Be Part of Initiatives Seeking to Address Needs of Liberian Children

By Penelope Chester, Guest Blogger
Imagine:

You are 8 years old

This week, all the children in your neighborhood are going back to school

The excitement!

But you won't be going to school, because you have a disability

Maybe you are in a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy

Or maybe you have cerebral palsy

Either way - you stay home

You can't play outside because no one will play with you

Your parents and siblings are busy trying to support the family

Wouldn't you like to have the opportunity to learn, play, grow and socialize

Like all the other children?

For the disabled children of Monrovia, the Happy Family Center

Is a place where

They can

Learn, play, grow, and socialize

Like all the other children

Do you want to be a part of it?

You can.

Give a child the opportunity to thrive : make a donation to the Happy Family Center


The Niapele Project is a U.S. 501 (c) 3 organization and your donation is tax exempt

The Niapele Project is pleased to share with you the opportunity to be a part of a
unique community-based initiative that seeks to address the needs of children with
disabilities in Liberia.

In Liberia, children with disabilities are unable to attend school, and few opportunities exist for them to receive proper care and attention, let alone develop their physical and mental skills.

The Happy Family Center for Children with Disabilities (HapFam), founded and run by parents of children with disabilities, embraces an innovative grassroots approach to address the needs of disabled children.

Much more than a place for children to come learn, play and benefit from physical and social rehabilitation, HapFam also encourages the acceptance of disabled children, through active family participation and involvement, as well as community awareness activities.

Post-conflict Liberia is still reeling from the effects of the war - the education, health and social welfare systems are unable to deliver much needed services to vulnerable people. Children with disabilities often become trapped in a cycle of poverty and exclusion. HapFam is truly a unique community effort to help lift disabled children from this cycle, all the while promoting greater acceptance and inclusion in the community.

Where your $ goes

-One time costs-
(all in USD)

Renting and renovating a building ($3000)
Furniture($250)
Games, toys, educational materials ($100)

-Recurring monthly costs-

Staff incentives ($400)
School and office supplies ($50)
Food ($200)
Transportation/Communications ($50)

The Niapele Project is an all volunteer organization - all your donations support
community-based initiatives.

Is U.S President Promoting Smoking?

I was seriously reading through many lenses to fully comprehend the meaning of what United States president Barack Obama meant when he said today that "Doctors Don't Get Paid If They Stopped Patients From Smoking".

The president made that statement in Raleigh,North Carolina during his Presidential Town Hall Health Care Reform discussions.

As I watched Cable News Network(CNN) this morning,I was asking myself many,many questions about the president's remark.And,as if to re-echo what Obama said,CNN repeatedly displayed excerpts of his remark on the bottom of the screen.

So,what did the president mean? Was(is) he saying that if people don't smoke,then doctors won't get paid? Should the president even make such a statement?

By the president's statement,it means that people should smoke daily so that if they get cancer(smokers' hearts would definitely be damaged due to smoke),they will have to seek medical attention which of course will not be free.

I am seriously disappointed in the president's statement.No matter his intents regarding the promotion of his radical health care reform in this country,it does not justify his making of that statement.

And what was also baffling me was that no media critics or members from "the other side" shun the president's remark.

To many who were also listening to the president this morning,it is clear to them that his statement can make a big difference between life and death.Although many people within and without the U.S admire his inspiring speeches,he has to really take some time to keenly think about some statements before he utters them.

There are thousands,if not millions of young people out there who look up to this young president as their role model.And it breaks my heart( and theirs) to also see that it's this same young president that is encouraging young people to smoke so that doctors will receive their salaries.

So,Mr. president,with all other health-related problems that lead to the hospital,doctors will be unable to get their pay if people don't smoke? How much of the smoking money actually goes to the State and Federal government and how much goes to the doctors?

With such a statement coming from my own president,I am just wondering what others will say about the president's smoking habit?

How Google, Social Entrepreneurs Perpetuate Digital Divide Among Nonprofits

By Guest Blogger Andrew Sears

In the past 10 years, I have been working to address the digital divide, which is the gap between those who have access to and training with technology. I serve as the Executive Director of TechMission, which runs the largest association of Black and Latino led nonprofits addressing the digital divide and manages UrbanMinistry.org, which is one of the most visited web portals of Black and Latino nonprofit leaders.

During that time, I have seen many effective initiatives in addressing the digital divide. At the same time, I’ve seen many efforts that have been very well-intentioned, but in the end may have only made matters worse.

