Evening walk

Kavita and I took a leisurely walk in central Monrovia. We walked past the cemetery on Centre Street. They have recently re-fenced the cemetery and I think it looks better, now. 

I remember when I was with UNDP Liberia, our organisation received a tranche of funds from the World Bank under the heading of Transitional Support Funding (TSF) and, this funding was used for a range of activities: reconstruction of schools, clinics, road repairs, etc. At this time, one of my colleagues (and now a very close friend), the head of procurement, was handling the contracts for these projects and, I remember she said she directly managed the construction of the walls at the cemetery. 

So, these walls have been since broken and, this new fencing has replaced that UNDP-World-Bank wall. 

I remember always hearing that this cemetery was full of druggies and criminals who sleep amongst these graves. 

Even when we walked past the cemetery, someone told us not to linger here! 

I clicked a photograph of a grave and, was astonished to see the details. The person had been buried back in the early 20th century:

Mary Antoinettee Bernice Padmore

Born January 26, 1893

Died August 29, 1919

"Ours is an unending love

Higher than the heights above

Deeper than the depths beneath

Lasting ever, even in death"

It is such a beautiful loving epitaph. In case a family member reads this, please know I am only writing about this here because I was so moved by the sense of history, through this one tomb stone. 

To think I've lived in this city for so long and still find new things which surprise me.