Talking Drum with Daniel

2012-02-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com www.onliberia.org

I found Daniel a black and white photo of you as a 15th year old
and I must get this online...share your news with your Friends ... soon.

2012-02-04T18:52:00.000-07:00

Part 2 Artworks Artifacts
american mom

nancy@friendsofdaniel.orgwww.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.comwww.onliberia.org

2012-02-04T16:48:00.000-07:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.orgwww.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.comwww.onliberia.org

2012-02-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

Friends of Daniel.

1_Find earliest photo I have of Daniel as a Lofa County student.
2_Recent contacts with Anna Bombo, aslo former student,
now of Zorzor.
3_See Blog2Print for $14.95 each book. Create book from blog.

wage peace.
american mom

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com www.onliberia.org

2012-02-03T21:34:00.000-07:00

From the Guardian UK article
2.3.2012
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's Health & Sanitation

For the worst country in the world, Liberia looks lush. All along the long road to Fish Town, the sumptuous rainforest on either side is a comfort, a green bath to soothe the dreadful red dust that is constant and the potholes that cause nose-bleeds, head-bumps and nausea even in this well-cushioned Toyota Land Cruiser belonging to WaterAid. We are scrunched into this car for days, because that's how long it takes to get to Fish Town, only a few hours from Liberia's capital Monrovia if you're a crow, but 36 hours otherwise, because the country has only one decent main road.
To get there, we must loop north, brushing the border with Guinea, before swooping back down to a town that isn't much of a town, the joke goes, and doesn't have much fish. But it's busy these days because NGO 4x4s such as ours are zooming through on their way to help refugees escaping from Ivory Coast, the latest poor sods in this region to be kicked out of their country by war.
We, though, are not zooming towards refugees but towards something far less newsworthy. It is my sixth visit to Liberia. The first was in 2004, six months into the country's first peace in 20 years. Liberia had suffered years of stunningly brutal civil wars, orchestrated largely by Charles Taylor, now on trial in the Hague for war crimes (a man who once sued a journalist for saying he had eaten a human heart, and lost); and by other warlords with names such as General Butt Naked, General Peanut Butter and Devil. And this war's stories were more horrific than most: mass rape; boy soldiers kept going by drugs, looting and raping; parents killed by their own boys; checkpoints made from intestines. Imagine the worst and, if you looked, you'd find it here doubled.
By 2003, when the Economist called Liberia the worst country in the world, it was wrecked. Yet it hadn't always been that way. Founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century, Liberia had had good times. Its ex-slave colonists built graceful mansions, installed themselves as rulers over local tribes and instituted a Liberian English that still has the infectious drawl of the American South. They named their capital after US president James Monroe; they called their currency the dollar; they let the US use them as a listening station in the second world war. Liberians – flying a US-lite flag of stripes and one star – thought they lived in the 51st state, or "Bitty America". But it was a one-way relationship: during battles so terrible that they were called world wars I, II and III, a US warship holding 2,000 marines anchored itself on the horizon and did nothing to help. Only when rebels attacked Monrovia was Taylor persuaded to leave and a UN force brought in.
The receding war left ugly tides. At least 70% of women raped. Nearly the entire population refugees of one sort or another. A huge brain drain. No functioning electricity grid. A decimated healthcare system. And, thanks to the plundering Taylor, a national debt of $4.9bn. In 2004, when I first visited, all Liberia seemed to have was 9,000 UN peacekeepers and some cautious hope.
But the world's worst country has been busy. In 2006, it elected Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to be its president. A Harvard-trained former World Bank economist, Sirleaf is Africa's first female head of state, Ma Ellen to three million or so Liberians and a president with a dizzying to-do list. Eighty-five per cent of Liberians have less than a dollar a day to spend. A dollar goes further in Liberia, but not that far, when rice costs $45 a bag. You can always find a decent Club Beer in Monrovia, but you won't find a post office, electricity grid, sewage treatment, taxes or decent road system. One suburb of the capital is called Red Light, because it used to have a traffic light. It doesn't any more.
How do you fix a ruined country? Start with the money. If you can, get that $4.9bn of debt forgiven. Increase the national budget from $80m a year to $360m. Then figure out how to earn more. Open for business and sell everything you can: oil, gas and mineral rights; timber concessions. Open your ports and improve your roads for all the mining and logging equipment to trundle down. Talk about developing tourism. Invite the Chinese, so that after hours on a road to the remotest part of the country, you'll find young Chinese lads taking a break from building bridges to take each other's photograph, as well as new universities and hospitals with suspiciously Chinese-looking roofs.
All that is basic nation-building. But there is also something that's not on most nation-building lists. Liberians elected a woman who understood that something basic could save millions of dollars, something most people don't want to talk about. Most people, but not Ma Ellen, the only serving head of state to have written in a major newspaper about the need for toilets. That's right. Toilets. Because of that, I request an interview with her; and because I am here with WaterAid and have written a book about toilets, she grants it.
We meet in the foreign ministry, where the president moved after the executive mansion caught fire. Ma Ellen's personal guards, female Indian peacekeepers, stand at the gate like statues. (Someone tells me he saw them beat up rioters one day, then go to church in their saris the next, "looking so sweet and lovely".) Monrovia's mayor is also a woman, as is the director of the port, a crucial position. Sometimes I feel as if I've landed in a Patricia Cornwell novel, where all positions of authority are held by women. It's great.
In her spacious office, impeccably dressed in her trademark African cloths and turban, the president is warm and gracious, despite a stern reputation. I have been warned to stick to the agreed topic of sanitation. Stray off it – to accusations of endemic corruption, nepotism and human rights issues, for example – "and you will see her change in an instant", a Liberian friend tells me.
Most Liberians have grown up in the countryside, where the idea of a bush toilet is second nature. But their proximity to water supplies and homes can prove deadly. Photograph: Aubrey Wade for the Guardian
Sirleaf took a while to understand the place of good sanitation. Like countless Liberians, she grew up on the family farm, where the only toilet was the bush. "It came naturally," she says, when I double-check that the president has just admitted to open defecation – or, as Liberians say, doing poo-poo in the bush. "That was what it was."
Like the six out of seven Liberians who still do the same thing, or the 2.6 billion worldwide who have no toilet, Sirleaf didn't see what was wrong with it. All that forest: what harm can a little poo-poo do? Now she knows better. She knows that diarrhoea – caused largely by people ingesting water or food contaminated by human waste – kills more children worldwide than HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria combined. She knows that even the greenest, widest forest can't prevent faecal particles being tramped into a village on feet and flies and fingers, to be dipped into food and water, to become diarrhoea, dysentery or cholera. She knows, as an economist should, that good sanitation could reap millions of dollars a year in savings. India, where two-thirds of the population are toiletless, loses $58bn a year in wages and medical bills to the 50 diseases that can travel in human excrement. Half the hospital beds in sub-Saharan Africa are filled with people suffering the consequences of bad sanitation. But, of course, the president sees endless statistics. Only when she looked into why so many Liberian women were dying in childbirth, and why children were dying of something as banal as the squits, did she realise "there is a relationship with water and sanitation. I needed to understand why that was so, and partly it's because people don't have access to clean water. That was an eye-opener for us."
Ma Ellen is amazing, but she is a politician. She is fluent in euphemism. When she says "clean water", she really means "water without human excrement in it". That's what "clean water" means, because that is what dirty water is dirtied with.
At the end of a long, red road, a bone-shaking hour's ride from Fish Town, we arrive at Jaytoken, an ordinary village like thousands of others, with huts grouped around a green football pitch and surrounded by that ever-so-green forest. Women do chores; men are at the farm or the illicit gold-mine nearby. The closest clinic is a four-hour walk away. The road is so bad only motorbikes or 4x4s can negotiate it in the dry season; hardly anything can pass in the rains. People walk and walk and walk. The only fat bellies here are the ones filled with worms. Why? Because of the creek.
The creek is everything. It carried dead bodies in times of war. It still carries animal carcasses. Boas swim in it. It carries the excrement of upstream villagers who use it as a toilet. It provides drinking and washing water. And it brings death – it is the water into which hopeful mothers with diarrhoea-afflicted children mix oral rehydration salts, dispensed for free by that clinic four hours away, without boiling it. I don't know why they do that – they have had countless hygiene lessons.
Rev Charles Saylee and his wife Dorris, whose infant daughter died after a bout of diarrhoea. She took three days to die from what, in the western world, is considered a relatively harmless stomach bug. Photograph: Aubrey Wade for the Guardian
They tell me their dirty water causes "running stomach" and that running stomach sometimes causes death, such as that of Marie Saylee, nine months old, who got sick last November. I ask her father, Pastor Saylee, why she wasn't taken to the clinic. There was no time, he says. He goes to fetch the country medicine he would have given her, had she been older. It is a leaf called wudirrubu, or "goat-eat leaf", because goats eat it. You pound it, mix it with creek water – again, unboiled – and drink it. Marie's mother gave her pepper soup, coconut milk, clean water from the hand-pump. Nothing worked. Marie took three days to die from something most of us consider a stomach bug.
The people of Jaytoken, like people in countless other villages, knew that creek water was deadly water. And still they didn't boil it. They had soap for sale cheaply in the local shop, along with affordable water-purification sachets, but nobody bought them. They could build their own houses; they crafted chairs and lovely bamboo window shutters – but they would not build latrines. Like the president, going for poo-poo 60 years ago, they didn't see the necessity. They had other things to think about, such as not having a decent road or clinic or money. Sanitation was a luxury. So along came WaterAid, trying to reshuffle those needs into a list that puts sanitation near the top. Jaytoken's green fields are atop rock, so they brought rock-breaking equipment to sink water pumps. But the villagers kept going to the goal-pole latrine in the bush – so-called because it is formed of a perch that looks like a goal – so WaterAid brought in a Liberian NGO to perform a process known as community-led total sanitation (CLTS). That jargon hides a fascinating concept: that people are stubborn and so must be shocked out of their wrong behaviour. The NGO does this with tricks. By dipping a hair they say has been dipped in shit into a glass of water and then asking people to drink it. No? How is that different from the water they drink every day? Or by putting food next to a piece of excrement and watching the flies jump from one to the other. Are they different flies? No? By that point, the penny is supposed to have dropped. "The basic assumption," says the CLTS handbook, "is that no one can remain unmoved once they have learned that they are ingesting other people's shit."
Liberians don't use that word. "Poo-poo" is bad enough. But not bad enough for the president to be shy about it when I ask what language she uses to talk about sanitation. "I say poo-poo," she says. "Of course. If you tell people 'defecate', they won't understand."
CLTS is wildly popular in the world of poo-poo activists. It has been hugely successful in many parts of the world. When it works, it works dramatically. People rush off to build latrines, then they clean up the rest of their villages. They are encouraged with prizes and – in India – awards handed out by the president and covered on national TV. WaterAid is one of dozens of NGOs currently using the technique.
But it doesn't always work. The trouble with sanitation is that it involves human nature. People don't usually respond well to health messages or nagging – many doctors smoke when they know they shouldn't, for example. At Jaytoken school, the blackboards are covered with appropriate hygiene messages, written especially for our visit. A young woman named Grace puts up her hand when I ask if anyone has ever been bitten by a snake while going to the latrine. She is a 24-year-old in a primary school, because her school years were swallowed by war. She was bitten by a snake because the school was built by a Liberian charity that gave up before providing toilets. Snake bites are one risk; sexual assault is another. None of the women of Jaytoken admits to being raped, but it is endemic, and using latrines in the bush leaves them vulnerable. Water may be life, goes the slogan, but a decent toilet is dignity.
Villagers in Nyonken, Liberia, collect water from the river for cooking, washing and drinking, even though they know human waste from villages upstream may have contaminated it. Photograph: Aubrey Wade for the Guardian
Dignity doesn't get the attention that clean water does, though. The people of Jaytoken and nearby Nyonken – a three-hour walk away – are proud of the new pumps provided by WaterAid. But, like seven out of 10 other Liberians, they still haven't built latrines. Far too many NGOs rush to provide a clean water supply without bothering to install sanitation along with it. If there is a better method for polluting a clean water supply than having little fingers covered with faecal particles, I don't know what it is.
I ask the president about this disparity. Sanitation makes economic sense, after all. CLTS, for example, is cheap – no expensive concrete latrines, no sewerage systems, just some clever persuaders changing people's hearts and minds.
"The problem is," she answers, "these public services don't have a high profile. People want to see their footprint – a building that everyone can see, or a road. No one pays attention to the three-room latrine in the back yard. There has to be a whole change of consciousness."
And not only by donors. In the welcome meetings, villager after villager stands up with a petition. Thank you for the water, they say, but give us more. Give us roads. Give us a clinic. They don't ask for latrines. A man from the ministry of works expresses what I'm thinking: "You can build your houses. Why don't you build latrines? If a hinge falls off a door, will you expect an NGO to come and fix it?"
The president would be unimpressed, but unsurprised. "People say they want health clinics," she says, "but they don't ask for sanitation. They say their children get malaria or dysentery, but they don't ask for sanitation. We have to bring to their consciousness that sanitation is linked to health."
On the way back to Monrovia, with the roof of the truck now holding a live chicken that the villagers of Nyonken gave us to honour us (and which ends up in a pot in a Fish Town restaurant), we pass more 4x4s zooming towards the border and the refugees. I feel frustrated. In Monrovia, ministers and NGOs hold a weekly crisis meeting about refugees, but not about the 18% of Liberians who die because they have no toilets or clean water.
Towards the end of our interview, I ask the president why that is. We had followed in her footsteps to Fish Town because she had also gone to see the state of the Ivorian refugees, most of them welcomed by Liberians who had to think back only a few years to a time when they were themselves refugees. Ma Ellen is too polite to shrug, but her words do. "The humanitarian system responds to these things that get sensational," she says. "They want to be seen as responsive. The ordinary village, that no one is taking care of, that doesn't come to mind." And with that she takes her leave, to get back to the job of fixing her country, one latrine at a time.

2012-02-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

house on sugar beach

memoir on Liberia
by Washington Post reporter
helene cooper
The tale shares her journey back
to Liberia and seeks her roots in
Liberia.

on kindle now.

wage peace.
njvm

2012-02-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

blue chevrons beads of great value in the African trade of the 14 C
look for the seven layered bead found in Mali for sale to the right buyer
american mom

wage peace.

