Random photos - Waterside

Some more photos, this time of Waterside. There's a big market there, Waterside Market, selling food, clothes and anything else you're looking for. It's bussling, in the shops along Water Street and along the stalls that line the path that meanders out from the city. We visited on a quieter day. Here's a picture of one of the food halls:

A view of Waterside from the bridge.

And a picture of a woman crossing the bridge at dusk. I always marvel at how people can carry so much on their heads, sometimes walking, sometimes jogging; the balance they must have!

Bollywood Round 2

Another Bollywood film, this time Dharam Veer. We thought it might be from the 80s, but it's from the 70s. As one of the reviews says, "its the special effects and poorly edited action sequences that make the film look a bit dated"...Special effects that include horses leaping down from castles to the ground below; fight sequences with tigers; lots of jumping onto horses (ouch); hands getting chopped off; re-used clips of belly-flops from ships into the sea; falcons carrying babies and a plethora of other awesome clips. There were midgets and gypsies and princes and princesses and did I mention the falcon? The same review says, "Various parallel well knit side tracks enhance the pace of the film"...hmm...but certainly did not speed the pace of the film! Three hours was a long time to spend on the broken seats. But it was enjoyable; it was crazy.

World Malaria Day

Saturday was World Malaria Day. I saw this poster at the gas station in town; the only advertising I'd seen of the day. Malaria is still a major risk and disease in about half the world, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Almost a million people die from malaria each year, and in Africa one in five childhood deaths is due to the effects of malaria. For more, here's a link to the Global Malaria Action Plan site.

Bus rides

I went on the bus the other day, for the second time. It was kind of funny, which is seeming to be the norm. The first time, I was waiting for a taxi, and it came and stopped right in front of me, so I got on. It wasn't full; people swarmed the door to get on. We were on Broad Street, probably the busiest street in downtown Monrovia, and the bus was holding up traffic stopped as it was. No bus lanes here, much less designated stops. Horns went off. So, even though there was a queue (albeit haphazard) and people still boarding (myself included), the bus started moving. I jumped on as the bus inched along. A ticket from the driver, 15LD to the cashier in the front seat, and I walked towards the back.

The second time it was fuller when I got on. We packed in there quite well, with people sitting on the back steps (which seemed fine as the back doors rarely opened). It was stuffy and hot, with only the breeze through the window as respite. I seem to be quite a novelty on the bus, with people inside and outside pointing me out. And referring to me in the third person, though I’d be standing right next to them. The lady beside me, when I reacted to people talking about me, said, "She smile", "She laugh".

It’s always a bit of an adventure. Michelle said that when she went on the bus one day a man came on and started preaching. She was told he fought during the war but was now a preacher. We think it was General Butt Naked.

The bells don’t seem to work. I wondered how I would get off the bus; I couldn't remember where the bus stops were. I soon realized that requesting a stop involved yelling out where you wanted to get off, and having your request relayed to the driver by others echoing your request up to the front of the bus. I did manage to get home, both times.

Debt and vulture funds

You might have heard in the news recently that Liberia bought back $1.2 billion worth of debt from commercial creditors (including 'vulture funds'). Amazing, as this was arranged at about 3 cents on the dollar - a huge negotiated discount (the largest ever on developing country commercial debt apparently). With the negotiated buy back, they paid the debt thanks to some money from World Bank and several countries. Here's a synopsis.

Along with this commercial debt, there's the multilateral and bilateral debts, and domestic debt. Liberia's debt burden was and is still pretty onerous. I've been looking at the debt numbers lately; even after debts written off through HIPC decision point and other negotiations, Liberia's external debt stood at about $3 billion just a few weeks ago. That's over 3 1/2 times GDP! (As GDP is currently measured - it may be somewhat understated, but the debt burden is still pretty big. Compare this to the recent eyebrow-raising news about UK increasing its borrowing to about 80 per cent of GDP.) With this commercial debt buy back, and with the achievement of HIPC completion point (expected next year), most of Liberia's external debt will be erased. And then it can get back to a sustainable debt position and start thinking about borrowing again. (For now, it is faced with a zero-borrowing constraint; even within year to smooth cash flow and even from the Central Bank.)

In other news, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, I heard, made an appearance on The Daily Show. She also has a new book out, which I'm guessing she's promoting?

Rain, Rain, Rain

The Rainy Season is here.

All of a sudden it got very dark outside. It's the middle of the afternoon. I looked out the window and saw the dark clouds. And then it started pouring....and it's still going! I could see the people below hurriedly run for cover. A cloud has descended upon the city, with sheets of rain coming down, streams pouring from the roof of my building. My building with a view of the city from the 10th floor. I wish I had my camera to show you. But I imagine there'll be more days like this to come...

Dumboy

More food!

Here's a picture of me with some dumboy and soup. Dumboy is made from cassava that they pound into this doughy mound. And the soup...the soup is a collection of various meats, bitter balls, pepper and other seasonings.

