First Ebola Came For the Guinean

So much sadness, anger, and frustration as we grieve with our Liberian family during this time of crisis. I've not wanted to post much as of late, because everything I read about Liberia has been so upsetting. 

Recent reports continue to show that ebola is a mutating virus that could be multiplying vectors. The forecasts look grim and West Africa may not be the only place affected when all is said and done. 

I understand there is a fine line between informing the public and crying 'fire' in a theater if there is only a 'potential' fire. However, it has always been the case that one mutation could put the entire civilized world into chaos as plagues lead to civil unrest, etc., ad nauseam.  I pray that those on the front lines of the current ebola crisis can obtain the tools and resources they need to protect Liberia, and potentially all of us before it becomes too late.

With all of that in mind, and in an obvious homage to Martin Niemöller (1892 – 1984), I submit the following for your consideration:


First ebola came for the Guinean country farmers, and I did not send help—Because we have enough troubles in our own backyard and how does helping a Guinean lower prices at Walmart or the gas pump?


Then ebola came for the Liberian cities, and I did not send help— Because their government is too corrupt, there are more there dying from malaria and unclean drinking water anyway, and bottom line: there is no real profit margin for selling medicine to penniless Liberians.


Then ebola came for the healthcare providers, and I did not offer help but rather I tweeted that they should stay in Africa to suffer and die— Because anyone stupid enough to help those people has disqualified themselves from getting proper healthcare and I wanted this virus out of country, out of sight, and out of mind. 


Then ebola came for me, and I wailed and moaned and pointed fingers as I bled from my eyes and held my dying child —But there was no one left to care for me or listen to my wailing; for those that cared had all been taken away, ill-equipped, and un-aided on the front lines.

I pray the above does not come to pass, rather God's mercies on Liberia and on us all.

The late Ms. Evelyn Beyan was our very first volunteer teacher in central Liberia, who joined us in 2012 and worked for several months without pay because the school buildings in Gbarnga were still being build. She died from ebola still in her 20's on the 26th of August. RIP.

Liberians Helping Liberia - Mary Beh

Honored to be sitting next to one of my heroes: Mary Beh

One can grow weary of reading about all the corruption, violence, ebola, and Boko Haram when it comes to West African news. I'm not saying we shouldn't be aware and against things like bribed judges, heart men, mass kidnappings, and preventable disease, but I'm just wanting to make sure my focus isn't constantly stuck in negative mode. I've found it makes it harder to deal with these problems in a positive way when I'm stuck in a negative mindset. I have learned this lesson from my Liberian brothers and sisters who have remained joyful, happy, hopeful, and full of song and dance even in the midst of atrocity. Certain Liberians are role models to me of how to deal with a constant and pervasive outward attack by my witnessing their inward resilience against all odds. I'd like to showcase of few of these people on my blog because they demonstrate to the whole world how these problems can be overcome: Not by ignoring the problems, but neither by giving these problems too much power over their outlook either. There are better things to set our minds upon and these individuals are just the sort that I set my minds on when I feel discouraged. These are the beautiful people that make Liberia beautiful.

Ma Beh with some of her children. June 2013

The first person I'd like you to know about is Ma Beh. Mary Beh has been a friend of our family for over 30 years. Before the wars she was a high school principal in Buchanan and demonstrated outstanding leadership and organizational skills. She has that certain something that causes people to want to do what she asks them to do. I think it has to do with the fact that she doesn't want you to do stuff for her self interests. She wants you to do things for yourself. Whatever the case I could go on and on about her 'intangibles" and she really is just simply an amazing person. I'd like to share a few 'tangibles' with you though...

