Water is one of the most wasted resources in the world as a whole. Liberia has six major rivers, two lakes, and a heavy rainfall running from April to October each year.  Yet, people all over the country struggle to find clean drinking water.

A recent study put out by Afrobarometer, a non-partisan research institute measuring social indicators across Africa, reveals that across the country, only 50 per cent of people report that they never have enough water.  Equally worrisome is Afrobarometer’s report that only 8 per cent always have enough. For a country so abundant in water, that so many people reporting that they lack the right to clean water should be of grave concern.

Water, this gift of God, is very important to all human around the world, with many governments and non governmental organizations spending millions of dollars annually to provide safe drinking water. Some of these funds are said to be spent in Africa – with Liberia being no exception – to provide safe drinking water for people who cannot find it.

Lack of safe drinking water in some places causes illnesses, that sometimes leads to death among poor people who can not access clean water, even though it is in abundant in Liberia.

The lack of safe drinking water is not only a problem in the hinterland of Liberia, but it is also a problem that needs to be address in the nation’s capital, Monrovia and its suburbs. The gravity of this problem is real:  steps needs to be taken to address the situation.

This is exactly the issue in Flahn Town,  along Somalia Drive, where over five thousand people probably are affected every day in Liberia by lack of access to safe water. Like many places elsewhere in Liberia, most have limited knowledge of prevention of illness, and there does not seem to be a possible solution to the problem.

The people of Flahn Town lack safe drinking water. Community members buy up 25 gallons of water a day from water sellers in the community – a strain on the low amounts of money in the community.

Water buying is not the only problem in the community; residents developed methods just to have safe drinking water to keep up their family.

“We wash the beach sand and placed it into a rice bag, hang it on a stick,” Jestina Kromah a resident of the community explained. “We then fetch the dirty water from the open well and dump it into the bag of sand for about 10-15 minutes to have it filtered.”

“We do this every day of the week, without this process, we can not have clean water to wash, take bath and cook our foods, our children sometimes drink the water only because they can not fine a saver one,”

Kromah said that her family spends a combined 6 – 7 hours collecting the water that they need for their daily living.

She added that to access water for drinking, they send their children access the street 15-20 minutes walk away from the community. Our children are being risked and no one in the country cares to address this issue, Jestina continues.

“The problem of water in this community is a very big, the water from the wells around here is not clean, it is not good for human consumption,” explained Lucky Adogbo, standing in the doorway of the small store he runs. “We filter the dirty water and use it to wash, take bath and cook. We purchase drinking water from water sellers on a daily basis. Water from hand pump is also the same as the wells, no one has come to test the water to find a solution.”

“We have the right to clean water, since our right can not be given, we just have to accept what is being given,” he added.

Entering deeper into Flahn Town, the hanging bags of sand kept appearing in nearly every yard and the people kept expressing the same problem about water: they complained of running stomach and itches whenever they the drink or use the water for shower.

“We put water in the bag to filter it, because it is very dirty, we use it to take bath and wash clothes. The water sometime itch my skin and cause running stomach in this community,” Beatrice Togba, an elderly woman explained.

What makes matter worse for the people of Flahn Town, the newly constructed hand pump can not even be use for drinking. The water is brown and appeared rusty, but it is sometime consumed by little children only due to the lack of a clean and a safe water, and a lack of education about water purity.

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The interesting part of this investigation came minutes after the interview with Beatrice Togba, when two men came in with a giant size wheel barrel full with gallons of water for sale. They explained exactly why they were during such business in Flahn Town.

“We are water seller; we do this every day to support our families, said Ballah Gayflor of the work done by he and his business partner. I bring in 42 of these five-gallon containers into this community and we do this two to three times daily for almost a year plus now.”

We get this water from the Liberia Water Sewage line around the Jamaica Road Bridge and roll it to this community in wheel barrel for about 45 minutes to an hour. Each gallon is sold for ten dollars and everyone buys from us,” Gayflor, noted, adding that he can earn up to one thousand dollars every day.

The presence of outsides in Flahn Town attracted lot of attention with many people asking questions whether we were from some NGO  that is going build hand pump in the area; we told them they we are journalists.

Kids on their way home from school stop to tell us what they knew about water problem in the community.

‘Water business is very hard in this community; the water is dirty and can   run our stomach when we drink it. Our parents told us not to drink the water from the hand pump but when no water we can drink it.’

Madam Victory Jlopleh is the Chairlady for the women in Flahn Town and lives next to the only hand pump in the town, she had these words to say.

