Obebini, I'm fine

Final post from Camp. I had a beautiful leaving ceremony this morning, with lots of singing kids. I also had a great last wekend at Kokrobite. And, the Tribal Leaders Forum workshop ended well, and I got many, many compliments. I was really worried about not having any sort of impact here, but I can certainly see, that at least with the forum, I've gotten a good thing going. Thus I can leave with a clear mind.

I have to head to the airport soon, but there will be a more substantive post later. So much to say, but so little time.

Wow.

L2E.

You mean these old cranks can actually get along?

Today was the first day of our two day appreciative inquiry workshop for the tribal leaders. We had about 30 people, out of 32 invited, which isn't bad. Unfortunately though, there was only one woman in the group. We can't do much to control that, however, since the various tribes and counties select their representatives to the forum. Nonetheless, the discussion was good. A few people didn't quite get the idea that the objective was to focus on positive things on the camp, rather than problems. Basically, we're looking at what good things we have here that can be built upon in order to solidify a spirit of peace and reconciliation on camp. In a place like this, if we just talked about problems, the conversation would last so long that most of the old men in the room would die before we finished.

We first discussed what unifying forces exist here that can be built upon, and then we discussed what big ideas or dreams we have for future activities. Tomorrow we'll get more into concrete steps and hopefully get a rough sketch of an action plan. I also hope that we start a little more promptly tomorrow, so I can get to the beach sooner. ;)

The conversation went well though, and those in attendance seemed to accept me as a facilitator, when I really half expected them to completely ignore the young white kid. But at the end of the day, they clapped for me twice, and the Chairman of the Elder Council extended his good wishes and personal thanks.

Yesterday I was pretty convinced this thing was gonna fall on its ass. The leaders of the Elder Council came to the office, where there was a dispute because one of them didn't get his ID card. It was all a little petty and easily resolved, even though it took two hours. Yet today they really seemed to get along and worked well in small, diverse groups.

Note to those trying to divide people into groups in Africa: do not use birth month as a means to organize people. The obsession with perfect order and regimented bureaucracy makes your life difficult when you realize the October-November-December group is massive and needs to be split up.

Also yesterday, Emmanuel and I went to the Kofi Annan Centre. I got a lot out of it personally, but they don't really do anything for grassroots stuff, so Emmanuel was a little down (plus intimidated by the place). Yet we did meet with a Liberian academic there who gave us some good contacts and a pledge of personal support.

Anyway, time for my final peace cell mobilization. Only 3 days left....

Warning: do not piss off the obroni

Yesterday at the office was explosive. I went in for the staff meeting, to find the rep for PCO's only NGO partner sitting in the rain, crying. Apparently Emmanuel had tremendously offended her, and the she finally walked out. I talked to her for awhile and found out the story, and then went to the staff meeting and went off like a firecracker. When you only have one NGO partner who has offered you funding, a market for the products from the women's center, and basically unfoundering generosity, you should be nice to their representative. Especially when they fly all the way out here to meet you. After they got an earful on sustainable management and the need for fundraising, I went back home.

Today is better. The toilet investigation is wrapping up, and I've been asked to facilitate most of the tribal leaders meeting this weekend, as well as speak at a camp peace concert this Sunday, to represent PCO's international volunteers. This means that my trip to Kokrobite for a final party will be a little short, but then again I like to work. Plus I'll have my time in London to relax.

Anyway, I've been runnning around all day again, so I need to get back to that. If you'd be willing to support a free school for refugees, let me know. I'm serious about the fundraising.

Teaching, drinking, and running around

Friday was a crazy day. I had to go to the office, mobilize in Zone 11 (which is huge - kinda like the camp suburbs), go to a peace cell project meeting, teach at the mother's center, go to the Liberian Refugee Welfare Council to discuss the tribal leaders thing, and then the peace cell meeting itself. It was a very very busy day, and I was exhausted.

I decided to chill this weekend, and thus far have done just that. A few of us went to camp yesterday to get some clothes made (it's cheap and it supports the camp economy). I'm getting a shirt that I'll pick up Wednesday. MD (the volunteer coordinator) and I then grabbed some lunch and checked out a dance troupe rehearsal at the cultural centre. The kids there were pretty good (and also pretty funny), and the drumming was excellent.

I returned home for relaxation, when Emmanuel and Dayton (new tribal leaders forum guy) showed up to take me for a drink. Emmanuel is also in the process of learning to drive, so we got to be scared for a few minutes. I thought we were just going to camp, but instead they took me to Kasoa (only big town between camp and Accra) to a nice place for plenty of drinking and an intense discussion of Liberian politics and history. The primary debate was whether or not Ellen Johnson Sirleaf could face war crimes charges. All in all it was fun, even in spite of the sickness that followed (I haven't been able to drink much here and my tolerance has gone down).

Today a group of us have come to Accra to use really fast internet and generall goof around. We're going to a vegetarian restaurant later, and possibly a jazz club as well. Should be a fun time. :)

Tomorrow, back to the grind for my last week. I'm both excited and sad about leaving. Oh well, it's been an incredible experience. I haven't gotten malaria, in spite of the mosquitos that sit and wait outside my net. I've also met some absolutely awesome people. Plus having the kids run around and say "Obroni, what is your name?" everytime I walk home is pretty entertaining too.

L2E.