2012-01-31T17:28:00.000-07:00

A Dream Deferred
A new Vision and plan, Daniel!
Say our prayers...
I love you.
With more hope and faith.
Your,
American Mom

nancy@friendsofdaniel.orgwww.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.comwww.onliberia.org

2012-01-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

wage peace.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.orgwww.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.comwww.onliberia.org

2012-01-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

WAGE PEACE, FRIENDS

nancy@friendsofdaniel.orgwww.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.comwww.onliberia.org

2012-01-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

See us on KINDLE eReader
Talking Drum with Daniel...
amazon.com Kindle subscriptions
See you there!

or
friendsofdaniel@twitter.com

2012-01-29T08:34:00.001-07:00

Mid-May? Reunion with Daniel. Imagine, after 30* years...Daniel is the garden
nearby...in Denver.

ALL FRIENDS of DANIEL
January 29 2012

Sorry to be so late in getting back to you.

Delta flies from Atlanta on Saturday, arriving on Sunday afternoon in Monrovia. They fly from Monrovia on Sunday afternoon arriving very early on Monday morning. Each flight has an hour stopover in Accra, but one stays on the plane. (It's about 12 hours each way.)

SN Brussels is the other major airline. They have nearly the same schedule as Delta: Brussels-Monrovia-Brussells with a hour stopover in either Abidjan or FreeTown. Their flights can be booked as part of United, American or Continental airlines flights. Sometimes they are cheaper but require a plane change in Brussels.

Traveling between mid-June and late September is the travel high season with higher costs:

Using Orbitz, Delta is $2,424 and SN Brussels/Air Canada is $2,141 as of today, Sunday January 29, 2012. Whereas in mid-May Delta is $1,550 and SN Brussels is $1,844.    And remember bags are sometimes extra on the domestic legs.   I think Delta also leaves Monrovia on Wednesday and Fridays now.

Best in working this out,
Coordinator, Liberian Collections
       office:      +812-856-0782
       cell:         +812-325-7487
       Home:     +812-369-4398
       e-mail:     stonevl@indiana.edu
       web:         http://www.onliberia.org

wage peace.
american mom

LOVE LETTERS for 2012 Happy Valentines Day

■ “Love Letters: An Anthology of Passion”by Michelle Lovric, Shooting Star Press, 8 pages. $19.95.
■ “Love Poems” by Pablo Neruda, New Directions, 64 pages, $11.95.
■ “Love Letters of Great Men” by Ursula Doyle, St. Martin’s Press, 160 pages, $16.95.

Dear reader, I say this with all sincerity; don’t be caught scrambling at the last minute for flowers or chocolate hearts this Valentine’s Day. Why not start crafting your dearly beloved a love letter or poem now?
Here’s a few great reads to get your creative heart and pen flowing with expressive words of love. After the beautiful rose bouquet has wilted and you’ve eaten the last chocolate in the heart-shaped box, nothing can compare to the glorious joy of sitting down to read a letter from the one you love.
■ “Love Letters: An Anthology of Passion” by Michelle Lovric truly shows the range of possibilities that love holds for each of us. The lavish artwork, illustrations and reproductions of letters from famous lovers in this elegantly-designed book enhance the personal prose. I loved the experience of removing and opening some of the actual by-hand letters from its Victorian-designed private envelope and reading in the hand of the famous composer of passion.
■ Inspired by the landscape of the island paradise of Capri (the idyllic setting of the Oscar-winning movie “Il Postino”) and his feeling for his dearly beloved, “Love Poems” by famed Spanish poet and Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda is definitely the read for the forever-romantically-in-love couple. The esthetically beautiful pocket-sized chapbook includes the original Spanish wording and the English translation by poet Donald Walsh, on pages opposite each other.
■ Ursula Doyle’s “Love Letters of Great Men” is an anthology of some of history’s most romantic correspondences. You’ll find heart-swooning letters from the personal papers of Napoleon Bonaparte, Mark Twain, Mozart and Lord Byron.
For some of these illustrious men, love is “a delicious poison” (William Congreve); for others, “a nice soft wife on a sofa with a good fire, a book and music” (Charles Darwin). Love can scorch like the heat of the sun (Henry VIII) or penetrate the depths of one’s heart like a cooling rain (Flaubert). Every expression of love is here, from the witty eloquence of Oscar Wilde to the mysterious writings of Ludwig van Beethoven. My favorite part of the book was in a letter Mark Twain wrote to his wife: “Let us look forward to the coming anniversaries, with their age and their gray hairs without fear and without depression, trusting and believing that the love we bear each other will be sufficient to make them blessed.”

WRITE LOVE LETTERS to our FRIENDS, BELOVED, DEEP ONES

Love...
Love is kind. Love is patient.

Grow Old with Me
The Best is Yet to Come...

I love you, Daniel
from American Mom and the late Uncle Walter

To the 2012 Reunion!

2012-01-29T08:26:00.001-07:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.orgwww.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.comwww.onliberia.org

Talking Drum with Daniel

2012-01-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

Talking Drum with Daniel

nancy@friendsofdaniel.orgwww.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.comwww.onliberia.org

Sundance doc traces Simon's 'Graceland' hit album - Topix

2012-01-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

Sundance doc traces Simon's 'Graceland' hit album - Topix

wage peace.
njvm

2012-01-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

HEADLINE: MORE PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS SWORN - IN
DATE: 25 JANUARY 2012
SOURCE: All Africa

Jan 25, 2012 (New Democrat) -- The swearing-in of 13 new Peace
Corps volunteers Tuesday has swelled their number 141 teaching in
49 schools across the country, since the program was renewed
after the civil crisis ended in 2003.

The latest batch of volunteers, who served for two years in other
African countries, is the eleventh group of Peace Corps
Volunteers that arrived in Liberia since 2006.

They will teach in nine new senior high schools, which have been
preparing for them for the past six months.

This means that a total of 49 schools in the country, up from 33,
are now being served by Peace Corps volunteers.

In brief remarks at the induction ceremony, US Ambassador Linda-
Thomas Greenfield said three of the new volunteers are assigned
in Lofa County, three in Nimba County, five in Nimba County and
one is set for Bong County.

She said the US government would continue to appreciate the
Liberian Government's support provided to the Peace Corps.

The US Ambassador stressed, "Liberia continues to be a priority
of the Peace Corps and the US government looks forward to a
bright future of growth in the country".

Meanwhile, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who attended the
ceremony, thanked the US government for sending the Peace Corps
volunteers to assist with the educational sector of the country.

wage peace, Peace Corps!
Lofa county new teachers...what memories!
american mom

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com www.onliberia.org

2012-01-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

Hey, pretty girls, how is school going in 2012? Study hard and the rewards
will follow in opportunity. Love you both...american mom

wage peace. create positive memories.
nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com www.onliberia.org

miracles happen

2012-01-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

Daniel and Saah At Buduburam

Poetry Box

Memories __ american mom

wage peace. 2012
nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com www.onliberia.org

reunion 2012

2012-01-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

US Ambassador to Liberia, Madam Linda Thomas-Greenfield, making remarks at the opening ceremony

Madam President, let me again congratulate you on your inauguration to serve a second term as President of the Republic of Liberia. I am delighted that you have joined us for this historic moment, this historic day that reaffirms the strong relationship between our two countries.

Her Excellency Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia,
The Honorable Rodney Evans, Managing Director for the Bureau of Overseas Building Operations,
Officials of the Government of Liberia,
Representatives of the Diplomatic Corps,
Friends and colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Madam President, let me again congratulate you on your inauguration to serve a second term as President of the Republic of Liberia. I am delighted that you have joined us for this historic moment, this historic day that reaffirms the strong relationship between our two countries. Thank you also to all our invited guests for joining us. It is a great pleasure to see you all.

Yesterday Secretary Hillary Clinton joined us with a large delegation for a brief ribbon cutting ceremony, to meet and greet embassy employees, and for a tour of the facility. She was here Madam President for you to highlight our support for your government and people at your inauguration but I would add this building is the physical manifestation of that support.

I would like to recognize Rodney Evans from the office of Overseas Building Operations (OBO), who is with us at this historic event. I’m also happy to see so many distinguished visitors who have traveled to Liberia for President Sirleaf’s inaugural activities yesterday.

Today, we are gathered here to raise our flag and to dedicate this magnificent building and compound. We are leaving behind our old Embassy at 111 United Nations Drive, our home for over 80 years. Since 1862, when the United States officially recognized Liberia, we have developed a relationship unlike that with any other country in Africa. The people of the United States and Liberia are bound by kinship, history, culture, and friendship. When some of our forefathers, were searching for a place where they might find freedom and liberty, they found themselves on the shores of West Africa, and were welcomed to this place that would become Liberia. Home to 16 ethnic groups now united as one. Today we value and celebrate the bonds between our two countries.

Departing the old Embassy compound is a bitter sweet moment for all of us, particularly for the Liberian employees who worked at the old location for decades. For me, the embassy brings back fond memories. In 1978, I was working on a doctoral degree at the University of Wisconsin and received a grant to come to Liberia to do research. My experience as a young student in Liberia altered the course of my career path, in particular, and my life in general, and brought me to this place and this time in the history of Liberia.

And for many of our local staff, the old Embassy brings memories of life’s joys and sorrows. Together, employees experienced professional and personal growth and some setbacks. Americans and Liberians who worked at the Embassy forged lasting friendships and more, in many cases. Last year, five single American personnel met their soul mates here and got married. Six American children were conceived in Mamba Point in the past two years when we made the decision that Liberia was safe to bring our children back.
The emotional impact is much deeper for our Liberian employees who have worked at the old Embassy for many more years. Let me recognize two employees, who were recognized by Secretary Clinton yesterday, who have served with the embassy for more than 20 years. Mr. Isaac Jefferson Monjou, Financial Assistant, worked at the Embassy for 29 years and Mr. Adama Konateh, Truck Driver, for 26 year.

The sad fact is that the sorrow experienced by all Liberians was also part of the Embassy experience. Before 2003, due to the protracted internal conflict, the U.S. Embassy in Liberia was evacuated nine times over a 15-year period. During this period, it was the most evacuated U.S. embassy in the world. I’m happy things have changed and I think Yemen has now replaced Liberia at the top of the list. Together we must pledge to say never again to violence. So many Liberians came to me during the elections and afterwards to thank me and the U.S. government for the support we rendered during the election. Many came to me to plead that they did not want to run again. This plea guided our actions during the most difficult periods over the past few months.

Since 2006, we have witnessed Liberia making strides in security, good governance, economic growth, health and education. Our activities at the Embassy increased by leaps and bounds and the size of our Embassy staff more than doubled. Improved security opened doors for Peace Corps Volunteers and for Foreign Service Officers with families to return to Liberia. We now have 12 children at the Embassy and five attend the American International School of Liberia.

This progress inspires us to do more. Let me reiterate, the United States of America is committed to working with the Government of Liberia to prevent the tragic upheavals that destroyed the fabric of Liberian families and society. We stand with the Liberian people to build on the achievements the country has made in the past six years. Our goal is to help Liberia succeed.

Madam President, on November 5, 2007, President Bush praised you as “a woman of courage, and giver of hope,” and recognized your accomplishment with “The Medal of Freedom” the highest civil honor that a President of the United States can bestow. And on December 10, you and Madam Leymah Gbowee received the Nobel Peace Prize. This well- deserved award brought pride to the nation and people of Liberia. This was a shining moment for a country that has suffered so much.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, as we move our operations to this state-of-the-art Embassy, let us renew our pledge to work together enhancing our efforts to build on the strong relationship between our two countries.

Madam President, from this new facility, we will continue to work with the Government of Liberia to turn on the lights, bringing electricity to Monrovia and beyond. We will help increase agricultural production and food security by introducing improved seed varieties and building farm-to-market roads. We will promote private enterprise and expand access to credit for ordinary men and women, farmers and entrepreneurs. We will partner with your government to create jobs and the environment to promote job creation. This year alone, we will spend over $75 million to assist in the rebuilding of Liberia’s private sector, because as we have seen in so many African nations, there is no assurance of lasting peace unless people have jobs, dignity, and food on the table.

We know that strengthening democracy and good governance are top priorities for the new Administration and we look forward to working with you to build the technical competence of legal professionals and strengthen alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, particularly with respect to land.

It will be imperative to continue supporting educational excellence at all levels in order to prepare Liberian graduates for tomorrow’s workplace. Part of the effort involves the return of Peace Corps volunteers to Liberia. Currently, there are about 30 Volunteers in the country, all of them working in secondary education. On January 24, we will swear-in 15 Peace Corps Response Volunteers, bringing the total to 45. I would like to recognize Deputy Peace Corp Head Carrie Radelet who is here with us today.

Madam President, distinguished guests, let me take a moment to share a few facts about this magnificent compound. The ground where the embassy is built is known as “Greystone.” The U.S. Government, the Government of Liberia, and the University of Liberia signed a lease for 99 years. We know about the tragedies that took place here during the civil war. Thousands of Liberians came seeking refuge at “Greystone” and they were shelled by rebels, resulting in death, injuries and hardship.

In memory of those who lost their lives and got injured, the designers moved the building six meters to the West to protect the cottonwood tree in the Consular garden. The perimeter wall on the west was also moved to protect two large cottonwood trees that people took refuge under during the war. Once we move in this facility, we’ll put a plaque by the consular garden cottonwood in memory of those who lost their lives at Greystone. And Minister Chenoweth, the bats to the chagrin of our neighbors survive to protect the ecosystem.

This ground has been transformed. The horrific tragedy has given birth to what we see today. It took nearly three years from design to completion of the compound. Madam President and I were among many dignitaries who broke ground in 2009. The ground was and remains full of solid rock providing the foundation for this building. Many of us had an opportunity to peacefully explode those rocks to make way for the construction. For months, at about six p.m., we used to hear and feel the explosions. These explosions were part of a renewal, unlike the eerie explosions of the civil war. And, by the way, we apologize to our new neighbors for the noise and dust created by the explosions. We hope you agree that the result justifies the inconvenience.

This new home of the United States Embassy at Mamba Point represents a $164 million investment in our partnership with the Liberia people. During the nearly three years of design and construction, over 1,000 Liberian workers directly contributed to the New Embassy Compound. During this period, they acquired valuable construction and management skills. The massive scope of the project and use of local products and services infused $28 million into Liberia’s economy.

The completion of the facility could not have been possible without our key partner. B.L. Harbert International, the prime contractor. It was responsible for design and construction in compliance with international building codes. The project design and construction have met the Leadership in Environmental Engineering Design criteria for sustainability, making this embassy among the most environmentally friendly in the world. I would also like to recognize the project manager, Eric Heinrich, who was the force that made this building a reality.