“Since 1991 we came in this community there has been serious problems of water here. We walk long distances in search for clean drinking water; we go across the water to Darque Town to get clean water and we have being doing this for a long period of time. The people build us a hand pump but the water is brown, sometime we boiled it before we use it. We are calling on the government to come to our aid,” she pleaded

‘Under pillar IV of the government Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), the government intends to increase access to safe drinking water (from 25 to 50 percent by 2011 including 45 percent of the rural people population and ensure the sustainability of 90 percent of water and sanitation facilities in the country.)

As reflected in the PRS, clean and safe water is a resource that needs to be accessible to everyone.  Looking at the situation in Flahn Town brings into question whether or not this right is being addressed for Liberians.

It is a sunny day in West Point, one of the many slum communities in central Monrovia. This community is not only noted for crimes and violent acts by some former ex-combattants who have now turned into drug addicts, but is also noted for it’s filthiness. Many residents here are living in a deplorable state, something they say will create a health disaster if urgent measures are not taken to combat the growing wave of illness and disease in the area.

The Star of the Sea medical clinic is the only referal health center in West Point. A woman only identified as Mrs Bryant is one of the chief medical officers at this clinic. She says that the cases most commonly reported are malaria and diarrhea, which are caused by mosquitoe bites and contaminated drinking water.

“The huge pile of garbage and the pollution of the air as a result of some detroyed latrines are the major factors contributing to the increase.”

Mrs Bryant also noted that access to clean drinking water, which is important for every living being, is one of the problems facing the residents here. As a result of lack of safe drinking water, both children and adults are constantly diagnosed with diarrhea.

“Some of these illnesses are sometimes referred to bigger hospitals because of the lack of proper drugs to treat patients here,” she explained.

Mamie Gbarto is a patient at the clinic, who recently gave birth prematurely. She has been here for nearly three days. She says the health conditions in West Point are deplorable, and she is calling on government and humanitarian organizations to come to their aid.

David Mulbah works at a nearby drug store.

“Since the inception of the government of President Johnson-Sirleaf,” he says, “no concrete steps have been taken to address the many health issues confronting this community.”

Mulbah believes that the health conditions in the area will not improve if Government continues to abandon the plight of the people.

Most of the housing facilities in West Point are make-shift – something the residents say is further contributing to the health disaster looming over the community.

“My daughter is always sick because our house is leaking very badly,” says Monica Lee, a marketeer. She says mosquitoes, cockroaches, and flies have infested the area, spreading germs which contribute to high fevers in residents.

“The unfortunate thing is children are always the victims.”

Photo credit: David Vaucher (http://www.panoramio.com/user/166000?with_photo_id=3869193)

As Global Economic Meltdown Continues

“For two months I have not been receiving money from my mother and sister in the States. Every month they used to send something whenever I called them; but this time no way,” 54-year-old Nathaniel Vaker, told The Journal at a commercial bank in Monrovia recently. He is one example of a direct victim of the global economic meltdown.

Nathaniel, a student of the teacher college at the University of Liberia, is part of a household of 11 family members, excluding extended relatives, who prior to the acute drop in remittances from abroad, used to benefit from overseas’ support. Since his sister became one of the many who recently lost jobs in the US, however, Nathaniel, like many other Liberians, has been directly – and negatively – impacted by the worldwide economic backwardness.

There is no more telling scenario that the 54-year-old teacher college student could highlight than when he took sick and only had L$300 to afford medication. He had to pay L$150 for lab test and other fees, and because the balance L$150 could not buy him the required drugs, he was compelled to credit from friends to meet his health needs at the time.

At the same token, banking institutions in Liberia, with whom customers both within the country and abroad transact businesses, are experiencing a drop in remittances – personal transfers of money from abroad, sent through businesses such as Western Union. This equally affects the banks’ operations as commercial financial entities longing to maximize profits.

In an exclusive July 23 interview with the Comptroller of Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI), John B. S. Davies, at his Ashmun Street office, the seasoned accountant confirmed that there is a drop in remittances coming into the country as a result of the global recession.

Though he could not give the exact percentage of the drop, the Comptroller said financial institutions also feel the impact, because once their clients are affected there is a trigger down effect on the commercial banks.

Mr. Davies attributed the global financial crisis to what he called “bad business practices accumulated over the years”. He said when the financial crisis first hit the world, it immediately affected developed countries because they have giant industries that manufacture raw materials into finished products shifted back on the world market.

According to him, it is now that the second wave of the economic marauding has begun to affect poor countries, including those in Africa, because, unlike the countries manufacturing finished products, developing countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda, among others, depend their revenue generation on the resources exported abroad by investors. 

