Article August 4, 2003 Issue

Sweet Liberia

BY David Holmes

LIBERIA HAS BEEN in the news lately. Horrific images of the suffering demand prayers for healing. Sadly, Liberia is the current actor on a blood-drenched stage where many other actors have played out scenes over the years, with no finale. Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Rwanda, Angola, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Somalia, are some of the names in a long list of players in the tragedy.

But recognizing that Africa is suffering from insurrection, war, poverty, and disease is not to say that the history of Africa is one of unmitigated tragedy, or that its future must be. The fact that there are bad actors doing bad things does not mean that no one is capable of good. The truth is that the majority of people in Africa, like people everywhere, love their families and neighbors, seek and work to bring economic development to their communities, and are working to form a peaceful civil society in today's globalized world.

I first went to Liberia in 1977 to be a teacher. As I look back now, it was a happy and different time. People were friendly and welcomed me. They would tell me, "Liberia is sweet, oh." Markets were thriving, food seemed plentiful, and the government was subject to periodic elections. Other African countries had experienced coups and civil strife, but not Liberia. Immigrants from neighboring countries came to Liberia to live and work, appreciative of the civil society they found there.