We travel not for trafficking alone

Harmattan

2012-02-09T16:05:00.000-08:00

When I looked out the window this morning, I was struck at how white the sky looked. The whole view was hazy, almost foggy. You'd think this was a white, snowy sky. I could not see anything I can normally see on the horizon, for instance, Ducor Hotel or the new American Embassy.

What we are seeing is the Harmattan, fine dust traveling down from the Sahara. Apparently, it's so thick that flights have stopped coming into Monrovia.

I do not really mind it at all because the sun is blocked it is slightly cooler.

Below are some pictures taken from our terrace:

Monrovia: I Love My City, I Hate My City

2012-02-05T11:43:00.000-08:00

It has been aweek since I got back from my very long trip out of Liberia. I mustsay I am struggling - like I always do - in settling back intoLiberia. I am frustrated with everything: the hot and sticky weather;the general shabbiness and ugliness of Monrovia; the gutters, the putrid smells; the throng of street vendors and especially their goods-laden wheelbarrows; and, how long things take to get done here.

It is pure culture shock! Even when driving back from the airport, one looks around at the thick tropical forest on either sides of the RIA highway, and you say to yourself, yaar ye tau jungle hai, what am I doing here?

That jungle-shock-fever passes and you start coming into Congo Town, one of the furthest edges of Monrovia, and get re-acquainted with the bareness, the shoddiness of Monrovia. I did notice the new Ministry of Health recently renovated by Chinese contractors and it looks good. But it stands out as a lone building. As you come into town and pass Sinkor and finally into the very congested central Monrovia, you are really struck by how shoddy and small Monrovia is.

Sure, Monrovia has seen loads of changes over the past several years. In fact, I should know having first arrived way back in 2003 when it was literally enveloped by darkness, full of refugees, piles of garbage and shelled-out buildings starting out at you from every corner. I often make glowing and enthusiastic remarks at how much change has come about and that we are really moving towards much more. But I guess because the country still has such a long way to go, it is such a culture shock coming from places like Islamabad.

I arrived back at my apartment slash office only to find everything caked in 1-inch dust and half my plants struggling for water. Nothing was as I like it and have instructed to be maintained in a certain way. I was incensed, infuriated and indignant. I wanted to fire everyone. Thankfully, it was the weekend and I couldn't actually fire anyone. But my God, was I pissed off that my staff had let simply ignored my very detailed and explicit instructions on how to maintain my office. I couldn't even enjoy the cup of coffee on the new terrace that Haresh had added to by making a walkway and a wooden floor. I was fuming the whole time, angry that my plants had unnecessarily been starved of precious water. I found dirt and dust everywhere, wanting to weep and scream at the same time.

I also forgot to mention that half of the new rattan set that I had specially got made for the terrace was stolen on one of the holidays when both Haresh and I were away and I guess no one was around (although I had asked my staff to check the place by passing by on Sundays and holidays and take turn doing it). The clever thief had actually broken the lock going up to the terrace and apparently no one in the entire building heard the sound. Naturally, I was seething about this as well.

I did, of course, take my staff to task on Monday morning. The answers I got were really creative: the cat ate all the plants, we just cleaned the place, I don't know or let me blame someone else for it. Then, there was a whole lot of sulking and mumbling.

So yes, I got really pissed off and did some almost-firing and sulking of my own. I think I also really miss Joseph Dennis and I feel pangs of nostalgia through out the day. May his soul rest in peace.

I guess I need to find keep working at enforcing rules and getting people to follow instructions. I have noticed that although most of staff come from really humble backgrounds, some of them really think it is below them to do other things requested of them. I found it very strange that none of the staff bothered to wait for me at the office after I returned from the Airport last Saturday. And, the worst is that they'll never admit their mistakes and instead, sulk! I was shocked to see how much attitude and sulkiness I was shown when I pointed out my disappointment at finding a messy office and half my plants in bad shape. There is really no way to change the mentality but I guess I can keep pointing out what I like and dislike and hopefully, this set of young persons working for me will start to follow instructions.

Work wise, the business has been doing well and for the couple weeks that both Haresh and I were away, the staff handled clients and followed instructions. It was also a slow time and not much was happening. Ultimately, Haresh and I can only afford to be away for about a month at the same time and any more than that impacts the business.

So, I think I am getting back into it although I do really miss Islamabad. I miss being in a city which is functional and also pleasing to look at. Monrovia offers no respite because it is in a very shabby condition. Sure, things have improved a lot in the last few years and the mayor's office has accomplished a lot to restore order (parking areas, street signs, one-way streets, control of traffic, building of the new bridge going into Bushrod Island), get the city cleaned up (so much so that the first Saturday of the month is set aside exclusively to clean up the town) and to beautify (plants, painting, renovation).

Broad Street

But still, it is always a culture shock to come from any other country and to find oneself in a shabby city that is Monrovia. It also offers no natural beauty and so one longs to see something looking pretty and normal. Monrovia is by the ocean but unfortunately most of the beaches in town are extremely dirty and people have been using them as public toilets! One has to drive out for several kilometers to find a clean beach. So what does that leave us with? There are some hilly bits of Monrovia which are nice such as the top of Broad Street which offer a nice view but really one is hard pressed to find some scenic views. All in all, I do not think Monrovia is naturally pretty making one starved of beauty.

The streets during the day time on weekdays are full of street vendors, masses of people, traffic and lots of commotion. I often find myself wanting to throttle the guys who sell those outdated, annoying CDs and play them on an ancient deck, transporting the whole mobile CD shop on a wheelbarrow!

Having said all of the above, I do have a certain relationship with Liberia that forces me to think in positive terms. I am here for the long term and have set myself up for a challenge that I am relishing. I have been in Liberia for almost 10 years, most of it working for the dysfunctional UN system, but only recently switched to the private sector. I am here to establish and grow a premier IT company that will provide services and goods to the new Liberia, which is booming and shows great promise.

I am really glad that I don't belong to the aid crowd with its typical short-term relationship with the country it serves. I am here for long term and have a different vision and stake in this place. When I used to work in a stuffy UN office it would take me ages - at least a month - to get back into Liberia mode or to feel motivated again. Now, my turn around time is a week! There's too much going on in my personal and professional life to feel down or depressed. Where before I was stuck in a job which had such a messed up relationship with the country I was in, I could never be positive about the future.

It is a completely different ball game now. Having a business has completely changed my outlook and view towards the place I am in. Instead of seeing Liberia as an aid-receiving hopeless case, I now see it as a growing economy with a leadership that has an outward-looking, modern vision. I want to be part of a new, changing Liberia and yes, benefit from it. I want a piece of the cake!

I see potential everywhere. And yes, Liberians can be a pain to work with but I have way much more freedom to train people, to hire people, to fire people and find and mould a team to my liking. And I am sure I am also a pain to work with, too.

Yay! I have given myself a great pep talk and am re-excited about all the great stuff I am trying to accomplish in Liberia!

Living in the world's most expensive city

2012-02-03T07:58:00.000-08:00

There's an article on BBC "Living in the world's most expensive city," which is none other than Luanda, Angola.

Monrovia is also extremely expensive and it appears that Monrovia is expensive for the very same reasons: aftermath of a prolonged civil conflict, broken down infrastructure resulting high prices for basic commodities and energy, high rents created by an expatriate bubble, and very little local production and necessity to import almost everything.

The article interviews various expatriates who live and work in Luanda. The comments and observations they made could almost describe the scene in Monrovia: tomatoes are so expensive here you'd think they were made of gold, rents for ordinary apartments in those exclusive compounds where the UN crowd lives are sky high and drive up rents elsewhere, and the quality of the average item or service you buy never matches the price!

However, there is a way to live more economically as some of the more practical residents of Luanda are doing. Likewise, one can find cheaper accommodation in Monrovia - it's not in a compound but in available for example in central Monrovia in the commercial areas, usually above the businesses and shops. The apartments are available unfurnished and have very reasonable rents. One can buy one's vegetables, fruits and meats outside of the supermarkets and one can save money. Sometimes it is a matter of getting as far away from the supermarket as possible and buy from the market women. I avoid buying meat from the supermarkets but from the butcher. I have also heard some farms have cropped up and it is cheaper to buy directly from them.

You'd think that these measures are so basic, so commonsense and why bother even pointing these out! But most expatriates who live in these post-conflict countries which are experiencing a double aid-and-foreign-investment boom can't seem to think normally as they would back home.

So yes, Monrovia is also extremely expensive but there are ways to save that hard-earned cash and put it to be better use. Of course, one still misses have the variety of options as a consumer, one misses the variety of fresh produce, one misses the quality of service and goods back home but at the same time, life is quite simple in these places.

Let's hope that we have more competition in Liberia and prices are driven down for basic things. Let's hope we have more options and choices. And let's hope that domestic production also takes off. It'll be nice to see more products made in Liberia on the shelves.

Greetings from Nairobi Airport

2012-02-01T10:02:00.000-08:00

* image from Excess Baggage Charges and How to Avoid Them

Why is my life so full of excess luggage? As far back as I can remember, I seem to be flying from city to city, continent to continent dragging over-the-limit suitcases and hand carry on's bursting at the seams. Why do I always insist on packing a hippo and an elephant?
There are such profound questions and because the answers will be so philosophical and require quite some time and space to fully elaborate the explanations from a socio-political perspective, it is best to just put the questions out there and let them linger as giant question marks over our heads. But I can tell you how much I spent so far on excess luggage! While I was driving to Islamabad Airport at around midnight, I asked the Radio Cab driver whether he had any contacts at the Airport who could help me with my excess luggage which was around 20 kg as I was only allowed 30 KG on the Emirates flight from Islamabad to Dubai. He said the best thing to do was to ask the porters to help me out as they would speak to the officers at the counters and make a deal. So that is exactly what I did! The Radio Cab driver spoke to a couple of them before hand to explain what I wanted. So, while I was in that ridiculous 3-laned queue to actually get into the airport, I explained to him how much I thought I was in excess. Another porter came round and explained that he would try his best to get my things through with spending a minimal amount. He told me he would get it done in half the amount. So, I slipped in 10,000 rupees into my passport and the job was done. I also paid 3,000 rupees to the porter who arranged the whole deal. I guess I saved a lot of money as I would have had to pay at least double. But it was not over, I also spent quite a bit of dirhams for excess luggage for the Dubai to Monrovia leg on Kenya Airways where my travel allowance was 40 KG. I spent 350 dirhams for 7 kgs excess luggage for the checked-in luggage and guess what, 200 dirhams for 9 kgs excess for carry-on bags! This is a fortune to say the least. The Islamabad to Dubai flight on Emirates was full of screaming babies and I hardly got an hour's sleep. I mean you know it that the flight is full of desi's when you have a screeching symphony of bitterly crying and whining babies. Mujhe paida kyun kya??

The Dubai to Nairobi flight was around 4 hours long but because I was so tired, I hardly remember much of it. Both airports were a modern Internet-user's disappointment as the wi-fi was not working at either! At least I would be able to send e-mails. I think this e-mail will stay in my Outbox until I reach my apartment in Monrovia. I only have a 3 hour-stop in Nairobi and am probably going to spend it sipping coffee at the Java House cafe until they announce boarding. I would love to look around duty free and buy some Kenyan souvenir but my hand luggage is too heavy to drag around and they do not have those trolleys like they do at Dubai Airport. It's an almost 9-hour journey from Nairobi to Monrovia including the 1-hour stop in Accra. Fortunately, I will spend that stop over in the plane. Will call from Monrovia once I get there on Saturday at 3 PM. It will be 8 PM in Pakistan and Saira will be glued to the TV watching the latest Humsafar episode which I shall try to watch on YouTube on Sunday if the Internet speed permits it.

28.01.2012 - Nairobi Airport

A cubist nude woman and horse and a Mughal miniature

2012-01-24T08:03:00.000-08:00

I will always fondly remember today as I purchased my very own first Pakistani art. After going back and forth to the Nomad Art Gallery (I must have made at least 5 trips), rummaging through paintings, researching artists on the Internet, and talking to the various gallery staff, I finally made my selection today!

I purchased a Mashkoor Raza mid-size painting and a Mughal miniature by N.H. Kazmi.

The Mashkoor Raza, an artist from Lahore, is a very atmospheric cubist piece with a nude woman and a horse. It's part of a series of "over 35 oil paintings featuring fuming horses and semi nude women were put on display, giving an impression of ‘power and beauty'" (Check out this article Mashkoor Raza Encloses Cubism at Nomad Gallery Islamabad).

And here it is:

Ain't she a beauty?

There was a similar one to this and it was in red hues but I am glad I got the blue one.

The other painting is a Mughal miniature by N.H. Kazmi who is a prominent artist and famous for his Mughal miniatures. It was a bit of an impulsive purchase and to be honest, there is nothing particularly mind blowing about it, but I guess I got it for the heck of it. There was a painting, not a miniature, by the same artist which featured two veiled women and for me, that was more interesting. But it was as expensive as the first one and I wanted to spend the bigger part of my budget on the Mashkoor Raza.

Below is a picture of the miniature:

I am really happy with my first foray into Pakistani art and, now plan on collecting pieces each time I visit Pakistan instead of blowing so much money on clothes! There were lots of other amazing pieces in the gallery. I am mainly more interested in the more modern expressions rather than Mughal miniatures and calligraphy, not that it is not beautiful, but I would rather explore something else.

So, thanks to my brother for suggesting I invest in Pakistani art. I sent him a teasing text message today where I said I was really more Pakistani than him as I not only still had a Pakistani passport (he's got a British one in addition to his Pakistani one) but also owned 2 Pakistani paintings. He's probably going to get really annoyed because we have this really anal argument as to who is more Pakistani between us.

I love my city, I love Islamabad

2012-01-23T14:15:00.000-08:00

I have been in Islamabad since 17 December and have thoroughly enjoyed being back in this beautiful city in the winter. Living in tropical Liberia, where one experiences two seasons - a really dry one and a really wet one - it is nice to experience a different climate, especially such a deliciously cold one. There are wintry colours everywhere: yellow grass, dried out golden leaves, seasonal flowers in bloom and the streaming winter sun.

And then there are the pine-tree-lined beautiful roads and highways, the Margalla Hills in the background, the beautiful elitist homes with armed security guards, the manicured gardens, and this snobby quietness that is so special to Islamabad.

I have been gushing about the beauty of Islamabad to everyone and to myself. Well sure, some of this wide-eye wonder comes from the fact I live in a very shabby, war-affected, run-down capital of West Africa and yes, I am relishing being in a city that is not only functions but looks great, too, and is so clean. I literally drink in the beauty. I just love Islamabad.

But most of this appreciation really stands on its own. Islamabad is a beautiful city.

So, what are some of my favourite places and things to do in Islamabad? Here they are in no particular order:

1) Getting my favourite cake (almond syrup) from United Bakery in F-6. Like with most favourites, they are usually rooted in one's comforting childhood memories and so it is with the United Bakery almond syrup cake which we have been enjoying every since we were kids.

They keep changing the decor, though, and it's different each time we go there in the last few years. I guess they are trying out a new style but with the space they have, they need to better utilise it.