Photo credit: Nikki Whaites

Sellers and residents in the Mamba Point community have been forced to vacate the area, leaving many without homes or places to sell their wares. Yellow spray-paint bearing the Ministry of Public Work’s acronym, MPW, pointed out areas still needed to be either moved or torn down, though many had already been forced to leave the area.

The few still selling in the area spoke of the difficulties the evictions created. They noted surprise at the exercise and claimed the notice before the eviction was too short. Some of those not evicted in the area were told to cut the parts of their buildings that entered onto the street, without any compensation for their losses.

One resident, who wished to remain nameless, appreciated the president’s effort to develop the area but described the exercise as unfair since it only applied to local residents on one side of the road. “She is trying but the other people in the fence, the white people opposite our place are also on the main road but they didn’t even mark that place to remove them too. I don’t know why the government is giving we the poor people hard time. At least they should mark both sides since they are also on the road” the resident remarked.

However, craft vendors opposite the Mamba Point Hotel are being provided a new structure to sell African wares to tourists. Ibrahim Sherif, one of these vendors, repeatedly thanked the president for providing these new booths, expected to be completed by next week.

Just up from Mamba Point and Cape Hotel, another group of street vendors could not hide the expressions of frustration on their faces. These are vendors who claim they have been living and selling in that area for the past 15 to 20 years, but now must leave immediately. One of the women, Madam Marie Quails, is the single parent of three children and she sells to feed and keep them in school, and could not hold back her frustrated feelings as she narrated the difficulties she and her children are going through. She stated that now, after the eviction, and with no compensation, she has nowhere to go, and is sleeping on the street with her children.

Another such victim, Madam Mary Cooper, who once lived in the same building as Madam Quails, explained that about fifty people resided in the now demolished structure. When asked why they were not compensated she told the Daily Observer that Cape Hotel had supposedly provided money to be given to them, but they had not received the money. “They gave the money to MCC to give it to us and they take the money and ate without giving us one cent and break our houses down, how will manage, how will our children go to school?” she questioned.

According to her the land on which there were about eight houses (the demolished structures are directly opposite the Cape hotel) has been bought by the hotel. She further alleged that the hotel gave Monrovia City Cooperation some amount of money to be distributed among them before evicting them but they didn’t receive any money from anyone. One other vendor (name withheld) however said she did received USD $ 100 from the MCC. No one from the hotel responded to requests to comment on the story.

The vendors further stated that the demolishing of the house was done three days earlier than originally told. The women at Mamba Point described the MPW and the MCC actions as cruel and emphatically stressed that they and their children will continue to sleep on the streets until something is done to help their situation. They say they will remain there until the Women’s Colloquium begins in March so that female leaders will see how women are being treated in the country. “We’re feeling bad, president self do this thing to us what kind of feeling will we get for our own country,” Madam Quails remarked.

Photo Credit: Carissa MacLennan

At the corner of every major street in Monrovia you find blind Liberian citizens who must beg for money every day before meeting their daily needs despite all the organizations that are supposedly here to look after their needs.

Charles Russell, who has to be led by his eleven year old son, Obediah Russell two times every week in the streets, says he has no support and has to beg for money to look after his family.

“I have three children, I was born blind. I have high school education but have no job and I want to use my hands to work but can’t find some.”

“Obediah is my future, I feel for him when I bring him in the sun but if we don’t do it my sister, how will we survive?” he asked.

“We have been to the National commission on Disability. They told us to take them our action plan and we did. But [we] have not heard anything about it since we took it to them. If only government can come and say, ‘you disabled come and work in our offices’; even as sweepers it will be alright, but they are not doing it.

Come to our aid to help us help in the rebuilding process of our country. What the able people can do other blind people can also do it,” he pleaded with government.

“I have been blind for twenty-five years and have been to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital and the Mercy Ship where I was declare blind forever,” says Tarnue Korta, the father of little Amos Korta who walks miles under the burning sun to ensure that he and his father get enough money to feed their family everyday.

“I have six living children,” Tarnue says. “Amos is the oldest and he is ten years old and is in k-2. I don’t like bringing him in the street but I have to support them.”
He says he has never been to the Commission on Disabilities for help and is not getting assistance from the Christian Association of the Blind (CAB). Though he was offered schooling, he refused and claimed that only the big people in these group are getting the money.

“I don’t know how to read the Braille but I would like to learn,” he expressed.

Because of the civil conflict, a 1977 blind graduate of the Booker Washington Institute (BWI) who did secretariat science, Daniel Logan is now singing for his living at the corner of Carey and Warren Streets.