In closing, let me reiterate, the completion of the new embassy compound is a symbol of the continued growth of the partnership between the American and Liberian people to make Liberia develop and prosper. The embassy will house the entire diplomatic mission (Department of State, USAID, and DOD) under one roof, enhancing coordination and increasing efficiency. More than 300 embassy employees, both American and Liberian, will work within the compound walls each day, administering more than $200 million in projects for 2012.

Together, let us continue to make great efforts toward political, social, and economic challenges in order to improve the quality of life of all Liberians. Together and united, we can accomplish so much more to create a peaceful world in which we all thrive and live in harmony.

Thank you.

US Amb Linda Thomas-Greenfield
Monrovia, Liberia
January 17 2012

wage peace.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com www.onliberia.org

Remarks by Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the New Embassy Compound Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, January 17, 2012

2012-01-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

Remarks by Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the New Embassy Compound Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, January 17, 2012

wage peace.
american mom

2012-01-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

onliberia.org

Thanks for the call, Daniel!

We miss you and the family.

Let us know about the visa -- soon.

american mom

2012-01-09T07:57:00.000-07:00

Friends.
In 2012 we expect to see changes in Liberia. Nobel Prize winner
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as head of state promises those changes
and here is one in our old Lofa county, where Daniel and I met
in 1977.

Thanks to Journalist Kit Cone, New Jersey.

Minister Woods Tours Several Road Projects
9 January 2012
Touring several road construction and rehabilitation projects in Lofa County, Public Works Minister Samuel Kofi Woods has assured citizens of Government's commitment to develop their areas.
"You have suffered too long; you have been patient for long; you have faced hardships for many years..." the Minister continued, noting "And through it all you have been supportive to this government...and you re-elected President [Ellen Johnson] Sirleaf. This is your time and we will not let you down; this government will not fail you."
Minister Woods, who inspected ongoing and completed projects in Zorzor, Vionjama, Salayea, Kolahun, Vahun, and Foya districts respectively, urged contractors to do quality works.

~wage peace.
American Mom

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com www.onliberia.org

2012-01-07T15:42:00.002-07:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com www.onliberia.org

2012-01-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

Friends of Daniel blog Talking Drum with Daniel welcomes world citizens to support, encourage, and believe in a remarkable and resilient African family from Liberia. Join the Friends of Daniel, a Denver-based network, which makes a difference and has saved one African family at a time. We put hand over hand for peace/www.friendsofdaniel.org talking drum REUNION 2012 Celebrate Liberian Nobel Peace Winners!

Wage Peace. Reunion in 2012? Check Delta Airlines. Denver-Atlanta-Monrovia
and return......................

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org / www.onliberia.org

2012-01-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

WAGE PEACE!

Welcome, 2012--will this be the year of the reunion, of palm butter soup, of hand over hand,
of sweet memories of Liberia, of Kolahun-Voinjama road, of PCV days in the 1970s, of mudbrick house and mudbrick-tinroof school, and the road to Voinjama...will this be
our year, Daniel...we are aging. Hurry!... It's in Spirit's hands. Wage peace.
I love you and miss you. All the family, be well and happy in 2012.
Yours,
american mom

"of One Spirit"
in loving memory of Walter

www.onliberia.org

google mail brings...

2012-01-02T07:35:00.000-07:00

FRIENDS of DANIEL...
The gift received! Wonderful to see most of Daniel's network at
CHPC church yesterday...and Charlie, our Treasurer, doing so well
after surgery...hope the children can find some books to read.
Speaking of books, The Friends of Daniel blog is now again
on KINDLE and KINDLE FIRE products...#friendsofdaniel
FOLLOW.
HAPPY NEW YEAR, DANIEL!
Did you find Google mail? Yes, I see GOOGLE and Daniel match!
Look forward to your call my time 10 PM Mountain.3 PM LIBERIA!!!
american mom
...it takes a village...

{[See American Mon's new BLOG seventyscribe at wordpress.com...
coming in 2012]}

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Daniel Poawalio <danpoawalio@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jan 2, 2012 at 5:58 AM

Dear nancy,
I wish you a Happy prosperous and promising New Year.
I was able to collect the children's gift money immediately after I
received the MTCN late Saturday. The kids appreciate the gift. They
have asked me to put in a call for them to personally thank you and to
wish you happy new year. Perhaps this will be tonight at 10p.m.
Liberian time. Hope you will be available.
I love you,
Daniel

--
onliberia.org

2012-01-02T07:19:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year, Daniel, Jemima, Nancy Kumba, and Siahwanda

We love you! Reunion in 2012~

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com www.onliberia.org

2012-01-02T07:08:00.000-07:00

Walter, my darling !!

Happy New Year, 2012!

Peace. Mostly, love.
In the Transtion to Eternal Life and Love.
May there be peace.
May there be weightlessness.
May you float like a butterfly...
May you feel safe and secure
May you love us; May God love you always.

I miss you, terribly at times.

~njvm

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com www.onliberia.org

2011-12-27T17:38:00.000-07:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR, DANIEL & JEMIMA, NANCY KUMBA, PATIENCE-SIAHWANDA....CONGRATS, LIBERIA 2011~~

WE LOVE YOU, AS ALWAYS, YOU ARE IN OUR HEARTS.

BLESSINGS.

TO OUR REUNION IN 2012.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com www.onliberia.org

2011-12-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS, DANIEL AND FAMILY

THIS IS UNCLE WALTER'S FAVORITE CHRISTMAS CARD

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com www.onliberia.org

2011-12-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

2011 Year...Daniel and Jemima in Monrovia, July
Photo taken by Prof. Verlon Stone, Indiana University

FRIENDS OF LIBERIA NEWS DISPATCH
******************************************************************
Friends of Liberia (FOL) invites proposals for grants that support education, social, economic and humanitarian programs in Liberia that fulfills specific criteria (see www.fol.org and click on "FOL Small Grants Program," then "How to Apply") or go to http://www.fol.org/grants/grant_policy.html.

Organizations that are eligible are non-profit organizations with Liberian participation. Preference will be given to organizations in Liberia. An organization may submit one grant application per year An application must be received by FOL electronically at folprograms@yahoo.com. Next round applications are DUE no later than JANUARY 1, 2012. Grant submissions are accepted twice a year online (1/1 and 7/1).
================================================================
THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES:
UP, CDC TALKS COLLAPSE
LIBERIAN NOBEL LAUREATES RECEIVE ROUSING WELCOME
PRESIDENT SIRLEAF CALLS TIME ON POLITICAL DIVISIONS
'WE ARE PROUD OF YOU' - BOMI RESIDENTS TELL SIRLEAF
================================================================
HEADLINE: UP, CDC TALKS COLLAPSE
BYLINE: E. J. NATHANIEL DAYGBOR
DATE: 19 December 2011
SOURCE: All Africa

It appears that ongoing reconciliation talks between the main opposition party here, the Congress for Democratic Change and the government of Liberia have collapsed with the deputy campaign manager for the CDC threatening massive demonstrations to disrupt President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 's inaugural ceremony on January 16, 2012.

Speaking from Accra, Ghana, Mr. George Solo said those officials designated by the President to spearhead the negotiation process on behalf of the government were dragging their feet, a move, which he warned, is detrimental to the interest of both parties.

The threat comes amidst reports that the CDC has pulled out of the negotiation with the government on grounds that its demands are not being taken seriously. But Solo has termed these reports as unfounded and far from reality.

"It is unfortunate and disgusting for the government to take such unfriendly posture at the middle of serious discussion; then, worse of it, Truth FM radio is telling the Liberian people and the world that we, as a political party have pulled out of the negotiation."

"I think it is not in the interest of the security and stability of our dear country. The CDC will not do anything to temper with the much deserving and cherished peace that all Liberians are enjoying, but at the same time, the government should not take us for ride; that will not be encouraged", Solo said.

According to him, the government is dragging her feet in the negotiation process, stressing that the Sirleaf Administration feels the CDC is a children's party, which does not have any political means or channel to force the President and her government to heel to the party's demands placed on the table.

"The government thinks that we are a group of children and don't know what we want. This is a mere joke because we are rallying all support to have our partisans in the streets from now to inauguration day and that protest will be the biggest", stressed the CDC deputy campaign manager.

The CDC recently submitted several proposals to the government, among other things, demanding jobs and empowerment for young people. CDC political leader Cllr. Winston Tubman, said he was willing to accept a job offer from President Sirleaf, added that all CDCians have a right to be employed in government.

Tubman announced a suspension of the planned 30-day street protests to further talks with the government, but the CDC had earlier expelled several of its executives, including national chairperson Madam Geraldine Doe Sheriff for what it termed "betrayal" after the affected executives called on CDCians to object to the mass protest and stay at home.

The government is yet to react to the reports of boycott of the negotiation process by the CDC, but President Sirleaf has promised to work closely with members of the opposition block here to promote national reconciliation and peace.

================================================================
HEADLINE: LIBERIAN NOBEL LAUREATES RECEIVE ROUSING WELCOME
DATE: 15 DECEMBER 2011
SOURCE: APANEWS

Nobel Peace laureate, Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf arrived in Liberia on Wednesday from Norway to a tumultuous welcome as thousands of admirers lined the 45 kilometre route from the Roberts International Airport in Margibi County to the capital Monrovia for hours to welcome her and the other Nobel laureate Leymah Gbowee.

Billboards proudly depicting the two Liberian Nobel Laureates President Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee were mounted in strategic parts of the capital Monrovia to welcome them.

The Liberian leader was met upon arrival at the Roberts International Airport by members of her cabinet, local leaders, youths and members of the diplomatic corps.

Speaking earlier in radio talk shows during the day, many Liberians said they would lined the route to welcome President Johnson Sirleaf and Gbowee, irrespective of party affiliation because, they said, they have brought pride and dignity to their country.

But an official of the main opposition Congress for Democratic Change, Mulbah Morlu maintains that the Liberian leader does not deserve the award, because she supported Charles Taylor's NPFL to bring war to Liberia.

The CDC is said to be behind the burning of the Norwegian flag last weekend in protest at the awarding of the Nobel Peace Party to President Sirleaf.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com/ www.onliberia.org

2011-11-05T14:37:00.000-06:00

Goodbye, Uncle Walter
We love you always AND we will miss you.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.orgwww.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.comwww.onliberia.org

Uncle Walter: Memorial Service

2011-10-29T22:16:00.000-06:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com www.onliberia.org

2011-10-25T19:10:00.000-06:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.orgwww.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.comwww.onliberia.org

2011-10-25T19:09:00.000-06:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.orgwww.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.comwww.onliberia.org

2011-10-25T19:07:00.000-06:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.orgwww.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.comwww.onliberia.org

2011-10-25T19:05:00.000-06:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.orgwww.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.comwww.onliberia.org

2011-10-22T11:36:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday, Siahwanda
to be 12...and to American Mom,
70, the same amazing birth date.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com www.onliberia.org

2011-10-22T10:12:00.001-06:00

WOMEN PEACEMAKERS IN LIBERIA

www.friendsofdaniel.org talking drum with Daniel blog
Wage peace, all Friends of Daniel.
"You have to stand up, step out and work for your own peace," is the advice that Leymah Gwobee gives to women of the world. Gwobee shares the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize with fellow Liberian activist, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Tawakul Karman of Yemen.
In 2007 Karman began leading youth protests that forced Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. President Saleh had been in office the entire 32 years of Karman's life. In a recent op-ed in the New York Times called "Yemen's Unfinished Revolution," Karman points out the fragile state of her country during this time of transition and asked for the United States' support as her fellow citizens work to build a just and fair government. She writes: "On behalf of many of the young people involved in Yemen's revolution, I assure the American people that we are ready to engage in a true partnership. Together, we can eliminate the causes of extremism and the culture of terrorism by bolstering civil society and encouraging development and stability."
Development and stability have dawned in Liberia. In 2009, I traveled to Liberia as a delegate to the International Colloquium on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security co-convened by President Sirleaf and President Tarja Halonen of Finland. More than 1,000 women from throughout Africa and the world gathered on International Women's Day to discuss women's roles in advancing economic justice, ending violence, providing access to health care, promoting education, and environmental sustainability. It was a transformational experience.
My transformation, however, did not occur while sitting in sessions facilitated by the most powerful women in the world. It came from seeing the backdrop of Monrovia where the colloquium was held. Reading about Liberia's 15 years of civil war was little preparation for seeing its effects -- electricity only available during certain times, most homes without running water, limited sanitation and waste removal, and a generation of youth who did not attend school due to pervasive violence. For many young people, their only chance to survive was to become a child soldier. The atrocities they were forced to participate in were a dreadful choice over facing starvation.
It was Leymah Gbwoee in her role as a mother of six children who decided to stand up and speak out to end the war. Documented in the film "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" and illuminated in her recent book, "Mighty Be Our Powers," Gbwoee and a group of women, both Christians and Muslims, used prayer, nonviolent demonstrations, and a sex strike to force the end of the war. It was these women's activism that paved the way to elect Africa's first female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
In her first term as President, Her Excellency Sirleaf achieved unparalleled success -- she convinced the IMF and World Bank to waive $4.6 billion of Liberia's debt, has attracted more than $19 billion in economic development and re-opened the nation's schools including a $30 million new campus for the University of Liberia. By fueling support for Liberia's Market Women, women are striving for economic security and its platform is used for advancing adult literacy and health education. President Sirleaf has inspired hope in the youth of Liberia and to many of us throughout the world. Liberia held its second democratic elections since the war this week resulting in a run-off.
Almost 5,000 miles from Liberia in Washington, DC, two weeks ago, I attended the annual meeting of the Black Women's Agenda (BWA). BWA is a coalition of 43 Black women's organizations who work together collectively to educate, advance, and support progressive measures for Black women. They have a three-pronged agenda with a myriad of advocacy and direct service programs promoting education, health, and economic empowerment. At the 2011 annual meeting Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund and Elisabeth Omilami, CEO of Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless, were honored for their tireless work as advocates for children and families. Both Edelman and Omilami are laboring, like Karman, Gbwoee and President Sirleaf, during the worst times in their countries.
Edelmen's prophetic message is chilling. The United States is not in a civil war, but the current economic climate is claiming many casualties. During the luncheon she shared recently released 2010 Census Data which confirms there are 46.2 million poor people in America, the largest number in the last 52 years. One in three of America's poor are children -- 16.4 million, over 950,000 more than in 2009. More than seven million children are living in extreme poverty, while 65 percent of children living in homes below the poverty level have one parent who works. Even with a job, workers are not earning a wage that keeps them out of poverty.
Elisabeth Omilami is carrying the legacy of her parents, civil rights icons Rev. Hosea and Juanita T. Williams as CEO of Hosea Feed The Hungry and Homeless (HFTHH). Annually, HFTHH serves over 50,000 persons. Based in Atlanta, the organization provides meals, food boxes, housing/shelter, financial assistance and health care to persons living in extreme poverty and the working poor throughout Georgia, three additional states, the Philippines, the Ivory Coast and Uganda and Haiti.
What can we learn from the lives of President Sirleaf, Leymah Gbwoee, Tawakul Karman, Marian Wright Edelman and Elisabeth Omilami? The rewards of taking risks and the power of acting out of conviction are two lessons. These women are exemplars of effective leadership during the worst of times. To address the complex problems in the 21st Century, gender equity in leadership is a must. What are women's issues? Everything.
www.onliberia.org
www.allafrica.com

Wage peace.