This time around they have put the counters in the middle and along the sides with loads of space in between. They really need to get an interior decorator to re-do the space that doesn't need to be too fancy but simple, cozy and inviting. They could even start serving tea and coffee and put a coffee bar by the front window with some bar stools and it could be really hip.

2) Shopping at Generation for funky, cool shalwar kameez -es. This has got to be a topper for me. Ami always has beautifully stitched clothes (from the tailor) ready for me each time I visit but still, shopping at Generation is amazing. I love browsing their funky collection, they way they mix materials, the bold colours and their twist on the versatile shalwar kameez.

When I used to actually live and work in Islamabad, I used to only wear Generation clothes. Sure, loads of other ready-made stores are out there, but I usually only buy at Generation because they are edgy, funky and cool. I prefer their clothes over all the other too-girly-for-my-taste clothes other shops have on offer.

I must admit though I do also shop at Khaadi for ready-made clothes, they have some pretty funky clothes too.

Generation does have its down's though. They only accept cash! It is so irritating! So, if you want to buy loads of clothes in one go, you need to have a lot of cash ready.

The other down is the pushy women who shop there! Sheeeesh, they are rude. Everyone kept pushing into each other and did not even bother apologising. I was really amused and shocked at the same time. And then they give such bitchy stares.

3) Going to the tailor's to pick up newly-stitched jora's. This particular tailor has been stitching our clothes for a decade now and it's always nice to catch up with him whenever I am in town. Ami had got a few jora's already made for me and I also got a few more made. All in all, yes, I went crazy on the clothes shopping. I guess one cannot help it - spending money on clothes.

4) Getting hot, frothy and sweet 45-rupee coffee and 10-rupee spicy potato fries from the road stalls in Jinnah Super Market while window shopping.

5) Buying truck loads of pirated DVDs and CDs from Illusions in Jinnah Super Market in F-7 A single DVD costs 100 rupees and you can get all the movies, all the genres, all the albums your heart so desires.

What's more, they make freakingly awesome compilation CDs in Pakistan.

Moreover, each CD store has their own Top 10 compilation. So Illusions has their own. Radio City in Super Market in F-6 has their own.

6) Evening walks in my neighbourhood. I have a particular route that takes about 40 minutes to do. There is a mix of really unkempt, what-the-.... houses and really posh ones. There's also the 'green belts' and the jacaranda trees which are in bloom in springtime.

This time, I enjoyed the winter colours and the drizzling rain.

7) Eating a club sandwich everywhere we go. People inherit all kinds of stuff from their parents. We have inherited the love of the club sandwich! And boy, did I eat a lot of club sandwiches and they really know how to make them in Pakistan. They have perfected it.

So these are some of my favourite things about Islamabad. I realised this time around that sure, the city is snooty and dull compared to the other bigger and older cities of Pakistan but this city is blessed with natural beauty. So yes, if you want to have natural beauty around you but loads of snootiness, this is the city to come to!

So what's new? Or what's something new in good old Isloo?

Café's

I have also been amazed at how much this city has changed since the last time I was here. There has been an explosion of café's and it's been a delight to go to try out various ones. There's a café concentration in Khausar Market and all are pretty cool. There's even a few next to us in F-11 Markaz: Masoom's and Rock Bottom. My favourite one, though, is Chai Khana in F-6. It is cozy, even has a fireplace, comfy sofas, and just fantastic chai!

These café's are really welcome because they offer one a place to meet friends and chill out instead of the usual restaurant.

Art Galleries

I have visited Khaas Gallery and Nomad Gallery with my brother initially. Khaas is small and quite stylish as it has a really nice cafe inside it. When we went, they had an exhibition of art by art graduates i.e. it was by budding artists. Half of the work was a bit boring and dare I say, amateurish, but some of it was quite bold. My favourite pieces were two portraits: Zia and Bhutto, two very important figures in Pakistani history. But they were already sold.

When we visited Nomad Gallery, there was an ongoing press event for an exhibition by Samina Ali. The paintings were mixed media and inspired by Lahore's Mughal History. We browsed through the gallery and learned it was the oldest gallery in Islamabad and had a lot of paintings and pieces to browse through. There was also a lot of 'truck art' to look at it, which was really very original and funky.

My brother convinced me to start looking into buying a Pakistani painting and I have been going to and fro, researching artists online and trying to find one I really love.

I also attended a really great concert at Khuch Khaas: a fusion of sufi music and jazz. The space was very intimate and the atmosphere was quite relaxed. The crowd was more or less into it and appreciated the amazing fusion of jazz, sufi music and subcontinental instruments. The first song was actually "Nature Boy" and to hear it being performed by this Haitian-French singer Cae and Arieb Azhar was amazing. All the songs were amazing and I was amazed at how they fused the two traditions together and actually pulled it off. I sooooo enjoyed the music and know that afters years of listening to jazz (whatever I could get my hands on, I don't claim to be an expert), I could really appreciate what was being done. I loved Arieb Azhar's voice, I loved Cae's jazz and enthusiasm, I loved the flutist, the classical guitar, the young kid on the guitar and of course the tabla player. Everyone had a really good rapport with each other.

Making New Friends While Buying Halwa Puri on A Sunday

When Haresh was here briefly, we went for an early-morning walk in the beautiful F-9 Park and stopped to get halwa puri on the way back. Haresh befriended a really nice gentleman because he figured out he's Sindhi. And that was the start of a beautiful friendship so much so that we made friends with the entire family. Sweet!

Afterthought

So yes, I have had a great time in Islamabad thusfar and it has really made me appreciate my home town. Yes, it's snooty, yes, it's not the real Pakistan, but it is beautiful. I like the place for what it is and let's not forget, I have lived and worked here for almost 2 years, so I know it's actually a really nice city to live in, too.

I also realise that to really appreciate, you have to see it for what it is and stop comparing it to other places you know. One has to make the most of the place you're in.

Finally, why have Pakistanis become so Allahhafizi??? I remember when everyone used to say khudahafiz (goodbye) and it sounded so nice. Now suddenly, everyone's saying Allahhafiz. I really prefer khudahafiz.

My new favourite place

2011-12-02T10:53:00.001-08:00

Since the landlord has put in a new roof on the terrace I have been hatching a plan to make a rooftop garden and sitting area. I've come far enough to take a few pictures of what I have done so far.

The rattan chairs and the table are new and so was the foam for the cushions. But the covers are recycled old curtains, table clothes, bed covers. I asked the tailor to do a patchwork job and look how colorful and funky it came out! I am so delighted! I am so glad I don't like to throw things away.

Some of the plants are old and were given a new lease of life by the gardener. And some plants are completely new. I made an enclosure using the pots and so far it looks good.

This is just the basic outlay and after I am done with it, it's going to be really something. I am planning on splashing a bit of terracotta-coloured paint around this corner. I will have another row of plants to make it a more lush-looking rooftop garden. Some creeping plants will hopefully go around the four pillars.

I'm so delighted with this space. I foresee many many balmy and romantic nights on the roof, with lots of candles, sipping tea or red wine, and listening to some divine music. Right now I can hear the Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté "Ali & Toumani" album in my head.

Post Conflict Liberia: Search for Alternatives, Default Political Change, and an International Local Success

2011-11-27T18:16:00.001-08:00

Default Political Change

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has won a second term in office without even having had to bat an eye lid, fight stiff competition, and really having had to explain her ideology, politics and/or platform. On top of it, she has had a handsome endorsement from the international community in the form a Nobel Peace Prize.

A few months leading up to the elections, I encountered a great deal of skepticism about her possible victory. Many people pointed out that 15 political parties vying for power equals stiff competition. Many whispered that Ellen was not popular amongst the population, that the main opposition party (CDC, Congress for Democratic Change) had built up a huge following and she was certainly on her way out. The common analysis was that it was probable that no one party would succeed in getting a 51% majority vote in the first round of voting and a run off was imminent. And indeed, that is what happened. However, none of the other speculations played out.

There was no stiff competition. There was no ideological debate. We did not have a neck to neck run off. Instead, the opposition committed one strategic blunder after one and lost a massive historical opportunity to build up some political credibility and repertoire. It has been one long list of political suicides which in sum, gave Ellen an effortless victory.

A few questions arise. Did the opposition in fact have a massive following and could have defeated Ellen in the run offs? Or, did Ellen always have enough support to begin with? Or, did the opposition make all this noise of declaring the whole process a fraud because they knew they had lost the game?

I feel we have had a default political victory

Search for Alternatives - The Notion of Great Leadership and Liberal Democracy's Limitations

As accolades continue to pour over Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize this week up in Oslo somewhere there, you would think some saint has has descended from the heavens to lead Liberia to its promised land. Sirleaf has been joined into the ranks of Nobel Prize laureates and now considered a great African leader. She is one of the personalities to be immortalised within her own lifetime.

Is Sirleaf a great leader, though? She certainly does not have the saintliness that is attributed to Nelson Mandela or Desmond Tutu, the two giants of Africa, neither of whom were politicians. Sirleaf is a politician and her status as a leader comes from her credentials as a politician and for steering post-conflict Liberia towards stability and economic revitalisation.

Her political goals are very clear - to bring Liberia back into the international community's fold. To re-open Liberia to the global market. To conform to certain notions of peace, democracy and development. It is for this for which she is being recognised.

What other alternatives did Liberians have? Well, I have already noted the short comings of the main opposition's leadership and lost opportunities. I have noted that the same actors of the civil war have found influential and respected positions in post-conflict Liberia. So, what alternatives did we have? Not many so it seems.

It is ironic that for all of CDC's machinations to try to match Sirleaf's credentials, they have failed miserably. George Weah went back to university to get a degree. He even joined forces with former UN diplomat and Harvard-educated Winston Tubman. But alas!

The machine that is democracy is not designed to produce great leaders or alternatives. Even the most mature democracies in the West have produced the likes of George Bush, Tony Blair, Berlusconi and Bill Clinton. Moreover, the electoral process as well as the every-day workings of democracy are complex and limited in the actual political and societal change they can produce. And, with the financial crisis the Western democracies are currently suffering, it has been made painfully clear that the democracy has so far served capitalism's needs rather than the peoples.

So, Liberia's infant democracy has done well for itself by bringing to power the kind of leader that is Sirleaf.

An International Local Success

Having said it all, it feels like Sirleaf's victory is what I call an international local success. Admired, worshipped and supported by the international community, she is the global choice for Liberia. And what are we celebrating here? The fact she has brought peace to Liberia or is revitalising an extraction economy?

Joseph Dennis, Faithful Servant and Friend, Passed Away

2011-11-27T15:50:00.001-08:00

I learned today that Joseph Dennis, my faithful servant and friend of 8 years, passed away today. I hate to use the word servant but the fact is he was my servant who has taken care of my house and office for as long as I have been in Liberia. It is not politically correct to use the word servant but the fact is that given the socio-economic divide between him and I, and the fact that he was not performing skilled work for me but average household/janitorial work, he was a servant. But I considered him more than just a servant and a long-time friend to whom I was grateful for his unwavering loyalty and friendship. The fact is, he has stood by my side through practically everything I have been through while I have been in this country.

I just came back from Joe's house in West Point. I have visited West Point when I was working with the UNDP a few times to check out some projects and knew it was a slum and have seen and smelled its narrow alleys, crowdedness, poverty and filth. But I had never visited Joe's home so it was a very overwhelming experience.

It was quite dark and Joe's friend guided us through the dark with a torch light. We entered a doorway and saw many people gathered and his wife crying very loudly, beating her hands on the floor. I asked to see her separately and we went into their one-room house which was lit with a bright bulb. Patience (NATC staff) and I sat down and the wife sat on the floor. His three little girls (his older son was not around), neighbours, wife's brothers were there. I just sat in shock looking at the poor little room. The walls were covered with newspapers and posters and some frames. A huge bed was the main attraction with suitcases and a couple of TVs and clothes here and there. I recognised things from my various homes, picture frames, old perfume bottles, DVDs, old suit cases...My discarded life decorated his one-room house.

So we just sat there and we talked about what happened. It was such a surreal experience. I was in shock and speaking practically and in a robotic voice. I tried to convey to them how much he meant to be me and what a kind and honest man their husband, brother, neighbour and friend was.

It seems like it was definitely a stroke or a heart attack because he just collapsed Saturday morning. He was fine and was even dressed to go to work. His neighbour told me that Joe had in fact woken him that morning. The next thing then knew he had collapsed and was almost in a coma. From then onwards, Jonathan (NATC staff member) rushed to their house and took him to Mercy Clinic first and then JFK. Patience visited Joe twice on Saturday. He was moving his limbs, apparently struggling against the doctors when they were examining him. When they went to visit him today, they were told he had died and to come back tomorrow to identify the body.

I do not know what kind of care he got at JFK and, whether he could have been saved if it were a hospital in a country with better facilities.

And that's it. Joseph Dennis is no more. I am consumed with grief. I cannot even explain you how sad I am. He's been my faithful and loyal servant and friend for 8 years. He knows all my habits, my mannerisms and my moods. I have confided many a problem to him. He was never sick, never late, never anything. I could always rely on him, on any day. He was always smiling. He was there with me through the ordeal of Wesley's death and by my side all along. He even went to the court to testify against the Chinese criminals. I know it is selfish but I cannot even imagine a daily routine without Joe. I am so sorry I never did anything substantial for him. I felt so bad sitting in his one-room house in that slum.

May Joe's soul rest in peace. I wish I had done more for him all the time I knew him but what is the use of regrets now? I wish tomorrow does not come so I do not have to face the reality that he is gone and that he will not be amongst us, around us, bring me my coffee and being the glue that he was between all of us. I feel sad he will never see our new office that we are so excited about. I feel sad he will not enjoy the successes our growing company is going to achieve. And I feel sad thinking about his children who are now without a father and his wife who is now without a husband.

Life is unfair and random and even more so for those who live in poverty.

My dear Joe, I hope you rest forever in peace and please know that I will remember and cherish your memories and friendship.

Letters and Nostalgia

2011-11-21T16:46:00.001-08:00

I have been a voracious letter ever since I have been a kid.

Some of my fond and earliest memories of letter writing as a kid were writing letters in Urdu to our grandfather. Aboo taught us to fold the letter in half. On one side would be our letter to Dada Jee and the other side would be blank. So we would post our letters to Dada Jee through the Embassy Pouch. And, Dada Jee would send us back our corrected letter on the other side.

The sweetest thing about writing those letters in Urdu were starting with "Pyare Dada Jee."

I am afraid my Urdu writing never progressed further than 3rd or 4th grade and we never really wrote many more letters in Urdu which is too bad.

So, most of my letter writing has been in English. I used to write dedicated letters to all my girl cousins and, God knows what I used to put in them because there were so many cousins I'd write to. I guess I would just talk about school, classes, homework and other nerdy things.

I also had friends that I had made in each city and country I have lived in and so they also needed to be written to. I have managed to stay in touch with many of my childhood friends and we have been good friends through all these years. There are a couple of friends that shared my love of writing so much that we primarily contacted each other through letters. I feel I have a deep bond with them as we have shared with each other our concerns, desires and special moments through words as we have grown up and moved on in our lives.

Finally, when we left home for university, I started writing letters to our parents and little sister. Those were sweet times as well.