I grew up in the inner-city, but later went to MIT and co-founded the Internet Telecoms Consortium with one of the fathers of the Internet (David Clark) to study the social and business implications of the Internet. The most important thing I learned while studying complex systems at MIT is that often you make a change to the system and the result is exactly the opposite of what you were expecting.

Case in point: my wife and I went to Woodstock ’99—a complex system of people, alcohol, drugs, bands and unusually hot weather. At the concert, there was a nonprofit group wanting to promote peace, and it gave out thousands of “peace candles.” The result was the opposite of what they had intended because they had not thought through the consequences of giving candles to thousands of people who were inebriated and enraged from the extreme heat and exploitative prices at the concert.

The result was that people used the candles to start hundreds of fires and burn everything in sight. A group wanting to promote peace at Woodstock unintentionally became a catalyst for riots, and in the worst circumstances, this is how complex systems work.

Addressing the digital divide and trying to help under-resourced communities is an extremely complex system. My assessment is that some of the largest efforts to address the digital divide by social entrepreneurs, including those at Google, may have unintentionally made matters worse among nonprofits.

Is Google Grants Hurting Black and Latino-Led Nonprofits?

In the past few years, Google has “given away” $300 million worth of free advertising to nonprofit organizations through Google Grants. Following Google’s value of employee input, Google leaves most of the grant making decisions to regular employees. In the United States, Google’s employees are disproportionately White and Asian and from elite schools. These employees then give grants to organizations with interest like theirs and people they know, which most often are also White or Asian and from elite schools.

This creates a bias in the process, but that is common in the nonprofit world. In fact, according to a report from the Greenlining Institute, foundations only give 3.6% of their funds to organizations led by people of color although people of color make up 52.4% of poverty in the USA. This bias is shown graphically in the adjacent diagram.

If that bias were the only effect Google Grants were having, then they would be no different than most foundations. The problem is how Google Grants works, by giving away “virtual money” that people can then bid on ads, they have essentially flooded the market for nonprofit ads with $300 million in virtual money.

Economists would say that this acts as a “tax” on other users, so that only $150 million is donated by Google, but the other $150 million comes from the increased bid cost for other advertisers, which are primarily nonprofits.

Let’s say that in the USA, Google gives 95% of its grants to White and Asian led nonprofits, while only 5% to Black and Latino (or other) nonprofits (which is a reasonable projection based on the research we compiled). Ideally, grants would be distributed to more closely reflect the demographics of need, and 52.4% of grants in the USA would go to Black and Latino-led nonprofits since they represent 52.4% of poverty in the nation.

The end result of this bias is that Google Grants, rather than helping Black and Latino led nonprofits, is actually taxing them to give discounts primarily to White nonprofits. The model I’ve generated shows that the effect of Google Grants on Black and Latino-led nonprofits is that they are “taxed” by about $7.3 million by paying increased advertising fees to provide a subsidy to White-led nonprofits.

Google Grants is not the only example of starting with good intentions to change a system, but having unintended effects, as many tech-focused nonprofits serve as other examples.

Our organization did some research on the board and staff demographics of the leading technology-focused nonprofits, and found that on average about 80% of their staff are White (and often from elite schools). These organizations develop strategies, policies and values that reflect their staffing and boards.

Our staffs have gone to several of these conferences led by these organizations, and the conference attendees are also more than 90% White. We have followed their grant making processes and seen that more than 80% of their grants go to White-led organizations. These demographics of technology focused nonprofits based on our research are shown in the diagram below.

The significant factor is that in every category, there is dramatically lower percentage of people of color as compared to the demographics of the low-income communities they are serving. The result is that most technology focused nonprofits are more reflecting the digital divide rather than transforming it. To really transform the digital divide, it requires representation of those on the other side of the divide at every level in the organization.

The same pattern applies to much of the new social entrepreneurship movement. Most the emerging social entrepreneurs that are getting funded are led by White people from elite schools. They are establishing a culture and values in the social philanthropy sector that largely reflects White cultural values from elite business schools. The end result is that these social ventures get all the funding, squeezing out more grass-roots Black and Latino led organizations. This means that too often social ventures are perpetuating the same divides that they are supposedly addressing.

How Social Entrepreneurs Can Avoid Doing More Harm than Good

No one wants to try to do good, and then have the results only cause more harm than good. So what are social entrepreneurs to do? Am I promoting a Malcolm X philosophy that says that White people should just go home?

Of course not. The fact that I am White, and leading a nonprofit, shows that I believe that there is another way.