American Mom

Thanks, Daniel and Family, for your call and your condolences.

Uncle Walter is in heaven. Carry on the struggle...la luta continua

Blessings.

2011-10-10T17:39:00.000-06:00

Wage peace, Liberia.
Safe elections tomorrow.
Congrats to the two Liberian Peace Prize winners.

With barely a few days to Liberia’s first post-war presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for Tuesday, October 11, the stakes are high for the consolidation of peace and the sustainability of the country’s fledgling democracy. Nobel laureate and incumbent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will contest for the presidency against 15 candidates, including retired diplomat Winston Tubman of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) and his running mate, soccer superstar George Opong Weah; former warlord Prince Yormi Johnson of the National Union for Democratic Change (NUDC); Charles Brumskine of Liberty Party; and Dew Tuan Wreh Mason of National Democratic Coalition (NDC). President Sirleaf’s message is about consolidation and continuity of the past five years' gains, while opposition parties preach the need for a "change of pilot"—which is a counter response to President Sirleaf’s campaign slogan that you "should not change the pilot midair during a flight."

The president has made significant changes during her first term. She has attracted significant foreign investment, secured billions in debt relief, and annual economic growth is close to seven percent. Her opponents lambast her failure to deal with corruption, her firing of anticorruption crusader and former auditor general John Morlu, high youth unemployment, and her focus on her international stature rather than national development. They also attack her for changing her mind to contest for a second term.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-09-23T21:54:00.000-06:00

Friends of Daniel sayd hello to Daniel!
How is the computer coming along?
onliberia.org is good website.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-09-18T20:01:00.000-06:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-09-05T17:16:00.000-06:00

miracles happen

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org
Dear Mom,

Dr. Stone has arrived in Liberia and the Laptop, letters and other items delivered yesterday, Sunday Sept 4. Jemima and I went to his apartment to collect the package. The portable computer is fine, I love it. I should have used it to send you this email but it's locked with a password.

Nancy, I read those personal letters carefully and I couldn't just hold back the tears. The message is so important that it helps to hasten my resolve for the re-union of this SPECIAL family. I am thinking about early November after our elections in October if not too late. What do you think? I want to keep with the family during these critical elections. besides, Ellen needs my vote.

Your grand kids are back in school.
Let the prayer for the re-union continues. We will surely meet! Dr. Stone and I will continue to talk while he's here. He offered to personally talk with my boss on this too.
I love you with all my heart.

wage peace.
I love you too and miracles happen

2011-09-05T00:06:00.000-06:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org
Book Review Check it out, Friends of Daniel

Liberia's Premier Website
TLC Africa
The Liberian Connection - Africa

Book Reviews

An Internet Magazine that Connects Liberians around the world!

bDEATHS

EVENTS

NEWS

PHOTOS

SEARCH GOOGLE

TRAVEL

Redemption Road: The Quest for Peace and Justice in Liberia (A Novel)
T. Weefur "t. weefur" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
Redemption Road eloquently and vividly airs the 'dirty laundry' of the brutal actions and devastating consequences of the Liberian civil war in a medium that has not yet been utilized--literary fiction. The plot, which follows several characters who have not been able to deal with what happened to them during the war, gently twists and turns, always keeping the reader wondering what's around the bend. What I enjoyed most about the book was the author's ability to help the reader understand what was going on in the minds of the perpetrators of violence. The novel also illustrates that the labels of 'victim' and 'oppressor' can be interchangeable in time of war. Shaw also beautifully describes the duality of humanity and inhumanity of both protagonist and antagonist in Redemption Road. In her artful storytelling, the author reveals hope, repentance and forgiveness for even the most despicable crimes against humanity.
As a Liberian, this descriptive novel was especially meaningful as it whisked me home, once again--reading the familiar "Liberian English", and creating great imagery of smells, sights and sounds of a country I love. I was inspired by the notion embedded in the plot that achieving justice and finding forgiveness are truly the only ways that Liberia can successfully move past the horrors that held us back. Redemption Road is an inspiration to Liberians and anyone else who has an interest in historical works of fiction, and allows us all to see the strength of the human spirit.

Home / Back to Book Review

Advertise your products and services to Africans around the world on TLC Africa

For information, contact admin@tlcafrica.com or call 231-6-605-933

www.tlcafrica.com

wage peace,
american mom
Labor Day USA September 2011

2011-08-27T08:31:00.000-06:00

WAGE PEACE

Hope you and Uncle Walter are okay.
Finally, I have been able to read your emails again. I have been on a tour of our rural sub-offices construction projects. Last July I spent most of my time in Lofa where this year Liberia's 164th Independence Anniversary Celebration was held. It was an elaborate occasion where the Sierra Leonean President was in attendance upon invitation of President Sirleaf. During the occasion, Madam Sirleaf dedicated several projects including a junior college in Voinjama located behind the Multilateral High School campus.
Also, I was able to reach to my home village of Bondodu. My people were very happy to receive me, eventhough some could no longer recognize me due to prolong absence from one another. It was a joyous moment for me. I drove all the way to the village in my government assigned vehicle. I think I have few photos I love to share with you later
The family is doing fine. And you are right, the kids are about returning to school early September. Registration is on now. J. J. Roberts United Methodist is the school. Siawanda takes the 7th grade and Kumba Nancy the 2nd grade.
Of course, the news about a package of a new computer and other things is one to dance for. It's a big help to me again. My sincere appreciation to the FoD.
Yes! President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is seeking her second term as president and I think she's a formidable force. She has my vote.
Looking forward to seeing Dr. Stone with the package including a letter of invitation.
With much love,

August 25, 2011 Daniel FP by email

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-08-19T19:54:00.000-06:00

Happy Treasurer
Friends of Daniel
August 2011

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-08-19T19:43:00.000-06:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-08-19T08:21:00.000-06:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org
Bless this opportunity!
We have a CARE package in progress to carry
to Monrovia to Daniel and Family...
Send donations to
Friends of Daniel
CHPC Church
1100 Fillmore St
Denver CO 80206 USA.
A card, a prayer, a psalm, a bookmarker...of faith
for this Caravan to Liberia to Daniel august 25.
CARE PACKAGE.
wage peace.
American Mom

2011-08-07T20:31:00.000-06:00

See Noreen's trip to Africa, her first, as a teacher, a mother, a journalist--refreshing!
Thank you, Nic.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/07/01/opinion/100000000888988/win-a-trip-with-nicholas-d-kristof.html

2011-08-01T17:52:00.000-06:00

I think of you, dear Daniel
and appreciate all the work
you have created and accomplished
to make a decent life for your family
and yourself.
We keep praying for a reunion
before we are so gray and old
we cant board a plane, walk into the
rainforest, raise up our children, or
express our love for one another.
~american mom

The work of the world is common as mud...

To be of use

copied from poet Marge Piercy

The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who stand in the line and haul in their places,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.

@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-07-16T20:05:00.000-06:00

Daniel.
Hope you can see Prof Stone in Monrovia.
I've been strangely sick. Sorry.
Not sure what to think...
American Mom

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-07-10T20:48:00.000-06:00

FOR SALE AFRICANA
original pieces from field trips
in the 1970s...mostly, West Africa
some artifacts from East Africa
and north Africa. Private collection.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-07-05T16:41:00.000-06:00

FRIENDS OF LIBERIA NEWS DISPATCH

****************************************************************

FOL CELEBRATES PEACE CORPS 50TH ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND AND INVITES

ALL ITS MEMBERS

Please register for these special FOL events. The deadline to

preregister is September 1, 2011.

Friday Liberian Buffet and Dinner is $25 per person. After 9/1/11

the cost will be $35 per person.

Saturday Liberian Ambassador's Reception is $30 per person.

Capacity is limited, so advance paid reservation for the

Ambassador's Reception is mandatory.

Please go to www.fol.org to read about the different events

sponsored by FOL to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Peace

Corps.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 22 --- 5-8 pm FOL Meet & Greet No-Host Gathering

will be held at James Hoban's Restaurant & Bar

Location: 1 Dupont Circle NW, Washington, DC.

The Dupont Circle Metro Station on the Red Line is very

close to Hoban's.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 23 --- 6 -11 pm Liberian Buffet Dinner &

Dancing --- $25 per person purchased by Sept. 1 & $35 at

the door. Just 250 tickets available.

Location: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Center 4411 14th St. NW,

Washington, DC

SATURDAY, SEPT. 24 --- 1 - 4 pm FOL Liberian Ambassador's

Reception --- $30 per person purchased by Sept. 1.

Only 150 tickets available due to the size of the venue.

Location: 3507 Fulton St. NW, Washington, DC

PayPal registration is available on the FOL website (www.fol.org)

to purchase tickets.

wage peace, and very sad this one RPCV cant participate.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-07-01T13:53:00.000-06:00

Daniel. We all love you!

wage peace.
nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-06-25T22:19:00.000-06:00

As soon we begin this new chapter,
let's go to Mamba Point?
I apologize for my lateness.
american mom
---
nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-06-20T14:26:00.000-06:00

wage peace. Friends of Daniel
Let's publish this blog!

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-06-13T21:34:00.000-06:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org
FRIENDS OF LIBERIA NEWS DISPATCH

****************************************************************

FOL CELEBRATES PEACE CORPS 50TH ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND

very cool....editor

Please go to www.fol.org to read about the different events

sponsored by FOL to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Peace

Corps.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 22 --- 5-8 pm FOL Meet & Greet No-Host

Gathering will be held at James Hoban's Restaurant & Bar, 1

Dupont Circle NW, Washington, DC. The Dupont Circle Metro

Station on the Red Line is very close to Hoban's.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 23 --- 6 -11 pm Liberian Buffet Dinner &

Dancing --- $25 per person purchased by Sept. 1 & $35 at the

door. Just 250 tickets available.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 24 --- 1 - 4 pm FOL Liberian Ambassador's

Reception --- $30 per person purchased by Sept. 1. Only 150

tickets available due to the size of the venue.

PayPal registration is available on the FOL website (www.fol.org)

to purchase tickets.

================================================================

FOL SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM LOOKING FOR APPLICANTS:

Friends of Liberia (FOL) invites proposals for grants that

support education, social, economic and humanitarian programs

in Liberia that fulfills specific criteria (see www.fol.org and

click on "FOL Small Grants Program" then "How to Apply").

Be sure to send applications to folprograms@yahoo.com

Organizations that are eligible are non-profit organizations

with Liberian participation. Preference will be given to

organizations in Liberia. An organization may submit one grant

application per year. Grant submissions are accepted twice a year

online.

Next round applications are due by July 1, 2011.

You can read more about funded grants at http://www.fol.org/.

wage peace, Friends of Daniel.
american mom
June 13 2011

2011-06-12T12:58:00.000-06:00

wage peace, Friends of Daniel

2011-05-27T13:54:00.000-06:00

NEWS!
Awesome! We are so proud of Ma Ellen, Pres of Liberia!
Daniel and I should have been there together, hand over hand,
applauding such marvelous success and opportunity.
And Daniel's boss.
nancy jvm
FRIENDS OF DANIEL
Denver CO 80247

Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf Calls on Harvard Grads to be Hopeful, Resilient

source: Harvard Crimson

Kennedy School of Government alumna and the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was awarded an honorary degree during the morning exercises of Commencement on Thursday. In the afternoon she delivers a speech to the Harvard Alumni Association in which she encourages its newest members to "resist cynicism."

Drawing on challenges she has faced as Africa’s first elected female head of state, Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf urged Harvard’s Class of 2011 to be hopeful, resilient, and daring in facing life’s obstacles.

Sirleaf—who delivered her remarks at the Afternoon Exercises of the Commencement ceremony Thursday—struck a tone that many audience members described as optimistic and inspiring.

“If your dreams do not scare you,” she told a crowd of thousands of recent graduates and alumni, “they are not big enough.”

Sirleaf, who is up for reelection this November, spent much of her speech discussing her administration’s accomplishments during her first six-year term.

“In five years, we formulated the laws and policies and strategies for growth and development,” she said.

Harvard University Commencement 2011 Since taking office in 2006, Sirleaf, a Harvard Kennedy School alumna, said she has nearly eliminated the country’s $4.9 billion external debt; increased national revenue by over 400 percent; restored electricity and tap water to Monrovia, the Liberian capital city; and reconstructed universities, schools, and hospitals.

Yet despite these successes, Sirleaf acknowledged the “awesome” challenges facing Liberia, including civil war in neighboring nations, high costs, and lingering governmental inefficiency and corruption.

Sirleaf—whose reelection bid is being challenged by Winston A. Tubman, a Harvard Law School graduate—praised the “truly free and fair” election process that has been established in Liberia.

She joked that regardless of whether she or Tubman is elected, “the relationship between Harvard and Liberia is thus secured and in good hands.”

Sirleaf also championed the power of women in shaping social change, calling attention to the Liberian women who “fought the final battle for peace” by demonstrating in support of an end to Liberia’s civil war.

While she praised the 2008 presidential election of Barack Obama as one that permanently transformed the American political landscape, she gently chastised the United States for not having yet elected a female president.

“Let me remind you, America, that Liberia has you beat on one score: We elected our first female president, perhaps 11 years before the United States might do so,” she said to an appreciative laughter.

Sirleaf closed her speech by urging graduates to aim high and resist cynicism even in the face of “ample opportunity to become jaded and cynical.”

