Liberia the Sweet

Art by Lauren Phillips| VOX Staff

By Fenell Willkins| VOX Staff

Liberia, sweet Liberia” is what my family calls the West African country when they reminisce about their childhoods and how they stood together through hard times.

Liberians place great importance on being there for each other and making sacrifices to provide a good living for their loved ones. When ever a person is going through a hard time, someone close to her will always try to help that person get back on the right track.

As the old saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Yeah, it takes a village, but because of the war in Liberia and the separation it caused, for my family it took neighborhoods and cities instead.

Growing Up in Liberia
I have been in America my whole life, but I have always desired to visit and explore my roots. Anyone who stereotypes Africa as full of wild animals, poverty and dark-skinned people who run around naked in the jungle is wrong. They are also wrong to think that to be from Africa, you can’t speak English. When I hear my peers say “you look African” and that my family is too good-looking to be African, I get offended and confront them and tell them that they are stupid for thinking that way.

When I think of Liberia, I think of my grandmother’s house and lifestyle. My grandmother was a single parent of eight children and worked two jobs to support her family. In Liberia, parents take education seriously and make sure their kids are heading in the right direction.

Whenever I ask my mother about Liberia, she tells me that like America, the country is civilized and has a lot to offer, but is more fun and easy to live in. In fact, my uncle, like many Liberians, came to America just to get his college degree, then went back to his home country.

When the Hell Broke Loose
Around 1989, one year before I was conceived, many of my relatives moved to the United States because a civil war had broken loose in Liberia. Some had left the country earlier, because they feared for their safety. Some stayed in Africa but moved to Ghana, and the majority moved to America. They felt the dictatorship was going to destroy the country, and no one wanted his or her family struggling once the war began.

My mother decided to stay in Africa. She was in Sierra Leone three months before the war started; then, she decided to go back to Monrovia, the Liberian capital.

By then, war had destroyed everything. People had been killed, beaten, raped and kidnapped: Survivors would steal food and water. This time was especially difficult for my mother because she was a few months pregnant with me, and she was alone because everyone had left for America. She was determined to leave Liberia and give birth to me in a safer environment.

Then, my uncle found someone who agreed to help her get to safety. After everything was arranged, my mother and a few other family members lived in a hotel in Ivory Coast for a month before leaving for America. Luckily, my mother arrived in America when she was seven months pregnant with me and decided to try to make the best out of life.

Liberia Today
In 2003, the civil war in Liberia came to an end. Because of the war, many of my aunts and uncles have moved to the United States, while some of my family stayed in Liberia. After the war ended, my grandfather traveled back to Liberia to spend time with family members who stayed and were able to survive. They had been separated for 13 years.

Whenever I watch the news about West Africa, I believe that everything will be fine in the next few years. Liberia has made a huge improvement by electing Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as the first female president on the continent of Africa. She wants the people of Liberia to get back on their feet and be independent. Plus, there are people like my aunt who never intended to leave Africa because they want to help by building schools and adopting children.

The war and the history of Liberia have made a serious impact on my family: They have taught everyone the importance of family values, how to become a better person, and to take life seriously.

Fenell is a junior at Open Campus.