L to R: Ma Mary Beh, Bob Sheffler, Bishop Foster, Ken Vogel, Wilmot Kadyu, Wayne Meece, Abba Karnga, Ron Ayers, James Morgan in Liberia app. 1978

First, she stayed in Liberia throughout the wars. I don't say this to induce guilt on anyone. I know that I have struggled with feelings of shame having known my friends were living in hell while I was in the States in relative peace. I understand how many in the Liberian diaspora also struggle with these feelings knowing they had loved ones in danger in Liberia while they were safe. Call it 'survivor's guilt' or whatever, but Ma Beh and others like her can actually help cure us of this guilt. There is nothing more healing than to have someone who lived through that hell accept you and tell you that 'you are welcome' here. She doesn't wear this as a badge of honor or 'lord it over' anyone, but I think the fact that she stayed during the wars deserves respect. She is one who could have possibly made it out of the country. She chose to stay and Liberia is better because she did. She has seen evil face to face and she has stood her ground. She has prayed the devil back to hell so to speak.

My parents with Ma Beh in 2011

Second, she has saved countless lives. While staying in Buchanan during the war she began feeding children that had been orphaned from the violence and chaos of the destruction. She simply says that she fed them because that is what anyone would do. She is wrong about that, not everyone would share scarce food in the middle of a conflict not knowing from where the next meal would come. However, anyone who demonstrates Ma Beh's same spirit most assuredly would feed a hungry child. There is no hesitation, no second guessing. We can live and die together, but no one lives alone. Ma Beh is the kind of person who would stand beside you facing either life or death.

This dear man was a teacher before the war.
He lost his eyesight due to lack of medicine
and after his wife passed he had
no one to help him raise his 5 children.
Ma Beh took them in and he comes
over and visits them regularly
to touch their faces.

Third, she has cared for the basic needs of those under her protection. Whether it be founding a school to educate her orphans, providing them with food, shelter or water; her constant focus has been about giving those under her wing the best possible chance for health, safety, and success in life. For example, a few years ago she took in several orphans from a nearby orphanage that had been using their children for ritualistic murder in juju medicine practices. One girl she took had what might be called a 'hunch back'. This makes her a prime target of juju 'heartmen' (witchdoctor hitmen that harvest body parts for black magic ceremonies). On one day the orphanage was actually infiltrated by a heartman with a ski mask, rice bag, and machete in hand making a bee line for the girl. Her screams scared him off and since then Ma Beh made it a priority to wall up the orphanage and put 'razor wire' around the top to keep people from climbing over in the night. Never mind the enormous expense to her meager budget, she saw to it that the girl under her care was protected. That is her heart and she constantly stands in the gap between those who cannot protect themselves and those that would do them harm.

The area where a heartman had earlier jumped the orphanage fence to 'harvest' a young child. Ma Beh has since raised funds to place wire there to provide some protection for her children.

Lastly, (and I could go on and on), she is joyful. Besides being close to 70 taking care of a disabled grown son and chronically ill husband, she continues on in making her home the home of 42 young children (last time I counted). She continues cleaning, feeding, teaching, and hugging each and every one. She has seen many of her children finish high school and now even go on to college and obtain careers. Her children leave her care and go into the world knowing that though their country could not protect them, mother and father may have abandoned them or even tried to kill them in some cases; whatever that case may be, they know someone who showed them love. They know they have value at least in the eyes of Ma Beh. And Liberia, you should know, you have someone living among you that has immense value to you as well. Liberia, meet one of your heroes. There are many living among you, Ma Beh is definitely one of them.

Some of the many children that share Ma Beh's table. 2008.

I leave you with some of her children greeting us in a song she taught them...

Eternal Love and a Ham Radio

EL1F at his radio in Liberia.

EL is the letter code for all Liberian radio and communication stations. A well known example for those familiar with Liberia is the Christian broadcasting station ELWA, who used their letters as an acronym for the following: "Eternal Love Winning Africa". In pre-Internet Liberia we were dependent upon this kind of 'Eternal Love" or EL communications. Amateur Radio operators (Hammers or 'Hams') used these radios to patch through and actually call family back home. My dad was one of these operators and had his own call letters: EL1F (or 'Echo Lima One Foxtrot' as I think I heard him say on numerous occasions).

