1st Week in Monrovia

Well, here it is. I have now been here a bit over a week and oh, what a week it has been. I arrived in Monrovia at 4am last Monday after having travelled for over 24 hours. The flight from Casablanca was delayed and one of my bags was lost on arrival (which is not uncommon). Once I stepped off the plane in Monrovia, the hot Liberian air welcomed me along with an UNMIL staff member who would be taking me to the transit house designed to house new arrivals until they can found their own accommodation. I had so many things on my mind and was thrilled to be at my first field assignment, something I have wanted for so long.

The drive to the transit house took about 45 minutes. It was a surprisingly smooth ride as there has been a lot of road restoration work done since the recovery process began after the war. Once we arrived at the house, we had a couple of hours to change so that we could go into the office to begin the check-in process. Seeing the city in the daytime was a bit of a shock as I had no idea what it would look like. It is one thing to know there was a war and it is another to see its footprint everywhere you go. Burned buildings, destroyed storefronts, schools turned into rubbish. Still, Liberia today has made remarkable progress since the war. Speaking to many old-timers, when the mission was first deployed, the streets of Monrovia were filled with dead bodies, rebels running all over the city, guns, violence and people living in constant fear, locals afraid to step out of their homes.

Today, it is quite different. The streets are full of people and life is slowly returning to some degree of stability. Yes, poverty is rampant, illiteracy rates are staggering, but progress is being made, however uneven the process is, and this is why we're here. I can see how changes are taking place now. The main road in Monrovia has just been finished and they painted the crosswalk lines on it. Already people are starting to cross on the crosswalks whereas before the lines were there, they'd cross at any point.

The transit house is much nicer than I expected. Though there is no hot water, and electricity is only on during the night, the place is clean and we even have a TV :) Due to security regulations all UN staff is subject to a curfew every night and our movement is somewhat restricted as we're not supposed to walk alone during non-curfew hours. We have to keep a radio in the house in case of emergency to be able to contact security. All UN-cleared compounds have 24-hour security on site. Due to having to pass specific UN clearance, the rent is sky-high. I thought New York was expensive, I will be paying $850/mo to share an apartment with one other person. It is a nice apartment though, and we get 24-hour electricity :) A huge luxury considering there is no electricity in Liberia other than on UN premises and the major government ministries.

My first weekend in Monrovia was a lot of fun. I met a very nice man on the way here who owns 2 companies in the city and he had me and another friend of his over for dinner at his place. It was an amazing compound with luxury some NYC condos have never even dreamed of. The place has its own gym, a tennis court, and the view of the ocean is breathtaking. This man has his own fisherman who calls him every day to let him know what the catch of the day is. We had lobsters and swordfish that day which was fantastic. The highlight of my evening was my first hot shower of the week. I was elated!!

The UNMIL HQ is a huge building with tons of offices, it is very nice. We also have another location called Star Base which is the engineering, mechanical, and supply sector which also has the military contingent housing located there. The largest contingent is Nigerian military (3,000+). There are lots of Philippino soldiers as well, Ghana and Bangladesh have a strong presence. I have met quite a few Jordanians and a couple of Ukrainians. It is still a fairly large mission though we're in our drawdown phase which means we're consolidating operations and pulling out military personnel. Having a mission come to a drawdown phase is a good thing in terms of having achieved an acceptable level of security, however, the danger can be the humanitarian presence gap once the civilian staff leave if the government is not ready to take over governance.

Every Sunday a group of volunteers here goes to the school for the blind to cook them a hot lunch. I joined them last Sunday and got to meet the school's principal and several of the kids. There are about 36 kids ranging between 8 and 28 years old, as the education system virtually did not function during the 14-year civil war. There is a school for the deaf right next to the one we went to, however, there are no funds available to do the same thing for them. Essentially, we need about $80 every Sunday to make lunch for them as well. From talking to the principal, I gathered that many of these kids' parents have simply abandoned them, in fact, the newest arrival, a boy of about 9, was found wandering the streets last week.

As for the country itself, it is quite a vibrant place, despite the destruction suffered by its people for so many years. It takes a bit of getting used to, especially the language. It is English, but it is Liberian English, which is almost completely incomprehensible if you're a listening to a conversation by the locals. The nature is quite beautiful here, and I'm even getting used to seeing spiders and other bugs every day. Still a little freaked out by the giant roaches, but so far I've only seen one in close proximity.

Grocery shopping is a bit challenging as most of the food is imported so it is VERY expensive. The UN shop is less expensive than the local supermarkets, and even here I have to shell out about $4 for a can of tuna. Essentially, everything is about three times the price it is in New York and the selection is very limited. Nonetheless, it is totally liveable, and this is by far one of the most abundant missions of the UN so I'm not complaining. Also, from the accounts of others who have been here longer, a small watermelon used to cost $21 right after the war so the situation has improved quite a bit today.

Life at the office is very busy for me, as I am responsible for preparing all the relevant materials for my boss's meetings which are mostly high-level meetings with government officials. I have to prepare Talking Points and speeches for these meetings as well as closely monitor the political developments in the country and the surrounding area and update him on a regular basis. The issues we deal with are anything from the current caterpillar invasion in one of the counties to the training programmes for government officials. My boss is a very nice man who has been here since 2004 so he knows the mission inside and out. My other colleagues have also been very helpful and knowledgeable. I have a beautiful view of the ocean from my office.

I will try to update this regularly, so stay tuned. Many thanks to everyone for all your support, I love hearing from you via FB and email :)