Cover Page of the Corner News

Hello again,

If you are in Auburn, pick up a copy of The Corner News.  This is West Africa's story made the cover.  You can see the pictures and read the story at http://www.thecornernews.com/!  Thanks to Erin for working so hard on getting our story out there.

If you are looking for more information:

email:  tiwa.robert@gmail.com
          tiwa.kaleigh@gmail.com

phone:  334-319-5050

Robert.

Back in Auburn

Kaleigh and I are finally back in Auburn and Kenneth is back in Nigeria.  As we settle back into our routines, I hope that our supporters will continue to keep track of our progress.  We have an enormous amount of research to do concerning the type of school we would like to build in Zahn Banla as well as the way in which we would like the school to operate. 

We discussed with our team the time and purpose of our next trip to Liberia and Kaleigh and I are fully committing ourselves to the extensive fundraising efforts that will surely be necessary.  We would like to return within a year to complete several projects that will be integral in the construction and operation of our school in Zahn Banla.  We would like to be able to: (1) clear the 10 acres of land that was given to This is West Africa, (2) stake out potential sites for the school building as well as the housing for the teachers, and (3)  start construction of a water tower that will supply the school and the teachers' housing with running, purified water.  These are our basic goals and we will probably be undertaking some other minor projects within the community such as installation of hand pumps, septic tanks, etc.

I would like to continue to update this blog with my ideas for this project.  We plan using solar power, hyroelectricity, satellite internet service, and other new technology that will enable our school to be a leader in the fight against the disasterous state of the education system in rural Liberia.

I would like to say thank you again to everybody who has helped our cause and continues to help our cause.  We receive checks almost every week and for that we are eternally grateful.  We hope to have our official tax exemption by July or August and in time we will be distributing deduction receipts.  We will also have a website launched in the coming months that will help our continuing effort to raise awareness of our cause.  Please stay tuned to this blog for more updates.

Thank you,
Robert
(334)-319-5050
tiwa.robert@gmail.com

Back in the US

28 hours of traveling and we are finally back to Atlanta.  I want to thank everyone again who made this trip possible and I hope everyone will continue to take an interest in what we will be doing in the future.

The work that needs to be done in Liberia is vast and at times seems overwhelming.  There is a need everywhere and most of the population lives in abject poverty.  The main cause of all of the desperation, I believe, is the disastrous state of the education system.  So we will start on a small scale.  The next few months will be spent doing research and planning for our small school in Zahn Banla; and of course continuous efforts to raise funds.

I will discuss how the school will look and function in future posts and also ask for suggestions because this is very new to Kaleigh and I.  We thank everyone again for helping us in so many ways and there will be more updates coming soon!

Robert 

Back in Monrovia pt. 2

(See previous post)

Thursday 3/17-  As Thursday came we were all ready to be completed with the survey and head back to the city of Ganta.  We casted the first two cornerstones and just as we were moving on to the next two a man who had pitched a fit one day before about us supposedly encroaching on his land decided that he wanted to give us the land.  While more land sounded good to everyone, I reminded them that the giving and the surveying of the land is the easy part and turning into something like a school that improves the community for future generations will be more difficult.  I announced that we should settle with the 10 acres and grow from there if and when we need more land.  Everyone was satisfied and we left soon after lunch for Ganta.

Friday 3/18-  The day was spent mostly resting.  We went around town to get prices on all of the building materials in the area and to look at water tower and generator systems (there is no running water or electricity in the whole of Liberia).

Saturday 3/19-  Friday night, Kaleigh could not sleep and Saturday morning (her birthday) she had a fever, her whole body was aching, and she had a severe headache.  We took her to the hospital because we thought she had malaria but the tests came back negative and the doctor said it was endemic fever.  This is an infection that is caused by coming into contact with fleas from rats or other small rodents.  They prescribed about five different medications and she slept for most of the day.  Kaleigh woke up in time for the party we threw for the local children and they were able to sing happy birthday to her!

Sunday 3/20-  Kaleigh was 100 times better and we left for Monrovia in the afternoon.

Now we are finishing some business in the city and awaiting our return flight on Wednesday night.  Of course, we will update everyone in more detail and I assure you we have hundreds of pictures.

Robert 

Back in Monrovia

We have completed our work in the interior of Liberia and we had some trouble with the internet last week so I will try to give an update of the many things that have taken place.

Sunday: 3/13-  We visited the Cote d'Ivoire refugee camp in Bahn, Liberia.  The UNHCR is prepared to accept more than 15,000 refugees that are fleeing the conflict zone in the western part of Cote d'Ivoire.  These people are given minimal food rations and must live in shelters made out of sticks and tarps.  Diarrhea and other sicknesses are fast to spread throughout the camp and many of the children do not have clothes.  This also puts pressure on the Liberians living in Bahn as many of them live in poverty and have limited resources.  On Saturday we visited a refugee camp in Saclapea, Liberia that held about 1,500 refugees from Cote d'Ivoire that fled the 2002 war.