The reason why social entrepreneurs are encountering unintended consequences in bringing change to complex systems is that many do not understand one of the most important aspects of the system—the culture of at-risk communities. Social entrepreneurs need to strive to reflect the culture and diversity of those we are serving at all levels in nonprofits.

At TechMission, the people of color are the majority at almost every level of our organization (board, senior staff, etc.). The result is that when you look at the demographics of those using our websites like UrbanMinistry.org, we have almost twice the percentage of people of color represented as our nonprofit counterparts (as shown above).

We have researched and written extensively on how nonprofits and funders can avoid this bias (see additional resources below). Based on that research and experience, we provide the following recommendations to social entrepreneurs:

1. Be intentional about reaching out to faith-based organizations doing social services.

Why? Our research indicates that about two-thirds of Black and Latino-led nonprofits are in churches or other faith-based organizations. Comparatively, about two-thirds of White-led nonprofits are secular. This means that on average, faith-based organizations are about twice as likely to be Black or Latino-led. This has important implications for funders, because if they will not fund faith-based organizations, then they are cutting their chances of funding a Black or Latino-led nonprofit by 50%.

Most funders will support faith-based organizations if their focus is on social services and they do not discriminate in who they serve. Of more than 50 other tech companies that we have identified, Google Grants has, in effect, the most restrictive policy toward faith-based social service organizations.

The faith-based social services sector represents about one-third of the total social services sector, but appears to only be less than 1% of Google Grant awardees. In the 1950’s there were literacy tests for voting that excluded a large number of Black voters. Today this has been replaced with religious tests for funding that is excluding the majority of Black and Latino-led nonprofits.

Restrictions to not support faith-based organizations can communicate a paternalistic attitude that secularization is advancing the cause of good by “educating superstitious natives” to believe in the doctrines of elite academia.

It is just the “bad missionary model” but with a new name. They fail to recognize that globally, 97.5% of people profess some faith. Often by having restrictions on faith, these organizations think that they are blocking right-wing religious groups like Jerry Fallwell, but in reality they are usually blocking Black and Latino religious leaders that could become the next Martin Luther King, Jr.


2. Have diversity measurements and affirmative action at every level in the organization.

Why? Values and culture are set by those in power in an organization. If a nonprofit has a significantly different set of values than the community it is serving, then that community will need to assimilate those values to get support.

Religious missionaries in the 20th century have been replaced with nonprofit missionaries in the 21st century. If a nonprofit does not reflect the culture and values of the community it is serving, then it cannot help but be like the “missionaries” that teach the “natives” how to talk White, dress White, and respond to outcome measures reflecting values of the White community.

The only solution is to have diversity measurements and affirmative action at every level. This enables diversity at every level (constituents, entry level staff, middle management, senior management, board and grantees) needed for a leadership pipeline.

3. Immerse yourself in the community you are serving and learn from it.
Why?

The difference between strong faith-based leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Theresa and “bad missionaries” is that the former immersed themselves in the communities they were serving.

At TechMission nearly all of our staff and board live in at-risk communities, and the majority come from low-income backgrounds. It is only when you “go native” to the point where at-risk communities become “your people” that you are not acting as a nonprofit missionary. Immersion means not only your geographic location, but also your friendships and community.

Changing the Culture of Social Entrepreneurship Programs

Social entrepreneurs are often trying to change complex systems, but unfortunately, without understanding those systems they can often do more harm than good. The primary element of understanding that is missing here is an understanding of the culture of those being served by social entrepreneurs. For the social entrepreneurship movement to be successful, it must change its culture.


Currently the culture of the social entrepreneurship movement primarily reflects that of elite schools which have social entrepreneurship programs. This culture is extremely antagonistic to the cultures in most at-risk communities.

Organizations like Google and other social philanthropists need to make sure that those in their grant making process reflect the demographics and culture of those they are trying to reach. They also should consider eliminating restrictions that will not fund social service organizations if they are faith-based, while being intentional about creating a culture that welcomes religious organizations, where the majority of Black and Latino nonprofit leaders are.

Because Google Grants makes up about one-third of the traffic most of the tech nonprofits, the increased traffic (and resulting links from visitors) from that visibility increases their web search rankings.

The end result is that the Google Grants process is that White nonprofits receive significantly higher search rankings than Black and Latino nonprofits. Given Google’s market share, overall this has a very significant affect of "Whitening" Google’s search rankings within the nonprofit sector.

If Google does not bring its policies more in line with that of its peer technology companies, then it risk facing a public relations issues of being perceived as having an racial bias compare to other technology companies by "Whitening" its search rankings among nonprofits.