Allan S. Bradley ’11 said he was particularly moved by Sirleaf’s admonishment against cynicism, adding that her sentiment “means a lot given the questions that we as graduates are asking ourselves.”

Last year former Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter ’61 delivered the Commencement address. Comedian Amy Poehler delivered this year’s Class Day speech Wednesday.

—Staff writer Rebecca D. Robbins can be reached at rrobbins@college.harvard.edu.

Harvard CRIMSON, Cambridge, MA.
WAGE PEACE, FRIENDS OF DANIEL.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-05-26T09:35:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday, Uncle Walter

wage peace.
american mom

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-05-16T16:19:00.000-06:00

LIBERIA from Friends of Liberia FOL
nancy@friendsofdaniel.org
FRIENDS OF LIBERIA NEWS DISPATCH

****************************************************************

FOL CELEBRATES PEACE CORPS 50TH ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND

Please go to www.fol.org to read about the different events

sponsored by FOL to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Peace

Corps.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 22 --- 5-8 pm FOL Meet & Greet No-Host

Gathering will be held at James Hoban's Restaurant & Bar, 1

Dupont Circle NW, Washington, DC. The Dupont Circle Metro

Station on the Red Line is very close to Hoban's.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 23 --- 6 -11 pm Liberian Buffet Dinner &

Dancing --- $25 per person purchased by Sept. 1 & $35 at the

door. Just 250 tickets available.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 24 --- 1 - 4 pm FOL Liberian Ambassador's

Reception --- $30 per person purchased by Sept. 1. Only 150

tickets available due to the size of the venue.

PayPal registration is available on the FOL website (www.fol.org)

to purchase tickets.

================================================================

FOL SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM LOOKING FOR APPLICANTS:

Friends of Liberia (FOL) invites proposals for grants that

support education, social, economic and humanitarian programs

in Liberia that fulfills specific criteria (see www.fol.org and

click on "FOL Small Grants Program" then "How to Apply").

Be sure to send applications to folprograms@yahoo.com

Organizations that are eligible are non-profit organizations

with Liberian participation. Preference will be given to

organizations in Liberia. An organization may submit one grant

application per year. Grant submissions are accepted twice a year

online.

Next round applications are due by July 1, 2011.

You can read more about funded grants at www.fol.org.

================================================================

THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES:

UNIVERSITY OF LIBERIA GRADUATES 700 AT 90TH COMMENCEMENT

TOOLS AND SEEDS TO SURVIVE THE HUNGER SEASON

INFLUX FORCES REFUGEES RELOCATION IN MARYLAND

WB FUNDS ONGOING REFORM PROJECTS IN LIBERIA

US$18 MILLION GONE - FINANCE OFFICIALS HAVE NO DOCUMENTS

PSAs (at bottom of page).

LIBERIAN COOKHOUSE COOKING FOR SALE-$25

JOB VACANCY, AUDITOR GENERAL, RL

PEACE COPRS/LIBERIA COMPREHENSIVE DIRECTORY grayjk@vt.edu

===============================================================

HEADLINE: UNIV. OF LIBERIA GRADUATES 700 AT 90TH COMMENCEMENT

DATE: 9 MAY 2011

SOURCE: All Africa/The Analyst

Graduation programs are rare forums for dip

advisory, let alone to talk about the deliv

statements. When they do, it indicates one

to a cause of the guests. The 2011 Commence

of Liberia is one such rare forum where the

United States of America, Linda Thomas-Gree

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, spoke to

Liberian nation, to its youth, and to its p

at its most crucial moment of reconstructio

reports.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield has called on UL graduates

and Liberians in general to reject violence and embrace political

and social virtues that would help hasten the nation's

reconstruction and give meaning to life for many Liberians.

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has not only say 'Amen!' to the

US envoy's admonition, but she has also welcomed it and use the

moment to reveal her administration's new education policy to the

nation.

US envoy and the Liberian leader gave the admonition and revealed

the policy, in that order, on May 4, 2011 during the 2011

University of Liberia Commencement Program held at the SKD Spots

Complex in Paynesville outside Monrovia.

The US Ambassador, on whom the University conferred an Honorary

Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters in International Relations

during the program, delivered the commencement address while

President spoke as "Visitor to the University of Liberia".

Ambassador: Admonition Dipped in Nostalgia

"Whether you join the private or the public sector, I urge you to

support the development of your country. It is by far easier to

destroy a community or a country than rebuild one. I don't have

to tell you this; you and your parents have experienced it. I

urge you to say "never again" to destruction and 'yes' to

national healing and rebuilding."

With these memorable words, Ambassador Greenfield joined prior

speakers at the UL 2011 Commencement program to send Liberia's

new batch of educated class to the outside world.

But observers say her words were also a multi-purpose emollient

directed at Liberia's underprivileged, who often blame every

misfortune on government, and the political hawks, who seek to

turn the people's agony into political advantages.

One observer described the ambassador's advice as an "admonition

dipped in nostalgia" and as coming from a diplomat who is well

versed in Liberia's political landscape and who cares deeply

about its future.

And she agreed, "I have special feelings for Liberia and the

university that began long before I became Ambassador. As a

graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, I came to

Liberia in 1978. This was a time when African American university

students were looking back with intellectual curiosity to the

'motherland.' While some went to Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya, I

came to Liberia. I was attracted to Liberia, not only by the

historical links between our countries, but also by what I had

read about the University of Liberia. I also caught something

that I call a 'bug, a virus' a love for Liberia and for living

and working away from home."

The US envoy used the opportunity to thank President Ellen

Johnson-Sirleaf for her "personal leadership in expanding

educational resources and opportunities for Liberian children and

for Liberian adults".

She also thanked the Emmet Dennis Administration of the

University of Liberia for the vast improvement in the learning

atmosphere at the university over previous years, the orderliness

in student enrollment and faculty placement, and the emphasis

placed on merits while deemphasizing cheating.

The US envoy noted that her appreciation was also the

appreciation of the US government and people of the progress made

in the education sector of Liberia as made manifest in her

country's continued support to the University of Liberia.

"The U.S. government is a committed partner in this effort," she

said, recalling the renovation of the UL Fendell Campus'

Engineering Building and the support for education efforts at the

elementary and secondary levels.

"In fact, over the last two years the US Government, through

USAID, has committed over $55 million to Liberia's education

sector alone. Part of that effort involves the return of Peace

Corps volunteers to Liberia," she said perhaps to press home the

point that the US government was involved with Liberia's

reconstruction at all levels.

She said what was left for the UL authority to do was to continue

supporting educational excellence at all levels in order to

prepare Liberian graduates for today's and tomorrow's workplace.

She told the students that they were crucial to the development

and stability of Liberia because they represented the "great

promise of Liberia and you are the future".

As the future, she said, each of them was under obligation to set

a goal, a road map for the next few years.

"Fast forward 20 to 30 years from now, your generation will take

the mantle of leadership. This is why it is important for you,

privileged by your education, to do your utmost to develop

yourselves for future leadership positions, particularly in this

challenging reconstruction period," she said.

The US envoy said unless the graduates used their education to

nurture and tap the nation's resources, using competency and

ethical leadership as guide, it would be difficult to improve the

quality of life in postwar Liberia.

"Your generation must develop an enduring moral compass to take

on this responsibility," she challenged the students who received

degrees at various levels, including graduate and undergraduate.

She admonished them to engage in community and entrepreneurial

services, rather than relying on public service or engaging in

non-productive pastimes.

"In Liberia's history, many graduates took jobs with the

government, which even today is one of the larger, if not the

largest, employer in Liberia. However, government is not a job-

creating institution; the private sector is. This is universally

true," Ambassador Greenfield said.

"To inspire economic growth and job opportunities, the government

and the private sector must work together to create a favorable

climate to attract foreign investment, which is happening now in

your country," she noted further.

She said that was why it was important for the government and the

private sector to turn the current positive indicators of

collaboration into healthy economic cooperation marked by

accountability, job creation, and the exercise of "corporate and

social responsibility". "This is what I tell American investors

when they meet with me," she said.

On the political front, the US envoy hailed the developing broad-

based, inclusive, and responsible political participation in

Liberia and noted that it was necessary to give faith to the

Liberian people in their government.

But she said it could only be complete with the informed

participation of the citizens both at the polls and at

institutional levels.

"Exercise your right to vote and help others to do so. Educate

the less informed about the current issues in Liberia and about

the positions and credentials of those running for public

offices. Help them decipher the truth from demagoguery. Your

leadership and voice can steer them in the right direction.

Collectively, by electing visionary and ethical future leaders,

you will chart your future," she said.

The comment, observers say, throws light on existing speculations

amongst Liberians that it is only a US-supported presidential

candidate that will win in October irrespective of poll results.

She said Liberians have the choice to turn the opportunity

presented by the October elections into a way forward or into an

inferno of the type experienced during the civil war, or into the

Ivorian debacle.

"You do have a choice! You can decide to love your country more

than you love yourselves or you turn to corruption and unethical

behavior that keeps your country down. You have a choice which

path you will follow," she said.

When President Sirleaf, the visitor to the university took the

podium, observers said it was deja vu.

President Sirleaf: the new education policy

She showered praises all those involved with the growth of the

university and with education generally in the country and

promised her administration's commitment to rebuilding the

nation's depleting or obsolete human resource reserve.

"Our Government has made quantitative improvements in the

education sector; we must now work towards achieving qualitative

results. Reforms include an Education Management Information

System, which enables Government to make databased management

decisions. We are also developing and implementing a new

decentralized operational system at the county and district

levels," the Liberian chief executive said.

She noted that the Executive is requesting US$19 million for the

operation of the University's four campuses for fiscal year

2011/2012.

Since 2006, the allotment in the National Budget for the

University of Liberia has grown from a mere US$1.3 million to

US$9.8 million in 2011, representing 58% of the University's

budget.

The President disclosed that the administration would shortly

send to the National Legislature a draft Education Reform Act for

enactment. She described the draft act as offering "comprehensive

reform of the educational law and of the educational system".

When enacted as is, she said, the act would create the

environment for government to decentralize education by

establishing County School Boards and giving them considerable

autonomy.

She did not say what will be the mandate of the county school

boards and why their establishment would be an advantage to the

Liberian school system, but she noted further that the act will

also provide for the restructuring of the Ministry of Education

for more effective delivery of educational services and of the

education system generally.

Moreover, the President said, the act will provide for the

establishment of a National Education Advisory Board and for the

protection of students and administrators from various offenses.

It is not clear whether patriotism has diminished or whether

morning devotion in Liberians schools, which is characterized by

the hoisting of the Liberian flag, the recitation of the "Pledge

of Allegiance" and the singing of the National Anthem, is

insufficient to instill patriotism in the Liberian youth.

But the President said the proposed draft act will "strengthen

patriotism by making the hoisting of the National Flag and giving

the Pledge of Allegiance part of school activities" as well as

set the student-teacher ratio regarding class sizes.

With the current Education Ministry-set student-teacher ratio

stroked over by rising and shifting student population, analysts

say it would take more than an act to set a durable ratio.

The University of Liberia held commencement, which is the 90th,

for 700 students.

================================================================

HEADLINE: TOOLS AND SEEDS TO SURVIVE THE HUNGER SEASON

DATE: 4 May 2011

SOURCE: States News Service

The following information was released by the International

Committee of the Red Cross:

Impoverished communities in the rural areas of north-eastern

Liberia are hosting tens of thousands of Ivorian refugees. Their

reserves of food and seeds are now stretched to the limit. With

the rainy season around the corner, an ICRC agricultural

programme is helping them replenish these stocks.

Planting rice for survival

Cutlasses at their sides, farmers descend a steep, narrow path

through lush vegetation. Half an hour after leaving Zorgowee town

in Nimba County, the group finally reaches the swampland.

Encouraged by the head of their group, Moses W. Buomie, they cut

away bushes and grass. This is called "side brushing" the field.

Moses explains: "After brushing, we'll burn the field. Then we'll

clean the remaining brush. After that, we'll pull rice from the

nursery to transplant."

Three stories

Zeyieu, Esther and Deborah

Ivorian refugee and teacher Zeyieu Gondo arrived in Zorgowee Town

in December 2010 with his wife, five children and elderly mother.

He is staying with his Liberian wife's family and his wife Esther

is participating in the ICRC agricultural programme.

....etc.
wage peace, Friends.
american mom

Take in a Healing Breath- Beliefnet.com

2011-04-29T08:19:00.000-06:00

Take in a Healing Breath- Beliefnet.com

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-04-27T19:16:00.000-06:00

Friends of Daniel, of Unbroken Circles LTD

At the age of seven, your dreams and celebrations become more active

and involved. You celebrate this tender age growing up with your big Sis,

Siah at school in Monrovia. We love you, I love you. You happen to be

my own namesake and I am honored. It is somewhat sad that for seven

years, we have not yet met -- not have I seen your father for 30 years

plus. This is hard and you and your family have meant much to not

only myself, as once I lived in your country, but to all Friends of Daniel.

Will we ever see each other? How is school going? We hear very little.

I know the conflict in CI disturbed and interrupted the progress of peace

and prospersity in Liberia. We hope things are better now that the elected

President was forced out. We also pray for the peaceful elections in

Liberia and for you, dear one, Nancy Kumba. Have you forgotten my

name? We have lost your phone, so please email us soon.

With great hugs, best wishes, lots of love and good cheer for the future,

Happy Birthday, Nancy Kumba! Seven years old, April 29. Blessings.

american mom in USA

On Forgiveness

2011-04-21T09:13:00.000-06:00

On Forgiveness
A time to love, and a time to (hate)
Be at peace.
Happy Easter,all!

american mom

2011-04-19T16:16:00.000-06:00

Forgiveness
by Paul Gordon and John Caird. Lyrics reprinted with

permission of the authors, from Jane Eyre, the Broadway musical

(http://www.JaneEyreonBroadway.com)

You mustn't be revengeful

You have to be strong

To offer good for evil

Return right for wrong

We must not hold a grudge

And we must learn to endure

Then as God is your judge

At least your heart will be pure

Forgiveness is the mightiest sword

Forgiveness

Of those you hate

Will be your highest reward

When they bruise you with words

When they make you feel small

When it's hardest to bear

You must do nothing at all

Forgiveness is the simplest vow

Forgiveness

Of all their crimes

Is your deliverance now

Bless those souls

Who would curse your name

When the last bell tolls

You'll be free of blame

You can continue to grieve

But know the gospel is true

You must forgive those who lie

And bless them that curse you

Forgiveness is the mightiest sword

Forgiveness

Of those you fear

Will be your highest reward

The time will come when we will leave this world, and the injustice and

the pain and the sin will fall away from us, and only the spark of the

spirit will remain--returning to God who created it.