Monday: 3/14-  We traveled to the capital city of Nimba County, Shaniquellie.  There we met with the land commissioner of Nimba County and he then produced a document ordering the land surveyor to proceed with the survey of the land that was given to us in Zahn Banla.  This process should have taken about 30 minutes, but this is Liberia, so it took about 5 hours!

Tuesday: 3/15-  We crammed 12 persons (Our team, the driver, and 6 surveyors), all the surveying equipment, and all of the food for the workers in our Mitsubishi pickup and set off for Zahn Banla.  The survey began but there was much arguing amongst the 30+ spectators about where the boundaries actually were.  We left the land frustrated and still unsure of the boundaries.

Wednesday: 3/16-  The work began at 7:00 AM and ended at 7:00 PM.  The men were clearing brush and marking the territory all day.  There was more bickering throughout the day concerning who owned what land and what they were actually giving This is West Africa.  In the end, it turns out that the villagers' perception of an acre is a bit skewed and we ended up with 10 acres and not 30.  We feel that 10 acres is more than enough to build the type of school we are envisioning, so all is well and the villagers are happy, too.

I will update the last half of the week later and we will try to upload more pictures on facebook as well.

Tribal Document

We have made it through two and a half weeks here in Liberia and we are proud to announce that all of the work that was planned has been completed.  The hand pump started gushing today around 12 o'clock which was followed by much jubilation (especially the children).  We now begin the final phase of our plan.

The people of the Zahn Clan of the Mano Tribe have donated 30 acres of land to This is West Africa for the construction and operation of a school!  While the plans are still tentative, we received a tribal document yesterday detailing where the land is located and transferring ownership of it to our little organization.  We will take the document to the land commissioner on Monday and hopefully begin surveying the land on Tuesday.

The people are excited of the possibility of a school, but I did my best to tell them that giving us the land is the easy part; and it will take months and years of fundraising and planning to make their vision and hope a reality.

If we have accomplished anything this far in Liberia, it is getting these people on board with sacrificing and working hard now towards a more beneficial and peaceful life for future generations!

Robert 

Disaster Tourism

If the education system in Ganta, a relatively large town, is bad, then there are no words to describe the condition of the education system in the isolated rural land of Zahn that we visited this weekend. This land is a conglomeration of about ten villages each with its own "government funded" public elementary school. The highest level any of these schools reaches is 6th grade. If a child is to progress beyond 6th grade, they must walk three hours to the town of Duo and their family has to pay school fees every semester. Needless to say, not many young people receive anything more than a watered down, government operated 6th grade education.

Now imagine the devastation that this lack of education has had on the community year after year. People live on less than $2 a day and I would say 85% cannot read or write. It came as no surprise that our team has unanimously decided to start our education initiative right in the midst of this community. The people are desperate; but they are also hopeful that This is West Africa and its supporters can start something that will end the cycle of poverty and make Liberia a prosperous place for all!

Robert

Day 10 in Liberia

Our first in-depth look at the education system here in Ganta, Liberia took place today.  Some of what we saw puzzled me but most of it was, sadly, what I expected.  First off, the majority of the schools were not even in session today and when we asked why, the people replied, "it's Friday" as if I was asking a stupid question.  Many classrooms held 50 plus students and the teacher was nowhere to be found.  Yes, the teachers and students lack the resources that we have in the U.S., but the fact remains that the techniques used by the teachers (rote memorization and repetition) are at least 100 years old.

It has become apparent that in order to achieve our goal in this part of Liberia, This is West Africa will have to build and operate its own school.  We do not have any details figured out at this point, but this will surely be our next project and will likely take months or years to exist.  We will need a lot of help and we hope that our supporters will feel the same way we do.

We are trying to upload pictures on facebook but it is very tedious and difficult.  We hope we will be able to add one every other night.

Robert  

Day 4 in Liberia

Thursday, the day after our late arrival in Monrovia, we did some shopping for foods and materials and had a meeting with all of the board members. We are very lucky to have many established, well educated and honorable people to be assisting and guiding us in our journey.

Friday, our plans were to leave around 10am at the latest and head to the interior. We met our first problem when one of our drivers, Sam, was put into jail for arguing with a policeman. Honorable Fiiandor, a friend and leader in the community and the one providing the drivers and vehicles for our travels, had to go get him out and we expected to be on our way soon. Many things happened, many I am unsure of, but leaving for Ganta was not one of them. We ended up leaving around 4:30pm after much delay and safely made it to Ganta around 10pm.

