Beyond the tension (see the “Being the other” blog post), Saturday was about community. FrontPage Africa reporter and photographer, Nat Bayjay, and I spent the day touring his neighborhood, Clara Town, which he referred to as a “slum” on the outskirts of Monrovia.
We were met with so much kindness and warmth as we wandered the dirt streets, avoiding soggy puddles from this impotent rainy season. We made our way to the new soccer field donated to the community by the current president’s, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, ruling party. Nat said the area is largely supportive of the opposition party, the CDC, and this soccer pitch is an attempt to get the people together to see the results of her presidency.
Color saturated everything. And the teams lined up to compete, but they didn’t play soccer; they played kickball. It was surprise for me, another curious difference in this African country from others I’ve traveled. In Liberia, fuel is pumped in gallons. We traveled in miles. Even the Liberian money is called “dollars,” and most vendors happily accept U.S. money over “liberty.”
A thousand or more people surrounded the field. Children frequently burst onto the pitch and were immediately chased off by teenage boys with switches. There was energy bolting around the field. The president was on her way. She was supposed to be there by three in the afternoon. Nat and I left at five. I don’t know if she came.