People of color already represent the majority globally, the majority of poverty in the USA, and the majority in many major US cities. Soon they will represent the majority in the nation as a whole. As these demographic shifts happen, if the social entrepreneurship movement does not shift its culture to more closely reflect the cultures of those it is serving, then it risks becoming relegated to the sidelines of history.

About Andrew Sears

Andrew has been working to address the digital divide since 1998 and is the founder and executive Director of TechMission. He grew up in an inner-city environment, and later received his MS in Technology and Policy and MS in Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At MIT, he co-founded the Internet and Telecoms consortium, a multi-million dollar research group focused on determining the social and business implications of the Internet. He has also worked as an independent consultant on technology strategy with clients including St. Paul Venture Capital, Sprint and several Boston startups.

Prince Johnson's "Amazing Revelations":How Serious?

Last week,The Reformer Newspaper in Monrovia reported that Nimba County Senior Senator,Prince Yomie Johnson,who also commandeered the defunct Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia(INPFL),shocked Liberians and the International Community again when he revealed that the United States and certain super powers provided American dollars $10 million to him and others,presumably Charles Taylor,to wage war on Liberians and Liberia.

The report says that Senator Johnson made the revelations when he addressed members of the Liberian Council of Churches(LCC), an interfaith Mediation Committee of Liberia.

The LCC also met with other former faction leaders and discussed matters regarding the Truth Commission's report during the week-end meeting in Monrovia.

Well,this is not news anyway.Mr. Taylor had already said that the U.S helped free him from jail in Massachusetts and also provided huge some of money to oust the late Samuel Doe regime.He made it clear when he took the stands for the first time to testify in his ongoing trial in The Hague,the Netherlands a few weeks ago.

Now,what makes this news and very damning, at least in the minds of some Liberians, is Mr. Johnson's accusation of the Chairman of Liberia's Truth Commission,Cllr. Jerome Verdier.

The honorable Senator claimed that Cllr. Verdier,including former Interim leader of Liberia,Dr. Amos Sawyer,was among a group of Liberians in the United States that allegedly negotiated and arranged for the $10 million dollars from the U.S.

Senator Johnson claimed this group was based in America, and it was named the Association of Constitutional Democracy in Liberia(ACDL).

What baffles me is that why the Honorable Senator did not say this long time ago,even before his name could be listed for prosecution as a war criminal or perpetrator? Is it because it has been proven beyond any reasonable doubts that he was involved in the indiscriminate killing of women,children and men during the Liberian civil war? Why should we believe him?

There are many more lingering questions about the Honorable man's "amazing revelations" than he can imagine, and if there is to be any substance in his claims, we need more information from him devoid of scapegoating,malice,jealousy, and hatred.

But in order to refute or corroborate Senator Johnson's claims,we contacted the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs of the District of Columbia(DC)in Washington,D.C on the phone today, and indeed,they confirmed that such association existed in DC.

They said it was registered as a domestic non-profit Corporation in the State of the DC on December 16,1988 with Ezekiel Pajibo as its registered agent.

The file number for ACDL was 884688, and its address was 1242 Newton St,N.E,Washington,DC 20017.Its status is now revoked,however.

With such information at our disposal,it seems what Senator Johnson has said might have some substance.However, we need more details than can meet the eye.

And if it is indeed true that Cllr. verdier was apart of and actively negotiated for the $10 Million dollars to wage war on Liberia, then the entire TRC report is indeed questionable and he,Cllr.Verdier, needs to tell us more about it in order to add him on the list of evil doers of Liberia.

Additionally,Ezekiel Pajibo,now executive director for the Center for Democratic Empowerment(CEDE), needs to come out and talk to the Liberian people about ACDL since he was the registered agent for the outfit.

Mr. Pajibo was a student leader in the 1980s who was even jailed and sentenced by the late Samuel Doe regime for daring to say what others could not say.He spent over a decade in exile and,like many other Liberians,returned home in 2003 when the civil war ended.

He has been the head of CEDE, a center for social and political advocacy and research which was founded by Dr.Sawyer.

Mr. Pajibo might have more details about ACDL and Cllr. Verdier than Senator Johnson, that is why he would do us more good if he could speak to the Liberian people now.There is no joke about such allegations.No! Not at this time when the country really needs healing.

When I read Mr. Johnson's allegations,I initially rebuked him.However,having talked to people here in the U.S about this Liberian Association,there is more to it than the Senator is saying, and we need to know everything about it.

We have also contacted officials at the U.S State Department in Washington,D.C,but it has been over two weeks since we communicated with them, and we are still waiting to hear from them.They said they will react to what Mr. Taylor has said.