My dad's QSL card he would send to other 'hammers' trying to get a new country on their contact list. 

Dad's Amateur Radio License from the 70's

One of the things I remember about these patched calls back home was the fact that it was more like a CB than a phone call. You had to say 'over' after each statement and let off the button to wait for a response. The flow of communication was very jilted and didn't flow very well, but we were very happy to hear from our loved ones back in the States. We will be forever grateful to those Ham Radio Operators that willingly called our family on their dime and then patched our transmission through to them. Today I complain about the lag in cell phone calls or the distortion on a Skype call, but all in all it is loads better than 'back in the day'.

Old school Skype, cellphone, and internet
all rolled into one...

Our radio antenna back in the 70's.

There was one very bad thing about having a ham radio though, which we found out in November 1985.  On November 12th Thomas Quiwonkpa attempted a coup-de-etat against his former co-conspirator Samuel K. Doe. This came one month after the rigged elections between Jackson Doe and Samuel Doe and there was a lot of tension in the air. What this meant for us is that Liberian soldiers stormed our property in a truck load (app. 15 - 20 soldiers in one truck!) of fully armed, camo-wearing, uzi toting, unpaid, AFL. They walked into our house (our parents were out at clinic that day) and proceeded to confiscate our ham radio and all the peripheral equipment from my parent's office. Nothing like that to leave a kid feeling unsettled. (As a side note: To our happy surprise all the equipment was returned once Doe felt he was back in control of the Republic.) 

A rig similar to the one Doe's AFL confiscated from our home.

Today's post is dedicated to all you "hams" out there, especially those involved with or who helped us with Liberian Amateur Radio. Many of you provided a great deal of services and help in times of need. It was and is more than just a hobby. Thanks for all your help! Feel free to QSL below and my best 73's (maybe there is a 'DX' in there also or something like that?) Peace out. Over.

My dad's commemorative QSL card with special prefix for Liberia Amateur Radio Week.

Some of my dad's QSL cards sent to him from other ham radio operators that had made contact with us while we were living in Liberia.

A fundraiser put on by the LRAA to help raise funds for the Leprosy Clinic in Ganta. (Putting some 'Love' in the EL)

A LRAA meeting invitation

QSL card for EL2AY - Kamal Hamzi, president of LRAA

Cover of an Echo Lima Newletter 1987

PS - For more information on Liberian communications (and some fairly graphic Liberian history to boot) you can read more in Samuel Watkin's book "Liberian Communication". (I have not read the whole thing and I'm not getting any affiliate monies from this link, just thought what I read of it was pretty interesting and passing it on).

'Bye y'all! Over.'

Snakes of Liberia

A Gabon Pit Viper. "Cassava Snake"
Public Domain

Indiana Jones would hate it in Liberia. It is assumed that Liberia is home to the greatest variety of snakes on the African continent. In Liberia one can find vipers, adders, pythons, cobras, mambas, and asps just to name a few. For a more in depth introduction, ArcelorMittal has posted a great guide to the snakes of Liberia on its corporate website here. Also, here is another interesting post on the venomous snakes in Liberia from TLCAfrica. 

For this post I just want to introduce a few of the snakes of Liberia and tell a few snake stories. Everyone who has lived in Liberia has a snake story or two or three...

MAMBAS

Dendroaspis polyepis, jamesoni, & viridis

Green Mamba
by Patrick Coin. 
cc-by-sa-2.5

There are black and green mambas in Liberia. We have several mamba stories. One particular story is about the time that mom looked down to see a green mamba wrapped around the leg of the chair she was sitting on! One isn't supposed to make any sudden movements, but before she knew what she had done she was standing on top of the table yelling! This particular green mamba met his fate on our kitchen floor after trying to hide behind our kerosene refrigerator. 

