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| Monrovia, Liberia - Election Coverage, 2005 | |||
 Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist, Milbert O. Brown, Jr., traveled to Liberia during the country’s 2005 Elections in October. He spent one week reporting in the West African country as part of a fellowship provided by the National Association of Black Journalists [NABJ], The United Nations and the Knight Foundation.Brown traveled throughout the capital city of Monrovia as well as through the rural areas of the nation A few months after his return, Mr. Brown produced a multimedia presentation featuring an extensive picture essay combined with audio interviews. He also wrote a perspective story from his many experiences in Liberia. |
| MONROVIA, LIBERIA INTRODUCTION |
| CLICK FOR PRINTABLE INTRODUCTION |
 It's dark and quiet, as the airplane slowly breaks through the clouds. Some passengers begen to cry. Tears spill from their eyes. Moments before the plane wheels kiss the ground, the group harmoniously began singing a Liberian song "The Lone Star forever, the Lone Star forever. Oh, long may it flow over and o'er sea. The Lone Star forever." The 60 passengers from America have traveled home to their native land, Liberia. After deplaning in the middle of the dark airport runway, they walk anxiously through the damp West African night air. They are uncontrollably excited. In a few days, some will vote, while others join their families and country as observers and supporters of the long awaited October 2005 presidential elections. Liberia is nestled on the west coast of Africa about 150 miles north of the equator. The population of 3.4 million, live in the small country comparable in size to the state of Tennessee. The Liberian people are emerging from a cocoon of despair after a quarter of a million lives were lost during the country's 14- year civil war. Twice a week, a group of 80 women called "The Women of Liberia" gather at a vacant airfield in Monrovia to pray for peace and for the leadership of their country. In 1822, the first group of freed slaves from America settled on Providence Island, now Liberia's capital city, Monrovia. In 1847, the Liberian Declaration of independence, modeled after America, was adopted. Liberia became Africa's first republic. Charles Taylor and his followers overthrew the Samuel K. Doe government, ethnic factions began fighting for control of Liberia in 1989. The next year, Doe was executed. The country's unemployment rate is 85 percent and the war has forced the nation to scavenge. Many of the former warriors are lost and they now search for their own identity. "We are begging on the street looking for our daily bread. We have nothing," said Thomas Chea. A former child solider, Chea, now, 26, hobbles around Monrovia streets on clutches because he lost his left leg during the civil war. At 14, Thomas became a fighter in the war. Today, he doesn't want war, but a better future for him and his family. He and other handicapped ex-combatants resemble a pack of wolves as they beg for food and money. "My expectations for this country is that we will get a new government that will sit down and do something for us, the disabled guys, because we are suffering in this country," also said Chea. According to 2004 data compiled by the United Nations Development Programme Liberia, 464,000 Liberians are internally displaced. Another 350,000 Liberians have sought refuge in the surrounding countries of Guinea, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf: a Harvard educated, mother of four sons, and, a gracefully aging 67-year-old grandmother was inaugurated as Liberia's president in January. Johnson-Sirleaf was one of the country's presidential candidates from a crowded field of 22 people. During the October presidential campaign, Ellen said she wanted to be president to change Liberia. "I have been in this struggle for 20 years or more and I know it is possible for Liberia, a small country with a relative small population to be a model of Africa. It will take some hard decisions." Johnson-Sirleaf is nicknamed "The Iron Lady" for her reputation of being strong willed and courageous. She was a former Liberian Secretary of State for Finance, a Vice President at Citibank and a Director of the United Nations Development Programme. The Iron Lady sits in a simple wooden chair under her home's outdoor gazebo and talks about her leadership for the country with a group of American reporters. As she leans back in her perfectly ironed summer dress, it softly touches the velvet-padded cushion that holds firm in the 80 degree heat. She is poised, as she discusses Liberia's future, only one day before the October 11th general election. "The president must secure the peace. That means to response to the needs of the ex-combatants and the victims that are out there. Thousands and thousands are in villages, in the cities, unemployed, not in school, not reintegrated into their community," said Johnson-Sirleaf. She also said that her first priority is to improve the lives of the youth. In 2003, Liberia's literacy rate was 58 percent. More than 40 percent of Liberia's 3.4 million, population, is under 20 years of age. Johnson-Sirleaf said that the government must make sure that the youth are engaged. "They have a stake in the future. We have to get them into school, we got to get them into skilled training programs and get them into productive endeavors," says Johnson-Sirleaf "Our only concern is that the current generation is less educated and less trained than the previous. We are very worried about the younger population being proper equipped and ready to take over the leadership. Our challenge is to move quickly to fill the gap, so that they are ready because, they have to take over. There has to be a generational passing of the guard." She also said "leaders have to take responsibility because we didn't educate our youth. We failed them over generations. Liberia's image has been damaged through the years of conflict because of the atrocities committed against ourselves and the suffering we imposed on our own people." |
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 The United Nations' Demobilization, Disarmament, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DDRR) established a national recovery and rehabilitation program throughout Liberia to return ex-combatants back to society.Charles Achodo, the DDRR Program & Policy Advisor said that ex-combatants received reintegration benefits that provide them formal education or vocational training. He also said that the ex-combatants must provide a history of their war atrocities and turn in their guns for enrollment into the program. The formal disarmament demobilization phase was from April 2004 through November 2004. Over 100,000 ex-combatants were disarmed and demobilized. Collected during the disarmament period were 28,314 weapons and 6,153,631 rounds of ammunition. One of the educational sites for ex-combatants is the Alpha Computer School in Monrovia. The school's aim is to produce computer technicians who will be employees and entrepreneurs contributing to the economic development of a post-war Liberia. In Liberia's rural town of Kakata, male and female ex-combatants are provided an eight-month training program in agriculture. The trainees receive practical training in swamp rice production, tree crop, water control and farm maintenance. As of June 2005, more than 40 percent of the ex-combatants have preferred to go back into formal education and 50 percent chose to enter vocational skills training. Two percent have selected agriculture training. In 2004, the United States contributed about $31 million to the DDRR Trust Fund. The US has also pledged $520 million to be disbursed over a three-year period. "The United States has been a long tradition partner. They have been very instrumental in getting this transition and supporting this transition, but we want to strengthen this relationship on the bases of mutual respect and mutual interest," said Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. "We are not going to be America's stepchild anymore. We are going to make sure we are performing to the place where America can be proud of the investment they made in Liberia and the progress Liberia makes. Most of Liberia walks. Many wear cheap shower type shoes called flip-flops. Their unprotected feet pound the hot dirt caked roads. There is also no running water. Many children walk down bumpy roads to get water for their families at the neighborhood hand water pump. There is no commercial electricity, not even in Monrovia. The dark country is lit at night by candles, lanterns and generations. The blackness is invading. It is quiet now in the villages and in the city. There is no war. A butterfly flies over a country that has endured.
Copyright by Milbert O. Brown, Jr. |
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