Since I started working, though, I have been in places where sending and receiving post has been tricky but I still managed to do it via the UN pouch.

Now that I have started working for myself, I haven't bothered to find out whether Liberia's post actually works. I have heard it does indeed work but I have been too lazy to make an inquiry myself. I should given how much I love sending letters.

What I have been doing in the meantime is to send letters via anyone leaving Liberia and asking them to put it in a post box next time they see one. And I have sent postcards to friends and family from where ever I have gone to visit.

I know post cards and cards still do get sent. I am sure people still write letters. But e-mails have replaced letter writing for most people. Not only do e-mails reach the receipient almost instantaneously, but are much faster to write than taking quill to paper. And because one can send an e-mail countless times in a day, they can be as short as possible. Where before, one would sit and write about what happened in the previous month, one can talk about what happened the day before. I think letters were a much more measured way of writing to one's friends and loved ones but e-mails can be equally eloquent and romantic.

I still love writing a letter when I get the chance and posting it. It gives me almost a childish sense of glee because it connects me back to my childhood and how I was taught to communicate with my loved ones.

I feel quite nostalgic for bygone days this evening. It has actually been prompted by a number of incidents. First of all, Haresh is in India to be with his mother who has undergone a critical by pass and valve replacement surgery. My own mother is going to have a similar operation next month.

And, finally, Wesley's brother has finally returned home to Cape Town, South Africa after several years. It must have been a bittersweet family reunion. He has come home after the passing away of his dear father (Wesley) and elder brother (Wesley). I heard it was a wonderful reunion but full of tears.

Being alone in Liberia for the first time in so many years, I definitely feel nostalgic and a bit lonesome. I have been thinking about distances, from loved ones, from one's country and the passing of time. We can't stop time, hold on to something forever and not experience change. But we can hold on to memories.

So I decided to dig out my old shoe box and take out some letters and envelopes to comfort me and linger over happy memories.

A Disastrous Turn of Events in Liberia's Elections 2011

2011-11-08T22:48:00.000-08:00

This blog entry was written on 7 November 2011 while playing Settlers of Catan

Although the actual details of today's events are still sketchy, it appears that some peoples' fears about Liberia's shaky peace have come to pass. Apparently, three people (or at least 1 person) were killed in an incident involving the police and the main opposition party's supporters today on the eve of the run off's. Businesses were closed early, streets were emptied of the usual chaotic traffic, and people are in a general state of panic. The opposition has already declared a boycott of these elections so therefore, the state of panic is excaerbated by a sense of acute uncertainy.

At least that is how I read many peoples' moods this evening as I sit playing a game of Settlers of Catan this evening with close friends and family. It is 2 AM, I'm sipping a cup of delicious masala chai, have just activated my knights as the pirate ship looms ever so close, and am pondering the rather terrible turn of events today.

I would like to focus my blog entry on specifically countering the cynicsm and fears about a stable and peaceful electoral process that I keep hearing about around me. There seem to be the merging of two beliefs about violence in Liberia: 1) it is endemic and 2) elections will be just a trigger to fall back into another civil conflict. I think that as unfortunate as today's incident was, it is not any indicator of an electoral nightmare similar to that of Kenya or Ghana. I agree that opposition's antics are problematic - specifically, their persistent efforts to denounce the entire process even before it started - but so far, there are certain reassuring factors about this process to date.

As I have said earlier, the main opposition party, the CDC (Congress for Democratic Change), has lost a great opportunity to build its political credentials. Their view of politics is not long-term, a desire to build a credible political reputation and, to try to win some international support but merely guided by a determination to reach the Executive Mansion. Politics needs to be viewed as a game of chess but CDC seems to be playing rather a game of ludo. All we have seen this party accomplish is to cry foul at literally E-V-E-R-Y S-T-E-P O-F T-H-E W-A-Y. Their cries of 'foul, foul' have been uttered by threats of making trouble but nine out of ten times, verablised threats are rarely carried out.

The Unity Party on the other hand has not lost a single day in continuing their campaigning during this electoral period. As soon as the run off's were declared, the President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was back on the road rallying more support and reassuring not only her supporters but the public in general of a peaceful process and promise to accept the outcome.

There are glaring differences between the political machinations of the CDC and UP Parties that go beyond the criticisms against the international community for their unabashed and insensitively-timed awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Sirleaf, for example. These differences also go beyond the criticisms that the ruling party has unfair advantages of using government and UN machinery for their campaigns. In short, the CDC party is not the peoples' party it claims to be but an immature, crude populist outfit that has built up massive public grievances by emphasising their poverty but not offering any solutions.

I, of course, have many reservations against the Sirleaf and her regime, too that range from 'the international community has a neo-liberal agenda in Liberia' to Liberia Has Not Adequately Addressed It's War Crimes. Sure, I also agree with the perception that Sirleaf's government has catered to an elite, revived old segments of the previous elite and is even creating a new one. There is also no doubt that an extraction economy with its problems of wealth distribution is being re-juvenated. This government is an entirely outward-looking one. The list of criticisms goes on.

So yes, Sirleaf's government is not revolutionary nor socialist. But as Prince Johnson said when he conceded to her, she is the 'lesser of two evils.'

The main thing to stress here is that thus far, it has been a managed process and, will continue to be a managed one. The fact that some violence occurred today is not necessarily an indicator that a return to war is a certainty, as some fear.

The government had already taken steps to boost the security by importing 4,000 troops from neighbouring Nigeria. ECOWAS has been extremely vocal in professing its support for the electoral process going to the extent of admonishing CDC. The US Embassy here has gone on record to say they will be closely watching the process and in the case of violence will be making recommendations to the ICC. These are some reassuring factors.

So far, it has been a peaceful and managed electoral period with ups and downs not dissimilar to any other in the world. There are successful and lucky politicians and some who should not be in politics to begin with. Electoral results are always contested. Electoral violence also occurs and ends up killing people. This is what we are seeing in Liberia.

It remains to be seen what kind of turn out we will see in tomorrow's run off's. How much will these deaths play into the CDC's declared boycott? How will it affect voter turn out?

So this is what we have been asking ourselves all day today. The news first came in by word of mouth early afternoon and, Facebook messages started playing as well. All the businesses started closing by 3 PM or even earlier for fear of an escalation and possible looting. In such an atmosphere, we decided to dismiss our staff at around 4 PM so they could get home early.

I went out later in the evening to buy a few things from the supermarket and they had practically closed up except and seemed to be letting customers come through a half-opened door.

Through out the day, we could not confirm what happened, how many people were killed and who fired at who. Did the police shoot first to disperse the crowd? Did someone from the crowd shoot?

BBC and Al Jazeera aired clips today so it has garnered attention but they were literally 1 - minute blurbs that do not provide much context. Some analysis from these news houses would be greatly appreciated.

Here's the Al Jazeera online article "Deadly Clashes Ahead of Liberian Vote" which states that at least 3 people were confirmed killed. Here's a New York Times article "Pre-election Liberia Protests Turn Violent" which reports that at least 1 person was killed.

Lastly, I would like to certainly read more about electoral violence and how and why it unfolds .

5,000 Hits on Potatogreens

2011-11-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

Not that I care about numbers and statistics and all that, but I just wanted to say that I have had 5,050 hits on my blog! Yay! It is surely worth a blog entry!

I can't see Facebook

2011-10-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Recently, whenever I try to go to Facebook, this is the page that comes up:

It says 'this wiki does not exist.'

I googled Facebook is Being Re-Routed to Wiki and I got 10,400,000 results! Apparently, being re-routed is pretty common.

The same problem was posted on a discussion on Yahoo! Canada and someone suggested cleaning out all the cookies through running a software which was free for download.

Another blogger posted about Facebook being re-routed to a certain Samuel Garcia's My Space profile. He thought it was because of a "DNS exploit." His advice to issue to open up the Administrator window (on Windows) and issue a command to flush out the cache and to clear out the cookies too.

Since I am on a Mac and I use the Safari browser, I emptied the cache by clicking on Empty Cache in the Safari drop down menu. Next, I deleted all the cookies (Safari -> Preferences -> Security -> Show Cookies - > Remove All). I typed Facebook again in my browser and it actually worked!

It Will Hold

2011-10-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

It would be an understatement to say that Liberia has been making history in the past couple of weeks. Two Liberian women shared the Nobel Peace Prize along with a woman from Yemen. One of these women is a sitting head of state who is also hoping to win a second term during one of the most crucial elections in Liberia's history raising questions about the timing of the Prize. Despite a lot of anxiety and worries, the elections were convened peacefully but none of the 15 parties clinched the required 51% of the votes. This was predicted all around and run offs are slated for the 8th of November. Furthermore, the third most successful party has declared its support for the ruling party giving an interesting twist to Liberian politics. The party is led by none other than Prince Johnson, notorious former warlord famous for cutting off Samuel Doe's ear and then proceeding to killing him, now leading a calm life as a born again Christian pastor and Senator from Nimba County. Finally, it would be noteworthy to mention the good work Liberians in general have done in putting the whole show together as these are the first Liberian-run elections in a couple of decades. The elections were declared FFT (free, fair and transparent) by the host of international observers that have descended into Liberia for these historic elections, including a former Nigerian General. Lastly, history was also made by the Liberia Media Centre for independently providing minute to minute exit polls through their website and social media presence which were actually matched by the National Elections Commission (NEC) results too.

Prince Johnson, The Queen Maker

Tuesday's BBC article "Liberia's Vote: Prince Johnson Backs President Sirleaf" quoted Prince Johnson as saying Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was "the lesser of two evils." There is something ironic about him using word evil so casually. Not to mention that he comes off sounding very smug because of the sheer sway he knows he could have in these elections. This is a historical juncture where Prince Johnson is able to make such a significant impact on these elections.

Yesterday's front page headline in the local paper, The Analyst, was "No Permanent Enemy, Only Permanent Interest - PYJ Declares as NUDP Joins Forces with UP." Prince Johnson is described as the "dark horse of the 2011 presidential race" in the article. One can say he's an unpredictable dark horse who joined the opposition in saying that President Sirleaf had not succeeded in reconciling Liberians but now seeing an opportunity, has switched sides. He responded to criticism to his unpredictability by saying "I believe in adaptation base on systems. I tell you exactly what it is and don't mince on words." I am not sure whether he was quoted correctly in the paper or whether that's his English, but ignoring bad syntax, I found his words quite amusing. Sure, he doesn't mince words, he minces ears!

Prince Johnson's choice of words is amusing, witty and reflective of the kind of politics that is being played out in post conflict Liberia since August 2003, when Liberia's 14-year old civil war came to an end through a negotiated peace settlement and peace was ensured through compromise and absent of any criminal accounting. "No permanent enemy, only permanent interest" is an interesting choice of phrase to describe the opportunistic politics that has dominated Liberia since its inception. I am reminded of the slogan that the Liberian population chanted when they elected Charles Taylor to power in 1997 that goes like this: "He killed my pa, he killed my pa but I will vote for him."

This is a country where following a negotiated peace settlement, the same actors of the civil conflict enjoy positions of power and influence in state and society. In fact, Liberia's post-war justice choices have demonstrated that there is no enemy of the state and, power and interest lead the way. It is almost as if there are not any other options and it is ironic that a famous warlord and singled-out perpetrator by Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)'s report is able to go about being so smug and influence these critical elections. It is as if there are no other political options in Liberia except for the same actors over and over again. The 'Congo' elite and former warlords, the so-called sides of the civil conflict, have come together again to control and wield power. So what has essentially changed in this post-conflict scenario, one might ask?

The ignored TRC Report was an important card that was used by the opposition during this campaign season. President Sirleaf has been accused of ignoring the Report which bars her from public office for the role she played in the civil war. She testified in the TRC process herself, admitting she financially supported Taylor and apologised for it. However, the apology was not enough and neither the fact that she was a sitting head of state to whom the Report was presented to; and so, the Report lists her as a perpetrator recommended to be barred from office for 30 years.

I have heard Liberians say she 'has blood on her hands' or she 'brought war' to this country. This is an interesting perception. Sirleaf has admitted to giving $ 10,000 to Taylor, perhaps it was more than this and even in combination with other kinds of support. Whatever it was, it has been translated into enough of a charge to be considered an actor in the civil conflict. The Report's recommendation to bar her and others from public office and, the Report being ignored has been used fully by the opposition. That is what makes the awarding of the Nobel Prize to a named-perpetrator by the TRC even more interesting.

The opposition does not have any more of a cleaner past than the President in a post-conflict state where the same actors from the war have found roles to play in the 'new' dispensation. Most notably we have the man at the centre of everyone's attention, the queen maker, Prince Johnson himself. How much cleaner is his past? How has he managed to re-invent himself as a born again Christian pastor and Senator and what kind of public has voted him in as a Senator and as the leader of his party? Not only has he been able to make the born-again Christianity work to his advantage but he also continues to present himself as a freedom fighter.

Now, we have the President having made a pact with Prince Johnson in order to get his support and succeed at getting a second term. What bearing does this having on her distinction as a Nobel Peace Laureate?

Just before the interesting twist was made by Prince Johnson and before Tubman, the standard bearer for the CDC Party, was hospitalised on shock at losing a key part of the opposition which had declared the results fraudulent (see hilarious picture below), I would have predicted that the TRC Report would be re-opened sooner or later. With how the opposition has used this card during the elections, one would be led to conclude that the justice issues have not died down and in fact, need to be addressed by the new regime, be it Sirleaf or anyone else. At the same time, though, the new turn of events has made me reflect upon how 'transitional justice' issues are tackled in Liberia. They have more or less been dormant in Liberia and the TRC Report has been ignored by locals as well as the international community. Perpetrators of the conflict are enjoying positions of power and respect like the rest of them. And justice issues have only come up to be used in the elections, for the advantage of discrediting the incumbent President.

And now that President Sirleaf has made a pact with the "dark horse," what chance is there of ever opening up that TRC Report and start to address those issues?

Transitional justice in the form for criminal trials has been demanded by the public, civil society and the international community in other experiences. So far, Liberia's efforts at moving towards criminal justice has failed and it is doubtful that it will change anytime soon. It has more or less been swept under the carpet and it is doubtful that it can be freely addressed. With a Prince Johnson helping to re-crown the Queen, has the transitional justice ship sailed? Or did it sail on 18 August 2003?

Expectations and Results

These have been exciting elections not so much for any amazing show down between UP or CDC but more so for President Sirleaf's luck and Prince Johnson's queen-making twists.

The CDC made a smart move by teaming up with Winston Tubman, a former UN diplomat and Harvard educated economist, to deflect criticism away from former footballer George Weah's less than perfect educational and political credentials. However, they were short of any other intelligent strategy after that. In terms of an ideological platform, there's the usual buzzwords like Good Governance, AgriBusiness and Environment. In fact, if you take a look at their website, it's quite unimpressive and reads almost like a UN or World Bank Report on How to Reduce Poverty and Build a Sustainable Environmentally Friendly Gender Friendly Future. They have even incorporated the pillar language into their website which is highly amusing.

