The prolonged civil war in Liberia over the years has disrupted the process for a generation of youth, and caused a low net enrollment of students in Liberian school.

Since the launch of UNICEF, back to school programs some years back and the pronouncement of free and compulsory education by the UP government, there has been some level of improvement in the enrollment process.

The MDGs report 2008 has enshrined that the gross enrolment of primary education stands at 86.3 % for the year 2007 which is much encouraging as compare to 200 to 2002 school year raging to 56.2%. Nevertheless, the report also indicates that there has been considerable improvement in the enrolment process since the launch of free and compulsory education.

The free and compulsory education however has its own side effect which needs to be concentrated upon by the government: too many children in the classrooms. The over-crowdedness of public schools and even the University of Liberia  are all drowning in the sea of denseness.

“The over-crowdedness of public schools is an age-old phenomena and the inheritance of the Madame Sirleaf’s Government,” Mr. Abraham Nyounway, Secretary General of the Teachers’ Association of Monrovia consolidated School System and registrar of Newport Jr. High School revealed.

Despite the compactness of schools, many students are seen every day roaming the streets selling for their parents as bread winners, while some said that they are selling to complete the payment of their school fees before returning to school.

However, Mr. Nyounway blamed the denseness on the unavailability of structures to contain the number of students.

To date, students opting to attend private schools can be turned down by many public schools due to space problem. This causes some parents to have to choose to send their kids to private school – which is too exorbitant – or leave them alone without school. This is also contributing to the roaming of school aged children on the streets.

Some years ago, some 64 countries converged to Dakar, Senegal in an effort to improve learning standards in their respective countries. At the conference, a specific target was reached in a consensus that each country’s representative should encourage a free and compulsory education back home; that by 2015 every citizen in that country must at least complete primary school. This same target has been set by the MDG 2008 report, “ensuring that by 2015 children everywhere boys and girls alike, will be able  to  complete a full course of primary education.”

Even so, the 2008 MDGs report indicates that Liberia is far from achieving the goal of providing the level of school enrolment agreed on: this is not an encouraging sign. According to the report the level of enrolment to meet the target is actually deteriorating. “Based on current trends, the net primary enrolment ratio will be approximately 40% by 2015. Hence, it is likely that Liberia will achieve the MDGs of 100% net primary enrolment by 2015. Similarly, while the gross enrolment rate is impressive, it must be placed in the proper context,”  MDG’s report states.

The realities of these statistics are being felt by the people of Liberia.

“I hardly find food for my children to eat; sending them to school is a problem. I can’t even get money to give them for recess so it is better for them to be with me and help me sell to met our daily supply of food,” Rebecca Garley, Chicken Soup Factory.

Many parents and teachers agreed that school feeding would be necessary to encourage some poor parents to enroll their kids to school where they will not bother them enough for breakfast.

The executive Director of LETCOM, an educational advocacy organization that was organized following the end of the Dakar conference to make education a priority or a human right issue said the monitoring, evaluation and compulsory aspect of educational performance to promote and sustain the quality of educational system is very poor.

Photography by Myles Estey.

With a little less than two years before the conduct of a general and presidential election, voters have begun boycotting the polls – a situation that sends out wide signals and has sparked debates in all sectors of society.

Why is it so, what were the expectation of the voters? Have they lost confidence in their leaders due to apathy? These are some of the questions posed to voters at several polling places around the city on Election Day.

Empty polling station

At the Joseph B. Tate Jr. Memorial Institute in Congo Town, polling started on time but the first voter did not cast their ballot until thirty minutes later. The center was very quiet and there were little sign of voters.

Similar situations were observed at the Seventh Day Adventist High School at the ELWA Junction and the Paynesville Community Jr. High School in Paynesville Joebar Community, up to the Paynesville Central Academy High School along the Somalia Drive.

Even though a holiday was pronounced by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to afford eligible voters to exercise their franchise, many did not turn out to vote.  People were instead seen at entertainment centers and others market places around the city, while many were busy at vaccination centers to be immunized against the Yellow Fever disease.

Yellow Fever vaccinations

At the Paynesville City Hall, which played host to seven polling centers, many were seen queuing-up for the Vaccine, leaving the voting precinct absolutely empty. Satta Siafa, is one of those administering the vaccine. “The Vaccination process is very fast. Many people are polling in to be vaccinated, as you can see, the queue is very long and we are expected to serve up to five hundred person just today.”