But going back to Authoritarianism and U.S foreign Policy,it would be good that we examine the past.

During the Cold War, the U.S. frequently accused the Soviet Union of undermining anti-U.S terrorist groups around the world with money and arms.The Soviets responded that the U.S government did the same when it was in the U.S interests to do so.

Now,when World War II ended,the U.S found itself engaged in a Cold war with the Soviet Union.But what is amazing is that the Cold War was not a natural rivalry thing between two great powers.It was a struggle to death between two rival systems of capitalism for the United States and Communism for the Soviet Union.

At that time, and even until recently,the U.S pursued a Foreign Policy that was based on the theory that Communism would finally collapse while the Soviet Union drew upon Karl Marx's prediction that Capitalism would be in the "dustbin of History".

That is how the two parties divided the entire world into two halves:East and West,Communism and Capitalism, and Good and Evil.

But the two powers agreed on one thing:that the notion of neutrality was not possible.They said all nations on earth,only with few exceptions,would have to choose which side to align with.

While this was going on,many countries in the so-called Third World decided to remain nonaligned at all.Therefore,Egypt,India, and Indonesia tried to launch a nonaligned Movement in the 1950s.And it was beginning to get off the ground.

And as soon as it was about to get off the ground,the Cold War Power Fighters cajoled,pressured and enticed the leaders of the fledgling states,guess with what? Foreign aid,weapons transfer, and cash.

Yes! America used those things to get people on its side of the fighting divide.So, by the end of the mid 1960s,most governments in Africa(Possibly Liberia included),Asia and Latin America decided to choose sides.You can guess which side Liberia chose anyway.

In this rush to recruit Third World leaders who jumped on the anti-communism bandwagon for a price,the U.S frequently found itself using what Political Scientist,Thomas Magstadt calls "dollar diplomacy" and other inducements to prop up right-wing dictatorships at the same time looking the other way when "friendly" regimes committed gross violations of human rights.

Although the Cold War has since been over,the legacy of this policy lives on.

Let's look at Iraq.The United States secretly supported Saddam Hussein during the bloody Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s with weapons to battle Iran.

And after arming the tyrant,he ruled his people through a tightly controlled monolithic political organization known as the Ba'ath party,by turning Iraq into a vast prison.The same U.S that armed Saddam turned against him and invaded Iraq in 2003 under the pretext of raiding Saddam of Weapons of Mass Destruction(WMD).

Let's go to Afghanistan.That country was a monarchy from 1747 to 1973.But it soon fell into trouble when the many groups fought for political supremacy after 1973 until the Soviet Union intervened to back its favorite thug who was a Communist in 1979.

Consequently,a brutal and protracted war erupted but the Soviets eventually withdrew in defeat in 1989 after a decade of debilitating and humiliating warfare.

Now,remember that the U.S had secretly backed the Islamic Resistance Force called the Mujahideen by supplying weapons and other aid to the rebel forces.Note one thing here folks:at this time,amazingly,the U.S and Osama Bin Laden fought side by side to defeat the Soviets.

What resulted was that the oppositions overthrew the Communist regime and seized power in 1992.But the new strongman refused to give up power when his term officially ended.

That led the Talibans to assault the capital and ousted him in 1996.Here is what is also interesting:when the new Taliban regime took over,reports say it instituted a totalitarian system of rule fashioned after Islam but based on the perversions of the Qur'an and Sharia law.

Women and girls were forbidden to work outside the home,to go to school,or to express opinions at variance with the government.

The government banned television,movies,music,dancing and most other forms of entertainment.Children's games and activities were restricted.

When the U.S was attacked in 2001,the U.S invaded Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban.Folks,how do you view the U.S foreign policy?

Should we begin to give credence to what Mr. Taylor and Senator Johnson are saying about the U.S giving them money to kill Liberians through a civil war,given the background that I have just mentioned? What does history tell us? How do we go about prosecuting those who committed diabolical crimes against us?

Mr. Taylor is in The Hague facing trial not for crimes he committed in Liberia,but the ones in nearby Sierra Leone.What about those who supported the civil war in Liberia? What about the presidents of Libya,Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso who directly aided Charles Taylor to kill Liberians? Why are they not on trial for supporting any and all faction leaders in Liberia.What about Guinea? In fact,given what we now know,what about the U.S?

When it comes to U.S foreign policy,the records of U.S relations with authoritarian states,including Liberia then,is replete with inconsistencies and contradictions.

These have weakened America's moral position in international politics,complicated its diplomatic efforts, and led many to charge America of hypocrisy.