Their campaign has actually been characterised by a lack of imagination and scandals more than anything else. They were unimaginative enough to actually use the same campaign language as the UP. The CDC-ians were labeling themselves baboon, calling the President a corrupt monkey and declared their last major rally as the monkey's funeral. This all came from the UP's campaign slogan "The "Monkey Working Baboon Wait Small."

Winston Tubman has stated that he does not care for civil liberties. George Weah threatened a journalist for taking pictures of his motorcade knocking down a pedestrian. Through out the election season, the CDC and NUDP have been aggressively posturing and even threatening trouble in case the elections did not take place free and fair. And when the elections indeed did not result in a majority for any one party, particularly their party, they cried foul!

All in all, the opposition, particularly, the CDC lost a great opportunity to play some intelligent and mature politics in these elections. Sirleaf herself lamented the fact that she would not go head to head with George Weah which is a bit of an insult for Tubman because surely, his years of experience as a diplomat and experience has done nothing for his political image thus far: "I'm ready to take everybody on. I think the strongest person is the person who decided not to run for president. And that's unfortunate. But he decided to accept the vice presidency role maybe because he doesn't realise that when people are voting, they will be voting somebody else who is not as popular as he is." ("Weah's Decision Was Unfortunate" in Daily Observer, 10.10.2011)

It is Prince Johnson who has come out of this as a better political player who seized an opportunity when he saw it.

The run offs and the period leading up to the run offs will be exciting still and I certainly am enjoying this interesting phase in Liberia's history.

If I dare make a prediction, to borrow a local phrase, "it will hold," meaning that the current regime will come back again and President Sirleaf will enjoy another 6 years of power. With all the honours bestowed on her by the international community and her local political successes, she is going to be written into history books as the mother of the nation, an image that she has been working hard to project.

Campaign Posters - Liberia Elections 2011

2011-10-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

The Monkey Wins the Nobel Peace Prize on its Own Funeral Day

2011-10-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three women: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia), Leymah Gbowee (Liberia) and Tawakkul Karman(Yemen). This blog entry is a reaction to the timing of the prize to Sirleaf who is up for re-election for a second term. The Committee explained that the elections are a national consideration and their award goes beyond the fact Sirleaf is running for a second term. That sounds all good and noble by recognising that they are awarding the Prize during such critical elections, but it sounds a bit insincere. The bottom line is that the Prize should not have been awarded in real time. This international stamp of approval will only feed into the perception that the powers that be are calling the shots in Liberia.

Awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize 2011: Bad Timing?

Friday morning, we all woke up to the stupendous news that not one but two Liberian women had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (along with an activist from Yemen, Tawakkul Karman). The winners are the current president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is running for a second term and Leymah Gbowee, a social activist known for leading women in peaceful protests.

It was a surprise to say the least!, My initial reaction to it was - as usual - suspicous: "Hold on, let's not get too excited here."

Given that elections are hardly a couple of days away, it seems like inappropriate timing. Excited messages have been posted on Facebook and the Liberia Expats Google Group. Among my former colleagues and friends from the UN and NGOs who used to work for Liberia or still work here, it's "congratulations" all around. People are quite chuffed with themselves for having been associated with such a regime and society that is being showered with such praise and respect on an international level. It also reaffirms the ideological framework under which they serve. Hardly anyone from the UN/NGO crowd bothered to question the timing of this Prize.

Amongst the critical reactions were that that this was being "perceived as interference in the political process." This was observed by a friend (expat) who is working out in Grand Gedeh County. Another friend, an academic who has published a Phd on Liberia, told me that while he thinks this is great for "global recognition" for Liberia's progress, he didn't think this was "fair for democracy" as it would definitely interfere in the process. Another friend (also works for an NGO) who was over for dinner last night, suggested that the Prize should have either been given earlier to mark the a few years of peace brought about in Liberia or a couple years later.

Further still, given the speculation about these upcoming elections and that this election is going to marked by stiff competition, some think that this Prize is meant to appease Sirleaf and 'encourage' her to leave peacefully in case her party does not win. That the international community is 110% behind Sirleaf goes without saying but that is not how I read the news. I think this just a big fat endorsement.

Although the international press is still seemingly vague, random and selective about details in Liberia's story and how its reported, there is now more of an understanding that Sirleaf's image abroad does not necessarily match her domestic appeal. The New York Times' article Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Three Activist Women states: "The Nobel committee’s decision underscored the gap between local perceptions of her — it is not hard to find critics of the president in Liberia — and the view from abroad."

Monkey's Funeral and the Big Cheese

Having discussed the ill timing of the awarding of the Prize and the international community's over excitement in expressing their support for an active politician and sitting head of state, what was the local reaction to the Prize?

Well, the news was not even printed in the local papers and whoever did learn of the news must have through radio. My staff was not aware of it until I told them and since they are all UP (United Party - Sirleaf's party) supporters, instant Facebook messages went up celebrating the Prize.

It was also the day when the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), the main opposition party, launched a final campaign rally. So I took a walk out on Randall Street to get a sense of what was going on. My staff had told me the day before it was going to be quite rowdy and the CDC-ians were going to make trouble.

It was more like a party atmosphere slash street politics while the businesses were either closed or the owners stood at their entrances observing the show. As I walked towards my friend Bendu's tea shop, I heard animated discussions on both sides of the street by men and women wearing CDC T-shirts. I could hear bits and pieces like "We are not for UP or CDC, we are for Liberia." So I finally got to Bendu's and again, she did not know of the news but a lady, a secretary for a Lebanese businessman, who was getting her hair braided, knew of the news.

A Lebanese fellow who was hovering around started speaking to me and tried to impress me with his conspiracy theories and personal take on the elections. I shall paraphrase it: Africa is a piece of cheese divided among Western powers and Liberia belongs to the Americans. Referring to locals, he said they have no clue what is going on and because neither he or I could vote, who cares? Finally, he said Obama was in support of Winston Tubman (the standard bearer for CDC).

The fellow's crass and patronising remarks prompted a barrage of indignant protests from the women around us. The ladies shot down the gentleman's shaky theory and undiplomatic comments on Liberians' understanding of politics. My friend, the secretary, was so impassioned at the thought that Liberians would let CDC come into power and bring in turbulent times and risk the peace. The guy disappeared but the excited discussion went on for many more minutes.

It made me realise that sure, Sirleaf enjoys immense international support, and is a "darling of the international community" as described by the Washington Post ("Liberia's Nobel Prize-winning President To Face Stiff Competition at Tuesday's Polls"), but she also has a strong domestic following. My staff, mainly composed of youngsters below the age of 30, love and admire her as the mother of the nation. Market women, vegetable and fruit sellers and the average person on the street I have interacted with profess to be UP supporters. Even the few 'returnees' (Liberians returning from abroad after exile) I have befriended are staunch UP supporters. Salaried, office-going people also support UP. I also see avid support and discussion on my Facebook stream. I think that while some of the average people on the street supports her truly as Mama Liberia, the more so-called educated and wealthier layer applies a certain practicality to their support. In other words, many believe there is really no other viable alternative to Sirleaf.

CDC is viewed as populist party with little or no ideological platform which enjoys mass following comprised mainly of a bunch of 'hooligans' for lack of a better word. This perception is very strong among UP or other party supporters. A procession was coming down on Randall Street and I managed to take a few pictures of the crowd. Most of the partisans were young men and women, dancing and singing, drinking and generally having a good time. Apparently, most of them do not have have voter registration. They were singing some songs about a corrupt monkey and its funeral.

The monkey refers to Sirleaf, actually; moreover, it's self-afflicted! Part of the UP's campaigning involved the slogan "Monkey Still Working Let Baboon Wait Small." It's a playful satire to convince the public to give the current administration a chance to continue its work. Baboons, referring to CDC, are noisy and troublesome. Another billboard says not to change the pilot before the plane has not even landed! Another set of billboards are even more dumbed down: for instance, Education Da Their Area, Agriculture Da Their Area, Hospitals Da Their Area.

So Friday's CDC rally was dubbed the Monkey's Funeral but unfortunately for them, the Monkey was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize!

Tail End

The upcoming elections in Liberia are going to be historic not only for the country itself but add or subtract from Africa's recent election nightmares. And of course, let's not forget that if Liberia manages to peacefully hold these elections, the international community will be able to pat itself on the back for its neo - liberal peace building efforts in the country since 2003.

I have been quite optimistic about these elections: that Madame Ellen will be swept into a second term, the transition will be smooth, Liberians are 'tired of fighting, ' too much is at stake in terms of foreign direct investment and let's face it, Madame Ellen has the full support, nay adoration, of the international community and it's been fully proven by Friday's announcement of the recipients of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.

What will the results be? Your guess is as good as mine. There is some anxiety given the aggressive posturing by the opposition, threatening trouble in case things do not go their way. There is also the likelihood of a run off given there are 15 candidates running for the Presidency. And, there is also a lot of support for the main opposition party, CDC. All in all, these elections will be a tense affair and a lot is at stake.

Diss - Dessert - Desert - Elation - Frustration - Desperation - Dissertation

2011-08-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

So I am writing my dissertation these days. The working title is "Did the truth commission in Sierra Leone, accompanied by trials, have a substantially different impact from the truth commission in Liberia, with the absence of criminal accounting?"

I got the idea for the title from the discussion in Neil Kritz's article 'Policy Implications for Empirical Research on Transitional Justice.' (Merwe, Baxter & Chapman: Assessing the Impact of Transitional Justice, 2008) The author is discussing the role of research in policy choices. For instance, he says there is a "clear need...to find ways of disaggregating the different contextual factors and different transitional justice components at play in any particular case." So he suggests the following research question "Did the truth commission in Argentina, accompanied by trials, have a substantially different impact from the truth commission in Chile, with the absence of criminal accounting?" (p.15)

I took the question and exchanged Argentina for Sierra Leone and Chile for Liberia.

It is safe to assume that it is not a very sexy title. Some academics really try to be witty and clever and succeed, too:

"Truth-Seeking, Truth-Telling, and Postconflict: Curb the Enthusiasm?"
"Homo Economicus Goes to War: Methodological Individualism, Rational Choice and the Political Economy of War"
Civil War is Not a Stupid Thing: Accounting for Violence in Developing Countries
"The Dark Side of Democracy: the Modern Tradition of Ethnic and Political Cleansing"
Not Breaking the Rules Not Playing the Game International Assistance to Countries At War
The Dark Side of the Force
"A Rational Kind of Madness"
Kicking Away the Ladder Development Strategy in Historical Perspective
NGOs Beyond the Magic Bullet
Surviving Capitalism How We Learned to Live with Market and Remained Almost Human

If academic articles and books were food, their witty titles would be garnishes. As you can see there's a bit of Stanely Kubrick, Star Wars, James Bond, psychology and pop culture in these titles. Gosh, I never realised how inspirational films can be for academia!

So, if I want to have a sexier title, I guess I should throw in a classic movie reference, some pop culture and garnish with Latin. I am going to come back on this one. It will be cool to have a less boring title than this one.

As my friend (also from SOAS who graduated already with a VCD degree) has so eloquently advised me: "These bastards get impressed by the first impression they get and some of them I doubt would read the whole thesis." He was actually referring to the introduction and making it as academically crisp and sexy as possible but I can surely extend this advice to the title too!

In the meantime, I need to forge on ahead and find out where is the justice in transitional justice.

Is international or domestic justice blossoming?

2011-08-08T21:25:00.000-07:00

I came across an article "International Justice System Blossoms" written by the president of the International Center for Transitional Justice, in the Opinion section of Al Jazeera, hailing the calls of justice across the globe from Cairo to Washington, from Bogota to Kinshasa, from Srebrenica to Colombo. Indeed, we have witnessed in the first part of 2011, 30-year-old dictatorships crumble like dust in a domino-effect across the Arab world that is now being hailed as the Arab Spring.

As Naomi Roht-Arriaza put it: "It has almost become routine. After the shooting stops, or the dictator is deposed, there is the talk of reckoning."

One of the main points of the article is that political and military leaders responsible for gross atrocities are no longer safe from the hands of justice. Impunities will no longer be traded for the sake of peace.

The Ben Ali's and Hosni Mubarak's will have their day of reckoning. In fact, since the arrest of Milosevic, the stage has been set 'for the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Omar al-Bashir and Muammar Gaddafi.'

The author blames regional organisations such as the African Union and Arab League for protecting the leaders mentioned above indicted by the ICC.

In terms of recommendations the author points that trials in Tunisia and Egypt must respect due process and follow the example of former Yugoslavia where trials targeted those 'bearing most responsibility.' Moreover, trials are not enough and other measures are required. 'It is essential the past to be confronted, the truth be told' - it is safe to assume that the author is referring to truth and reconciliation commissions. He also lists reform of the police and military - often referred to as security sector reform (SSR) by practitioners.

The ICC, the author maintains, is there to 'investigate and prosecute a relatively small number of perpetrators.' It exists as a 'backstop to domestic systems lacking capacity or the necessary political will to prosecute the most serious crimes.'

Finally, the article ends on an almost sentimental note - that international justice may arrive late but is inevitable. Bangladesh will apparently address crimes committed during its war of independence from Pakistan. And 'the mothers of Srebrenica waited almost seventeen years for the arrest of Ratko Mladic' and he was recently arrested.

All in all, the author concludes that international justice system blossoms. Like a righteous flower.

It was quite relevant to read this article as I am currently reading international justice for my dissertation and, I can use this article as a platform to apply what I have read so far. It was also good to see the mention of the trials of reckoning within the context of Arab Spring even though a lot of the transitional justice literature I am reading seems to be discussing transitional justice carried out in societies which experienced collective violence over extended periods of time rather than swift revolutions.

The author is clearly excited about corrupt and evil dictatorships being taken to task amid calls for justice. The title of the article refers to international justice although whatsoever has been achieved in Tunisia and Egypt should rather be called domestic justice.

The author states that 'the demands for justice are today a driving force of social change and popular revolutions'. It made me question and think about whether these revolutions are firstly motivated by justice and change later and, would think that it was rather that the call for change came first and justice followed.

The author greatly emphasises criminal trials as part and parcel of international justice however, from all that I gather from the literature I have read, academics are not even sure of what international justice is and neither what the actual impact is.

International justice can refer to any of the following implemented either stand-alone, in combination of more than one option or all of them together: truth and reconciliation commissions, amnesties, criminal trials, the International Criminal Court in the Hague, hybrid courts, and traditional methods to reconciliation. I guess as long as a 'deeply divided' and very sick society takes any of these bitter but necessary medicines, it will get over the violence and bloodshed it underwent.

Essentially, the critical literature points out that somehow transitional justice - particularly its two main embodiments of truth commissions and trials - has become unquestioned, is implemented based on faith rather than fact and is largely without a sound theoretical framework. The results it claims to achieve such as peace, reconciliation, healing, and consolidation of democracy and rule of law are not necessarily linked to the implementation of trials nor truth commissions. In short, concepts are conflated.

The author of this article tries to make a heroic case for trials however, some academics are not convinced that trials are necessary to consolidate peace and rule of law, satisfy victims or deter future intellectual authors of violence.

There was also a piece I read that explored the impact that transitional justice has on social repair. It asserted that given the collective nature of the violence that grips many states in the post-Cold War context, trials do not challenge bystanders and inaction, communal violence and collective responsibility.

