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| From Where in the World is Dad? |
Today, we were working. We got up early to go to a meeting at the United Nations mission, which is here to try to help put everything back together after the fighting. But somewhere, either I or someone at the United Nations made a mistake, since we thought our meeting was at 10AM, but they thought it was at 3:30 in the afternoon. Oops.
We couldn't make a new meeting for the morning, so we went to get souvenirs for people we love back home (like you! But I can't tell you what I got you, or it wouldn't be a surprise. I'll bring it when I come to pick you up from school on Thursday). I got Mommy a [shh! Don't tell her!] and a necklace for Grammy [blue, like she likes] and a mask for our wall. The one I got is very big! And old. Because not many people come here just to visit, it is easier to find old masks that really got used for things here in Liberia than other places I've been. The one I got was used for celebrations among a tribe called the Krahn, and it has big teeth. But don't worry, it's more funny than scary. I'll show it to you when I get home!
But, back to work. We went out of the city to visit a radio station. This radio station is special, because it plays programs for girls and women - teaching them about their rights, and the law, and how to be politicians and advocates, and the news and all sorts of things. It's especially important for lots of women and girls who live outside the city, because lots of them can't read (that's why things like Mama Tomah's school are important). We talked to the woman who ran the station and to two of the younger women who worked with her, who especially try to help with things that affect teenagers. In Liberia, traditionally, lots of women had their first children when they were only 14 or 15, and had to leave school, so they are trying to talk to young women about having children later, after they finish school. [Mom: We also heard some pretty horrific stories from them, one of which made me involuntarily sharply inhale, and Susan had to apologize for my brief lapse of professionalism.]
After that, we had to split up. I went to talk to some people at the United Nations about what they are doing to help the police, judges, and lawyers, and teach people about the laws. Miss Susan went to talk to other women who work outside the government to help women, including one who was part of the movement that stopped the fighting.
[Mom: One big question we've been trying to ask lots of people is why, given that they were part of a peaceful movement, they were demonstrating in favor of a US military intervention in 2003. The answer we got was, basically, 'oh, if the US came in, the fighting just would have stopped!' So I'm thinking about how to write something explaining that local movements may not always have a full consciousness of the consequences of militarization...]
One of the cool things about where Miss Susan went was that one of her meetings was in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is guarded by these people:
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| From Where in the World is Dad? |
Those women are members of something very neat - India (Mommy can show you where it is on the map) has a unit of police here with the United Nations who are all women. The United Nations hopes that police who are women will be better able to help girls and women who are having trouble, and women with problems may feel more comfortable coming to them. But, they're part of what's called a "formed police unit," who are police that know not just how to stop crimes but how to stop fighting and help people get away from danger (that's why they have the big truck, it has armor for in case there's fighting near them).
Part of why they're guarding the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is that it's where Liberia's president works - did you know that Liberia has a woman president? Her name is Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, but lots of people in Liberia call her "Ma Ellen." She's very popular here. Not everyone likes her, of course - some people are upset because they think that she's not fixing all the problems Liberia ended up with after the fighting fast enough. There's an election at the end of this year, in November, and that's why one of her campaign slogans is "Monkey is working; Baboon wait small."
After our meetings, we came back and took care of some phone calls, but it was already late. So we went for a late dinner, and now I'm back at the hotel, writing this to you.
I miss you and love you very much. I'll be home in only 3 days!
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