My Late Mother Esther Wah-Wede Bedell

Women power did not just begin. Unnoticeably it’s been around for centuries. It isn’t about celebrity or popularity; it’s about influence. My late Mom, Esther Wah-Wede Bedell, affectionately known as “Ma Wede” and “O Lord,” is perhaps the most listened-to woman in Harper City during her lifetime. She reared good number of kids who have become respected individuals in Liberia and the world. Many are successful in their own rights.

In some cases to figure out a woman’s contribution, analysis looked for those who run countries, big companies or influential nonprofits. Their rankings are a combination of two scores: visibility and the size of the organization or country they lead. My late Mom, Ma Wede, did not lead a country. But she groomed young men and women who have joined leadership in very important parts of the world including Liberia.

Ma Wede was born December 20, 1929 to Episcopalian parents. At age 20 she experienced a serious biological problem that affected her womanhood. Consequently, she could no longer bear kids. Intrigued by her surrounding evidential circumstances to her life and Church, she gave her life and heart to Jesus Christ and accepted her condition. In early youth she exhibited traces of exquisite sensibility, soundness of understanding, and decision of character. She received no literary instructions. 

Before her nineteenth year she became acquainted with Mr. Ngee (my spelling) Wilson, a mechanical engineer, who would be her husband in later years. Mr. Wilson possessed good taste and good engineering knowledge. He seemed to have given her the first impulse to the formation of her haracter. At nineteenth, she left her parents and resided with her brother J. Wah-Doe Bedell who had just entered Cape Palmas High School in Harper City. She was there to help her brother with his domestic chores. At graduation, her brother moved to Monrovia to pursue further studies. She took on her own roof and gave attention to her mother who was growing older. Her mother’s health made her presence necessary in her home. On the death of her mother, Ma Wede took on more responsibilities for her young sibling (Julia Wah-Kuno Bedell) and sometimes the older ones.

Ma Wede became a teacher from motives of benevolence, or rather philanthropy, and during the time she continued, she gave proof of superior qualification for the performance of its arduous and important duties. The pecuniary concerns of her father early death made her practiced rigid economy in her expenditures, and with her savings was enabled to procure her sisters and brothers situations, to which without aid, they could not have had access; her mother was sustained at length from her fund. She even found means to take under her protection other people’s children in dire need of academic education and social skills to maximize their full human potential through training and guidance.

Ma Wede was a true philanthropist and humanist.

She invested her time and resources in grooming kids of other parents. Besides those we may not remember, she reared Mrs. Elizabeth Bedell Woart, Messrs. Toh-Himmie (brother of Liberia’s football legend, WanniboToe – the wizard dribbler of the national Lone Star of Liberia), Henry Wah-Toe Bedell (her eldest brother’s son named in the stead of one of her brothers), S. K. Bedell, II (named instead of her eldest brother Gen. S. K. Bedell), Sarah Wilson, Mary Dwedeh Bedell, Gbuo, Boryornor and little Kidau who is the youngest of them all. Among all of those she reared, Mr. Thomas G. Bedell is her only adopted son. At age 5, she adopted him from her late brother Gen. S. K. Bedell, Snr.

Ma Wede had not wanted confidence in her own powers of persuasion before. But the reception this work met from the public, gave her an opportunity of judging what those powers were, in the estimation of others. It was shortly after this, that she commenced the work to which these remarks are prefixed. What are its merits will be decided in the judgment of each person and/or reader of this document. Suffice it to say, she appeared to have stepped forth boldly, and singly, in defense of humanity, which by usages of all society, whether savage or civilized, have been kept from attaining their dignity.

She was blessed with six siblings. Besides J. Wah-Doe Bedell, all other siblings predeceased her including, Gen. S. Wah-Kwee Bedell, Snr., H. Wah-Toe Bedell, Snr., Helena Wahde Bedell Neufville, H. Wah-Gleh Bedell, and Julia Wah-Kuno Bedell.

1958 she was founder of the Harper Women Recreation Organization. She almost became involved directly into politics as she was being encouraged by her colleagues to seek political office. 1960 Cofounder, Kudemoweh Women Association in Harper. She chaired it up to 1963.

Honors: she was honored by the late Superintendent of Maryland County, Hon. James Daniel Anderson as the Most Outstanding woman of the Year.

Ma Wede departed this world on November 1, 2009. She was born on December 20, 1928 in Harper, Maryland County, Republic of Liberi.

I am T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell; volunteer worker, social justice advocate, speaking and working on the ground in Liberia and a victim of police brutality.

Harper City: “The Vestiges of Life Once Lived”?

I was involved in a regular conversation with Mary Broh just the other day when she made a statement; that statement that she made, captured my undivided attention thus prompting this write-up.

Before going into her statement, first, let me establish few things why Mary Broh’s observation really touched the abyss of my soul and why I take it seriously. After I’m done with this part, I will then move on to the matter under discussion.  

See, I call her Mary Broh without adding the title “Hon.” 

Why?  

