Try to portray Liberia as a village consisting of people with fear and intimidation of their awful past. It is a badge of honor. Highlight that. Talk about child soldiers. Talk about the fourteen years of civil unrest. Talk about Charles Taylor and the other warlords that are in the House of Legislature.
Talk about how they were saviors before they became savages. If you need a cover for your book or a picture for your article, use a child with a protruding stomach and scanty hair, Ebola bodies, heroic health workers, buildings destroyed by war, or dilapidated zinc houses in the slums of West Point or New Kru Town, or the Atlantic Ocean. Try not to only focus on the negatives.
Talk about how the ruins of Ducor Hotel, E. It is very important. Talk about Wani Botoe was he that good? Write about Liberia as a grandmother who lived her years in fame, extravagance, and luxury, only to end up leaning on the arms of the West for security and livelihood. Talk about how, without foreign aid, most of the essential public services will not be delivered. Talk about how the public services that aid delivers are inadequate in both quality and quantity. Make sure that throughout your book, you repeatedly mention thieves, armed robbers, rapists, prostitutes, and corrupt government officials because they are the beauty and pride of the nation.
A lot. There is also one group of half-educated, arrogant, gullible, and unwilling-to-learn youths who are convinced that they should be in charge. Then there is the other group: fearless, courageous, organizing at the community level, ready to end business as usual in politics. Mention that when they get to state power, at least historically, they will repeat the same mistakes. Highlight this to show nothing is going to change.
This is important. Talk about pollution and how Monrovia is very dirty and reeks of dump sites, dirty markets, and leaking sewage pipes. Talk about health workers, teachers, police and civil servants and how they are underpaid. Talk about the police collecting bribes. Teachers collecting bribes. Everyone collecting bribes. Talk about death. Mention hundreds of people died during the civil war, say it was a senseless war. Then take a page or two, and write about more deaths caused by the Ebola outbreak and how it could have been prevented simply by buying ambulances.