New Job for Ghana's Former President

Ghana's former president John Agyekum Kufuor has been named a Global Ambassador Against Hunger for the UN's World Food Program.Great Job!So,even after stepping down as president for the best country in Africa,there would have still been another job awaiting Mr. Kufuor.

President Kufuor's role,according to WFP's Executive Director,will be to focus on the need to provide good nutrition for the sixty-six million children who daily go to school hungry.

"Ensuring that every child has proper nutrition has to be the goal of every world leader," said president Kufuor after his appointment on July 20th. "I intend to inspire them all to strive for this goal."

I was very delighted when I got this news from the United Nations News Service yesterday.Why was I so delighted for my "former" president?Well,there is no great reason to be elated about his appointment except for the fact that he has been my " former" president in Ghana( I lived there for six years).

Mr. Kufuor won the elections in Ghana in 2000 when I had just arrived in that country and began living at the refugee camp known as Buduburam.Some people sometimes erroneously call it Bujumbura, mistaking it for the capital city and main port city of the Republic of Burundi, a country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa.

When president Kufuor won the Ghanaian presidential election,there was a kind of uneasiness among Liberian refugees because Kufuor's political party's acronym was similar to Charles Taylor's party that won presidential election in 1997 in Liberia.

Kufuor's New Patriotic Party(NPP) was somehow wrongfully associated with Taylor's National Patriotic Party(NPP),such that many Liberian refugees thought the two presidents had some kind of "connections" or philosophies.

Therefore,unlike the NDC-led government of Jerry John Rawlings,Liberians did not have much liking for the NPP-led government of Kufuor.

In fact, some Liberians in Ghana at the time blamed Kufuor,South African president Thabo Mbeki,Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, and Burkina Fasoa's Blaise Campaore for refusing to arrest Charles Taylor when a Special Court for Sierra Leone issued an arrest warrant for him on June 4th,2003 while attending peace talks with Liberian rebel groups in Accra,Ghana.

Besides,many Liberians feel and think that the NDC-led government better handled refugee issues than did the NPP-led government.

But as an individual who also was a refugee and a journalist,there were more to critically think about than easily agree with what others were saying about the NPP.

Yes,there were more dramatic displays between Liberian refugees during the Kufuor administration than there were during the Rawlings administration.

However, it was during the Kufuor administration that Liberians finally saw peace.And I bet president Kufuor might have played a pivotal role in ensuring that Liberians return to a peaceful settlement.

But president Kufuor was appointed WFP ambassador not because of what I have just explained, but because,as in the words of WFP Director Sheeran,Ghana has been a leader in nourishing its children.

And Director Sheeran added that Mr. Kufuor not only talks the talk,but he walks the walk, and he can be a leader in getting other leaders to follow his good example.I hope our leaders will listen to Mr. Kufuor and help put food on the table for Liberian school kids who daily go to school hungry.

Ghana has koko yams,corns,rice and a variety of food that their school children eat before and even after going to school.Things may not also be easy on Ghanaian school-going children.However, their government and farmers do a great deal to help with hungry.

In Liberia, we have fertile and rich soil but most of what we produce is rice, and so no matter what you give Liberian kids to eat,if they do not eat rice,they have not eaten anything at all.Can our government encourage and support our farmers get involved in the production of multiple food-crops?

I wish those words could be said about any former Liberian leader.But the last time I checked,I found that Liberia does not even have a former elected leader who is alive today aside from Charles Taylor whose fate is in limbo in Europe.

Some Liberians may argue that Liberia has former presidents like Dr. Amos Sawyer,Bismarck Kuyon,Philip Banks,David Kpormakor,Wilton Sankawulo,Ruth Perry,and Charles Gyude Bryant.But those were not elected;they were interim leaders.

And what about Moses Blah, Some may ask? He was not elected either.He only completed Mr. Taylor's term from August to October 2003.

So, in Liberia's longest historic journey of being the first independent nation-state in Africa to electing the first female head of state,we can not account for any of our past presidents.

We have either been killing or eating them.Oh yeah,we eat our presidents.Ask Prince Johnson where the late Samuel Doe's body parts are.He will be the best person to tell you, and yet Liberians elected him honorable man to make laws.Any yet we keep bragging about making history.Oh yeah! That's history,too-the eating or killing of our past presidents.

Therefore,there is no way such a statement attributed to Ghana's former president,Kufuor can be attributed to any of our former presidents. Not yet.

Maybe we would be able to say that of our Iron lady if we don't kill or eat her,too.

