Random Liberia Notes

Today is my last day in Liberia.  I will spend the next two weeks in Sierra Leone.  This post contains random photos I have taken around the city this week:

Here is a billboard in front of the National Election Commission.  They will be conducting the election a week from Tuesday.

Ballots not Bullets

This is part of the Student Center of the campus of the University of Liberia.  There are 17,000 students on this campus – all commuters, no dorms.  Many of the facilities are open air like this one

Study Hall

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Seasons Greetings from Charles Taylor

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The house of Charles Taylor, warlord and former President now on trial in The Hague for war crimes.  He still has his Christmas lights up

 

 

Many aspects of the civil war are still under the surface in society.  Violence against women was common in the war as a tactic of fear and intimidation.  The attitude is still present.  This billboard reads “Stop Rape – She Could Be Your Mother”.  The phrasing is awkward, but the sentiment is real.

You are welcome at the Ducor Hotel

The Ducor Hotel sits on the highest point of land in Monrovia and overlooks black cliffs on the edge of the sea.  It was once the premier hotel in Monrovia, and a source of pride for the city.  The hotel and grounds are still impressive.  However, after the war began it was abandoned, and for twenty years has housed families of squatters.  Earlier this year, the squatters were ejected and construction began for the renovation of the hotel, much to the joy of the city and the nation.  It is just Liberia’s luck that the funding came from Libya and Muammar Qaddafi.  I have heard that squatters have returned.