Nevertheless, given the author's conviction that justice can only be achieved by taking to task individuals with the most responsibility, will Western leaders such as Blair and Bush be taken to task for deaths and suffering caused by the Western invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq? And where were the ICC arrest warrants for Mubarak, the head of Egypt, purportedly the highest recipient of American foreign aid after Israel? In short, can international justice be effective if it is selective?

Criticisms of the truth and reconciliation process in South Africa essentially make it out to be a hollow process which not only did not make significant economic reparations to victims but failed to even create a truth record of structural violence and socio-economic inequalities. And, going by this article's stress on trials, would the transitional justice process in SA be considered a failure because of the lack of such trials?

Following in this vein, my dissertation is going to explore this very contradictory translation of transitional justice in the two ill-fated states of Liberia and Sierra Leone, two states with remarkably similar histories and intertwined conflicts. One state implemented both trials and truth commission while the other merely opted for a truth commission. What is even more astounding is that one state has chosen to charge and prosecute the other's former president.

The perpetrators of Sierra Leone's civil war have been indicted and are undergoing trial, most notably Liberia's ex-president Charles Taylor. Not only have Sierra Leoneans prosecuted Sierra Leoneans for war crimes but also the Liberian, ex-president. Sierra Leone has by doing so made an effort towards preventing future war entrepreneurs from rising up and plunging the country into chaos and violence. Liberia on the other hand has not taken this punitive justice route. In fact, Taylor was handed over to the UN to be taken to Sierra Leone when was tried to flee Nigeria where he was in exile. Besides being responsible for taking the war to Sierra Leone was he also not responsible for the civil war atrocities that took place in Liberia? Are those crimes not important? Is Liberia not interested in prosecuting its war criminals? What does the international community have to say for this? How does the court in the Hague reconcile such a contradiction? Do they realise they are judging a trial of a warlord who is responsible for war in two neighbouring countries but yet are prosecuting crimes in only one state? That too of a country that was not ruled by Taylor but where he allegedly exported war. How does the state reconcile this? How do the people reconcile this? According to advocates of trials, then, Liberia is not on the right path to peace building by not holding its war criminals to account. It is not preventing future atrocities. Not only is Charles Taylor, their own former president, being tried for another country's civil war crimes, but other warlords like Prince Johnson are serving in the Senate. Is this transitional justice?

One of my favourite things

2011-07-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

I realised recently that my favourite place in Monrovia is my own balcony! Sure, it's not the sexy sushi bar at the Royal Hotel or the elegant Mamba Point Hotel but it has a certain coziness to it that I find very comforting. Sure, my laundry hanging out to dry sticks out like a sore thumb, we have to house the back-up generator there too, and the cushions on the chairs are really quite faded away, but I guess that is what makes the balcony so endearing, so much like a old teddy bear, a trusty steed or a favourite chipped mug.

The balcony is painted bright yellow and the sitting area is decorated with art and West African masks. The chairs are rattan chairs with not-so-plush cushions covered with brightly-coloured lapa cloth and pillows and badly need new, thick cushions and new upholstery. There's loads of plants including a magnificent thriving money plant growing all over the window pane.

The balcony is 'caged' because of the steel bars that were welded to prevent petty thieves climbing in and breaking into the apartment. Despite these bars, one can still get a nice view of the town including the Duccor Hotel and the new American Embassy monstrosity that is under construction.

I have been especially enjoying sitting in the balcony sipping coffee during this rainy season when the whole view is misty and romantic.

We also often entertain guests in that very balcony. What we do is use old wine/liqueur bottles as candle holders. They have been used so many times that they look antique and even a little arty farty with multi-coloured wax all over them. So we turn off the lights and sit and make small talk in candle light. The flickering candle light goes well with the yellow walls and creates quite a fantastic and unique atmosphere.

So all of you are welcome for an atmospheric evening on our balcony!

Meanwhile, I have actually abandoned tea as my morning and afternoon drink and would have never imagined in a thousand years but have become a coffee drinker! I drink it without sugar and only a little bit of milk. I have become addicted to the taste. Who would have thought I would give up my sugary/milky tea for bland coffee? I guess I am really growing up.

Meanwhile, we have finally identified and worked out an agreement on a property where we can expand the business to. It is a 2,000 square feet space that resembles a giant loft. We are super excited about it. It is going to be a unique space, sort of like an IT factory.

Since we got it, the only thing we talk about is how to decorate it. Watching The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy gave us a lot of inspiration, we starting fantasising about spaceship themes and a shark aquarium theme even. Just kidding, that would not complement an IT business at all. Especially the shark aquarium - that would be more up the alley of an evil mastermind or something. The spaceship would be kind of spacey, cool, techy though. We should definitely keep it as an option.

Hey, what about a Settlers of Catan theme? Would that work?

So w-a-t-c-h this space!

Does free trade promote prosperity and peace in Catan?

2011-07-04T05:12:00.000-07:00

Free Trade and the WTO

I came across Why Free Trade Matters by Jagdish Baghwati in the Opinion section of Al Jazeera online where the author is waxing lyrical about free trade and how it will make us all rich and start loving each other.

Critics of free trade think that free trade only benefits the rich and developed countries. The rich countries practice the Do To Others What You Don't Want For Yourself Policy. In other words, they want to free trade with you but not the other way around. They want poorer countries' markets to open to their goods and services but if the poor countries want access to rich countries' markets, forget it. The US and European governments award agricultural subsidies that amount to billions of dollars or euros annually. Farmers in poor countries cannot compete creating a dire situation because their economies are agriculture-intensive and less industrialised. Anti-globalisation activists further point out the evils of labour exploitation, inequality and environmental destruction. Dependency theorists believe that resource rich poor countries only end up serving the raw material needs of rich countries and if they remain locked in this unequal relationship, will never develop and reach the same level of development as rich countries.

Mark Malloch Brown, former head of the United Nations Development Programme, estimated that farm subsidies cost poor countries about USD$50 billion a year in lost agricultural exports:

"It is the extraordinary distortion of global trade, where the West spends $360 billion a year on protecting its agriculture with a network of subsidies and tariffs that costs developing countries about US$50 billion in potential lost agricultural exports. Fifty billion dollars is the equivalent of today's level of development assistance."

Mr. Baghwati points out that India and China produced tremendous rates of GDP growth after they pulled down trade barriers and lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. How sure is he that free trade solely lifted millions out of poverty and not a combination of free trade and developmental policy? How sure is he that India and China's plans were not to first practice protectionism to build up their industries and then open up to the global markets?

But why hasn't Africa managed to do the same? Can proponents of free trade provide any explanation? Classical free trade theory is ahistorical and rests on simple, simple assumptions. Its supporters believe that unhindered free trade would encourage specialisation, efficient markets, prosperity and peace. However, did the West achieve all this through free trade and free trade, alone? The West has a history of brutal colonialism and slavery with which it enjoyed free extraction of resources and labour. After World War II, Europe was given billions of dollars in assistance through the Marshall Plan lest it fall back into hands of fascism. Africa has yet to see any reparations for the centuries of pillage.

Read Kicking Away the Ladder by development economist Ha-Joon Chang who states that Europe practiced outright protectionism which is ironic given that the West advocates free trade in the developing world. Furthermore, the successes achieved by certain states in the developing world were done so in a much shorter time period than in Europe if comparing the same relative milestones.

Let's summarise the pro's and con's of free trade and see if we can apply them to Settlers of Catan and vice versa, back to the real world.

Pro's: Specialisation, Prosperity, Reduction of Poverty, and Peace

Con's: Exploitation of Labour, Inequality, and Dependency

Settlers of Catan is the ultimate strategy game where wealth cannot be enjoyed by more than one player. You can only win the game by strategising, theft, clever trading and building devious partnerships against who ever is ahead in effort to bring them down and increase your chances of winning. No one ever earned their victory through free trade, dammit!

Players build settlements on numbers which through their high or low chances of probability on the roll of a dice will produce resources like wood, wheat, sheep, iron ore and brick. Each time the dice rolls, you collect resources and in the correct combination trade with the bank or other players to advance settlements into cities and build roads to link them. You can also buy development cards from the bank which can help you advance enormously by building an army, the longest road or create a monopoly. The army is of course highly useful as it can help you to pillage from opponents who pose a threat and help you to increase your wealth. The monopoly card allows you to steal a particular commodity from all the players. If you are not able to produce a certain resource from your settlements and cities, you can trade with your opponents if they are willing to trade with you. In fact, sometimes you can end up specialising in a certain resource if you are the only one producing it and the other players would be much more willing to trade with you at very favorable terms. We are talking about a 4:1 ratio! However, trading is usually a desperate option and you would much rather rely on internal production. Interestingly, trade flows freely to stop a strong player from advancing and to level the playing field.

Free trade does benefit those players that choose to engage in it and it can award mutual benefits allowing the players to create wealth and move forward. However, that friendly atmosphere is short lived because the ultimate goal to is win. You could end up pillaging the very same players with which you have been trading creating untold misery, poverty, inequality, bonded labour and vendettas. Players can even form coalitions of the willing against a certain player who is either doing too well or just plain annoying and continuously place the robber on his or her settlements and cities, causing his/her's wealth to deteriorate.

In short, it is doubtful that free trade creates the much desired Kantian peace created by free trade in Catan.

Trade is but one of the tools which will lead you to success and heroic victory in Catan. Pillage and construction of an impressive transport infrastructure - so reminiscent of colonial empires of yore - sigh - are important too. Even verbal propaganda and rhetoric can be helpful. And lastly, dumb luck! If your numbers roll frequently, wealth and victory is assured.

In conclusion, this illustrious and well researched thesis has shown that free trade does not promote prosperity and peace in Catan and neither in the real world. Prosperity and peace are not even the ultimate goals - to be shared by everyone (and neither are they in the real world). In the real world, too, peace and prosperity are the luxuries enjoyed by the West amongst itself and not shared with just anyone. In fact, Europe is now becoming a fortress discouraging economic and political refugees and the US has built a wall along its border with Mexico. Even if poor countries want to trade with the West, they can't because they cannot afford billions of dollars in subsidies or can only trade in certain areas. Likewise, pillage and monopolies are essential in Catan. We have the equivalent in the real world too if memory serves in the recent wars of aggression against oil-rich Iraq and Libya.

So Mr. Baghwati, your statement that " the case for free trade is robust" is clearly and sadly, not valid! Good try but you are not fooling anyone, especially the settlers of Catan!

Peace. Not Kantian, though.

Oye, did you poison my drink?

2011-06-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

All guests who come to my office are offered tea, coffee or soft drinks. I noticed that if a soft drink was ever brought to a Liberian guest, Mr. Joseph Dennis would bring the soft drink bottle, open it with a bottle opener and then pour the drink. It started irritating me and I told him to just bring the drink already poured and let me get on with my meetings. He explained that Liberians like to have their drink poured right in front of them lest you have poisoned it secretly. When I heard that I lost it, and decreed all drinks would be poured before they were brought before a guest whether they liked it or not. My office and apartment would be modern and free of backward mentality.

This evening I asked an elderly Liberian lady whom we had taken out for dinner at the Sushi Bar at the Royal Hotel about this and she said sure, this is pretty much the norm in Liberia. They don't trust what you put in their drink. They even prefer you bring hot water, tea bags, milk and sugar separately so that you make it in front of them. Not even cold water is served like that. That's just the way it is in Liberia.

Our English friend who was with us who has spent quite a bit of time in West Africa said she has seen this countless times, too. In fact, her driver wouldn't eat in the bush because he wouldn't trust the villagers.

All I will say is that it is a tiresome way of thinking and I shall take my chances where ever I go.

My office and home will be superstition free, dammit!

This sheds an interesting light on my dissertation. I'm going to be exploring the different transitional justice routes that Liberia and Sierra Leone have taken and whether it has produced different results on consolidation of peace and prospects for development. Well clearly there are not any prospects for peace if you think your neighbour keeps trying to poison your coke.

My recent travels

2011-06-22T18:02:00.003-07:00

It has been almost a month since I got back from the UK and, the London buzz is now almost gone out of my head and I am almost all mentally in Liberia in now although I do have to pretend I am sitting in a UK university library so I can focus on reading for the masters which I intend to finally complete September this year while simultaneously co-running a business. Alas, what mental games one has to play to achieve one's goals and compromise with reality.

The 20-day escape from the bizarre state of Liberia was overall quite healthy, expensive and results-oriented.

Results achieved in no order of importance:

1) Got the UK visa

2) Convinced SOAS to let me finish the masters this year

3) Picked up all my books and clothes that I had to leave in a hurry when I came back to Liberia in Sep 2009

4) Met my siblings after almost two years

5) Introduced Haresh to my siblings and my SOAS friends

6) Did a bit of shopping and had my fill of caramel frapuccino's

Detour in Ghana: Kakum National Park, Elmina Castle & Getting Chased by a Mad Man on the Streets of Accra

The 10-day detour in Ghana was the really expensive bit as I did not estimate I would end up staying that long to get a freaking UK visa. To read about it, go to: Visa Rage.

Haresh and I spent more than a couple thousand bucks on hotels and food and sightseeing. At least I got to slap my fear of heights in the face by doing the highest canopy walk in Africa - the one in Kakum National Park along with a couple hundred Ghanaaian students on Labour Day. It is bad enough to feel shaky climbing flights of stairs which are wide and the rails do not give you a sense of security or to feel dizzy on top of the Jomo Kenyatta Conference Centre and wanting to hug the floor but the canopy walk was something else.

The steep walk up the hill to the canopy walk itself was so exhausting to begin with! And we were surrounded by all these bouncy, cheerful, camera-clicking adolescents. Teenagers are the same everywhere - sporting the latest look, posing to take photographs for Facebook and flirting all around. And then there's Haresh who makes a loud announcement from the outset that he needed to be right at the front of the group along with the guide. So there was everyone calling my name - the whole group of kids got to know my name - looking for me as I had been wandering around the shops while we waited for the guide to take the next group. After I got over that irritating moment of being singled out, we began the most scary walk of my life!

There are 7 platforms suspended between the tops of cotton trees that sway when you walk over them and even creak making one feel quite light headed. It would not be so scary if it were let's say in a play ground of a primary school but it is 130 feet high. I really do not know how I did it given I am pathetically-nay-embarassingly scared of heights but as it is with any phobia, you have to somehow convince your brain you will not fall down from that height and plummet to your death. I crept along on each hanging bridge holding on to dear life biting my lips in deep concentration and trying not to look up or down or sideways. Haresh's joking about falling down and breaking a couple of limbs of course made me laugh. The local kids though were annoying in their complete joyful abandonment - singing and screaming and bouncing up and down on the bridges heightening my sense of dizziness. I really wanted to throttle them but once I finished the walk, I was exhilarated - not to mention drenched in sweat. Haresh and I casually walked back down the hill again confronted by the same sweet-sour smell of coconut juice that was being sold along the way.

After we were done with the walk, we headed off to the Elmina Castle for a tour. This was the third "slave castle" I have visited so I am pretty familiar with how shocking the experience can be. Haresh was thoroughly enlightened and kept asking the tour guide, "Doesn't this make you really angry? Does this not make you want to invade Europe and enslave white people?" Haresh is not known for his subtlety.

