Who doesn't think of the infamous assassinations of 13 government ministers and True Whig Party leaders by Samuel Doe's revolutionary coup when you are at South Beach? It is somehow always at the back of my mind.
Yesterday I met Martha Henries and, I asked her whether I knew of her because of her name. She said her father, Richard Henries, was one of the 13 who was killed at South Beach. And, that the Peoples' Redemption Council had sent the family letter afterwards to 'apologise' for what was necessary. We met Martha at a Liberian Arts and Crafts fair at the Palm Springs Casino hotel. Martha is exporting products such as spices, coffee, pepper sauce, coconut oil, etc to the US.
I have posted a lot of photographs here. South Beach was full of people enjoying the ocean. There were at least 2 football games going on. Children were running around. There were many people dancing at a beach bar.
The beach has a clear view of Mama Point on one side and then the buildings behind the Executive Mansion.
There is too much trash on the beach. Goats were eating garbage near one of the several garbage dump sites at the beach.
The gutter coming from the community into the ocean is extremely polluted.
There are photos of garbage in the beach sand, the dirty gutter.
The twinkling Christmas lights near the Executive Mansion are up.
We ate sugar cane, bananas, and oranges from street vendors (always women) on the way back. We bought an orange for $ 40 LD and one for $ 30 LD and a banana for $ 35 LD. A lady came over with a small newborn (wrapped in a warm blanket, socks and a hat) and, her 5 or 6 year old daughter. The orange lady kept teasing the girl, "So this is your ugly brother? Why you say he is ugly?" The lady next to her joked "You are getting ugly, getting fat. Are you pregnant?" I asked why the baby was warmly bundled up in this warm weather. The mother said she would take everything off at home.
Bijli now walks without a leash beside us. She barks all day long on our balcony at cars and passer byes on Randall Street but when she is out and about she is afraid of even her own shadow.
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