Beatrice Cooper, a health worker who seems very hard working, said she is doing everything possible to reduce the long queue of people who have turn out for the vaccine. “I don’t want to talk, as you can see, the people are very plenty and I am working to reduce the load on me. They are really turning out for the vaccine. I don’t know if they are doing the same at the voting centers, but I am hopeful that I will serve up to 450 persons before the day ends.”

Some of those at Vaccination centers around the city expressed more interest for the vaccine, and said they ‘care about their health and not politics.’ “The Politicians have failed us, why should we vote someone who has no interest in the country?,” asked Justine Doe, a resident of Barnesville Estate.

At the E. Jonathan Goodrich High School in Barnesville Estate and other voting centers covered, polling staff and election observers expressed satisfaction over the conduct of the election, describing it as peaceful. However, many expressed frustration over the low turnout.

Political analysts believed the inability of those elected to political office’s failure to deliver on the promises made to voters contributed to the poor turnout, while other believed the lack of sensitization led to the poor turnout.

What ever the case may be, election is a constitutional right of every citizen of the nation, and it is also the responsibilities of those elected to public offices, to work in the best interest of their electorates.  With this poor turnout, many are of the belief that the 2011 general and presidential election will turn a new page in Liberia, a nation coming out of 14 years of civil conflict.

For now, the National Election Commission (NEC) has received   praises from many sectors of the country including political leaders, voters, as well as civil society grouping for the successful conduct of the By-Election Run-off on November 24, 2009.

The NEC, which was criticized in the first round by-election, realized it mistakes, and put its house in order. A few weeks before the election, the NEC conducted civic and voter’s education trainings, coupled with a rehearsal workshop for polling staff.

These efforts will surely need to be accelerated to ensure a robust turnout for the 2011 elections.

Photography by Myles Estey.

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.

With recent calls from the Government of Liberia occupants in the new Health Ministry in Congo Town to vacate, occupants say they would appreciate assistance before they must leave.

“They said we should leave, but they didn’t have [anything] to give to us,” explained George Bull, a resident for nine years who moved out earlier this month after they were visited by government officials. “But,” he continued, “we are appealing to [government] that they should be able to help us with little tokens to help us establish ourselves.”

Residents said help with money or other assistance to relocate would be greatly appreciated.

Some occupants said people have been in the building almost ten years and have been told on numerous occasions government officials have told them that they have to leave the building.

Atlanta Kettor, the spokesperson for the occupants, explained that they realize that they do not have a right to be in the unfinished building, but live there because poverty left them without other options. They are currently appealing to the government to help them reestablish their lives.

Kettor explained that the Liberian Civil War brought most of the people to live in the unfinished ministry. He added that since the war ended, many politicians, including then presidential hopeful, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, have come and given promises of support and assistance.

“This is my home, since the war we have been waiting to get reestablished, but how can we? We have been waiting for a genuine government to help and enable us to resettle. Many candidates came during elections but since then, nothing,” said Mr. Kettor.

Kettor stated that they are all awaiting for President Johnson-Sirleaf “not [to] do all,” but to help start the residents off in a new location.

Mr. Kettor said that presently, some six hundred people live in the abandoned building. They are aware that they do not have a legal right to live at ‘The Titanic,’ are willing to relocate, even if the government is not in the position to give them anything.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the National Commission for Demobilization, Disarmament, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration (NCDDRR), Reverend Jarvis Witherspoon said he has been selected by the Vice President of Liberia to negotiate for the relocation of occupants of the unfinished Ministry of Health.

Rev. Witherspoon said the occupants would have two months more to vacate the building because the Chinese Embassy in Liberia is making plans to complete construction.

He said that the removal of the occupants would be a smooth transition.

Exactly how the government would relocate the occupants has not yet been decided by Witherspoon or other relevant members of government. However, Witherspoon gave surety that they would not be forced out without some form of assistance, because government is aware that the occupants have nowhere to go.

Rev. Witherspoon then called on the occupants to cooperate with the government to conclude everything in one month time, to enable the Chinese experts to complete the building.