The slave castle was not first built as a slave castle but as a trading post by the Portuguese in the 15th century but soon became an important stop in the Atlantic slave trade and was later taken by the Dutch and lastly by the British. It is massive and even boasts a moat. It overlooks the fishing town and ocean from all its sides. We started the tour from the main courtyard noting the small chapel/trading hall in the centre and went into the various dungeons - some for males and some for females. The dungeons are dark and oppressive and used to hold a couple hundred human beings at a time who were forced to sleep, eat, urinate, and defecate in one space. Belligerent men were locked up in a lightless/airless space where they most likely died. Female slaves had to endure being paraded around in a courtyard and the governor would pick out one he wanted for his pleasure looking down upon the yard. The females were led through a staircase leading directly to his bedroom. Children born out of such unions and even favoured women slaves were housed in separate houses at the back of the castle where they would live for the rest of their lives. There was a door of no return (similar to one I have seen in the Goree Island, Senegal and Cape Coast, Ghana castles) - a narrow hole in the wall which goes out towards the sea from where slaves were loaded on to ships destined for the Americas. Apart from seeing the horrors down below, there was also the disgust of exploring the space right above these dungeons where the officers would eat, sleep and pray (no I am not thinking of the Julia Roberts movie). The guide was pretty sarcastic shall we say when pointing this out. I think he did a good job.

Apart from canopy walking and slave castle explorations, the stay in Ghana was pleasant. We stayed at a nice hotel close to the airport which we found purely by accident and the owner became a good friend who would take us out every night on a drive. We also recommended his hotel on the Liberia Expats Google Group.

We also spent time with an old time buddy of Haresh's who was really fun to hang out with. He punctuates every sentence with "over there" and this had never been pointed out to him until I did! Apparently, he's been doing it for all his life and no one noticed. I also met up with the daughter of one my dear friends from Liberia - I have known this kid since she was about 14 and it is nice to see her coming into her own.

We met up with Edwina in Accra Mall and decided to drop her home first before we went back to the hotel as we wanted to see where she lived. Was it a smooth ride? Of course not, we being we had to end up as extras in a Hollywood-style car chase across town and see a skinny-but-good-guy taxi driver get almost beat up by a psychopathic bad guy. What happened was that our taxi driver broke the side mirror of another taxi as he was trying to squeeze through some heavy traffic. We did not even realise what happens until our car was stopped by a very angry taxi driver who came over to our car and started messing around our taxi driver. Now our taxi driver was very skinny and keep trying to righteously prove a point verbally while the other guy just wanted to fight it out. He was not even interested in having a conversation, forget about reasoning. Our poor guy kept trying to stand up and the other guy kept pushing him back on his seat while towering above him. In less than a minute the psychopath's T-Shirt was off and I guess he wanted our taxi driver to do the same. I thought our little guy was a goner - he stood no chance against the psycho who from the looks of it clearly spent good time pumping iron and looking for excuses to fight. I kept telling Haresh to find another taxi but he wanted to watch the show so I was pretty much stuck. Pretty soon onlookers came and a fight was averted long enough so that our taxi driver made a get away! And whaddya know? The psycho was closely following us. This went on for miles and miles and we were doing 80 or 100 km/hour at least! At one point, the psycho managed to get in front of us and blocked the whole road. He again got out of his car and started to approach our car again (to pummel our guy) but before that, our skinny but smart taxi driver managed to get away and started speeding again and there was the psycho, close behind us. Neither Edwina nor Haresh seemed to be the least bit worried about the whole situation except for me. When we were quite close to the police station, we actually passed a police car and excitedly stopped him. In our cars, we all started screaming for help! "Officer, officer, help us, we are being chased by a madman!" Thankfully he listened to all of us yelling at him at one time and, escorted us to the police station. The senior officer in charge there listened to us patiently and when he asked the psycho his version of the events, he denied everything, even lifting off his shirt. We all started shouting again and Haresh said he had even recorded the violence on his camera (slight exaggeration) and the police officer was convinced to throw the bugger in jail. I guess he had seen his fair share of criminals to know one and did not quite need our enthusiastic pleas but thanks to him for at least hearing us out.

Return to the UK

Because Liberia is such a twilight-zone-meets-Planet-of-the-Apes kind of a place, visiting any other country is culture shock. What? I can't say Planet of the Apes? Have you ever been outside of Monrovia? There's nothing out there except for jungle. Villages passing for towns have vegetation-covered-abandoned structures that pass for buildings. Dirt tracks pass for roads. Monrovia is passed off as a capital city. Corruption is passed of as a way of life or my favourite, "This is Africa." One hundred fifty years of colonialism is passed off as the oldest republic in Africa. I could go on and on about the bizarre state of Liberia. All states have historical amnesia but Liberia takes the cake.

Ghana is way ahead of Liberia in every sense.

Going to the UK, of course, is the ultimate mind twister. One might as well be on a different planet - it is so developed, clean and orderly! I enjoyed being back in a space where I could indulge in shopping, going to the cinema, enjoying public transport and eating at some really classy restaurants. London is overwhelming with its choice of places to go and explore public spaces like art galleries and museums and can be a nice escape from Planet of the Apes.

It felt like decades had passed since I was last there. I met with almost all the people I wanted to see. My friends were thrilled to see me again and meet the new man in my life. And they actually liked him!

I was also lucky to meet a friend from SOAS who has been through a personal tragedy as well and it was wonderful to see her and her husband again and, to compare notes. They also found out who their real friends were at a time of crisis.

My siblings also took a liking to Haresh, too. They had to - Haresh specially got a hair cut in Accra for their benefit. My favourite moment with the four of us was at Dishoom, an Indian restaurant in Leicester Square. It was quite a funky place with vintage Indian art everywhere. We were served by a very cute Johnny-Deep-look-alike waiter and my sister and I went ga ga over him who showed off his knowledge of various kinds of naan. The food was amazing including the various flavoured kulfis. Haresh kept getting stared by another Indian man whom Haresh thought he knew from Nigeria but just turned out to be a staring kind of a fellow, you know how much South Asians like to stare at each other. Saira won a bet with Tariq over the nationality of some chicks sitting at another table. So yes, it was a nice group time for us.

Everyone seemed to be happy to see me well and having moved on with life after the murder of Wesley in September 2009.

Going to SOAS was also quite pleasant but also gave me pangs of nostalgia as I left Liberia to come do a masters and that whole year ended up in such a disaster. My department though was very cooperative and really encouraging in my attempt to complete this masters.

It is actually going to be a pain in the ass to finish it - it was hard enough when school was on and I struggled to make the readings, write the essays and make sense of it. And the whole reason for doing it is also now obsolete. I am not looking to move up in the bureaucratic/dinosauratic organisation that is the UN (and pass it off as saving the world) any longer. Nope, I do not ever intend to 'land a white whale' (a high-paying UN job) ever again. I work for myself now! So now I have to actually do the masters for actually learning some critical analytical skills and not to increase my pay scale. As the head of department said to me: most people get the development masters degree to get into the UN but you're getting it to leave the UN. So yes, it will be a pain in the ass but it'll be a nice sense of achievement and close that chapter.

I met with a student who is finishing the masters this year too who was planning on coming on to Liberia for some research on labour conditions in the rubber industry. I agreed to help him out if he brought me books and articles and so on. So he is actually here, staying with our neighbours next door. It has been nice to talk about SOAS, bitch about the same badly managed courses and our favourite professors. He has been really helpful and who knows maybe he can even write the dissertation for me?

Haresh's reactions are always amusing. He was impressed with the free hare krishna food served during lunch time at SOAS and we both had it sitting on the steps of the Brunei Gallery. He was even more impressed to see a bar that served alcohol in the middle of a university and wondered whether drinks were also free! And he doesn't understood how people who do oriental and african studies can ever get jobs. What can I say.

We stayed with a friend in Canary Wharf which was quite nice as I got to see and shop in a different part of London. And it was good to have Haresh around to carry my shopping bags. He does have his uses.

We also got to go out of town to a town near Bath - we were hosted by a dear friend we have made friends with in Liberia. We met in London for dinner as he was in town for a meeting, had dinner in - guess where - Brunswick Square near SOAS, and took a train to Bath. It was a full train but Haresh shooed off a fellow who had occupied one of those seats next to table for four, you know what I mean. So we got these four seats thanks to Haresh's subtle manners. And is any journey complete without some games? No and, so Haresh and Nigel solved some sodoku puzzles.

We got to Bath and got into Nigel's car in the car park and drove to Bradford on Avon where his house is. It was night time but we got a sense of how pretty and country-side-ish it must be. We got to his house, checked it out, had a cup of tea if I remember correctly and went to sleep. We could not get over how quiet it was at night and how fresh the air was. Nigel served us a delicious breakfast the next day (he was so sweet he actually telephoned us the day before to ask us what we would like for breakfast).

We walked around in Bath, ate at a fabulous sea food restaurant and marveled at the Roman baths.

I also wanted to see a friend who has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer on the way back from Bath but he was in and out of chemotherapy and I couldn't see him. He was very cheerful and brave on the phone and it made me appreciate how important it is to live one's life with a positive attitude no matter what one is going through.

So the UK trip went well and I have made a plan on how to proceed with completing my masters. Haresh tagged along, met my friends and siblings, I did some shopping and he renewed his passport.

Accra On the Way Back

For the record, Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport is amazing. The modern check in is something truly to marvel at (compared to the taxi stand that is RIA).

So we had to stay in Accra for a couple of nights on the way back from London. We spent most of the time with Haresh's same old-time buddy. We had a 4-hour lunch at his house where we met his famous uncle whom he had been complaining about the whole week we had been with him going to London. The uncle turned out to be the most fit, charming and energetic 75-year old I had ever met. His family has been in Ghana since the 50s. He started every second sentence with "I don't want to blow my own trumpet but...." With that we got to know about his 2 million pound house in Belsize Park, his vintage Rolex and the fact he can perform the Shirish Asan yoga. He was a gracious host making sure we were stuffed until we couldn't eat and drink until we could not stand.

Sindhi is a nice language to listen to - it has so many words similar to Urdu and Punjabi but somehow sounds sweeter than Punjabi. But then again, all Sindhis I meet say Punjabi sounds sweeter. They are also nostalgic about their roots in Pakistan - their mothers have told them that they owned the biggest houses, were rich as can be, and the bathrooms had gold faucets! And the interesting thing is that the Sindhis in India read and write in the Urdu script.

We had to get up around 5 AM on a Sunday to catch our 8 AM Air Nigeria flight to Monrovia. Because we had about 100 KG in excess weight (we were only allowed 20 KG per person), we wanted to get there extra early to sort out excess baggage fees. The owner of the hotel where we stayed (the same one) dropped us at the airport himself. Nice guy.

Haresh struck a deal with the airlines to let our excess baggage go through - he had to part with $ 170.00 which is not too bad. Our flight was delayed for an hour but we passed a pleasant time at the Accra airport drinking tea and eating croissants. I bought the latest Time issue "Why the US is Stuck with Pakistan" - what an insulting cover!

We also met an Indian businessman whom I thought was a Pakistani army man - tall and a thick moustache with a very confident air about him. He was a Punjabi - no wonder! - who started waxing lyrical about his roots in Rawalpindi and Lahore and the misadventures that the Pakistani state has embarked on since its inception. I don't know whether he was serious or not, but he said he had instructed his sons to marry Muslim girls and not demand they convert in the spirit of inter-faith harmony.

I love airports! They should be the scenes of all diplomatic meetings. Not to mention I have met both the men in my life at airports.

We landed in Monrovia at 11 AM on a Sunday. As the plane swerved around in the direction of the airfield, we got a majestic glimpse of the coastline and the lush forest that covers the majority of the country. We truly live in a jungle. Figuratively and literally!

Some More Thoughts

The UK is like a common destination for me now (apart from Liberia and Pakistan). After many years of not particularly liking the big-city feel, grey weather and sense of alienation, I think the UK is as part of my life as any other. I have undertaken both my undergrad and grad there. I have a lot of memories in that place. I can more or less navigate my way around and am familiar with it. I have a history with London (we go way back!) but I can safely now say that I actually sort of like it. Progress!

It was nice to have Haresh tag along with me and help me get all my stuff done. Thanks Haresh!

I think I like the idea of having my foot in at least three different worlds any given moment: the UK, Liberia and Pakistan.

So I am glad I am back and have some good memories of this trip.

The bizarre trends of our monthly light bills

2011-06-15T05:51:00.000-07:00

The LEC bill came in yesterday and it was $ 458.00 - $ 157.00 cheaper than last month's bill. Here's what it looks like:

After having steadily increased every month, it is a relief to see that the bill is not climbing any more and who knows these ridiculous numbers may even start to retreat and we can have the pleasure of paying what we are consuming.

See below the bizarre trends of our LEC bills since 2009:

2009

November 2009 - $ 139.40 ^

December 2009 - $ 397.21

2010

January 2010 - $ 240.54 *

February 2010 - $ 177.15

March 2010 - $ 271.89

April 2010 - $ 237.17

May 2010 - $ 206.79

June 2010 - $ 222.95

July 2010 - $ 246.65

August 2010 - $ 174.49

September 2010 - $ 187.21

October 2010 - can't find the bill

November 2010 - $311.96

December 2010 - $523.66

2011

January 2011 - $ 424.41

February 2011 - $ 484.39

March 2011 - $ 578.84

April 2011 - $ 614.18

May 2011 - $ 458.80

Can anyone make sense of it? It keeps jumping up and down. We have not increased consumption and it has more or less remained consistent. And more over, during some of these months, LEC might have been out for 2 days at a time due to some transformer breaking down or a thunder storm. Or we kept getting robbed and were cut off from the LEC for days at a time.

Writing letters to the LEC is quite a useless exercise - a complete waste of paper and ink. Visiting the LEC is also a waste of time and money if you want to ask them why your light bill is higher than last month. They do have a hotline to call up in case there is an outage and you'd like to confirm whether indeed the light is out in your area or to get an estimate when it would be back. The LEC hotline number used to be always on our quick dial but the service has improved over time and we have learned to 'guesstimate' on what's going on.

There was the time when the light was out and we drove all the way to the LEC offices in Bushrod Island to request them to just put our apartment back on - we reached an 'understanding' and sure enough after one hour a special crew was dispatched to connect our place to the street light. That did the trick and we could sleep in peace instead of being devoured by mosquitos and exhausted by the humidity. This was before the back up generator.

Recently out of frustration because of the $ 500 + light bills, we asked an LEC field technician to take our meter to the lab to see if there was something wrong with it. He took good unofficial money from us but whatever hocus pocus he performed on it did not help.

We have tried all that we could - bribery, sending our staff everyday, visiting the offices ourselves, turning off appliances and lights when not needed, writing letters, investigating what's going on by asking neighbours and friends and so on.

All in all, clearly, it's a badly-run organisation and our monthly bills do not reflect actual consumption. Apparently, it's a problem all around. The truth is that we are actually paying the same as running a generator. Our back up generator would probably wear out and we'd have to be spending money on maintaining it. Plus, it's too noisy as it right outside our office. The other option could be purchase electricity from someone who is running such a service. It would be slightly more expensive.

