(no subject)

[meg111982]

so in case you haven't been paying attention to what has been happening in liberia, they had elections recently and elected ellen johnson-shirlef, the first african woman president. she is 67, has a masters in public administration from harvard, and has extensive governmental experience both in liberia and the international stage through the UN and the world bank. her primary competetor was george weah, 39, international soccer star without a high school education. i was personally happy about the result, but i remember when i was in ghana the refugees were rooting for weah, as he was kind of a local folk hero who pulled himself out of the slums of monrovia. shortly after the election there were riots and allegations of fraud and misconduct, which may or may not have been true. one of the historical problems with the liberian government is a huge excess of corruption (though clearly we shouldn't cast stones, i mean, cunningham, WHAT???) and so there is a lot of governmental distrust. i think the UN will want to move all of the refugees back as soon as possible, but i don't know that they will want to go back. i mean, of course a lot of them want to go back, but they fled for a reason. you should see where they are living now, litterally on top of sewage, surviving on less tan a dollar a day, unable to get work permits. and yet some would rather stay in ghana than return to liberia. the riots had stopped last i heard, and she is offering weah a position in her government, which is good. i guess i am just worried. i think out of anyone, she is the one that should rebuild the country after 13 years of civil war, but it will be so hard. perhaps she will be a positive role model for other women? i hope. i don't know. these are scary times. i have been thinking on this a lot lately. it just has been running through my mind. i would love to be in liberia right now. how academically fascinating must it be? how emotionally difficult? but i would only want to be there because i know i don't live there. if problems arise, i could leave. and that wakes me up to the fact the country has been totally destroyed. there is no infrastructure, no economy, no educated people. andi think about the kids who were born at the refugee camp who are 15 now and who have never been to liberia, and the only life they know is that of the camp.
anyhow. if you pray, please pray for liberia.