“The lack of sponsorship has turned me into the person I am today. I can read the Braille and type very well but I’m unable to find a job because we the disable are not earnest with each other. Beyan Kota [president of CAB] is pocketing the money for himself while the blind go on to suffer. Government provides US$500.000 for us every year but we don’t know where the money is going.”

“But the poor people can share with us and even other organizations,” he added. “We can’t stay home; if we stay home how will we survive?”

Daniel is appealing to government to build more institutions for the blind and organize training programs so they can make positive contributions to society.

But blind Olivia Cole a mother of three children, who got blind during the 92’ Octopus civil conflict and is a high school drop out, sings with Daniel on the same corner to support she and her three children.

Though all the blind beggars interview by this paper said they make between LD$200 to 500.00 ($ US 3–8) every day, they still have problems that need to be taken care of and want their children to be able to use education to progress.

The CAB’s Beyan Kota points out that many of the blind on the streets prefer the easy handout money to the working to learn a trade. “They are lazy and not disciplined enough to sit and do an honest day’s work. They are taking advantage of the sympathy of the Liberian society in order to get their daily bread,” he says of those begging.

Similarly, the Association for Disable Female International (ADFI) in Slipway community has expressed their disappointment over the attitudes of some of their colleagues for not wanting to do something for themselves. ADFI hopes that government will one day pass a law that will prohibit people from begging in the streets.

According to spokespeople for the ADFI, occasionally when they approach the physically challenged women to invite them to their offices to learn skills and trades, the women request to be paid or refuse blatantly because they are getting enough money from the streets to feed their children. However, they are also training 150 women with various disabilities to produce clothing, beads and other goods that they can sell to earn money instead of having to beg for it.

They believe that all disabled people – including the blind – have every right and ability to participate in society, provided they are given the proper training.

No matter what time of year, Monrovians are faced with difficult traffic conditions. Even though the capital is a relatively small city in size, commuters are often stuck behind long lines of cars – especially on the major streets. And this month, the condition is getting even worse.

“When Christmas is happening, the time is always tense,” says Simon, who works for the Federation of Road Transport Union of Liberia (FRTUL). Starting as early as late November, hundreds of Liberians from the rural areas travel to Monrovia in order to get their Christmas wares. As a result, the city’s population increases – as does its traffic troubles.

Benetta Karneh (far right), lives in the Monrovia suburb of New Georgia. Like many residents of this area, Benetta relies on public transport to reach downtown Monrovia. Some days, she says she waits up to an hour just to secure a place in one of the minibuses.

In response to such long waits, the government recently acquired ten large city buses, each with 31 seats. Although overcrowding remains an issue, it is hoped that these buses will ease some of the strain on the city’s main transportation routes – particularly now with Christmas fast approaching.

The fever of the season is particularly felt in commercial areas such as Waterside. Clothes and electronics from China and the UAE, cosmetics from the US, sportswear from Europe – the streets overflow with imported gift items. Roads which are normally open for vehicles are now almost impassable, even on foot.

But that doesn’t mean business is necessarily any easier. As street vendor Aggray Gbosen tells Renaissance reporter Sahata Sambulleh, major competition between vendors selling Christmas decorations, combined with daily tax levies and transportation difficulties puts a lot of pressure on the individual sellers. As do the city police.

Even so, some things seem to remain uncontrollable. Taking advantage of the holiday demand, money changers in Monrovia have stated that exchange rates for ‘Liberty’ (Liberian Dollars) typically drop during the final weeks of Christmas shopping by as much as 5 Liberian to the US dollar – sliding from the regular high of 62 or 63 Liberty to the dollar, down to 58. It is a difference which greatly affects December shopping costs, and one which adds a whole new meaning to the Liberian-termed ‘Gold Month’.

With the early December breakout of more than 100 inmates from Monrovia’s Central Prison, fears of a spike in crime – particularly cases of armed robbery – have prompted local police to take an even firmer stance during this busy season.

Photo Credits (from top to bottom):

Long Traffic Line [Credit: Arwen Kidd]
Minibus Money Hand-over: [Credit: Jerome Carngbe]
Woman in Bus Line [Credit: Arwen Kidd]
Gov’t Bus [Credit: Arwen Kidd]
Waterside imported Christmas goods [Credit: Arwen Kidd]
Christmas Trees [Credit: Jerome Carngbe]
Police Stop [Credit: Jerome Carngbe]
Liberian Dollars [Credit: Arwen Kidd]