What's more, the LEC is a giant generator itself. This isn't hydro-electric or nuclear power we are talking about. I do not see nuclear power coming any time soon to Liberia but it is reasonable to think that eventually Liberia will go back to hydro-electric power like in the past. That should bring down tariff's. Until then, we have to take the bullet.

Let's hope the bill next month is even lower and we can fall back into an average bill between $ 200 - $ 300/month.

^ The air conditioner got damaged during the first month of the connection because of a power surge.

* This is the month during which we got disconnected because we were late in paying the bill and had to spend about $ 150.00 to get ourselves re-connected.

Shawarma shawarma everywhere - but not a morsel to eat?

2011-06-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

Here's another one of those self-explanatory hilarious postings from the Liberia Expats Google Group where people are looking for rooms to stay in, looking to sell dogs and surfboards, asking about how to get to Mali, and trying to confirm stories on Lonely Planet:

"Hi all--

I really could use a gyro wrap. Does anyone know of a place in Liberia
I could cure my need?
Thanks in advance."

This query got one but one very excellent response and I couldn't have said it better:

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawarma"

And in case it's not self explanatory, virtually every restaurant in Monrovia offers shawarma sandwiches (which are more or less the same as a gyro wrap) making the craving for Greek food quite obsolete.

Mama Susu is BACK!

2011-06-07T16:20:00.001-07:00

Of late, life in Monrovia had become drab, dull and lacked some good old Syrian drama and flair! But fear not, little friends, the low times are over. Mama Susu is back in town from her 2-month holiday in Syria. We actually wondered if she'd ever come back and had decided to stay on and help President Assad fully crush the revolution. But thankfully, she is back.

[Thin Lizzy 'The Boys are Back in Town' plays triumphantly in the background….]

Mama Susu is virtually an institution in the small town we call Monrovia. I have known of her and her establishment since 2003 when I first came here to work with the UN. Her place back then was the place to go for lunch and dinner.

One could expect a fantastic home-cooked-style three course lunch along with complimentary Arabic coffee for the lunch time sessions. I remember how busy it used to be - UN vehicles jam parked outside her place and fresh flowers on every table. Not to mention her doting presence lingering at every table. Unfortunately, Mama Susu was taken ill and went to Syria to seek better medical treatment sometime in 2006/2007. During this period, her business suffered and other restaurants in the vicinity grabbed a lot of her customer base.

But she eventually came back to Liberia with the same style and pinache and, has a loyal customer base which loves her home-style food and most of all her personality. And what a personality - the woman who has been in Liberia for the past 40 years first came here as a belly dancer! I have been fascinated with her life - which has all the highs and lows of a soap opera. I have sat and listened for hours at a time to her stories: nightclubs, thwarted lovers, her beloved parrot that was stolen during one of the wars, and inside scoops on the business community. I love her love for Liberia and her loyal workers. I love her sense of fierce pride for where she comes from, a mountainous village in Syria, full of olive gardens and fruit orchards. I love her view on international politics. I really respect that she has made a life for herself in this far-flung jungle and supported her family back in Syria and continues to do so.

She tells me she has mellowed down quite a bit since her youth faded away and doesn't live life so dangerously anymore.

If you live and work in Liberia or are merely passing by, I strongly suggest you go to Mama Susu's on Gurley Street for a meal. Sure, there are the ultra-chic sushi bars of Royal and Mamba Point Hotels but to get a real local feel, go to Mama Susu's. Gurley Street itself looks so dodgy - that itself is an experience. Once you step into the restaurant, you'll find yourself in a cozy place with brightly colored table cloths and fresh flowers. Mama Susu will either be busily serving her guests, smoking and playing solitaire in a corner table or chopping up zucchinis.

I live and work on Randall Street so often times I skip and hop to Gurley Street for a scrumptious lunch. Her lunch specials are still some of the best in town! Sure Mama Susu is a bit pricey but the portions are super generous. Some of my favorite dishes are lentil soup, the chicken shawarma plate, stuffed zucchini, spicy mushrooms, the kafta plate, the oven-baked kebbe, the garlic shrimp and lastly the 20-egg omelette with everything in it.

Some people find her a bit over bearing because she'll demand you generously praise her cooking. She'll even ask you to agree that Diana's sandwiches do not compare to her's.

I once made the dire mistake of complaining about a dead fly in my coffee. My God - did I get the angriest stare from Mama Susu! Not to mention she charged Haresh $10 extra for his steak. I still did not learn and told her at another occasion that I threw up after eating her shrimps right there in her restaurant - that was the biggest insult I could ever give to her. She talked about it for months later and to everyone we mutually knew.

There was also the time when Mama Susu and a close friend of hers parted ways and Haresh and I tried to reconcile the two. Ouch did we get our fingers badly burned! She politely told us that she loved our company and we were always welcome at her place but she swore on her mother's grave and vehemently instructed us never to mention the other person's name ever again. See, this is what I love about Mama Susu - she is dramatic.

Since then, I have learned it is best to go along with her moods and only praise her cooking and Syria. If you want to stay in her good books, you better do that. And make sure you go there often because she gets really angry if you don't come visit or phone her to check in. That's another thing I love about her - she takes everything so personally.

I have had some of the best times in Monrovia at her place. For instance, if Haresh and I ever go out of town, we make it a point to eat at her place the first night we are back.

It's a great people-watching place. Haresh and I have met a skinny-bespectacled Chinese cyclist who cycled all the way down West Africa from Spain and Mama Susu fed him on the house as he had a very limited budget. We also met a gentleman from Mali fully dressed in his magnificent robes and a turban. Once when I had shifted my office to her restaurant due to lack of electricity in my place, I people watched for hours in amusement - the head of Toyota, an Egyptian mama who sells jewelry, a WTO consultant, the most obese Lebanese businessman who smokes thick Cubans and has a petite Liberian girlfriend, NGO aid workers, the odd GOL official and countless Liberian friends of Mama Susu's. It's a treasure cove of people and novel-ish characters.

You'll also hear the 'Gronah Boys' once in a while singing outside her door, 'Mama Susu, Mama Susu, feed your children.' If she's in a good mood, she'll give them some token Liberian Dollars. But if she's in a bad mood, she'll open her front door with a slam and command them to go back to hell.

I have once even seen her banish a customer from her premises - like forever.

Of all the descriptions I have told my father in detail about my life in Liberia, the only person he seems to remember the most is Mama Susu. I guess I painted such a detailed portrait - maybe even exaggerated a bit - that he always asks about her and if he visits Monrovia as he has promised me, I can't wait to introduce him to her. I'm sure she'll go into one of his English short stories. She's truly larger than life.

There was the time I stalked Anthony Bourdain at the Kendeja Resort and took along Haresh the confident I-can-convince-anyone-to-do-anything so we could convince AB to ditch his plans and check out the real Monrovia restaurant scene by visiting Mama Susu's. The guy is always looking for a most out of the way places, right, so I thought he would be interested in checking out the Syrian Mama's kitchen. Sure, it has cats crawling out of it and she is a bit out of the way, but it's one of the coolest places you can check out in Monrovia. But nope, he politely declined and instead went to Rozi's! Ha - how cliche can you get?! That's the most pretentious restaurant I have ever been to! Well that's what I said even though I had never been. I eventually liked the fusion food for what it was worth and the over-priced Sunday brunch with its snobby mimosas. I'd rather prefer Mama Susu's slightly-over priced but huge plates of lovingly-prepared food and the personal touch. So what if you have to close the bathroom door by pushing a huge rock against it? It's still homely. So what if all you hear playing on her CD-player is some Chinese-English pop? She lets you go and take drinks out of her freezer behind the counter.

I always love going to Mama Susu's even if it is a bit grudgingly. I have to push Haresh and myself out the door so we are sure to show her our faces once in a while. While she was away in Syria, thankfully Haresh and I checked on her restaurant to make sure it was still standing because we knew she would eventually know we cared enough to check on her place.

And sure enough, not only did she call us herself to inform us she was back but also thanked us for checking up on her restaurant. She is like a character out of the Godfather - loyalty, an honour code, and grudges are important to her.

We had a pleasant meal at her place, asked about her visit, politely nodded our heads in her condemnation of the revolution, had some delicious food, and enjoyed coffee and Syrian sesame-seed covered biscuits. And she gave us presents and sweets to take home.

It was so clear to see how warmly she's been welcomed back by her friends and loyal customers. Her restaurant was full tonight and as it is typical, some of her customers were bringing her gifts and telling her how glad they were she made it safely back to Liberia.

Welcome back to Mama Susu!

**********

Check out this article in Syria Today. It talks about Syrian connections with Africa and also interviews Mama Susu: http://www.syria-today.com/index.php/april-2011/787-life/14884-journey-to-the-sub-saharan

Randall Street Blues!

2011-05-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

"....the LEC is expensive, is apparently easy to steal, has poor customer service, and takes forever to get a connection. "

This morning, our poor new neighbours had their LEC cables stolen. We only found out about this skullduggery because our Janitor/Security, Mr. Joseph Dennis, had gone upstairs to check on the water levels in our water tank and saw that the wires had been cut.

Our neighbours only got the LEC connection only about a week ago before these sadistic buggers stole the cable. Moreover, the landlord has just recently built a new perimeter wall at the back of the building and installed razor wire across it. We ourselves have installed free-hanging bulbs at the back of our apartment so the back yard is brightly lit at night! These petty thieves keep outwitting us!

This brings back the nightmarish episode of December last year when our office/apartment's LEC cables were stolen about 3 times in one week!

See here http://potatogreens.blogspot.com/2010/12/heist-4.html.

Since we applied our solution of burying the cables in a trench, the wires have not been stolen again.

Overall, our experience with the LEC is mixed. On one hand, it is nice not to depend on generators as an electricity source. Generators are noisy, have to be constantly serviced and fuel is expensive. It is almost $ 5/gallon at the moment. Also, getting electricity through a public entity, gives one a sense of normalcy in a country coming out of a civil war. Lastly, we are usually on for most of the time and outages are getting less and less frequent. And how can I forget, the bill always comes on time, on the dot!

On the other hand, the LEC is expensive, is apparently easy to steal, has poor customer service, and takes forever to get a connection.

Apparently - it is not so dangerous at all!
Ask us - the residents of Randall Street!

Our bill, for instance, has steadily increased from about $ 200/month to $ 600/month without any increase in consumption! All efforts to ask the LEC to investigate the issue have resulted in nothing and we are frustrated as ever. Apparently, many other consumers on Randall Street are complaining of the same thing. An LEC field technician suggested our meter was damaged and needed to be repaired. The meter went to the lab and re-installed. However, when the bill came at the end of the month, it was higher than even before, following the same devastating trend since December last year. Also, apparently, we do not get 220 Volts but a few Volts less than that - at least that is what an air conditioner supplier told us when he tried to convince us his faulty AC was OK and our electricity supply was at fault.

All in all, it is difficult to have complete and reliable information in a place like Liberia. Your guess is as good as mine regarding whether LEC tarriff's have indeed increased or not, whether or not we are getting 220 Volts or not and so on.

Public entities are struggling to re-establish themselves and provide service. They are trying to keep the public informed but need to do a better job.

Meantime, let's hope the neighbours get their light restored before nightfall tonight! I've asked the landlord to deduct these expenses from their next rent but I doubt he will agree!

Just the other day I was cursing the landlord for a badly-leaking roof that covers the main courtyard of the building and promptly tripped and fell on my nose.

Here are a few articles about the LEC:

i) http://allafrica.com/stories/201006241009.html

24 June 2010

"The Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) has disclosed that Liberia's electricity generation capacity will more than double within the next year from 10-megawatts to 23-megawatts"

ii) http://www.theinquirer.com.lr/story.php?record_id=2618&sub=14

"Liberia has selected Canada's Manitoba Hydro International(MHI) Ltd. for a five-year management contract to help rebuild and improve electricity services in Monrovia and to connect at least 30,000 new customers in the city. "

iii) http://www.libelcorp.com/history.htm

You can visit the LEC website however only the History page has any information.

Back to our cozy office

2011-05-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

Got back to Liberia on Sunday, 22 May and back to our desks since Monday. I love being back in our quirky and cluttered office.

VISA Rage

2011-05-18T16:42:00.001-07:00

I finally got my UK today after a week of aggravation and stress.

Submitting the application

I submitted my UK visa application last week Tuesday - I was in the visa centre from 9 to 3 PM that day! It was real torture, we weren't allowed mobile phones or any other device. Haresh was accompanying me so we managed to create some entertainment for ourselves by chatting to other applicants. We also took a coffee break at the nearby swanky Chase restaurant. That was a welcome relief before we had to go back into the concentration camp.

I haven't travelled to the UK twice in the last 2 years therefore they treated my application as a standard one and not return my passport until one week later. However, we spoke to a lady in similar circumstances who got it in 2 days. So that was encouraging! We were told to go the British High Commission on a Thursday at 0730 to try to appeal to them to release my passport earlier but we thought it best to just let the damn thing take its own course. We paid some extra money for the SMS service so we would be notified in case the passport was processed earlier which we secretly hoped for.

Each time I go through the UK visa process it has become more and more tiresome and expensive - for instance I spent $ 450.00 for a 2-year visa. And the fees are non refundable.

The visa centre is manned by security guards who harass the applicants at every step. "Sit here!" "Don't pass through this corridor, go round the longer way." "You lost the seat because you had to go outside? sorry you lose your seat." They keep barking orders at the applicants as they sit in one queue after another for hours and hours as if they are criminals even though they have paid handsome sums of money.

The visa centre is of course separate from the British High Commission which has outsourced the visa application process to a company called VSF. Therefore, one doesn't even meet Brits in that centre but Ghanaains, who are trained to do everything v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. At one point 2 ladies got up to take their lunch and left 2 desks unattended for 30 minutes. The lady who attended to me put a 6-months sticker on my application and unless we hadn't pointed that out, my $ 450.00 would have gone down the toilet. Not to mention she had a bizarre lisp on a strange high frequency which actually made listening to her a pain in the neck. I bet she could tune into a local radio station or communicate with dolphins.

I was given ticket number 60 so it took me 6 hours to queue up to pay my visa fees, queue up to present my application and supporting docs to an officer, and do the bio-metrics. It's an exhausting, humiliating process and really makes me question why I bothered to ever go to the UK.

And to add to insult upon injury, the whole time we were subjected to ABBA and Westlife. Talk about torture!!!

Collecting the passport

I thought this bit would be straightforward and pain free. Guess again!

Collection times are between 2 and 4 PM according to the website. We got there a bit earlier and lo and behold, there were long queues already. We were given a ticket numbered 44. My heart sank at the number because I hadn't brought any reading with me.That was my first worry. Hahah!

Haresh though jumped up and asked someone inside the centre to see if the passport was ready. So we went in there and the lady told us and another patient group that because we hadn't received any SMS notifications we should only come back after we get it. It could be a week, 10 days whichever. I nearly had a HEART ATTACK! We told her we live in Liberia and can't wait around for a visa spending money on hotels! Not to mention we were booked to fly tonight! We would have to pay date change fees otherwise! That lady didn't register any of this and went on to tell us why don't we just apply for the courier service and they would DHL my passport back! I asked her, which airport would let me travel without a passport?? Anyway, huffing and puffing, we asked to speak to the supervisor. We were told to wait for another ten minutes before we could see him.

