Liberia '07

Pictures

2007-06-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures from the first few weeks in Liberia:

This is a picture of me with the guys from my office. It was taken at a reception that President Sirleaf held for the Liberian soccer team.

At the President’s House

Where I'm From...

2007-06-22T03:07:00.000-07:00

For those of you who read the title and expected a post on personal growth or self-reflection, you’re going to be disappointed. This post is about Texas history.

When I was growing up, I had two years of state history in my school curriculum. Third and seventh grade, I believe. We read about Jim Bowie and Davie Crockett; about The Battle of San Jacinto and the struggle for the Alamo. One year, for a school project, I made an Alamo out of wooden blocks guarded by green soldiers and Lego men. Later, I wrote a paper on the day-to-day lives of the first settlers from Missouri. At the University of Texas, I took a course on Texas history from one of the nation’s leading scholars of Southern history, Dr. Norman Brown.

Despite my formal (and some would say extensive) education in Texas history, I never questioned the origins of my state’s symbol, the Lone Star. I assumed that Texans had developed the symbol and that we were the only ones who had (or would!) ever use it. Boy, was I wrong.

Liberia is the Lone Star Nation. At soccer games, they cheer for the Lone Star. At rallies and events, they sing about the Lone Star. They wear it on their shirts and they put it on their bumper stickers; they name businesses after it. Hell, Liberians are almost as obnoxious as Texans are about the Lone Star. Check out the likeness of the two flags:

Texas:

Liberia:

Initially, I thought these similarities were really amusing. I joked with colleagues that I was subconsciously drawn to Liberia because of my Texas roots. The humor quickly faded, however, when Liberians began insisting that Texans copied or stole the Lone Star from the people of Liberia. In response to these charges, I’ve done a bit of research. Hopefully, the following should clear things up once and for all.

“A single star was part of the Long Expedition (1819), Austin Colony (1821) and several flags of the early Republic of Texas. Some say that the star represented the wish of many Texans to achieve statehood in the United States. Others say it originally represented Texas as the lone state of Mexico which was attempting to uphold its rights under the Mexican Constitution of 1824. At least one "lone star" flag was flown during the Battle of Concepcion and the Siege of Bexar (1835). Joanna Troutman's flag with a single blue star was raised over Velasco on January 8, 1836. Another flag with a single star was raised at the Alamo (1836) according to a journal entry by David Crockett. One carried by General Sam Houston's Texian army (which defeated Mexican General Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto ) may have been captured and taken to Mexico. Another "lone star" flag, similar to the current one but with the red stripe above the white, was also captured the following year (1837) and returned to Mexico. The "David G. Burnet" flag, of "an azure ground" (blue background) "with a large golden star central" was adopted by the Congress of the Republic of Texas in December of 1836. It continued in use as a battle flag after being superseded in January of 1839. The 1839 design has been used to symbolize the Republic and the “Lone Star State” ever since.”

I did a bit of asking around at the University of Liberia and discovered that prior to using the Lone Star on it’s flag, Liberia used a cross. See Below:

Liberia used the “cross flag” until 1847, when it became the Lone Star Nation and adopted the flag that is presently used. Texas was the Lone Star State at least eight years before Liberia was the Lone Star Nation. You have no idea how relieved I am.

2007-06-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I got a personal lesson in the difficulties of post conflict governance. While attending a ceremony for Nigerian General Luka Yusuf, I bumped into Prince Johnson, current Senator from Nimba county and former leader of the Independent National Patriotic Forces of Liberia (INPFL). My moment of interaction with Prince Johnson was incredibly troubling.

During the civil war, Johnson was responsible for the capture and eventual death of Samuel Doe (the former President of Liberia). In his book, Liberia: The Heart of Darkness, Gabriel I. H. Williams offers a grotesque account of these events.

“Already seriously wounded from his capture, Doe was mutilated, tortured, and killed by the INPFL in the early hours of September 10th. The ordeal was captured on video, copies of which went on general sale in cities throughout West Africa, and extracts were even broadcast on British television news. Parts of the horrifying scene scenes show Doe sitting on the ground naked with his broken legs tied and his hands handcuffed and tied to his back. While being interrogated, he is pushed to the ground and his ears cut off with a knife, as he screams helplessly and begs for mercy. Presiding over Doe’s interrogation, Johnson sits behind his desk drinking a can of Budweiser beer, being fanned by female commandos.”

By all accounts, Johnson was an average looking, middle-aged man. If a coworker hadn’t made an effort to point him out, I would have never guessed that he was capable of such brutality. I think its common to imagine people like Johnson as being something other than human. To find that he was 5’9 and overweight was (I’m embarrassed to say) a letdown.

More disturbing than Johnson’s mediocre appearance was (what appeared to be) his full political rehabilitation. At the ceremony, he mingled freely, joking and laughing with other officials.
As I watched him, I wondered why people would vote for a man like this. At minimum, why didn’t other government officials ignore or ostracize him? I don’t know the answer to these questions. I’m inclined to believe that people have accepted Johnson in an attempt to promote wider reconciliation. More to come on this subject…

Working

2007-06-13T09:13:00.000-07:00

So I’ve finally gotten around to putting up a second post. I prepared five or six entries before this one, but decided not to post them. My impressions of Liberia (and the government) have been changing so rapidly that I’ve backed away from most of my initial conclusions.

My experiences thus far have been mixed. Working in presidential protocol is sometimes very exciting. Other times, it’s the most boring job I’ve ever had. Last week, I spent an entire day doing nothing—the President was out of the office and no major meetings were going on. I played computer chess, wrote a useless blog entry (that I never posted), and took an excessively long lunch. Later in the week, I was incredibly busy—I wrote a speech, handled some work for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and arranged meetings for a delegation of international bankers. I guess that’s the nature of the job.

I’m hoping to pick up a part time project with the Liberian Reconstruction and Development Committee to keep me busy during down times.

Visa Woes

2007-05-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

I leave tomorrow. Or at least I’m supposed to. I still haven’t received my passport. According to DHL it was mistakenly shipped to Lubbock, Texas. The customer service rep I spoke with assured me that she would do everything in her “power” to get it to me. We’ll see what happens.

Today’s shipping fiasco is the most recent problem I’ve encountered in trying to secure a visa. The original package from the embassy (that was supposed to have my passport with visa affixed) was empty when it arrived last Friday. After numerous phone calls, the embassy found my passport and agreed to ship it overnight. Thus far, DHL has been unsuccessful in getting it to suburban Houston.

I hope this isn't a sign of things to come.