But Kufuor is not the first and only former leader that will be serving a role of such nature.His predecessor,Mr.Rawlings, was a joint recipient of World Hunger Award in 1993.
Ghana may also have some of their presidents dead,but they still have two former ones living now that we know of.Can we show one that is living besides controversial Taylor?
I betcha!

New Liberia's "Martin Luther King,Jr" Disappoints Liberians

The Post-War New Liberia has many Liberians who gained education,experiences, and exposures from almost every country on this planet.From becoming refugees in Guinea to reaching higher heights in the United States,we have heard of many who have even become global citizens who have impacted and still are impacting lives.

This feat has even made some Liberians to conclude that the Liberian civil war,though it took away lives and destroyed properties, was a necessary thing.That it was a good thing in disguise.Whether or not this is true is another debate altogether.

They claimed that Liberians were not accustomed to leaving their beloved country to live elsewhere simply because Liberia was "Oh Sweet Liberia". As a result of their nation being at the time so sweet to live and work in,there was no need to leave it where anybody could be his/her own boss and a king at home,to becoming a subordinate or "slave" in another country.

But when the civil war erupted in 1989,Liberians who were used to not leaving their country, were forced to leave because if they stayed,they either become killed or would be forced to do things that they would not be willing to do.

But not every Liberian had the money and means to leave.Therefore, a large chunk of the population had to stay.But for those who were fortunate enough to leave,it was a blessing.

Interestingly, when the civil war ended officially in 2003,many who left due to the war decided to return home to sweet Liberia to make it once again "Oh sweet Liberia".But Liberia itself is still waiting to see whether it will be as sweet as it used to be before the upheavals began.

Therefore, among the many who decided to return,some opted to help improve their motherland by becoming either entrepreneurs,technocrats,citizen-leaders or politicians.Good enough!

But let's look at a person in one particular group,the citizen-leaders.An individual can decisively influence the course of political events without holding an official position in government.

That individual's unique dedication to a cause,personal magnetism or even outright courage can garner an impressive political following.And such an individual is called a citizen-leader.

After having followed the New Liberia for quite some times now,many Liberians and I were beginning to admire Mulbah K. Morlu,Chairman of the Forum for the Establishment of a War Crimes Court in Liberia.

Like America's outstanding citizen-leader Dr, Martin Luther King,Jr who championed civil rights activities in the United States,Mr. Morlu led marches,demonstrations,rallies, and press conferences throughout Monrovia aimed at convincing Liberians and the International Community for the need to establish a War Crimes Court for Liberia.

And Morlu's national prominence was growing in Liberia and beyond.

But While Dr.King stirred the conscience of Americans by reaching legislators and judges and, in the end the American people,Mr. Morlu did his with effective use of the Internet and other means.Many thanks to the advent of modern technology.

Although extremely controversial at the time,Dr. King's courageous efforts proved crucial to the passage of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act,which banned discrimination in public accommodations and employment.

Another civil rights legislation was later passed that additionally ensured equal treatment under the law for all citizens.But it also paid off for Dr.King as he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in 1964.

Am I comparing Dr. King to Mr. Morlu? By no means.In fact,it may take Mr. Morlu many more years to even think about walking in the shoes of the late Dr.King.

However,Mr. Morlu is a fine young Liberian man that has been doing lots of great things in the country and no doubts,he deserves mentioning in public arenas.

His leading role in advocating for the establishment of a War Crimes Court for Liberia is a very good adventure.Many international observers of Liberia are keenly following him.They are discussing him.Their options about evaluating this fine man's intentions and dedication to a cause for Liberia and humanity are on their tables.

But it took them(international observers) and many Liberians by utter unspeakable shock to hear that Mr. Morlu lied to them and Liberians when he claimed on July 11 that he met and discussed human rights issues with the visiting American president to Ghana,Barack Obama.

Was it a display of prominence?Morlu did not need that.He already had it.Some world leaders had already begun admiring him and were waiting for the appropriate time to contact him directly.

Like many Liberians,some world leaders believed him when he said things were happening in Liberia that needed international audience.Then why did he lie?

Was it, as Renaissance Italy's most famous political philosopher,Niccolo Machiavelli once told politicians that successful leaders must be masters of deception,that he was trying to master his own lies in order to brag to Liberians that he met the first African American president before president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf?

Remember that Machiavelli also warned political leaders that "No Prince had ever benefited from making himself hated." You have just done that!

Though a British Statesman and Philosopher,Edmund Burke said leaders create misleading impressions on people,he was alluding to revolutionaries who lied in the 20th Century that radical change almost always brought great improvements.


