“Politics is like PBS, without the ‘P’”

My co-worker, who lived in Atlanta during the war, has this quote on a bumper sticker on her car. It’s awesome to see everyday sitting outside our government office. And it’s true. Right now, I’m supposed to be a in the midst of a 6-7 hour drive to the bush, to visit a fishing village, Bogeazay, and discuss plans for a cold storage facility. But instead I am sitting at a desk, in front of a computer, in an office, waiting for the current to be put on so I can access the internet.

The trip was cancelled because of “politics.” The superintendent, who had previously agreed to the plan, then decided that he wanted the project to happen in his village, which is more isolated and harder to visit and brings in less fish on a daily basis. Doesn’t seem to make much sense. The Minister overruled the decision, but wanted us to postpone the trip until ???. It all has to do with party politics, which I don’t have a clear understanding of here yet. The President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is part of the Unity Party. And this Superintendent who is not happy is Liberty Party? There are other actors from different parties involved as well, I don’t have a good handle on the details, but I know the BS of politics prevented me from getting out of the city and seeing what the counties actually look like. Frustrating.

The problem I face now is that my main project – creating a streamlined communal farming policy – really can’t be tackled without getting out to see what’s actually happening. I’ve started to stalk some people on the phone to see if I can meet with them and chat about what’s going on out in the field, but haven’t had much success yet. Hopefully, I’ll make some progress today and then be able to actually get out next week. I don’t have internet yet because the Minister is out of town today, and so there’s no rush to put the current on. Although, there’s also the chance that we’re out of fuel . . . . .

***

The woman who graciously lets me share her office, Ann Dora (who is a rock star), came to MIA from the Ministry of Planning. She was pretty high up there, but was not getting any respect – it was a male-dominated ministry and her ideas were not respected or listened to. So she resigned and joined Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). This all happened a couple months ago, but last night on her way home from work she was listening to the radio and the headline was: Mass Resignations at Ministry of Planning. The story proceeds to mention her, and then the Minister of Planning, her former boss who wasn’t very nice to her while she was there, proceeds to get on the radio and talk about how he doesn’t know why she left, she was a valuable asset, was a very good worker, etc etc. Then he makes the comment: “She’s moved on to greener pastures. She’s making three times her salary.”

That’s a lie, she might be making a little more (maybe?), but definitely not three times more. As she was explaining this to me this morning, she was clearly a little annoyed and kept saying how it was bad to be on the radio. I wasn’t putting two and two together until she spelled it out for me: the false information about her high salary could make her vulnerable to armed robbery. Which she’s already been a victim of twice. During the County Development Agenda (CDA) process, government officials went out in the communities and met with local people to gather their ideas and input into how the counties could be improved. It’s an element under the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) approach – where local level participation helps formulate policy. Anyway, she was very active in that process, and had received a LD$50,000 (Liberian Dollar) check to pay all the county level workers. Things leak here, people heard about it; she left the check at the bank, but armed robbers showed up at her house while she was out and beat up her husband, father, and daughter.

When you’re thinking about development, it’s easy to overlook this stuff. It’s not just about getting the money to people so they can survive, it’s also about the rule of law – allowing people to feel secure. Then there’s sanitation. There’s health care. There’s housing. Garbage removal. Roads. Schools. Electricity. There’s a lot do. Another thing I never really thought about before – a developing country’s blood bank.

A friend of mine works at the Clinton Foundation here, she’s doing policy development and research on blood transfusions. She was telling me about how there is no formal blood bank in Liberia – what often happens is that if your family member needs blood, you donate. But it’s not tested, for anything. There’s clearly an element of trust and desperation there that is not safe. During the rainy season (high malaria season), the demand for blood jumps by over 100%, with most of the recipients being children. Whether the blood is from family or other volunteers, it’s still not tested. I forget the percentage she told me, but some ridiculous percentage contains syphilis, hepatitis, more malaria, or even HIV. So, you have a child who is so sick and so worn down from malaria, a disease of the blood, and you’re giving him or her blood to save their lives . . . but that might also infect their already depleted immune system with another disease. Basically the logic is: save their lives and then treat them for syphilis. Pretty ridiculous. And pretty difficult to address as well, without infrastructure, storage facilities, reliable electricity, and trained staff.

There's just so much to do here. On so many levels. The farming policy I'll be working on seems to pale in comparison to the other health, security, infrastructure etc etc etc etc etc issues. But, at the same time, in a society that is needs its agricultural sector to be strong enough to support itself and it's urban population, it's important to have a strong farming sector. One of the major challenges facing agriculture in general, is the fact that the rural population is so depleted - so many people fled to Monrovia and never went back. The challenge now is to stimulate "reverse migration." The idea is basically to develop the rural sector to encourage people to return "home." Sounds great, but really really really incredibly difficult. Anyway, I need to go stalk people and try to make them give me some insights into the current communal farming policy.

Hoping to take a mini-out-of-Monrovia adventure this weekend . . .