Thursday, February 01, 2007
The Country is Running
The following are phrases and common vernaculars that are used by Liberians on the ground. The country is running. Ma Ellen is moving and if you cannot keep up, you will be left behind. Transparent, focus, good governance, recycle politician, bring to book, sensitize, empower, scratch card, challenge, etc.
Life in Liberia is not for the faint hearted. Everyday brings it own trials and challenges. If a common folk went through the night without been threatened by thieves or other mishaps, his main preoccupation when he wakes up will be to find his daily meal, which is easier said than done.
Work is not easy to come by and for those who do have jobs, getting to work has its own challenge. If you have school-aged children, getting them to school is more of an adventure than a chore.
I do not believe I will be too far off the mark on my estimation, if I infer that 85 percent of all Liberians on the ground from the age of eight owns a cell phone. Most of the young folks prefer high priced phone than low cost ones, $200.00 and above. To power the phone, one needs to purchase a calling card, which provides airtime access for making calls. The cheapest card cost $5.00 US. By the way, the card is simply called scratch card by all.
The US currency is not the official legal tender but is used on equal par with the “LD” Liberian Dollar in any business transaction. Actually, there are some institutions that require only US$. Liberia seems to be the only country on the face of the earth that does not suffer from the scourge of black marketing since the exchange rate is published daily and one just has to do the math and transact his business in which ever currency he wishes.
The city of Monrovia is smoky and noisy from the many mini one-man private generators to the giant generators annexed to building complexes of government houses and the many international agencies. Smoke is also seen all over the city of Monrovia and its surroundings from the piles of garbage that are burnt openly whether toxic or non-toxic items are part of the burning mountain of debris.
It is very costly to live in Liberia. Thanks to money gram and western union that are used by families in the Diaspora to transfer hard currency to family members, which in term help to sustain the economies of most of the African Countries, and Liberia is no exception.