Random photos - ads

Here's a random collection of pictures of posters around town and surrounds. Like in a lot of developing countries, you see a lot of hand-painted ads. Some of them can be a little scary - like this one of the baby for a baby food ad:

Some are illustrative like this one for gin:








Some are just fun:

Robertsport Take 2

We finally made it to Robertsport, and it was worth the wait! Robertsport, named after the first president J.J. Roberts, is in Grand Cape Mount County, along the coast towards the Sierra Leonian border.

This time around, it was a much faster, easier and altogether more successful trip! And the beaches were gorgeous. We stayed in some great tents at Nana’s Lodge, right on the beach. There’s also supposed to be great surfing here, featured in the Sliding Liberia film. Instead, we sat on the beach, and tanned.

Ducor Revisited

Monrovia has had an influx of Chinese Canadians lately. Michelle came to join me in Liberia for a couple of weeks! We visited the Ducor Hotel again; this time I had my digital camera. Here are some pics.




















We also visited the Masonic Temple. It's large and imposing, at the top of Benson Street. Many of the former presidents were Freemasons, I believe. It's still standing though a bit run down; we didn't go inside.

Chinese in Liberia

According to a BBC program I caught a few minutes of, there are about 3/4 million Chinese in Africa. Not sure where the majority of them are, but there are quite a few in Liberia, working on various construction projects, and operating some Chinese and Korean/Japanese restaurants (the "Japanese Steak House" is actually Korean food, run by Chinese people!). In fact, the Chinese are so prevalent here people automatically yell, "Chinese woman", when I walk by. I'm not sure what prize they expect in response, but it's one of the few places where I don't get "Japan?" or "Konichiwa" first. And surprises of surprises even some Caucasians get called Chinese here! That's how prevalent they are.

There's quite a bit of Chinese investment, and a few of the public works projects have been done by Chinese companies. And there's Chinese radio, where they play country music on Sundays and give Chinese lessons!

Surfs up

I don't think I was destined to be a surfer.

I had heard there were great waves in Liberia. There's even a movie about surfing here. Quite a few people have picked it up since coming here, buying boards and going out every weekend. You're so close to the ocean you can wake up early and surf before you go to work.

I'd tried it once before, in Australia. Long ago. I remember it as being fun; I even managed to stand up! But not this time. I went for the first time here a couple of weeks ago. Borrowed a board from a friend and we headed out near Kendeja, a brand new 5-star hotel built by Bob Johnson (of BET fame) early one morning. I basically sputtered around the water, occasionally body surfing but mostly just exhausting myself. And I started feeling sick (a la typhoid) shortly thereafter. Probably just coincidence. Unfortunately, my innate surfing abilities did not reveal themselves. Sigh. Time to cross professional surfer off my list of potential careers.

Civil service pay...

Thought this might be of interest for those civil servants out there. The minimum civil service salary here is $70/month. If you're lucky enough to get a civil service job - formal sector unemployment is about 85%. There are about 15 different civil service 'bands' (or grades or ranges). Civil service salaries declined in the 80s and significantly during the conflict in the late 1990s. As GDP plummeted 90%, civil service salaries also fell by similar amount.

But this isn't the only form of pay. Salaries are paid in Liberian dollars, but there are also allowances, which are paid in US dollars. Allowances are pretty significant, and can be even more than the base salary. Nevertheless, civil servant salaries are low. But the Budget is pretty small too. The wage bill to revenues is about 45%. The cost of living is quite high here; a bag of rice is about $25, leaving little for much else. I'm not sure what the World Bank poverty line of $2/day (or $1/day extreme poverty) would translate to in PPP terms here today, but $70/month is pretty much there...

Bollywood in Monrovia

There's a cinema in Monrovia. Actually, I think there's two, but I'm not sure if the 'Relda' is open. The Rivoli is though, and it's across the street from work. It's a dilapidated building; the stairs are crumbling, as is the facade. The sign out front says 'Rivoli' in big red letters. I had wondered if it was a cinema.

It is indeed a cinema, and it plays Bollywood movies! We went to see a movie the other day: 'Goal', a Bollywood movie set in London, and about...you guessed it, football/soccer! So I got my fix of movies, Bollywood and London in one go. The theatre's quite big, with orchestra and balcony seating. It hints at what Monrovia might have been like long ago. While the seats are mostly still in place, some are replaced with white plastic chairs. Little kittens roam the stage by the screen.

It was a Monday night, so not a big movie night. Movies are only 40 Liberian Dollars (about 60 cents). There must have been only about 20-30 people in the theatre, but audience participation was definitely in. They got right into the movie; talking back to the screen, cheering, berating, yelling. It was all I expected of a Bollywood flick. There was the requisite song and dance scene, the 3 hour slow-moving plot, and luckily English subtitles. It was definitely an experience. I had fun! I might just go again.