Category: Letters For Liberia - Foundation For Women

Letters for Liberia: 5 Point Recovery Plan

4/21/2015

La Jolla, CA. - We all had a wonderful skype connection this morning, the team in Liberia and our Edify partner in San Diego and me in La Jolla . I LOVE Tuesday mornings at 7AM here! Connecting regularly with all in Liberia reminds me of why I am on the planet – it’s about connection and service and love.

Liberia and the people of Liberia are in recovery from an unprecedented crisis. Besides the tremendous death toll and infection rates, every aspect of the country has been affected. The GDP for the three most affected countries is expected to be a loss of $2.2B in 2015; countries already struggling in so many ways. So, we discussed a five point recovery plan.

Letters for Liberia: Seek to do brave and lovely things

4/14/2015

La Jolla, CA - This is the latest report from Liberia published recently in the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/world/africa/idle-ebola-clinics-in-liberia-are-seen-as-misstep-in-us-relief-effort.html?_r=0
All too much too late. And an acknowledgement that it was indeed the Liberian people who ended ebola in their country, not the international community response.

Letters for Liberia: Too much too late?

4/12/2015

There is a front page story in the New York Times today, “Empty Clinics Are Called a Misstep in Ebola Effort,” which I read with great interest. On September 16, 2014, President Obama announced an expanded US plan to help Liberia. I remember that day distinctly. I was in Kauai watching the announcement on CNN while speaking with His Excellency the Vice President of Liberia. I was telling him of the announcement. The number of new ebola cases in the country peaked the week after the announcement.

Letters for Liberia: It is not “us and them” but rather “we”

4/6/2015

La Jolla, CA - It is a very reflective time for me. So many around the globe celebrating a resurrection when our work is about getting all around the globe to realize we are one human family. It is not “us and them” but rather “we” – how to spread that message is the constant question…
I awoke today to find this message in my inbox from dear friend Jan Phillips who said this quote made her think of me.

Letters for Liberia: Stigmatization

4/2/2015

La Jolla, CA - I have been in touch with Liberia every day since departing last week. Yesterday I received a call from friend Foday, one of TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year when TIME named the Ebola Fighters with that honor last December. Foday is a hero. He tirelessly and constantly drove an ambulance, trying to get sick people to an Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU). At the height of the crisis, he often had to take patients back to their homes as there was no space in the ETUs for so many. Foday is also an Ebola survivor.

Letters for Liberia: Tracked by the CDC and US government

3/30/2015

La Jolla, CA - I have returned to my community in California, though my heart is still in Liberia. I am back in the US to produce a documentary film about the people and country of Liberia and ebola.

And I am being tracked by the CDC and US government. The morning of my first day here on Saturday, a nurse and an epidemiologist came to visit. I was asked to sign a letter acknowledging all the instructions which will govern my behavior until April 13, 2015, 21 days after leaving Liberia. I must take my temperature twice daily, morning and evening, and report the readings daily. I must check for signs and symptoms of illness every day and report any of ten symptoms. I must notify public health services prior to leaving San Diego County for any reason. If I develop any symptoms, I must contact public health services immediately, isolate myself and wait for additional instructions. After several days now, it has become routine and I am grateful that the screening is in place – and I still feel the prejudice of being one of “them.”

Letters for Liberia: I am one of “them” vs one of “us” in America and feeling it constantl

3/26/2015

Geneva, IL - I awoke early here and sent several emails to Liberia – missing so many people and the country so much after only a few days away… This partial reply from my now dear sister Dr. Angela Benson:

Letters for Liberia: Ebola hysteria in America

3/25/2015

Geneva, IL - My welcome home yesterday included a confused hour-long process by customs and immigration at Dulles Airport in Washington DC. I was the first off the airplane from Brussels, the first to be taken to the holding area for medical screening, the first to be interviewed, the first to be given my “ebola packet” – and the first to be released to continue my travel after the disappearance of my checked luggage claim check and no customs exit documentation; just “She’s OK.” An hour-long process with 71 others behind me waiting to be screened…

Letters for Liberia: Traveling between two worlds

3/24/2015

Geneva, IL USA - Oh the contrast! I left my home in Liberia yesterday late afternoon and traveled more than 30 hours via Europe to land in Washington DC and then Chicago. I have come to the place of my birth to spend a few days with my biological parents after leaving the place of my true family far behind now in Africa.

When I got off the plane at O’Hare International Airport I could not help but be struck by the contrast to the Roberts International Airport in Liberia – two entirely different worlds. Moving walkways, escalators, plentiful flushing toilets, temperature controlled environment, baggage ready to be claimed by the time I reached the appointed area, order despite thousands of people… Can my two worlds really be on the same planet?

Letters for Liberia: Santa Fe and Monrovia

2/23/2015

Santa Fe, New Mexico - I traveled here a couple of days ago with my friend Jeanne Adams. Jeanne just finished curating and hanging an exhibit entitled Fragile Waters which will open at the San Diego Maritime Museum the first of March. She had a few days free before the opening of the exhibit so we have come to stay with dear friend Janie Davis. I love Santa Fe and take advantage of every opportunity to spend time here.