot full of sweet potato greens

 Serving the rice, which is a major staple in Liberians diet

Enjoying a break (from left to right): Naomi Hard (our teams RN), 

Rev. Goba, Rev. Crawford, and Ref. Kaffey.

Now one of my favorite things to do while in Liberia is interacting with the young people. I came prepared with some beach balls to give out to kids that I came in contact with. I tried at first to blow these up for them, but soon discovered their young lungs were much better for the task. Below are two young boys who were quick to inflate their new balls and gave a victory smile when they were done.

For the most part, the children of Liberia love getting their picture or video taken. With the advent of the digital camera, this has made it more fun since the kids are eager to see their picture or watch their video. I recently published one of my videos on YouTube where some of the local children gathered together to wave and smile at my captive audience. Please click here to watch these beautiful children say hello to you!

I had posted this video on my Facebook page on November 23 with this comment: "Life is so precious and the children of Liberia always remind me of this fact! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the U.S. So, as you watch this video and see these beautiful smiling faces waving at you, please realize that these children probably have one meal a day, living in a home or hut with no bathroom, and too poor to attend school. These children experience more misery that most of us, and yet they still can smile and have hope!"

I believe this is a good place to end and we will continue next week about the second leg of this trip. Until then, I wish you all good health, warmth and happy times!