We went out into the street, frantically trying to figure out why we hadn't received the damn SMS. I phoned my office to pump my Liberia SIM with dollars in case I hadn't received the SMS because I was out of money. Haresh frantically tried to call the travel agent to cancel the ticket but could not get through. We paced up and down the street in front of the VSF centre, shouting into our cell phones, arguing with each other and at the same time, warding off the local hustlers who kept asking us whether we needed a British visa application. The ten minutes were up and we did not cancel the ticket and rushed back into the centre.

We met the supervisor who luckily was a bit more reasonable and when we requested him to telephone the High Commission and confirm whether the passport was ready and coming in another batch before the close of day, he obliged. We waited with lumps in our throats and amazingly, the High Commission told our friend that the passport was ready and we don't need to post pone our flight! Hallelujah! We thanked him profusely for diverting our heart attacks!

We still had to wait for another 2 hours before the next batch of passports came in in which my book was in. Goddamit, the whole process was like waiting for your exam results or some dreadful medical examination results! SO MUCH TENSION AND STRESS! Will I get it? Will they give me 2 -years or less? Bite bite nails, long long sighs, angry angry with the whole world and the whole system, so so fed up and frustrated!

But there it was! I can FINALLY get on with my journey after a few more grey hairs and less money in my pocket.

After all said and done, I can finally sort out my masters, meet with all of my friends and siblings and enjoy some good-old consumer capitalism!!

PS. I never got the SMS until the next morning. So much for the extra 3 Ghana Cedis we spent for the automated notification service.

2010 - Some of the finest moments

2010-12-21T02:48:00.000-08:00

13 January - Alice's surprise birthday party

31 January - South East Liberia Road Trip Adventures
This kid has such a regal and graceful air about her - it's an unforgettable
pose.

1 February - South East Liberia Road Trip Adventures
The open road, the motorcycle kicking up dust, and the brown and green
of this photograph - I love it.

17 February - Girls Nite!

7 March - with ANTHONY BOURDAIN!!!!!!

7 March - My autographed Kitchen Confidential
"Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter-faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn.

To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living.

Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. The body, these waterheads imagine, is a temple that should not be polluted by animal protein. It's healthier, they insist, though every vegetarian waiter I've worked with is brought down by any rumor of a cold.

Oh, I'll accomodate them, I'll rummage around for something to feed them, for a 'vegetarian plate', if called on to do so. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini suits my food cost fine."

4 April - One of my greatest pleasures in life - defeating staff in Ludo!

19 April - Staff party

1 May - My yellow and mellow balcony

31 May - on site

2 June - Slimy catfish of Gbarnga
Catfish blues

WELL I WISH, I WAS A CATFISH

SWIMIN' IN THE, THE DEEP BLUE SEA

I HAVE ALL YOU PRETTY WOMEN

FISHIN' AFTER ME

SHOWIN' UP AFTER ME

OH WELL

3 June - Grand Gedeh County
That's me leaning on a giant tree

19 June - Playing Scrabble with Aboo in Islamabad
Spending some good times with Aboo after 2 years! Too
bad I defeated him twice in a row!

20 June - Meeting my best friend since she got married!

21 June - Don't we look alike?

22 June - With the Karachiites!!!!!!

26 June - How can we forget Purple Haze?

27 June - goofing off with the cousins

1 July - With my grandmother

5 July - A breezy picnic in the park with my Aunt and cousin
in Islamabad

6 July - With Aboo up in the Margalla Hills

6 July - With my best friend

18 July - the one and only Mama Susu

10 August - Make a scary face, make a scary face

10 August - With Liz

13 August - My birthday!

13 September - The cool couple - Nigel and Liz

21 September - Candy city!!!!!
My friend sends me all this candy from Chicago!

26 September - The first sighting of Fresh Frozen Food

30 September - This is what you call power napping!

5 October - Robertsport
Haresh:I'm in a boat - Weeeeeeee!
Chris: Looks on amusedly

5 October - Robertsport
Farzana: I'm in a boat! A slightly more demure
Weeeee-I-can't-swim!

29 October - Halloween at the Darzi's

Christmas at the office

2010-12-20T04:00:00.000-08:00

We are doing Secret Santa in the office like we did last year. I am impressed by the enthusiasm of all the staff. All the presents are nicely wrapped, cards are snuggled in the fake Christmas tree branches and it all looks so nice.

Check out all the loot under the office Christmas Tree!

And check out the peppermint candy sitting on my desk giving my desk a nice Christmassy feeling. You're welcome to come visit and have some candy.

My favourite tea moments of 2010

2010-12-17T09:51:00.000-08:00

Totota, Bong County January 2010 - first day of the Southeast Liberia
Road Adventures

Buchanan, Grand Bassa

Earl Grey tea at the apartment/office

Almond syrup cake - the best cake in the world - and tea with Aboo in Islamabad
Easily my favourite tea moment of 2010

Who doesn't love a little Snoopy with their tea?

What an elegant tea at the elegant Mamba Point Hotel

Cappuccino - a cousin of tea - with Catcher in the Rye!

The Heist 4

2010-12-05T11:02:00.000-08:00

In the space-time continuum of one week, our electricity was stolen no less than FOUR TIMES. It was like a cheap c-class heist movie with three crap sequels.

Last weekend about 11 PM our electricity got disconnected. It's a routine thing here in Liberia and "normally" they restore the power in 10-15 mins unless its a major outage or problem. The whole night went by and light did not come back.

We called up the LEC (Liberia Electricity Corp) in the morning and they said they will send their crew to check out the problem as its not a general one and only affecting my apartment. I live in a first floor apartment with a terrace on top.

The LEC guys came and checked the meter and discovered no problems!! I got curious and decided to check the terrace to see if everything was okay up there. (The electricity cable that feeds the house runs on the floor of the terrace).

To our collective shock and horror, we discovered that the whole cable has been removed/stolen and that was the cause of the light being disconnected. We immediately got an electrician to redo the connection. We got a new cable (About 100 feet long) and the electricity came back on.

Now the unbelievable shocking, horrific and disgusting part:

Again the next night the same robbers visited us. Again they stole the cable. Again we were out of electricity!! The next morning we went up to the terrace to check and not surprisingly the cable was indeed missing!! We felt like a bunch of abused fools.

So we decided that we need to do something better this time around.

We got another roll of 100 feet cable ($100.00) and got some plastic pipes to run the cable inside it and then asked a masoner to cement the pipes to the floor. We were confident that would be a fool-proof solution. Nope, we were wrong.

The robbers came back again and cooly removed the cable from the pipes and left the pipes cemented to the floor and for the third time we were without electricity!!

We got smarter. Got another roll of cable and decided that this time around we would cut open the pipes at equal distances and put cement on the cable and pipes so that even if the rogues want to draw out the cable it will be stuck and they will fail.

Wrong again!

They came back at 5 in the morning. The light got disconnected. It was clear it was them: heavy, scraping sounds from the terrace. They took their sweet time. But there was no way to go up there and try to catch them. Anything can go wrong and $ 100.00 worth of cable is not worth it. These 'rogues' are druggies and at the end of day, they are probably only going to get $ 10.00 for this stolen cable and clearly they need their daily fix.

The next day we confirmed that the cable had indeed been stolen. The guys had the tools to dig out the cement and remove the cable out of the pipes and take it away.

The latest solution has been to chisel the terrace floor about 2 inches deep and then to get the electrician to lay another cable inside the trench and then cover it up with rich mix of cement and concrete.

They did try to steal the cable again because one night the TV started flickering really badly. The next morning it was evident the the rogues/druggies had tried to steal the cable again but were not lucky. It was too much effort. They did steal some of the neighbour's shit up there though.

What a frustrating WEEK! Randall Street is a bitch. Apparently, it was always like this - even before the war.

The good thing is that the landlord is building a wall around the building and hopefully, it'll protect us from these guys. Hope springs eternal!

The Love of Chicken Brought Us Here

2010-11-22T15:45:00.000-08:00

Because fried chicken and liberty go together

There's a new KFC-style fried chicken fast food restaurant in town - right here on Randall Street. Nope, this is not a pulling-your-leg-Starbucks-is-across-the-farmer's-Co-Op stunt. It's bright and shiny and it's called Monroe Chicken. You can check out the pics below.

Perhaps the most interesting bit about it is its tag line: "The Love of Chicken Brought Us Here." That is FUNNY. It's not just silly funny, it's clever funny.

I have been working on my new company logo and branding for the past couple of months so I find it wildly original. It's a hilarious play on Liberia's motto.

And I shouldn't think it should ruffle any national feathers - no pun intended. Monroe Chicken is respectful of Liberia's fabricated and bizarre identity and history. Everything about the place is steeped in it - the motto, the colours, the red and white stripes, the lonestar, and the picture of Monroe. Gosh, it almost looks American.

So you get a bit of ironic history and some tasty fried chicken. What else do you need? And like I said before, the place is new and shiny.

And LORD KNOWS, we need new and shiny things here in shabby Monrovia. What's more, this is good for business - more business is good for business.

Earl Grey seals the deal

2010-11-15T13:27:00.000-08:00

The cabinet piece in my office is actually my former china cabinet. Now it is full of files instead of dinner plates and platters. It still works.

You will notice though that I still have a bar in it - in fact, if you notice, it houses drinks as well as my stash of Earl Grey tea which friends so generously bring me each they are in the UK.

I look forward to signing really big deals, like million-dollar ones, in my very nice and cozy office. And we could seal them over a good solid drink.

Well I did make a nice deal the other day that sort of came unexpectedly. That one was sealed over Earl Grey and Digestive biscuits though.

So yes, there's those kind of deals, too. Earl Grey ones.

Book Club

2010-11-14T16:48:00.000-08:00

A book club is a good idea in theory but difficult to implement especially if there are book snobs like me in it. Or if someone thinks the only books worth reading are those by Jeffrey Archer. Or if people think you're kind of crazy because you can STILL relate to Holden Caulfield even though you are no longer a teenager. (So I still have teenage angst in me, sue me!)

I really do have determined ideas about A Good Book and a Bad Book That Can Never Be Considered Literature. And I get really worked up about it, too.

Some people only really like a particular story if they can relate to the protagonist or the context. Well not many of us can relate to having become obsessed with a black cat to the point of offing it or hearing the imaginary heartbeat of a corpse hidden underneath the floorboards thundering in your guilty ears when the police come round to investigate, but still, Edgar Allan Poe's macabre mad-man-first-person stories are thrilling.

I love reading for all kinds of reasons: escape, language, boredom, re-living my childhood and so on. I LOVE reading.

I do not have to relate to a character really but all good literature has a human element to it which allows you to relate, allows you to empathise, to imagine and place yourself in that character or situation. I think so.

So a few friends have started a book club and we had our first reading from Catcher in the Rye. It was really interesting to see everyone's reaction to this cult classic. Some people like it, others don't. And that's perfectly OK - yes, I kind of realise that, I kind of concede this point. A bit grudgingly.

Moving on, moving on....

The second book on the list is Wolf Hall and looks like a juicy read.

Halloween at the Darzi's

2010-11-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

The Halloween party where we went was not so much fun as were the Halloween preparations that we subjected ourselves to.

The last time I wore a costume to a Halloween thing was back in 7th grade (ASB, Bucharest, Romania). So, here I was in 2010 participating in some Halloween fun.

During our usual evening walk, H and I started kidding around about what we would wear to a Halloween party at one of the local establishments. We were not even planning on going nor indulging in costumes but we got excited as we walked and started tossing ideas about. Naturally, I came up with all the brilliant ideas such as draping ourselves with white sheets and pretending to be ghosts.

If H will tell the story now, he will pretend he came up with the brilliant idea but readers, beware, it was my idea!

So we shortened our regular grueling walk and made a detour to Benson Street where they have all the tailoring shops. We entered the first one we saw.

So there we were, a couple of sweaty desi's overwhelming a small and modest darzi ki dukaan. H excitedly explained his (no, mine!) brilliant Halloween costume idea to the Madame of the shop. She had a quizzical look on her face wondering why we wanted to waste perfectly good silky white material by sewing a shapeless rucksack to put over our heads. But she and the tailor were amused and went ahead and sewed some not-so-scary-looking white capes for us in less than an hour.

While waiting for the costumes, I had a good time chatting to the Madame, her name was Mariam and she took a liking to me, offering me a free soft drink and asking me about my nose ring.

My noise ring is such a conversation piece. I am glad my mother made me get one when I was still a teenager.

I also played with her little girls.

Here is a couple of pictures of our adventures in the darzi ki dukaan.

When we finally got to the Halloween event itself, I felt too claustrophic in my ghost costume and H only wore it for a few minutes. We were pretty bored afterwards - I think we had over excited ourselves during the preparations and everything else after that was anti-climatic. We had a drink and sat about watching the merriment around us and left shortly.

Running a business can be stressful. Sometimes it really gets to me - especially when things don't go my way.

2010-10-26T15:40:00.000-07:00

Running a business can be stressful. Sometimes it really gets to me - especially when things don't go my way.

I am really impatient so that probably drives up my stress levels.

I can lose my temper in a second.

I am really moody so that does not help either. Of course, if things go my way, that helps my mood. Regular supply of Earl Grey tea and chocolates and DVDs also helps.

Running a business requires one to be skilled at human resources, management, administration, finance, marketing, bluffing, negotiating, and socialising. So suffice to say, I have had a big learning curve this year. Except for being a naturally bossy person, I had to learn the rest.

If you want to do business, you have to be optimistic. I have to still work on that but yes, you have to think positively about your prospects, the economy, the potential, the potential in people, the potential in yourself and so on.

I still have not fine tuned my 'Keeping my friends close and enemies even closer' technique, either. I keep doing the opposite.

I sometimes forget to see the bigger picture. And what's the bigger picture anyway? That I have had the most fun in my LIFE running a business. It is challenging, difficult, frustrating, rewarding and so freaking COOL. I get to use all parts of my head. And, don't forget the heart. Unless your heart is not in it, it's no fun.

What's more, if you strictly chase the money without thinking about actually building a company, a culture, a team, you will not have the pleasure and sense of achievement of having built something. So, you need a vision.

So yes, I do get incredibly frustrated and FED UP but it is part of the fun. At the end of the day, I get to deal with all kinds of situations and circumstances which teach me about markets, prices, customer expectations, making a deal, people, dynamics and myself.

I have a great company, a brilliant vision, a cool bunch of techies and staff, world-class clients (WORLD CLASS), and some world-class projects already under my belt.

So here's me looking a bit more content with myself and my world which I can't wait to take:

End of Rainy Season

2010-10-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

I am kind of glad the dry season is here. The sun is out and one forgets how much more cheerful it is when it is sunny.

The change in the season - which really only happens twice a year in Liberia given there are only two seasons - is so important to get a sense of time.

And lastly, the kind of sunsets that are put on display during the hot and dry season simply do not compare with the wet ones. They are spectacular, unbelievable, incroyable!

Here are a few pics during my rigorous evening walks with H: