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Preparing for Liberia…..I
have a suitcase and I have a true desire to do some kind of outreach that will
improve the lives of others. Easy, right…1,2,3 GO! Wait. What am I
thinking? I don’t have the time to devote to any kind of extended outreach. Plus,
it is in the middle of the summer, and my family always visits so I am just too
busy! BUT, at coffee hour Tim and Judy tell me that Laurraine and Paul are
planning a mission trip to Liberia…..hmmmmm. It takes me about 5 minutes to realize
that this is something I want to do, and God wants me to leap forward and grab
hold. After calls to Paul and Laurraine, meetings to find out what we are going
to do and how we were going to make it all happen, and conversations with Jim,
my husband, we both make the decision that this is important and we want to
take part. Our kids will just have to visit in August when we get back!
First of all, we need to
learn about this country we plan to visit. We will be guests and we need to
know the history, the culture, and the traditions of the people so that we will
be able to truly reach out to them. Everyone planning to go begins to read, and
we meet sharing a great article or the best movie to watch, and Jim volunteers to
research the history to give us an in-depth report.
Background History prepared by Jim
Six thousand miles from the United States lies a
country whose flag bears a striking resemblance to the American flag: eleven
red and white horizontal stripes and, in the upper left-hand corner, a dark
blue square. Against this blue background is a lone white star -- the star of
liberty. The flag is a symbol of the history of the Liberian state, and its
relationship with America, Liberia occupies 43,000 square miles (slightly more
than Tennessee) in West Africa. From antiquity through the 1700s, many diverse
tribes from the surrounding regions settled in the area. In the early 1800s
freeborn Blacks and former slaves from America settled in Liberia, establishing
a double cultural heritage in Liberia: the settlers from America and the
indigenous Africans.
In 1821 Black emigrants first landed in Liberia.
Many others followed, settling on land sometimes purchased, sometimes
obtained at gunpoint from indigenous chiefs. The settlers recreated
American society, building schools, churches and residences that resembled the
19th century American south. Liberia declared its independence
in 1847. The American settlers controlled the indigenous peoples,
discriminating against them and attempting to “civilize” them by imposing
western religion and values on them. Until 1980, the “elites”, dominated
government, controlled Liberian wealth and economic activity. During this
period the gap between the ruling elites and the indigenous population widened.
The frustrations of the indigenous people exploded into violence in 1980,
when a group of enlisted Army men assassinated the president, and took control
of the government. Many Liberians welcomed the takeover as a long overdue
shift favoring the indigenous people. The new government was, however,
corrupt and repressive not only to the elites but also to certain ethnic
tribes. A brutal civil war broke out in 1989, and ensued for 15 years.
Most of the country’s infrastructure – roads, bridges, public buildings,
businesses, electrical systems – were destroyed. Economic activity came
to a halt, as foreign companies fled.
In 2003, a truce was reached and the slow process of
recovery began. Life remains difficult in Liberia. The unemployment is
85%. The average Liberian subsists on less the one dollar a day. With the
help of the United Nations and the international community, peace appears to be
taking hold, allowing rebuilding to resume.
That was only the beginning
of his report. We spent several hours discussing the detailed information he
had gleaned about the history and the culture.
Then, get the ticket and
go….RIGHT? Totally wrong, and fortunately, I am working with a group of people
who know that intense preparation will make our trip a success. The mission
trip does not just happen the last two weeks of July. It has been happening
since January for me and for others, a great deal longer. Paul and Laurraine
traveled into DC to visit the Liberian Embassy to arrange for our visas. Tim
has been communicating with several sources to find a rental car and a driver.
It has taken a good amount of perserverance, I assure you. You cannot travel in
Liberia without a driver who knows how to get places. There aren’t any maps or
GPS systems to keep you on the right road. We all have read and shared books,
articles, and interviews. Colleen, our stateside planning consultant, has
helped us to prepare our communication sources and researched a myriad of
details for us to handle, like the visit to the clinic to get malaria pills and
the kind of adaptors we are going to need to fire up our electronic equipment.
I’m testing out my still camera and making sure I can use the video camera I
have borrowed for the trip. Laurraine and Paul have developed our daily lesson
guides. We have all been given research assignments in order to prepare our
lesson plans for the days we will be teaching at an Episcopal school in
Monrovia. Teachers from all over the country will be coming to participate and
we need to be ready with six days of lessons on group learning, curriculum
development, and communication techniques. The Lion’s Club has given us reading
glasses to distribute through a simple testing technique that Laurraine used in
Guatemala. St. Petes folks have been collecting glasses for us as well….thank
you, everyone!
I ‘ve checked my stack of
clothes because it will be very hot and very wet in Liberia. Got to have some
of those quick dry garments or we will never dry out. Less than a month to go
and our list of “to-dos” is not getting shorter. But, we are for sure going and
we have a great plan for teaching and guiding while we are there.
I will continue to write you
details of our trip so that you can be with us as we journey. Keep checking for
my blog entries. I am hoping to post some photos as well. Should be an
interesting time ahead.
Jaq
