Malawo Mountain

Okay...so it wasn't exactly a mountain, at least in the Canadian sense of the term, but it did provide a good sweaty workout to reach the top and reach our destination of Malawo. We set off from our guesthouse at around 8 am, drove 1.5 hours, and then strapped on our running shoes, grabbed our Gatorade bottles, and had sweat rags on hand. Our ultimate goal was to reach the village of Malawo with the opportunity to distribute gifts to the children of this village. This would be my first visit to the village, but others had been there three times.

There is huge importance to this community as it relates to the rest of the country. Uttered amongst Liberians the name of Malawo brings up strong images, feelings and emotions. Malawo has been a focal point for traditional practices such as the secret society, and often attached to it are dark and often very spiritual events. It is known that at least two past Presidents have traveled to this area to offer human sacrifices (the picture above shows the altar) as there is a strong belief in Liberia that human blood has sacred powers. More often Malawo is associated with medicines/charms, and I don't mean medicine that you purchase in your local pharmacy! The night before we traveled there, many local staff shared stories of visitors to Malawo being "cursed" with leprosy, paralysis, and even death. (Not really a warm welcoming advertisement to the community).

You're wondering if I have lost my mind right? The reality is things are changing in this community and we have been invited through partnership with a local church to work in this area. Community members have come to realize, as a result of the war, that their past traditions do not hold the powers that they believed they did. The war forced people outside their village, therefore exposing them to other ways of lives. Many started to realize that they had put their hope in a power did not really protect them, as many lost family members, and all of them were touched in some way by the horrors of the war. Additionally, this community has come to realize that while they are holding on to the past they are not giving opportunity to their children and a future. (Currently, the children in the village walk 1.5 hours each way to school down the mountain, and the community suffers from lack of access to clean water, and other necessities).

It's hard to explain this all in a simple blog entry as it's very complex and there are many different aspects to explain. When our past team went their to visit they found a village that was split in their decision to invite "outsiders" in to visit. Up to this time, men could not wear toe covered shoes, women couldn't wear tops, there had not been light (like a generator) in this community ever, each entry point to the community had an arch way with charms hanging from it, and the whole community was encircled by a rope that everyone entering had to pass over. In one months time, at the urging of no one from outside, the community has removed the charms and the rope, women are allowed to be out of their houses on their own and wear tops, and the community is eager to have us return and even spend the night with them.

You might be saying to yourself, so what is the big deal, women are wearing tops? This is not about getting women to wear tops, nor to force development on someone, but it is opening people's eyes to the bondage they have been in. All these "rules", like no tops, are directly connected to secret society practices, and defying these rules means that you are challenging the very thing that you believed has made you powerful in the past. It's amazing and still blows my mind.

On a surface level, we went to do a simple thing, such as distribute gifts, or we have helped start a school in the community, or are working towards helping them with their water issues, but beyond that there is something very "real" and complex happening here. And I have gotten to be part of this change and to build relationships with people like the people of Malawo. It honestly brings me to tears thinking about what is going on in this one little tiny corner of Liberia...it humbles me and leaves me in awe.