Whatever Mr. Morlu's motives or intentions were for such deceit,it was not worth it at all.

Although Dr. King,like all of us,was imperfect,he never used any political maneuvers to lie or impress on the American people falsely.

Dr.King was courageous and fearless but truthful,honest and trustworthy.That's why his legacy still lives on today.

Then why lie to us Mr. Morlu?Why? We would have taken nothing away from you had you said you traveled to Ghana to meet Mr. Obama, but seeming security protocols prevented you from meeting him face-to-face.We would still have loved you for your efforts for even attempting to meet him.

You have not just brought stigma on yourself as a person but you have also shamefully stigmatized Liberians and your outfit.

Liberians and world leaders will now be keenly watching your steps, and perhaps by extension,those of your advocacy group.

Truly,you were beginning to be our own Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr,but your most singular mistake,or should I say deceit,has made you a candidate for ridicule,concerns and doubts.And you sure better apologize to Liberians and your admirers?

Is Liberia's President Really a Magician?

A statement made recently by New Jersey's Representative at the U.S House of Representatives ,Donald M. Payne, while in Africa that president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia is a magician has got me thinking soberly.

"She can make everybody say 'yes'," the chairman on the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa and Global Health told AllAfrica in an interview.

Rep Payne also indicated that president Sirleaf was able to get Liberia's foreign debt down by paying three cents on the dollar,but the three cents did not even come from Liberia.
"She will pick your pocket and you don't even know it-she is so fantastic," said Rep payne.

Yes,it's true that Liberia's debt has been cancelled, and that things are relatively improving in Liberia.But when the honorable man equates that to being a magician,then I have a problem with it.

Webster's New World Dictionary with Student Handbook defines a magician as some one who is an expert in magic,specifically a sorcerer,wizard, or a performer skilled at magic.
Our president may have a broader appeal from many admirers across the world, and that's very fine.However,when people or we begin to associate her with magic,then she becomes something beyond the ordinary.Liberians don't believe in magic and I strongly think that the honorable Rep also does not believe in it.

But if our president is truly a magician,then why can't she play magic and stop the alarming armed robberies denigrating Liberia? Why can't she play magic and stop the sufferings of Liberians?Why can't she play magic to have all war lords now waiting prosecution,be easily hypnotized and put in jails in Liberia? Why can't she play magic and stop the land fighting in Nimba county?Why can't she?

The Representative's addition that the Firestone Rubber Plantations Company operating in Lower Margibi county has upgraded schools that are on the property and re-did homes for workers at the president's insistence may not actually be accurate.

Firestone Workers' conditions are getting worse by the day.The very houses that the honorable Rep is alluding to are worst to live in than it was to live in a refugee camp in Ghana.
Rubber tappers have houses built for them and their children including whatever number of women and close relatives that may live with them(workers).

Each Rubber tapper has one house with only two smaller rooms.There are no toilets,except for smaller bathrooms that are built side the houses.

Even some workers that have the ranks or higher education status over the rubber tappers don't seem to be happy with what they have.Their houses,too, don't have toilets.They and their children have to walk some long distances to defecate in the toilets built by Firestone for public use.Is that a refugee camp where people attend nature in what was generally known in Buduburam as "the golf"? I wonder.

While president Sirleaf has made tremendous improvements in her administration by ensuring that Liberia re-gain her status in the comity of nations,there are a lot more things that need to be worked upon.Health care is one of them.She needs to use her "magic" to ensure that Liberians get good health care.Unemployment is another of tehm.

As much as the global recession is seemingly affecting everybody here in America and elsewhere,the Liberian government is capable of creating more jobs for the jobless.

The government can also influence its foreign contractors to employ many jobless Liberians.Look at the road construction that is ongoing in parts of the country.

There are literally thousands of young people in the streets of Monrovia who could be used by these Chinese for road construction.And if they even pay each young person a dollar per hour to work for days,the young people will be happy because though the money may not be that big, the hope that at the end of the day,week or month,there will be money in their pockets will enliven them.

On the education front,I am told that children now attend school at primary level free of tuition.If that is true.That's good.We will have to thank Ghana for introducing us to that system.

I know that the president has a lot on her table, and the challenges are countless.However,She has too much international goodwill towards her that if she does not step up and make some wise decisions and use her intuition cleverly,history will judge her.

She can learn a lot from former president Charles Taylor.He did not have that international support and rapport that Ellen is hugely enjoying today.If Taylor had it,perhaps he might have done a lot of stealing and killing.She better wakes up from her slumber!