Today, Saturday, we are in Ganta. Everything is going great with the work and the relationship building. I got to work with all of the volunteers. They worked on the porch and the kitchen of the community house today. Kaleigh spent most of her day being called "white woman," playing with the children of the community, and speaking with many women of the community.

We will try to upload pictures but the connection is sporadic. We are fine and having great success with our mission so far. More later!

Robert

A Journey Without Maps

We leave for Liberia tomorrow.  We will not actually arrive in Liberia until Wednesday night but our 32-hour hopscotch across the globe begins tomorrow.  We are as prepared as we can be with malaria and anti-diarrheal pills as well as pounds and pounds of luggage (mainly kid's clothes).  We have worked so hard to get to this point and now the real work of delivering supplies and communicating the message of love and service to the people of Liberia begins.  Let me say thank you again to everyone who has supported us financially and through prayers and also with the organizational aspects of this trip.

At this point, our tentative plan is to arrive in Monrovia Wednesday night and go straight to the house where we will stay in Monrovia to try and get some sleep.  Thursday will be a busy day in Monrovia where we will check in with the U.S. Embassy, register This is West Africa with the Liberian Government, buy some supplies for Ganta, and host a meeting of the Liberian Advisory Board.  On Friday, we will depart for Nimba County.  At this point we will do our best to update this blog as we may not be able to access the internet for 3 weeks, but we will do our best.

People have asked if we are nervous, scared, or worried to be embarking on this journey.  I cannot speak for Kaleigh but as for myself, I have faith that we will be protected.  We have prepared enough to know what to do in every situation and our day to day activities will be conducted with our very close friends and their families.  The biggest concern I have at this point is communicating the idea that there are people in America that are eager to help them through donations to This is West Africa; while simultaneously bringing home a narrative of these people that will encourage people to give.  This is sort of double-sided mission of serving a desperate group of people and giving This is West Africa a face and a defined mission for the next few years. Your comments and suggestions will not be overlooked!

Stay tuned for updates

Robert

An Eye on the September 2011 Elections in Liberia

Mayson Vows Regime Change Liberian Observer

Former Ambassador to France, Dew Tuan-Wleh Mayson, has accepted his position of standard bearer for the DEAL Movement (The Democratic Alternative for Liberia). Mayson has vowed to defeat President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the September 2011 elections that will hopefully be peaceful and fair for the sake of the Liberian people.

As of now, the rhetoric and early campaigning of presidential contenders remains civil, but recent trends (specifically in Cote d'Ivoire) may lead one to believe that the political atmosphere in Liberia could change. Let's hope it doesn't, for the sake of the people.

President Johnson has made promises throught her presidency that schools and hospitals will be built throughout the rural areas of Liberia, and that electricity will be made available to more people. Some say that these promises are empty and they are intended only to capture votes in September. Ambassador Mason says, "We need new leadership of deeds and not words."

With that being said, I hope that the race to the presidency will only be fought with words and not deeds; deeds of destruction and deeds of violence. Liberia is still fragile and a key to the ongoing rebuilding process will be a free, fair, and peaceful election in September

A Journey Without Maps

Since This is West Africa's birth in December 2010, we have been on a relentless mission to raise money and awareness for the tasks at hand in Liberia.  We want to thank everybody who has helped us out along the way so far.  From the people who have casually donated ten dollars to the businessmen in Liberia who have given us discounts on building materials, we are forever thankful and appreciative.

In telling people here in the USA about our plans and our goals, there has been one common question that we have been asked:  "Why?"  Of course there is no need to give a reason for why one has a desire to help people; I beleive it is a natural function of humanity.  But why West Africa, and more specifically Liberia?  It is because from the beginning of the slave trade, throughout the era of colinization, and in today's current state of extreme poverty, these people have been forgotten time and time again. 

A common misconception about Liberia is that all Liberians are descendants of freed American Slaves, when in fact, only small minority are Americo-Liberians.  We are taught that Liberia is the only area in Africa not to be colonized, but this is far from the truth.  The settlers were just as repressive to the natives as American settlers were to their slaves.  In time, a tight-knit group of Americo-Liberians had built a governing dynasty that was driving its people further and further into a continuous cycle of poverty. 

And this is where we are today.  A repressive government led to an uprising that led to a destructive 14 year-long war.  And now the rural areas suffer 85% illiteracy rates and 90% unemployment rates.  This is West Africa will not solve this problem in a one-month trip in 2011, but we hope to start something that will be a positive message to the people of Liberia and West Africa.  This message is that YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN!

Welcome

Hi everyone,
thanks for following us! We will be updating our blog periodically during our first trip to Liberia (February 23- March 22) depending on internet access. So stay tuned to see what we are doing in Africa!