Phenomenal Documentary and Ladies Leading Change in Liberia

"The accused has been found responsible for aiding and abetting as well as planning some of the most heinous and brutal crimes recorded in human history," said Lussick [the trial's judge], who described one RUF military operation as the "indiscriminate killing of anything that moved." (1)

Richard Lussick was describing Charles Taylor who is on Africa's list of their Top 10 Dictators of all time.

Over the last 2-3 decades, he has embezzled 10s of thousands of dollars, smuggled blood diamonds and weapons, aided the Sierra Leone war, civil war in Liberia and led the maiming/murdering/raping of countless victims, among other crimes (1) (2).

I learned about some of his horrible crimes AND how a group of women removed him from power after watching the phenomenal documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell.

The website offers this synopsis:

"Pray the Devil Back to Hell chronicles the remarkable story of the courageous Liberian women who came together to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country.

"Thousands of women — ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters, both Christian and Muslim — came together to pray for peace and then staged a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they demanded a resolution to the country’s civil war. Their actions were a critical element in bringing about a agreement during the stalled peace talks.

"A story of sacrifice, unity and transcendence, Pray the Devil Back to Hell honors the strength and perseverance of the women of Liberia. Inspiring, uplifting, and most of all motivating, it is a compelling testimony of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations."

And they did alter the history of Liberia as an instrumental force in removing Charles Taylor from power. The documentary was a beautiful story of women putting their minds to something and standing up for it through faith, unity and networking.

One of the key leaders in the peace prayer activism movement was Leymah Gbowee who later won a Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts. Further, after Gbowee's women helped remove Taylor, they helped Ellen Johnson Sirleaf win her position as the first democratically-elected female head of state in all of Africa and she too won a Nobel Peace Prize, rightfully so since

"In 2010, Newsweek magazine listed Johnson Sirleaf as one of the ten best leaders in the world; Time placed her among the top ten female leaders; and the Economist called her “the best President the country has ever had.” (3)

So, clearly Liberia is in good hands and on the rise, largely because of a group of determined women activists who were able to pray the Devil back to hell.

I highly encourage you to watch the documentary and take notes on how to make a difference in the world.

(1) CNN article - "Charles Taylor sentenced to 50 years for war crimes"
(2) PBS article - "Liberia's Uneasy Peace: A profile of Charles Taylor"  
(3) Executive Mansion - "Biographical Brief of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf"

Missing Samoa: TIS Round 2

I've been back "in the states" for a about a week now. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying the air conditioning, friendly dogs, lack of ants everywhere, etc. but I do miss Samoa and the people l served with.

In honor of that lovely place (and after loading my nearly 1,000 photos) I have decided to write another TIS - "This is Samoa" - post:

TIS: Because it is so remote, many things have to be shipped in which raises the price way more than waht I'm used to paying at home. In fact, the one big grocery store on island was called "CostULess" but the pastor's wife always joked and called it "CostUMore," like below:

 

However, you could find some local things at very affordable prices - oh, you know, like machetes for $2.99, no big deal. In the states kids buy a snack for that price and in Samoa I saw children carrying those things around and the machete was about as big as they were!?! 

 

TIS: (1) Chillin at the beach in the rain; at home we rush off if the rain comes but not in Samoa. (2) If you look at what I'm holding, you'll see that in Samoa, the starfish are blue. I have no idea why either of these things happen there but I appreciated both :) 

TIS: This is how they do tree houses. If you can't tell, that looks out over the ocean.

TIS: Their beaches have military bunkers because since the 1940s the island has had a strong tie to the military. These bunkers are left over from WWII.

TIS: They bury their family members in their front yard. The different heights of the graves depend how high they were in the family or village hierarchy; chiefs who had the most authority got the highest graves and some were like 10 feet in the air.

TIS: Roosters and chickens were everywhere. Side-note: in case, like me, you thought roosters only crow in the morning at sunrise as every book/movie leads you to believe, I'm here to tell you that is false; they pretty much crow all day long... and into the night. Yep, at least in Samoa ;)

TIS: These were one of the snacks one day at one of our VBSes... chicken flavor chips. They also had a brand called UFOs (Unusually Flavored Snacks) that were tomato and the other flavor was burger. I am not making this up. 

 
TIS: They have waves like nowhere else I've ever seen and the water was such a gorgeous color. This was one of the most magnificent things I saw on my entire trip!

TIS: Kids here have are so spoiled needing video games and ipods and computers and games to have fun. I loved the simplicity and the JOY and the imagination in the Samoan children. One day we were playing around and they just started jumping on a tree and oh the joy! I just had to get a video of it to remind me how we don't need a lot to have fun :)

TIS: They are ridiculously athletic. These teenage boys just scaled this rock wall with their bare feet and no equipment and then jumped into the water!?! I couldn't even make it up 5 feet.

TIS: They have McDonalds but their signs say "Talofa" or "hello" instead of "enter." It was funny to see such a similar image but Samoa style.

TIS: Another hilarious familiar sight was with a Samoan twist was SpongeBob Samoan Style. He has traditional tribal tattoos on him. I guess his pineapple under the sea was located off the coast of Samoa ;)

TIS: They had very interesting local transportation. Each bus was once a truck that just had a bus built onto the back of the truck bed, and each had very original interior decorations. It made me think of Pimp My Ride! BUT, what was really cool was you could create your own stop... as long as where you wanted to get off was in the village the bus traveled through. I wish our public transportation let you pick your own bus stop... It came in very handy several times on our trip :)

TIS: They are incredibly resourceful and hardly anything went to waste. Here some ladies were scraping the bark off a local, edible root called Taro but they used the end of a vegetable can. And it worked really well.

TIS: This one was a double-whammy. So first - I'm not sure you can see but many Samoans store coins in their ear and use it to pay for public transportation. It was clever but not a sight I'm used to seeing. 2nd - notice his rat tail blowin in the wind. These are still very trendy in Samoa or have made a comback since they were big in the states or something cause a ton of guys had them.

TIS: This was one of my favorite things of the entire trip. The kids here in the states don't get into the songs; they are shy about doing the moves and don't always sing very loud. In Samoa, however, the kids sang SO  loudly and with such enthusiasm! I loved it!!!

TIS: One of the prettiest places I've ever seen with some of the kindest people I've ever met. It will always hold a special place in my heart and memories; hopefully I'll make it back one day...