One of my primary objectives in coming to Liberia for the summer was to get out into rural communities and see what is going on in the schools. When I first got to country I had some time in Monrovia to get my head wrapped around what policy papers say should be happening in Liberian schools but I wanted to actually get out there and see what was occurring in reality. I was able to do this through the support of the wonderful people of a project working to research girls’ access to primary education that let me tag a long on their two week trip to conduct teacher training workshops on school records management and data collection. While the team conducted exciting data management workshops that were highly appreciated, and sorely needed, by teachers and principals, I conducted in-depth interviews and focus groups with girl students, parents, teachers, and principals in six schools across three counties. Members of the team also helped me out with translation when needed (standard Enlish to Liberian English and back again as well as English to Bassa and Kpelleh), which was enthusasitically appreciated. The schools I visited were program schools for the project I am working for this summer and the counties where they work have some of the lowest primary school enrollment and retention rates for girls in the country.
The trip around the counties was absolutely great. I got to do some really interesting work conducting interviews and collecting datat helped me gain insight into the challenges to girls education here, was able to see and appreciate the beauty that is rural Liberia as well as the experience the infamous road system, spent lots of quality time getting to know my amazing colleagues, and even met some friendly Peace Corps volunteers and UNMIL police along the way. All from the comfort of the ubiquitous white land cruiser (which I love and appreciate, I got all desire to be one with the people through mass transit during my Peace Corps days). Emmanuel, our fearless and always optimistic driver diligently provided the soundtrack to the trip: the indubitable Akon, local Bassa music, and lots o' gospel – on repeat. Beer rest stops included: the repair bay of the Total gas station (apparently a popular local hangout), White and Black night club/brothel, Paulma’s bar (epically loud music + 90’s movies) and an UNMIL police compound. Glorious waterfalls visited: one.
Throughout the trip I was found myself constantly comparing what I was seeing, hearing, and tasting with my experiences in other West Africa countries but by the end I think I learned to appreciate Liberia for what it is: distinctly West African but also uniquely Liberian. There are definite similarities with other countries in the sub-region. I found these commonalities strangely comforting because they are all things that I love about this region: the warmness of people, the strong importance placed on sitting down to just be in each others company and/or chatting awhile, extended family bonds that can overcome anything, the emphasis on joking and the powerful, life affirming laughs that result from even the simplest of jests, unbelievable optimism in the face of persistence struggles, and the devotion of parents to their children’s education and hope for a better future. But even with these similarities there are some things here that I encountered for the first time. Things about Liberia that has to do with the countries unique, and often tormented, history: towns that were once one split in two due to ethnically driven massacres, bombed out school buildings next to functioning classrooms, rampant alcohol abuse – even by teachers in school, being unable to find even one girl in a rather large village because every single one of them was farming even though school was in session, the strong command of English by adults and the elderly next to 11 year olds that can barely speak standard English, eighteen year old girls in second grade, and the widespread but misguided belief that America will one day, finally, save Liberians.
The trip was certainly enlightening: mostly great experiences and conversations punctuated by sobering realizations of the odds the country, the school system, and the youth are up against. Yet, as always there are glimmers of optimism that can be found if you look hard enough or just happen to be in the right spot at the right time. At the last school I visited, in a county that was devastated by the war and in a town that is struggling to adequately feed its children let alone send them to school, I found hope in the form of a warmly eager and talkative old Pa with whom I chatted for hours and a bright and inquisitive four year old girl that understood my English, recited her alphabet and toddled around the school grounds with a constant look of glee. She was the first child I met that is on-age for school. She is one of the lucky few girls actively attending pre-school, a vital step in early childhood education and development that prepares children to be ready to learn. When she enters Grade 1 at the age of 5 years, most of her classmates will be 15 years old. She will go far, I feel it.
*Offical government documents and loads of Liberians refer to the rural areas of the country as the hinterland, or more commonly, the interior. Both are a little colonialistic for my taste, especially since there are long standing urban and rural tensions due partly to the use and meaning behind these words, but when in Rome...
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