Black Mamba
Photo by Bill Love/Blue Chameleon
Ventures 2005.
CC BY SA 3.0

Another time my mom was helping a neighboring Peace Corps worker take her clothes off the line without realizing that a black mamba had entangled itself inside the clothes! After putting the basket in the bedroom the snake slithered out.  When my mom picked up a 'whipper' (a hand held grass cutting tool) to take care of this snake it lunged at her! Black mambas are very aggressive. Fortunately after she and the PC worker fled the house yelling, two Liberian men offered to help take care of the problem. They finished off the mamba and then told my mom that they were very fortunate because this was a bad snake. One bite and you die in 5 minutes.

My personal encounter with a mamba was when I was down by a swamp rice farm project and was busy walking about. I grew tired and decided to lean against a palm oil tree. As I was about to put my hand on the tree I felt a sudden 'inner warning' almost like an audible voice. I moved my hand back and right where I was about to place my hand was a green snake poking his head out from behind a pruned palm branch! It was sticking its tongue out at me. Whether it was a green mamba or just a tree snake I do not know, however mambas do like palm oil trees. Whatever it was I'm glad I didn't get any closer!

THE PYTHON

python sebae

Python constricting a pregnant goat in Zimbabwe.
Mango Atchar derivative work
CCASA 2.0

Called a 'boy ee stracker' (boa constrictor) in colloquial Liberian English this snake's scientific name is python sebae. These snakes can get huge! I've heard many interesting stories about these guys including a python worship site at a sacred waterfall visited by Graham Greene in 1930's. 


My own personal python story involves our Liberian friends who worked for LAMCO (now ArcelMittall) in Buchanan. They lived just outside of the LAMCO compounds in a fairly forested area. One day their dog went missing. For whatever reason, a 'boa constrictor' was suspected and the people searched the bush with their cutlasses until it was located. After cutting open the python the family dog was found inside! They estimated the length of this snake to be 22 feet! These snakes are becoming less common due to the fact that they are hunted for their meat, but are still present in the deep bush.

COBRAS

(Naja haje, melanoleuca & nigricollis; & the Psuedohaje nigra)

Black Spitting Cobra
by Luca Boldrini
CCA 2.0 Generic

My cobra encounter will be with me forever. I was trying out my new 'cutlass' (machete) and was at the trailhead of a trail that led to a swamp around Christian High School in Buchanan. As I walked toward the trail, with my brother behind me, I stepped on a pile of dried palm branches. Little did I know that a cobra was coiled beneath! My best guess is that it was a Black Spitting Cobra (Naja nigricollis). 

The cobra shot up and hooded right in front of me and swayed back and forth. I simply screamed like a little girl. Then it quickly darted past me to my right. Before I could turn around and warn my brother I heard him make the same yelping sound. The cobra coiled itself right in front of my brother and then using its body like a spring it actually jumped up into the tree right in front of us! 

So, 'yes' I believe in guardian angels and from then on one of favorite verses has been Psalms 91:13 "You shall tread on the lion and the cobra...", although I'm not interested in making this a habit! In 2011 I revisited the site where I had been spared a cobra attack and prayed a prayer of thanksgiving. 

VIPERS

Bitis gabonica, rhinocerus, & nasicornis

GabonViper fangs
by Brimac the 2nd
CCA 2.0 Generic

The bitis gabonica or Gabon Viper is known as a 'Cassava snake' in Liberia. They supposedly taste delicious, but one doesn't just go hunting for them as they are very toxic. 

In a sad story, my Liberian Ma Sarah lost one of her daughters in the bush while hiding from rebels during the Civil Wars. She lost her daughter to a 'cassava snake' bite :-(

Ma Sarah lost her daughter to a Gabon Viper while hiding in the jungle during
the Liberian Civil Wars. She was only 16.
RIP dear sister.

The bad thing about these snakes is that they are rather sluggish and not apt to skirt away when they hear something approach. They also camouflage themselves rather well. This all makes stepping on one a very real and possible threat.

Gabon Vipers can be very difficult to see!
by Tom Vickers
Public Domain

I could go on, but I think you get the idea... There are snakes in Liberia! 

Do you have any Liberian snake stories to share?