You must never lose Faith

You must never lose Heart

God will restore your trust

And I know you're afraid

I'm as scared as you are

But willing to be brave

Brave enough for love.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

Liberian mercenaries detail their rampages in western Ivory Coast

2011-04-10T21:36:00.000-06:00

Liberian mercenaries detail their rampages in western Ivory Coast Very disturbing--where O where is Daniel and family? american mom Wage peace!

2011-04-05T07:37:00.000-06:00

Wage Peace.
In all West Africa.
Prosperity is not how much is in our bank accounts or the state of various areas of our lives; our prosperity is in how well we know the truth of our being.

- Dr. Roger W. Teel

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-04-02T12:16:00.000-06:00

Friends of Daniel! It's Saturday--800 reported deaths today in Cote dIvoire.
Refugees continue into Liberia. Prayers for all the Poawalios in Liberia.
All peacemakers, prayers.- nancy j vm

April 1, 2011

Gbagbo Is Said to Be Close to Defeat in Ivory CoastBy ADAM NOSSITER

DAKAR, Senegal — Reeling from mass defections among his soldiers and security forces, Ivory Coast’s strongman, Laurent Gbagbo, deployed a dwindling but determined band of loyalists on Friday to defend his residence, the state television station and the presidential palace in an effort to hold on to power.

Gunfire, explosions and the sound of heavy weapons could be heard throughout the day in Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s largest city and economic capital, as forces supporting Mr. Gbagbo’s rival, Alassane Ouattara, who won the presidential election last year, stormed the city after a four-day lightning-fast advance during which most of Ivory Coast fell into their hands.

The state television station, which had been a loudspeaker for Mr. Gbagbo’s defiant refusals to step down since he lost the election to Mr. Ouattara, changed hands amid heavy fighting, and residents throughout the sprawling port city, once a prosperous metropolis, stayed inside their homes.

Diplomats suggested that Mr. Gbagbo’s struggle to stay in power — despite wide international condemnation, sanctions and, most recently, the opposition’s advance — was near its end.

“We are moving toward a rapid denouement,” said Choi Young-jin, the United Nations’ special representative in Ivory Coast, speaking from the group’s Abidjan headquarters, itself a target of Mr. Gbagbo’s forces. “When depends on his will to resist,” Mr. Choi said, adding: “The trend is irreversible. He has no choice but to step down. They can’t recover from this situation.”

Mr. Gbagbo’s whereabouts were unknown on Friday night. But several spokesmen said he had not left the country and had no intention of giving up. Mr. Gbagbo had “the upper hand,” his adviser Alain Toussaint told the French television network France 24.

Mr. Gbagbo’s foreign minister, Alcide Djédjé, reached by phone, said hurriedly, “I’m in a meeting with the president,” before hanging up.

Mr. Ouattara’s followers said they were not surprised that Mr. Gbagbo had not surrendered, despite what appeared to be the collapse of his forces throughout the country.

“With him, the knife must be on his throat,” said Apollinaire Yapi, a spokesman for Mr. Ouattara. “He is more afraid of prison than of death.”

Still, there were indications that Mr. Gbagbo’s hours in power were slipping away.

In the last week, an estimated 50,000 of his fighters in the army and the police have defected, Mr. Choi said. Key officers, including generals, have quit. Even his army chief of staff abandoned his post, to seek refuge with South African diplomats.

Despite encountering resistance around crucial buildings, officials in Mr. Ouattara’s government said Abidjan was under their control. But there was some confusion, with one adviser saying that Mr. Ouattara’s forces had entered the presidential residence and another denying it.

“There are not real battles in the neighborhoods,” said Patrick Achi, an adviser to Mr. Ouattara. “There are no longer neighborhoods under the control of Gbagbo.”

Mr. Ouattara has also begun issuing orders — closing the country’s borders and establishing a curfew — that until recently had been Mr. Gbagbo’s strict purview.

The fighting had died down by Friday night, but residents still spoke of a terrifying day spent hunkered down as gunfire and exchanges of heavy weapons could be heard all around. One man, speaking from the Adjamé neighborhood, was repeatedly drowned out over the telephone by the sound of gunfire.

“Everyone is very frightened; we are forced to stay inside and lie low,” the man said, asking that his name not be used for fear of reprisals.

“There are many of them, and they are heavily armed,” he said, referring to members of a pro-Gbagbo youth militia who have been armed over the last several weeks. “And they don’t hesitate to open fire. We’ve been stuck in the house for three days.”

Mr. Yapi, the Ouattara spokesman, said that fighting between Mr. Ouattara’s and Mr. Gbagbo’s forces had taken place around the presidential palace; the headquarters of the paramilitary gendarmerie, which has been held responsible for attacks on civilians; and Mr. Gbagbo’s residence.

“The fighting is sustained,” Mr. Yapi said, “with all sorts of weapons,” including mortars. He said it had gone on all the previous night.

“Now the question is, where is he? If his residence is being defended, one can suppose he is inside it,” Mr. Yapi said. In Geneva, the United Nations human rights office urged Mr. Ouattara’s camp to restrain its forces after what the agency described as “unconfirmed reports of quite serious human rights violations.” It also said there had been sporadic reports of pro-Gbagbo troops killing civilians.

“We are trying to highlight to the Ouattara forces that they should avoid revenge and human rights abuses,” Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the human rights office, said in a telephone interview from Geneva.

In Abidjan, the trend seemed clear. “Gbagbo is no longer in control,” said a diplomat who lives near the presidential residence in the Cocody area, speaking as the gun battle raged. “He’s lost power. The only power he has is in his place of residence, and protected by the force we knew would be loyal.”

Alan Cowell contributed reporting from Paris.

Wage Peace.
American Mom
& Uncle Walter

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-03-31T23:28:00.000-06:00

Friends of Daniel All
Listen UP!
Not News but Bad News.

March 31, 2011

Liberia Uneasily Linked to Ivory Coast ConflictBy SIMON AKAM

PÉHÉ-KANHOUÉBLI, Ivory Coast — Standing by a burned-out house on a road speckled with spent ammunition casings, Brig. Gen. Gueu Michel, the commander of rebel forces in western Ivory Coast, outlined his plan to stem an influx of Liberian mercenaries he said were fighting for Ivory Coast’s embattled strongman, Laurent Gbagbo.

“Gbagbo’s troops are composed of the Ivorian Army, the Liberian mercenaries and the militia,” he said recently, pointing to a carefully folded map. “We want to cut off the mercenary flow into Côte d’Ivoire.”

But the traffic at the border moved in two directions. As General Michel’s troops gained ground, a tide of refugees escaping the crisis crossed the porous and remote border into Liberia, a country with a fragile grip on stability itself.

According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have fled to Liberia, an exodus visible in the women with bundles on their heads and babies on their backs, trudging on or sitting exhausted by trail sides. And as the struggle over Ivory Coast spills beyond its borders, many fear it will rattle a region still trying to recover from its own history of civil war.

“It’s a serious threat to the stability of Liberia and, I might say, to the stability of all neighboring countries,” President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia said in an interview.

“There’s been a lot of investment for peace in this subregion; we’re beginning to see the result of that investment,” she added. “If nothing is done to resolve the crisis, all of these efforts will be undermined.”

Ivory Coast was once a bastion of stability in a troubled region, its skyscraper-studded commercial capital, Abidjan, a favored expatriate posting. Then a civil war in 2002 left Ivory Coast divided between a south loyal to Mr. Gbagbo and a rebel-controlled north.

Ivorians went to the polls in November to heal those wounds, but Mr. Gbagbo refused to step down after losing to his rival, Alassane Ouattara, prompting a long standoff with the international community and, now, a rebel advance to try to expel Mr. Gbagbo by force.

As part of that campaign, General Michel’s entourage included fashionable young men in sunglasses and civilian clothes alongside fighters in fatigues carrying Kalashnikovs. The general himself wore a neatly pressed uniform, with a name tag on his breast, and insisted he was operating under the command of Mr. Ouattara.

Liberian and United Nations officials said the general was correct to suspect Liberian mercenaries of crossing into Ivory Coast to help Mr. Gbagbo stay in power. Harrison S. Karnwea Sr., Liberia’s interior minister, pointed to the recovery of a Liberian voter registration card from a combatant inside Ivory Coast.

“According to what we hear, both sides are recruiting Liberian mercenaries,” he said. “When people have been used to living on violence, they have got no profession to earn their living on.”

But officials contended that the biggest risk to regional destabilization was the exodus heading in the other direction. Liberia is profoundly fragile after being consumed by civil war for much of the 1990s, a conflict that created warlords and drugged-up child soldiers. Today, eight years after the end of hostilities, there are still 8,000 United Nations troops in the country. While Liberia’s entire budget is $375 million, the peacekeeping mission costs $500 million a year, the United Nations said.

Ellen Margrethe Loej, the head of the United Nations Mission in Liberia, is most concerned about arms from Ivory Coast crossing the border. “After the civil war, disarmament was fairly — if not very — successful in Liberia, but there are still a lot of weapons around in Côte d’Ivoire,” she said. “The border is very porous.”

A generation of young Liberians knew only war, and at least some found opportunity in taking part in it. Since then, great efforts have been made to encourage a different way of life.

“Liberia’s taken the last seven years and some months to rein in the guys who had been fighting,” said Michael McGovern, a political anthropologist at Yale who studies West Africa. Now, he said, there is a risk of people being “torn out of the social fabric they had been woven back into.”

The refugees have already overwhelmed some villages. At Old Pohan, a Liberian settlement next to the thickets that extend to the border, refugees greatly outnumbered the local population, and more were arriving all the time.

“We don’t have sleeping places, and the refugees are more than us; no food,” said a villager, Victor Gaye.

The refugees themselves, some wearing Laurent Gbagbo campaign T-shirts that suggested they were opposed to the advancing rebels, spoke of a desperate trek south after an attack on the Ivorian town of Bloléquin.

“We were in the bush for one week,” said Zoué Bah Suzanne, 52. “Since I arrived, I want food to eat, I want a sleeping place to lie down.”

With tens of thousands of refugees already in Liberia, United Nations officials said they were struggling to muster an international response, at a time when many other crises were demanding the world’s attention.

“If you see the news in any international TV channel today you see Libya, Libya, Libya,” said António Guterres, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, during a tour of affected areas in Liberia.

Seeking to move the Ivorians away from border settlements, the United Nations has opened a camp about 25 miles inside Liberia. Lines of tents stretch out in freshly cleared jungle, itself dust-blanched at the end of the dry season.

But only a few thousand refugees have come, because those at the border do not want to go farther, some already having settled for weeks.

Refugees are also starting to cross in significant numbers into eastern Ghana, which is far more stable than Liberia. But Abidjan, which rebel forces reached on Thursday, lies close to the border, potentially sending a surge of refugees into Ghana.

Ivory Coast has millions of foreign laborers, including many from Burkina Faso. If they are forced to flee, their home country, which is desperately poor, may struggle to accommodate them.

“If there is a total collapse of the economy, there will be a further social impact on their countries of origin,” Mr. Guterres said.

Konate Sidiki, a former Ivorian minister of tourism, now the secretary of organization for the rebels, argued that despite the humanitarian consequences, “there is no other solution” but force against Mr. Gbagbo.

“For three months we try to discuss, we try to negotiate,” he said.

NY Times Source. 3-31-2011

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

Democracy Is Messy - Readers' Comments - NYTimes.com#comment108#comment108

2011-03-31T16:37:00.000-06:00

Democracy Is Messy - Readers' Comments - NYTimes.com#comment108#comment108

Obama’s Remarks on Libya - Text - NYTimes.com

2011-03-29T14:29:00.000-06:00

Our Vision Humanity unite in response to military aggression by trying Col Q as a war criminal, in solitary confinement. See Liberia for good references. wage peace. american mom Obama’s Remarks on Libya - Text - NYTimes.com nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

- Ancestry.com

2011-03-28T20:32:00.000-06:00

- Ancestry.com nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-03-28T11:29:00.001-06:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

Wage Peace.
YOUTUBES videos
Camp Bahn, Liberia
90,000 refugees in Liberia!
Humanitarian Crisis Unnoticed.
american mom
http://www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com/

Liberia: A Neighbour's Help

2011-03-28T11:08:00.000-06:00

2011-03-23T07:30:00.000-06:00

Help Others to Help Themselves
Hand Over Hand
Friends of Daniel did the job!
We saved one African family.
wage peace-american mom
YouTube Peace Corps Anniversary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2J8ljzZsRA

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-03-21T14:41:00.000-06:00

Please use the following URL to configure your aggregator:

http://allafrica.com/tools/headlines/rdf/westafrica/headlines.rdf

wage pace.
american mom

For the most accurate news from all of Africa

try http://www.allafrica.com/

Talking Drum with Daniel

2011-03-19T21:08:00.000-06:00

Talking Drum with Daniel

www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com
www.peacecorps.org

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-03-19T21:06:00.003-06:00

BLOG 2 PRINT
2005-present
Friends of Daniel Talking Drum blog
Let's publish!! How to do?
Wage peace.
nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-03-19T20:56:00.000-06:00

Don't forget the refugees flocking to Liberia

March 17, 2011

Horrors in Ivory Coast
In Ivory Coast, an autocrat’s desperate bid to hang on to power has led to unspeakable atrocities and hundreds of deaths. Hundreds of thousands of people have been driven from their homes. The international community must move quickly to halt this terror.

The United Nations has 9,000 peacekeepers in the country. Another 2,000 are authorized and are urgently required to protect civilians. There can be no more delay in deploying them and more may be needed. Civilians should be allowed to seek refuge at United Nations and French bases (the former colonial power has troops there to support the mission). The United Nations should consider ways to jam the state broadcasting system, which is inciting violence.

The mayhem was precipitated by President Laurent Gbagbo after he lost his re-election bid in December. The international community recognized Alassane Ouattara as the legitimate president. When Mr. Gbagbo refused to step down, the United Nations Security Council and others imposed economic and diplomatic sanctions.

Mr. Gbagbo then began what Human Rights Watch described as a campaign of organized violence that may constitute crimes against humanity, with killings and politically motivated rapes. On March 3, the army fired at thousands of women demonstrating peacefully, killing 7.

