Highlights of the Past....Two Weeks, well, actually Three Weeks

The 'L'-Party - on May 19

Theme parties are so much fun, aren't they? Well, I have to admit, I am not the greatest fan of them but from time to time I can handle them. Monrovia is a challenging environment in this way, as some people here are obsessed with theme parties. And believe me, here are some high level costume investors...not easy to catch up with. One recent theme party had the theme "L" - as it was the first letter of the birthday guy's first name. So we were supposed to dress as something starting with an "L". We did our best and as you can see, my roomies and myself got a little creative - there was 'Luxury' (final items were purchased during a quick stop-over at the second-hand and anything-else market - check the real diamonds attached to the shirt), then a very pretty 'Lighthouse' - again, check the jewelry; all unique, all handmade, and - as you can clearly see - a 'Learner' in a driving school. With real pen-pen rider glasses in red. Sweet-o!

LEITI Inter-High School Debate - on May 25
I have talked about the Liberian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) at least once before, when LEITI in cooperation with GIZ openend the first Resource Centre with plenty of literuature on Natural Resource Management and Governance. By then, I was already a big fan of the LEITI staff and enjoyed a lot working with them. And now, I am even a bigger fan.
In order to promote the resource centre among members of the target group (students, civil society, local media, general public) and also to raise awareness on extractive industries issues, LEITI decided to organise a high-school debate; inviting the debate teams (don't forget, you will  find a lot of US American ideas also implemented in Liberia - ties are strong) of four different high schools including their classes and have them debating about issues of transparency and accountability in the natural resource sector. I have to admit I was a bit sceptical in the beginning, if this will work out as planned, but it was legendary and so much fun. Eventually, all the students stayed for 7 hours more or less non-stop in a gym without proper windows, it was extremely hot and humid and a rat started running around and climbing up people's legs at some point - but everyone was happy.

The morning started with two short lectures from the National Investment Commission and CENTAL, the Liberian chapter of Transparency International on the governance challenges in the resource sector and what needs to be done to turn the recent discovery of oil in a success for the country.
After a typical Liberian lunch - fried fish with rice - the debate club entered the arena and for the next more than 3 hours, the students enthusiastically discussed questions such as "Is the current set-up of the LEITI steering group (the Multistakeholder Group, comprised of Government, Civil Society and Private Sector) advantageous?"; certainly always following the very strict debating rules. I was sitting in the jury for a while and it was very impressive. And by the end, when everyone was pretty much exhausted - there was a winner: The B. W. Harris Episcopal High-School from Monrovia. One of their team members was also found as being the "Most Valuable Player" and won a three-month-internship with LEITI.
Congratulations to LEITI - that was awesome!

Getting "fished out" - on May 30
While most of the experiences I have in Liberia are of positive nature, there are some things which are not that nice - and bulglary is one of them. Going to bed around midnight on Tuesday night, I woke up on Wednesday morning and found myself "fished out" - meaning that during the night, thieves came and fetched valuables through my window - including my cellphone with all my German numbers (please email your numbers!!!), my Suisse knive, some cash money and...my keys. They then used the keys to open our iron back door but luckily there were not able to open the following wooden door as I don't have these keys on my key chain and the door is also locked with additional iron bolts. The thieves gave up and disappeared with what they got. However, it is worth to mention that they were somehow considerate as they left the keys (also my office keys) behind when they could not use it, my emptied wallet (credit card and business cards still in) and my small Lappa bags where I had other stuff in. 
Our landlord reacted instantly (it was the third break-in into this building within 10 months...) and got people over to fix the windows with even more iron bars (living in Fort Knox now) and the security guys came to apologize. They did not hear anything as heavy rain was pouring down.
The police came later the day and "investigated" the case of criminal activity and afterwards made me pay 40 USD for "facilitating" the police report - I had to beg for a receipt, so draw you own conclusions on the legality of this money request...
Personally, I learned that I do not have such a light sleep as I always believed - I did not hear a single noise when the guys pulled the bags to the window and emptied them although my bed is only 50cm away. Well, but at least we know that our doors what doors are supposed to do - and I will never ever leave my keys on the desk.

Charles Taylor Trial is eventually over: 50 years in prison - on May 30
Also, on the more serious side, Liberia just experienced a historical moment:
Already on April 26, 2012 Charles Taylor, former Liberian president and dictator, was found guilty for 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Special Court for Sierra Leone and on May 30, the final sentence of 50 years was announced.
Charley Taylor, who took over power in Liberia in 1990 by torturing and killing his predecessor Samuel Doe after six months of rebel war, used to country's vaste natural resources to lead the country into a 14years long civil war and is also responsible for fuelling the civil war which broke in Sierra Leone a bit later. He was eventually arrested in 2006 and has been waiting in the Hague for his trial to begin since then. For a very good overview of the events which led to his verdict can be downloaded here.
I will seize the opportunity to write on the reactions to the outcome of the trial in a different post - it would get too long here.


Liberian Basketball - on June 2

Last Saturday a friend of mine and I went to a basketball match which another friend had organised. He is a member of an organisation founded by Liberians who are aiming at supporting the development in their country. The basketball game was a charity event with all entrance fees etc. being used for the projects. It was great fun to see Liberians playing basketball as usually soccer is the dominant team sport here and you will find soccer fields (or places used as) just everywhere in the city, but barely a basketball court.


Ok, that's it for now. Germany - Portugal will be on in about 1.5 hours and it is time get ready. Thanks once again for reading and take good care of yourself.

PS: I will arrive in Germany in five weeks from today! :)