Up Country Once Again

Last night was a beautiful evening up country. We drove 7 hours yesterday to visit one of our project sites just 15 minutes from the Ivory Coast border. I was able to enjoy both the sunset and an evening under the stars, and it was wonderful. I was commenting to co-workers how much I miss being out in the village, and how we were missing something living in the capital. It was calming and peaceful in a whole different way than what we experience at our house in Monrovia.

Anyways, the drive up was rather uneventful. We stopped at the three hour mark to visit an orphanage, and then continued on to Ganta. In Ganta we had a quick coke, and I've posted a copy of the Swedish UN tanks that we saw rolling through town. We continued on for another two-three hours till we reached Gbelegla, where one of our two programs for ex-combatants is located. Staff and students greeted us, and had laid out a brief program to highlight their training center. Our Regional Director is in country this week, and everyone was quite excited to see him.

We continued on for another 25 minutes to reach our second training center, and were greeted by staff there. The DDRR (Demobilize, Disarm, Rehabiliation and Reintegration) program is sponsored by UNICEF and implemented by our organization. We're currently in the third stage of the program, which is being accomplished by engaging ex-combatants in trade school training so that they will have a skill to rely on in the future. At these schools, kids can sign up for either agriculture, masonry, pastry, carpentry, mechanics, or comsetics training. They also have school social workers and business training as part of their program.

We sat with these kids for a couple of hours this morning, and I would have to say that I found it hard to picture these kids out in the field shooting and killing their countrymen. I was informed later on in the day that one of the students, the "General", once had 250 children under his command. When I asked his age, they told me that he currently is 15, but it is evident that he was a very controlling guy. Even today at the school if they're having conflict on the compound, they'll call on the "General" to talk to the kids. The encouraging part of the story is that the "General" was recruited to go fight on the Ivory Coast side, as his skills are much desired there, but he refused so that he could take part in this program. You get a real sense that people in Liberia grew tired of fighting, and really do want another way of life.

While it was tiring trip, it was definitely worth it. Driving is always a tiring thing here, and it can be quite an experience. Today, we came across a truck that had been carrying lumber turned over on it's side. The UN was already on site, and had two massive trucks with winches on them to try to turn it upright. We asked the policeman if everything was okay, to which he replied there had been a fatality, but they had taken away the boy. As we drove by, I was peering to look at the truck and realized that the dead boy was lying there with a pair of shorts draped partially over his face. I'm happy to say that we made it back without any further incients, and arrived safely at our home in Monrovia by 5:30pm.