While Human Rights Watch blames Mr. Gbagbo’s forces for the majority of an estimated 400 civilian deaths, pro-Ouattara forces are also faulted. Washington and Paris are right to press the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate atrocity charges.

The Security Council must strictly enforce sanctions against Mr. Gbagbo and his henchmen. The African Union should keep trying to persuade him to step aside. After years of unrest, voters in the Ivory Coast clearly voted for change. Mr. Gbagbo must not be allowed to thwart their will or plunge the country back into civil war.

wage peace.
nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

Mar 19, 2011

2011-03-19T16:10:00.000-06:00

Friends of Daniel--
Meet Charlie Fiser, Treasurer.

Thank you for your wonderful service to
the Friends of Daniel.
american mom
20 March 20111

Prayer for Spring - Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; And

2011-03-19T16:01:00.000-06:00

Prayer for Spring - Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; And

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

YouTube - Secretary Clinton Celebrates Peace Corps 50th Anniversary

2011-03-18T20:11:00.000-06:00

YouTube - Secretary Clinton Celebrates Peace Corps 50th Anniversary

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

Secretary Clinton's Remarks at the Reception Marking the 50th Anniversar...

2011-03-18T20:08:00.000-06:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-03-17T16:01:00.000-06:00

Friends of Daniel.
News from Liberia is Disturbing
------------------------------------------------------
From All Africa News

Cote d'Ivoire: 'Everyone Was Running'

Boakai Fofana

17 March 2011

Bahn, Liberia — A makeshift gate made of rope and rags hangs across the dirt road leading into Bahn BAHN Refugee Camp in Liberia. Inside, children play soccer as their parents cook beside their tarpaulin shelters. Tree stumps dot the recently cleared landscape.

Mathew Zou, a 39-year-old teacher, recently walked two days to the Bahn camp from neighboring Cote d'Ivoire with his 11 family members. He said although he did not witness fighting back home it was close.

"I heard the sound of shooting," he said. "Everybody was just running to Liberia and the [New Forces] fighters were passing us with guns."

Oldma Massa Zaweah, a Liberian, said she plans to visit the Bahn camp. She said when she was a refugee in Cote d'Ivoire in the 1990s Ivorian families helped her and now she wants to try to find them.

"If I find the family that helped us, I will help them too," she said.

Cote d'Ivoire hosted most of the 350,000 Liberians who fled their country during 14 years of conflict. Now, with a protracted political stalemate and escalating violence, some 90,000 refugees from Cote d'Ivoire have entered Liberia, the United Nations special representative for Liberia, Ellen Margrethe Løj, told the Security Council on Wednesday. Of them, 40,000 are registered and 50,000 have arrived in the past 18 days alone, she said.

Løj, echoing concerns raised by Liberian diplomats and others, said there was increasing worry over the potential security fallout from the influx of such large numbers of refugees.

"Liberia is much stronger today than it was eight years ago," said Løj, who also heads the United Nations Mission in Liberia (Unmil). "Nevertheless, we should not take these eight years of unbroken peace for granted. Continued and increased international engagement will be needed."

Security has already deteriorated considerably in Cote d'Ivoire with fighting in the countryside between soldiers and militia backing incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo and New Forces fighters who support president-elect Alassane Ouattara. Gbagbo, despite having lost the November run-off election that was certified by the United Nations, has refused to cede power. Ouattara has been recognized by the international community as Cote d'Ivoire's legitimate president. He and his cabinet remain holed up in a hotel in the country's commercial capital Abidjan.

Cote d'Ivoire suffered a brief civil war that ended with a 2005 peace accord that led to last year's elections. There are growing fears that all-out conflict will resume with the potential to engulf much of the West African region.

Some 10,000 UN peacekeepers are in Cote d'Ivoire to monitor the 2005 peace accord, protect UN personnel and installations, and shield civilians under immediate threat of physical violence. They have been protecting Ouattara and his cabinet and have come under attack by pro-Gbagbo forces.

In addition to the tens of thousands of people who have fled Cote d'Ivoire, the UN says there are an additional 300,000 internally displaced. Most of them have fled fighting in Abidjan between allies of Ouattara and Gbagbo. Aid workers have expressed frustration over an inability to care for the wounded, and hunger is a growing threat.

The western area of Cote d'Ivoire is increasingly insecure. During the nation's civil war, the country was divided between pro-Ouattara forces in the north and pro-Gbagbo troops in the south. That line now appears to be blurring, according to refugees.

Monique Kpahn, 55, said she fled her home two weeks ago when she heard gunfire and saw others running away. From the camp, she said, she sometimes still hears shooting in Cote d'Ivoire.

"I left my husband at the border to take care of our things," she said.

Kpahn and some of the other refugees at Bahn camp engage in small trade to help earn money while they wait on their food rations. Working in her shelter, which was sweltering in the noon heat, Kpahn wrapped up snuff in small pieces of plastic. Children helped her tie off the bags.

Dina Sinigallia, an external relations officer with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), said the agency's first priority is to secure the safety of the refugees and move them from the border. She said they receive items to allow them to carry out their lives as normal as possible.

"They get ration cards, they get a full pack of non-food items, meaning they get kitchen sets. They have already received blankets. They have already received sleeping mats," she said.

Sinigallia said the refugee influx has changed from being a slow and steady trickle to the arrival of large families.

Almost 400 shelters have been built so far and a dozen more are erected each day at Bahn, according to UNHCR. The camp is expected to host about 15,000 refugees, with a family of five able to reside in each shelter, according to Monika Olsen, program manager for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which manages the camp. Many refugees still live with local Liberians.

"We have about 15 designated villages they can go to … so they have a choice to go to the camps, stay in the villages or remain by the border," Olsen said.

Meeting various healthcare needs of the refugees has been daunting, said Mary Lankah, a physician assistant and officer in charge of the Saclepea Health Center.

"We are treating them for malaria, severe anemia, tuberculosis, HIV and cancer too," she said. So far, she said, they have not had to aid anyone who has been wounded in the fighting.

Wage peace.
American Mom
How are you, Daniel and Jemima?
Nancy Kumba? Patience-Siah?
We are worried.
njvm

From All Africa News

Cote d'Ivoire: 'Everyone Was Running'

Boakai Fofana

17 March 2011

Bahn, Liberia — A makeshift gate made of rope and rags hangs across the dirt road leading into Bahn Refugee Camp in Liberia. Inside, children play soccer as their parents cook beside their tarpaulin shelters. Tree stumps dot the recently cleared landscape.

Mathew Zou, a 39-year-old teacher, recently walked two days to the Bahn camp from neighboring Cote d'Ivoire with his 11 family members. He said although he did not witness fighting back home it was close.

"I heard the sound of shooting," he said. "Everybody was just running to Liberia and the [New Forces] fighters were passing us with guns."

Oldma Massa Zaweah, a Liberian, said she plans to visit the Bahn camp. She said when she was a refugee in Cote d'Ivoire in the 1990s Ivorian families helped her and now she wants to try to find them.

"If I find the family that helped us, I will help them too," she said.

Cote d'Ivoire hosted most of the 350,000 Liberians who fled their country during 14 years of conflict. Now, with a protracted political stalemate and escalating violence, some 90,000 refugees from Cote d'Ivoire have entered Liberia, the United Nations special representative for Liberia, Ellen Margrethe Løj, told the Security Council on Wednesday. Of them, 40,000 are registered and 50,000 have arrived in the past 18 days alone, she said.

Løj, echoing concerns raised by Liberian diplomats and others, said there was increasing worry over the potential security fallout from the influx of such large numbers of refugees.

"Liberia is much stronger today than it was eight years ago," said Løj, who also heads the United Nations Mission in Liberia (Unmil). "Nevertheless, we should not take these eight years of unbroken peace for granted. Continued and increased international engagement will be needed."

Security has already deteriorated considerably in Cote d'Ivoire with fighting in the countryside between soldiers and militia backing incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo and New Forces fighters who support president-elect Alassane Ouattara. Gbagbo, despite having lost the November run-off election that was certified by the United Nations, has refused to cede power. Ouattara has been recognized by the international community as Cote d'Ivoire's legitimate president. He and his cabinet remain holed up in a hotel in the country's commercial capital Abidjan.

Cote d'Ivoire suffered a brief civil war that ended with a 2005 peace accord that led to last year's elections. There are growing fears that all-out conflict will resume with the potential to engulf much of the West African region.

Some 10,000 UN peacekeepers are in Cote d'Ivoire to monitor the 2005 peace accord, protect UN personnel and installations, and shield civilians under immediate threat of physical violence. They have been protecting Ouattara and his cabinet and have come under attack by pro-Gbagbo forces.

In addition to the tens of thousands of people who have fled Cote d'Ivoire, the UN says there are an additional 300,000 internally displaced. Most of them have fled fighting in Abidjan between allies of Ouattara and Gbagbo. Aid workers have expressed frustration over an inability to care for the wounded, and hunger is a growing threat.

The western area of Cote d'Ivoire is increasingly insecure. During the nation's civil war, the country was divided between pro-Ouattara forces in the north and pro-Gbagbo troops in the south. That line now appears to be blurring, according to refugees.

Monique Kpahn, 55, said she fled her home two weeks ago when she heard gunfire and saw others running away. From the camp, she said, she sometimes still hears shooting in Cote d'Ivoire.

"I left my husband at the border to take care of our things," she said.

Kpahn and some of the other refugees at Bahn camp engage in small trade to help earn money while they wait on their food rations. Working in her shelter, which was sweltering in the noon heat, Kpahn wrapped up snuff in small pieces of plastic. Children helped her tie off the bags.

Dina Sinigallia, an external relations officer with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), said the agency's first priority is to secure the safety of the refugees and move them from the border. She said they receive items to allow them to carry out their lives as normal as possible.

"They get ration cards, they get a full pack of non-food items, meaning they get kitchen sets. They have already received blankets. They have already received sleeping mats," she said.

Sinigallia said the refugee influx has changed from being a slow and steady trickle to the arrival of large families.

Almost 400 shelters have been built so far and a dozen more are erected each day at Bahn, according to UNHCR. The camp is expected to host about 15,000 refugees, with a family of five able to reside in each shelter, according to Monika Olsen, program manager for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which manages the camp. Many refugees still live with local Liberians.

"We have about 15 designated villages they can go to … so they have a choice to go to the camps, stay in the villages or remain by the border," Olsen said.

Meeting various healthcare needs of the refugees has been daunting, said Mary Lankah, a physician assistant and officer in charge of the Saclepea Health Center.

"We are treating them for malaria, severe anemia, tuberculosis, HIV and cancer too," she said. So far, she said, they have not had to aid anyone who has been wounded in the fighting.

[End]

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

Worldview Magazine | National Peace Corps Association

2011-03-15T10:13:00.000-06:00

CONTINUE SUPPORT OF PEACE CORPS
SUPPORT EDUCATION/PC
ACTION DAY

Worldview Magazine National Peace Corps Association

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

Friends of Daniel Collage 1 & 2

2011-03-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

Friends of Daniel ALL!

Meet CHPC's Charlie Fiser, Treasurer
Extraordinaire. And Friends of Daniel
Treasurer.
Without his dedicated service to
our outreach network for seven years plus -- we never would
be where we are today; with an exemplary accounting of checks
and balances, ...awaiting a Reunion
with our African son, Daniel, either in Denver
or Liberia.
My own heart continues to be grateful for Charlie's services
and for a well-kept accounting system.
---
FYI. Charlie maintained a full-time job throughout--
while volunteering his time to account for our fundraisers,
sale of Kente cloth, Western Unions to Daniel and family,
transferred complicated transactions to a bank in Ghana,
receipt of air travel donation for the possible reunion,
AND the receipt of many generous donations
to the Friends of Daniel, all which were lovingly given to Daniel and his family.
Charlie still maintains our original website, www.friendsofdaniel.org
while I maintain our Blog of 5 +Yrs, www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com.
----
See our recent Collages 1 & 2 of the Friends of Daniel. Our special journey together!
Cheers, let's enjoy the communal table filled with
palm butter soup, very spicy! Join us!
AND
Happy Birthday, Peace Corps! The origins of the journey...
50 years ago.

----
Safe journey, always. To all wherever you may go.

...it took a village to save one African family...
You made a difference in the life of one resilient and remarkable African family.
Peace and blessings,
nancy v machin RPCV/Liberia. 1977-79.
American Mom

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org
Friends of Daniel
c/o CHPC Church
1100 Fillmore St
Denver, CO 80206 USA.

2011-03-12T08:24:00.000-07:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

First Divine Science Church Of Denver

2011-03-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

First Divine Science Church Of Denver

Oneness...
nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-03-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

Wage Peace.
Happy Birthday, Peace Corps.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

Collage Friends of Daniel 2003-2010

2011-03-08T18:36:00.000-07:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-03-08T09:43:00.000-07:00

Oxfam: Risk of another forgotten emergency in Africa as thousands flee Ivory Coast violence

March 7, 2011 - Africa's latest crisis is escalating into further bloodshed and suffering and risks becoming another "forgotten emergency" as thousands of Ivorian refugees flee for their lives, international agency Oxfam warned today. The agency is gearing up its operations as the number of people escaping the West African country in search of safety and aid in Liberia shot up from 40,000 to 70,000 over just a few days last week. This figure is likely to increase rapidly if fighting continues over the coming weeks.

Oxfam is deploying a team of aid experts and preparing to provide clean water, sanitation and hygiene supplies to refugees in Liberia. Conditions for refugees and host communities in the border areas are very poor, with people receiving inadequate assistance.

"This could become Africa's latest forgotten crisis. Thousands of civilians are fleeing for their lives yet the international community is failing to respond adequately. The world risks being seriously unprepared for the escalating crisis in West Africa," said Chals Wontewe, Oxfam's Country Director in Liberia.

"For more than three months now the people of Ivory Coast have been living with the threat of violence, intimidation, economic collapse and sexual assault. The situation is now deteriorating rapidly and urgent action is needed to avert a humanitarian crisis.

"The conditions for refugees and communities hosting them in Liberia are extremely worrying. People are in dire need of the very basics – clean water, food and shelter," said Wontewe.

The large influx into Liberia is already putting a severe strain on poor villages, forcing camps and transit centres to be set up, mainly in Nimba county in eastern Liberia and further south along the Ivory Coast-Liberia border.