Hilarity in the office

Today has been a better day. Turns out things like budgets and plans do exist, they just forgot to give them to me. I could've lived without the near heart attack yesterday caused, but maybe I should just learn to be less anal retentive. We had a good meeting today about starting up peace cells in Liberia, so we can start writing a grant for that purpose. PCO recently established its presence in Monrovia, and now it's time to start doing something more than assessment. We also had some fun around the tribal leaders forum. It looks like our meeting will in fact take place next week. However, a man who lost the election for chairman of the Elder Council, a body born from the forum, came to protest this morning (unannounced of course). You should note that the election in question occurred in January, and he's been cranky ever since. He says it wasn't democratic because he didn't win, because he's more educated than the man who did in fact win. Basically, this man has a pretty distorted view of democracy, in spite of his alleged multiple master's degrees. Then again, this same man claims to be Archbishop of West Africa for a church that he refuses to name. Apparently he has taken his complaints about the Elder Council election to Presidents Kufour (Ghana) and Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia). I wonder if they laughed as hard as we did...

But the most amusing part of the day centers around my investigation of the construction costs for the PCO school's latrine. One of our volunteers donated the money for the whole project, but some of the money never made it to the finance officer (and thus never made it to the bank), and the receipts don't add up to the total donation. I'm fairly certain that the project manager involved pocketed the money, but I digress. I was reading over the project budget and found a line for "hookers," of which the desired amount was 8, at a unit price of 48,000 cedis (roughly $5). I really don't know why a bathroom with six stalls needs eight hookers... ;)

Otherwise, things are progressing. Only one more working week left. This weekend I plan to take it easy, maybe do some day trips, but nothing too far from home. Travelling here just stresses me out. Next Wednesday is Liberian Independence Day, so the camp will be rockin' for most of the week, as apparently this is a very big deal.

However, I guess now I should go back to toilet duty.

Sweet Africa always knows when to bring a gift

There's this off the wall Liberian man who goes by Sweet Africa and comes by the house every so often. He makes stuff out of cornhusks, and I recently bought a pair of his shoes that are quite cozy. They're blue and green too. Anyway, he was very excited to see me wearing the shoes today. He's been known to give presents to volunteers at various times too. Anyway, he's a very nice man and a former English teacher that makes for good breakfast company, even though I'm always the last person out of bed.

Progress on the tribal leaders front is good. We just hired a project manager today that I already know and like a whole lot. He's a builder by trade and reminds me a lot of my grandfather. We had a discussion once about how building peace is a lot like building a house, and how here at camp we're just working on the foundation. :) This man is also a peace cell leader, but was excited about the extra responsibility.

The administration front is more bleak. PCO is mired in an antiquated bureaucracy that really makes getting things done difficult and results in a lot of wasted paper. For instance, my first task yesterday was for Emmanuel to tell me to tell the secretary to tell the project managers to do something. Today I was given the organization's first quarter 2006 report to prepare for publication/distribution (second quarter is coming soon), but the report had no real accounting of goals and accomplishments and contained virtually no financial data. We need to have a serious discussion about this stuff if they want to pursue grant funding.

Lesson 1: you must have a budget.
Lesson 2: this budget should be divided by project.
Lesson 3: you must account for every dime earned and spent.
Lesson 4: your budget must be guided by your organizations goals, objectives, and maybe even a strategic plan.

Also, a staff member invited only the female volunteers to a weekend at the beach with just him. Totally not acceptable.

Anyway, I'm looking for a peaceful place to spend my weekend. I'm told about a nice botanical park not too far away. Let's see how that goes.

Peace. L2E.

Guest Administrator

What a weird job they've given me. I'm basically filling in for the deputy director, who has pretty much been fired (I'm clueless as to why). Some things run fine. I like getting to know all the projects and being able to make suggestions at my leisure. But somethings at the office need streamlining. For instance, Emmanuel told me to tell the secretary to tell the project managers to submit to me their budgets for next month. All of this was in writing too. I don't really see why I can't just tell the project managers myself. We also had an "emergency" staff meeting this morning to deal with some ridiculous issue that basically boiled down to gossip that got out of hand. I told them to leave their personal beef at the door. It sounded cold and it was certainly a Western approach. I should probably be more tactful in the future, but things still seem ok.

In other news, I wrote a proposal to re-start the tribal leaders forum, beginning with an appreciative inquiry workshop that will allow the leaders to craft their own plan/role in the reconciliation process. The proposal has been accepted and the workshop is currently set to occur next weekend (my last on camp). Also, people from the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Training Centre have agreed to meet with us next week. :)

Hard to believe that I'm already at the halfway point. Looks like a very busy two weeks ahead.

The Neighborhood Watch is reminded not to beat people when making arrests; the UNHCR is reminded that water is a basic necessity

Last Wednesday, the first statement was heard over the camp public address system. Last Thursday, the Camp was graced by officials from UNHCR and the Liberian Interior Minister, for which the Neighborhood Watch was all dressed up for. The second statement came from a camp resident at that meeting. What I'm getting to here is that sometimes things on camp are just a little whacky.

First there's the handshake. Clasp hands, fold, shake, and snap on release. It's not both people snapping individually, it's using both hands to collectively make a snapping noise. This is a complicated routine that may well get the best of me.

Language wise, there are a few differences. Aside from not being at all conversant in any of the local/tribal languages, there are a few turns of phrase that can be confusing at first.

"How de body?" Sometimes used in place of how are you, but with similar meaning.
"Small small" Basically, a little bit of something or a short period of time. Examples: "We've come to talk to you small small." "Are you feeling better? Small small."

These are perhaps the most common phrases I hear. Aside from that, people seem to have difficulty pronouncing my name. Oh well. Time for mobilization.

L2E.