The crisis in Ivory Coast caused by the contested presidential election in November 2010 has resulted in months of instability and a steep increase in violent clashes in the past week. As well as rising political and military tensions, many banks remain closed, prices of basic goods are rocketing and more than 500,000 people have lost their jobs.

"The next few weeks will be crucial. Governments, the UN and aid agencies must respond to the increasing need and ensure relief supplies reach eastern Liberia before the rainy season starts to hamper access," said Wontewe. "The situation is quickly deteriorating and requires a rapid response.

"This must not be allowed to develop into another forgotten crisis. Growing humanitarian needs will require much more attention than they are getting at the moment, and must be backed up by significant funds and resources."

Notes:

1. In addition to a growing rate of refugees crossing international borders, there is an increasing number of displaced people in Danane, Duekoue, Man and Abidjan (especially Abobo district) in Ivory Coast itself due to ongoing fighting in the west of the country.

2. The majority of refugees in Liberia are being hosted by families in more than 76 border villages in Nimba county.

3. Refugees are now beginning to enter Liberia further south in Grand Gedeh, River Gee and Maryland counties.

4. Oxfam is preparing to help provide clean water, sanitation facilities and hygiene supplies to up to 70,000 people in the coming months. The agency also plans to help families hosting refugees to restock diminished food supplies.

Website: www.oxfam.org

wage peace--american mom.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-03-08T00:32:00.000-07:00

a word from the Founder of the Friends of Daniel

Give a Shout -- it is time to publish our blog into a book
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps.
Bio follows.
http://www.friendsofdaniel.org/

Nancy Vorkink Machin

Biography

www.friendsofdaniel.org talking drum with Daniel blog

Facebook.com FriendsofDaniel

Never doubt that a small group of committed individuals can change the world.

Indeed it it the only thing that ever has. ~ M. Mead

N

ancy J.V. Machin (Nancy Vorkink Machin) resides in Denver, Colorado. In addition to her writing and teaching, she is the founder of the Friends of Daniel, an outreach network of support for her former student, Daniel F. Poawalio, of Liberia, West Africa. Their friendship spans thirty years. When Daniel, trained as an economist, turned to Vorkink, during the brutal civil war in his country of Liberia, the Friends of Daniel, helped his family flee their war-torn country. Out of harm’s way, the family endured the confines of an international refugee camp for four years. Vorkink Machin and Friends assisted the family with a monthly stipend, birthday packages, and books of poetry for a refugee Poetry Club, and launched a major fundraiser, an All Africa Night. Five local churches became involved in the Friends of Daniel work; one US Senator and one US Congresswoman tried to assist in immigration matters. Recently, Daniel and his family repatriated to Liberia with the aid of the Friends of Daniel. In the refugee camp, Daniel’s second girl child named Nancy Kumba was born. Vorkink Machin has never seen her namesake. www.friendsofdaniel.org Talking Drum blog

B

orn in Ithaca, New York, Vorkink Machin is the first woman in her family to earn a college degree and, later, a Master’s degree. Her father, a Dutch Indonesian, was born in Java, Indonesia and her mother, of English descent, was born in the Bronx, New York. Janice and Francois Vorkink, married forty-six years, before Janice suddenly passed away at the age of sixty-four. Vorkink’s father passed away at the age of eighty-eight, survived by two sons and one daughter, Nancy, the eldest. Both brothers have Yale and Harvard degrees, and work overseas on extended assignments, as did Francois Vorkink, who held no college degrees. At 65, Vorkink recently married Walter E. Machin, also of Denver.

V

orkink Machin went overseas, at the age of nineteen, as a foreign student for one year at Robert College in Istanbul, Turkey. Coming to Istanbul with her family, she traveled through thirteen European cities. She studied Turkish, Social Psychology and enrolled in a bilingual Humanities course, with mostly male and Muslim students. Vorkink Machin performed the part of Cassandra in a Shakespeare play. In the college journal, she published five poems. The second year, Vorkink Machin attended the University of Grenoble in France. At the end of the year, she passed the Certificat d’etudes francaises (premier degree). That summer, in 1963, she worked in Paris as an au pair.

I

n Boston, Vorkink Machin worked and studied at Harvard at night. Her studies included literature, psychology, and philosophy by Harvard professors. She attended Radcliffe Seminars. In 1972, she received her B.A. from Harvard in Social Sciences. She worked at Boston Environment. Just back from a safari in Uganda, East Africa, and Vorkink’s love affair with Africa began. She went back to Nigeria, West Africa to do fieldwork for her M.A., and taught at Mayflower School under the tutelage of Dr. Tai Solarin. In 1975, Vorkink earned her M.A. in Social Ecology.

V

orkink Machin returned to Africa in 1977. As a Peace Corps teacher, she taught in a remote village in the rainforest in northern Liberia. Lesson plans in Language Arts had to be improvised, due to a lack of chalk and textbooks, in both pigeon English and standard English. Poetry nights by students involved the village, the elders and curious villagers. In the village of Kolahun, Daniel Poawalio was Vorkink’s helper and student. Vorkink Machin sent reports from the interior and poems for the Peace Corps paper. The second year, Vorkink Machin taught an innovative Environmental Science course at a U.N. Multilateral School. She had nine classes or 300 students, almost an entire village. When her tour was over, she said farewell to Daniel Poawalio in 1979, six months before the deadly coup in Liberia.

I

n Muslim and Arabic-speaking Algeria, North Africa, Vorkink Machin taught technical English. Vorkink married a former Peace Corps volunteer. In Oran, Algeria, she wore a beige caftan and spoke French. She lived in a compound of expatriates and had a cat named Saida (happiness). She left Algeria unexpectedly via Paris in 1980.

Vorkink Machin resettled in Denver. She created a class, Sociology 101: Women in Developing Countries. Both the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News did stories on her life and the class. Working at the Auraria Campus for sixteen years, soon she found a position as adjunct faculty at the Community College of Denver and at the University of Colorado at Denver. She taught English Composition and developed a Life Story Writing curriculum. She also taught at-risk teenagers at a charter school. In 1983, her divorce was final the same month her mother suddenly passed away.

A

t the University of Denver, after twenty years out of school, Vorkink Machin enrolled in an Advanced Creative Writing Program. She studied all genres: short story, fiction, investigative reporting, memoir, family history, literature, and more in a core program. She completed her advanced certificate in 2000. Her GPA A-.

A

s a member of the International Women’s Writing Guild in New York, Vorkink became the Regional Rep in Denver for four years. She organized panels on publishing, the writer’s life, and genre writing at the local public library. Vorkink introduced IWWG to Denver at Denver’s Tattered Cover Bookstore. In the summers, she attended the one week Remember the Magic conference in Saratoga Springs, NY. At the same time, Vorkink became a member of Denver’s Lighthouse Writers Workshops. She facilitated Artist’s Way classes in Denver. She volunteered at the G-8 Summit in 1998 in Denver. At present, she facilitates Life Story Writing Workshops for seniors. She is a keen labyrinth walker.

P

ublishing credits range in diversity. Before coming to Denver in 1980, Vorkink’s writings remained in academe. She broke out into community action. In an inner city empowerment program, she facilitated a bilingual poetry journal. Her poems have been published in the International Poetry Review, Silver Lode, IWWG’s Network, Wishing Well Rehab Newsletter, and more. Vorkink designed a Healing Meditation bookmark for First Lady Rosalynn Carter. In 1987, Vorkink won First Prize in Poetry for Song of Kekula at the Denver Woman’s Press Club. In 1996, Vorkink self-published Wanderlust: Poems of a Cross-Cultural Journey which was sold to the Denver Public Library. Vorkink won First Prize for Talk to Me, Telephone Man in a World AIDS Awareness contest, in memory of a friend who died from AIDS. In 1997, three Island Poems To Go were published on an antique letterpress, and sold on Swan’s Island, Maine. Vorkink did freelance work with the Colorado Woman News, writing articles on 9/11 aftermath, Colorado poets, and writing groups in Denver. Diane Carman of The Denver Post in 2003 wrote a column about Vorkink’s work with the Friends of Daniel. Vorkink went on local TV (NBC-affiliate) to plea for help for Daniel and his family. In 2005, she gave a reading of her essay, Stones for the Journey (Sacred Stones, ed. by Maril Crabtree) at Denver’s famed Tattered Cover. Subsequently, she crafted a poem, The Reading, to Joyce Meskis, owner of Tattered Cover bookstore. In June 2006, The Washington Post published a spiritual piece in the My Faith series entitled, Heal Thyself, Heal the World. For Vorkink’s Life Story Writing workshops, she wrote a 77-page handbook, To Taste Life Twice.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

nancyvorkink@comcast.net

danpoawalio@yahoo.com

Donations

Friends of Daniel

c/o Treasurer

1100 Fillmore St.

Denver, CO 80206

USA

Enclosures Follow

Video from Daniel.

Brochures & Cards: Story of Daniel and his American Friends.

Africa Nite Live!

Photos of the Family.

Kente Cloth Display/Educational Fund for Three African Sisters

African tribal masks on display.

Kissi currency.

Drums…

Save the planet, one family at a time.

…it takes a village…

Never doubt that a small group of committed individuals can change the world.

Be the change you wish to see.

WAGE PEACE.
GIVE A SHOUT TO PUBLISH OUR BLOG INTO A BOOK.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-03-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

wage peace. wage peace.

Friends of Daniel.

FYI.

Our hope to see Daniel alone on US shores may

be diminishing: there is a protracted unrest nearby

in Cote d"Ivoire with refugees pouring into Liberia.

I have not heard anything from Daniel since Christmas.

He seems to be on Facebook but I know his computer

at work is restricted or down. April was to be our reunion date.

-------

I recall...when I learned I was going to LIBERIA in

Peace Corps to serve, some said Oh...LIBYA. AT that

time, and still, notorious and oil, oil, oil.

This unfolding of MidEAST protests peacful in Egypt--

end of monarchies/30-yr rules in

Bahrain, Algeria, (Tunis), all impacted by chaotic,

dangerous events in LIBYA...why? Libya is tribal.

Civil war is more possible ...we saw in Liberia--Chas Taylor

responsible for 250,000 lives, now still in the war criminal

courts in the Hague...ethnic war for 14-years.

We saw what DANIEL and his family endure: thanks to

the Friends of Daniel we save one family...at a time.

-----------------------

Yes, I am suggesting there is a link between events in

Libya and Liberia...north and west Africa are connected.

Ethnic identities are stronger than goverance.

----

One point further...

I lived also in Oran, Algeria and there all my students

named Mohammed, or my roll book, Mohammed 1, 2, 3

as the family names unforgiving for this western teacher.

English was the THIRD language, with Arabic, French ahead

of the pack. Few women attended this college. I learned much

however from the women of Algeria -- as all MidEAst women--

traditional in dress, but with western garb underneath, and ways

to communicate with all those layers of muslin cloth...still a grown

woman had to walk so many feet behind her son, or brother to the market.

Today...I see few women on the streets as protestors; it is a man's war.

Where have all the women and children gone? In Libya?

In hiding?

A humanitarian crisis looms I fear beginning with Libya women and

chidren and the outside tribal factors And

will link to Liberia, where our friend, son, African man, Daniel, lives...

we sent prayers in Arabic and English to our sisters and brothers in

the North and West African universe.

(ed.)

Nancy V Machin RPCV/Liberia. Nigeria. Algeria.

American Mom

FRIENDS OF DANIEL

www.friendsofdaniel.blogspot.com

wage peace every day.

2011-02-22T08:19:00.000-07:00

Wage peace.

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-02-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-02-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

my funny Valentine collage
Oringal artwork by american mom
Wage Peace. Make Peace, Not War.
Protest your Dignity, Expression, Rights.
nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

2011-02-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

No! Ivory Coast Protest Killings & Liberia refugees!

Source NY Times.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

February 19, 2011

Ivorian Forces Fire on ProtestersBy REUTERS

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (Reuters) — Security forces in Ivory Coast fired live bullets and tear gas on Saturday to disperse protesters in Abidjan who were calling for the incumbent leader, Laurent Gbagbo, to step down, witnesses said. At least one person was wounded.

Mr. Gbagbo’s rival, Alassane Ouattara, has called for mass protests like those in Egypt as Mr. Gbagbo refuses to leave office despite a Nov. 28 presidential election whose results, certified by the United Nations, show that Mr. Ouattara won.

Witnesses said that hundreds of youths had gathered on Saturday in Abidjan, the country’s main commercial city, but that soldiers and police officers dispersed them.

The area of the protest, the Abobo neighborhood, has been a center of support for Mr. Ouattara and has often been the scene of violent clashes between security forces and civilians.

“The youths started assembling at the roundabout this morning. The security forces came in armored vehicles and fired tear gas and bullets into the air,” said Tieba Doumbia, 30, who owns a small shop nearby.

A tear gas grenade landed in a local market, forcing dozens of women to flee, he said. There was no immediate comment from the military or the police.

At least one protester was shot and wounded by a soldier, said one witness, Idrissa Diarrassouba. He also said protesters had looted a large department store owned by a Lebanese businessman seen as close to Mr. Gbagbo.

There are tens of thousands of Lebanese in Ivory Coast, and some run businesses that range from small shops to large export companies. Many are seen as pro-Gbagbo, and Lebanon’s ambassador was one of only two diplomats to go to his swearing in.

The army imposed a curfew across the country over the weekend that was to be lifted Sunday evening.

Mr. Gbagbo has defied widespread international condemnation and Western sanctions by clinging to power. He has the backing of a legal body that overturned Mr. Ouattara’s victory and of the military, which has crushed dissent.

West Africa’s central bank has cut Mr. Gbagbo off, setting off a liquidity crisis that has forced international banks to close their Ivorian operations. Mr. Gbagbo decreed Thursday that the main ones were to be forcibly nationalized and re-opened on Monday.

Paramilitary forces loyal to Mr. Gbagbo killed at least six civilians in Abobo earlier this month. At least 300 people have been killed in violence since the disputed election, mostly Ouattara supporters killed by pro-Gbagbo forces, the United Nations says.

Wage peace,
american mom

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org

Breton Fisherman’s Prayer - Dear God, be good to me; The sea is so w

2011-02-19T16:24:00.000-07:00

Breton Fisherman’s Prayer -
Dear God, be good to me; The sea is so wide.
And my boat is so small.

Wage peace.
american mom

2011-02-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

Valentine's Day Scramble
2011
Love,
American Mom\Collage

Poetry To Go

2011-02-16T07:17:00.000-07:00

Poetry To Go

nancy@friendsofdaniel.org