There are two reasons for that: 

1^st, because she is a personal friend. So I do no disrespect to her title as Director General of The General Services Agency of the Republic of Liberia and an Honorable woman, particularly, a very important one in Liberia when I call her Mary.  

2^nd, Mary is a down-to-earth-kind-of-person. She’s not intoxicated with titles and power. Like me, she agrees, power and titles are elusive and they corrode. So no one should worship them. To do so, one runs the risk of being elusive. Mary is not like that. Everyone I know calls her Mary. In her presence, I see even kids calling her Mary Broh. Other women I know will shut the kids down if they don’t add the word “aunty” or “Hon” to their names. As grown as I am, I greeted a lady whom everyone knows in Monrovia; but because I didn’t add “aunty” to her name, she refused to answer to me. Mary is not that type. Everyone calls her Mary and she always answers with no insults taken. This sort of attitude is unheard of in current day Liberia.  

3^rd, Mary is that kind of person who speaks truth on issues. Not only that, she goes the extra mile in her official and private capacity to help improve every condition within her reach. The “Next Generation” of General Services Agency is a typical example of her work. She turned it into a fairytale. 

So, if I took her observation very seriously, the reasons above readily justify that, thus the write-up.

Now, let’s get back to the issue under discussion.  

Mary and I meet every-now-and-then and engage in discussion about our country. In most cases, our discussions turned into a powerhouse.  

In this particular conversation, she told me about her first visit to Maryland. She said that she noticed that Harper is a city full of “Vestiges of life once lived.” The statement threw me off track. So I began to wonder what she meant by that. And so, I began to delve into the scheme of things using my own lenses.   

See, I was born and reared in Harper City. Evidently, I have tremendous and vast knowledge of the City. 

 

Harper City sits majestically deep in the keyhole and belly of the Southeastern Region of Liberia. There I spent my formative days. But I left in 1980 when I graduated high school. Customarily, during my day, graduates were expected to depart the county to embark on an academic sojourn. So I did. But two years later, I returned on a brief visit. That’s when I noticed that nothing had really changed. The infrastructures remained unimproved. In fact, they had begun to crumble. That’s when I began to see and hear Mary Broh thirty-two years in the future.  

In Harper I was opportune to live through some of the “golden” years (life once lived). So I know what was and what is now. I have a reference point! At that time, life was good. So when I reflect by looking back, it becomes quite easy for me to comprehend Mary’s observation without ill-feelings. 

Now, I want you to join Mary and me to do the calculations and comparison from the facts below. 

Maryland is one of the most beautiful counties in Liberia. The evidence is apparent and resolute when you get there. Its capital city is Harper. And Harper is still incomparable after a 14-year generalized anarchy of violence that destroyed infrastructures and human resource. It has a 21^st Century state-of-the-art infrastructural design. It has 99.9% of its streets paved with concrete that have been in good shape for the past fifty or more years. By all measurements, it has one of the best (if not the best) city halls in the country with a 21^st Century state-of-the-art architectural design. Harper is well laid out by all standards. An aerial view makes the case. By International standards, its ballpark is one of the best in the country! And so is its water system.  

Notice, most great cities around the world are built along the banks of rivers, lakes and Oceans. New York, Paris and other cities are typical examples. Harper City is one of those. It runs into a cape. Slides down in Hoffman River, hugs the Atlantic Ocean and drives into Lake Shepherd. Harper City is a takeoff-your-shirts-come-let’s-go-swimming-mind-blowing type of resort.  

At first glance, the beaches beat every stretch of any visitor’s imagination. Extensive and very fascinating, they keep visitors on the edge with spellbound effects.  

The beaches are wide and long stretching from the border of The Ivory Coast to Fishtown (Harper). Undisturbed, they quietly wrap around Fishtown and slip right into Grand Kru County and then beyond.

Harper is a city that has some of the most outstanding private homes that were built and designed by European architects and engineers. The styles into these structures are an addition to the City’s beauty. They record the age of the City living from the 1800s to present. 

The way the architectural designs of private homes are shaped in Harper, reminds one of fairytales in books that we read. The structures are amazingly profound and totally out of this world! Evidently, the builders did not just build the structures, they did so with all that man, money and Science could afford for human development.  

Some European visitors describe Harper as the “only city” they know, in most African countries, that “wasn’t built by colonial masters,” but by its own sons and daughters. Descriptively, its architectural designs have a resting place in the history of mankind.  

The structures are remarkably marvelous.  They hold within their structural designs and context the hallmark and display of the civilization of the people running parallel, if not exceeding, succeeding generations of architectural designs. 

Two families hold these robust architectural designs in their bosoms as owners. They are the Andersons and Tubmans. 

The Anderson & Tubmanic buildings are humongous and historic.  

James Anderson, commonly referred to as “old man Anderson” was former senior Senator of Maryland. He was also national chairman of The “Grand” old True Whig Party (political Party that led Liberia for a little over one hundred years). And that’s a lot of power for one man. He built his structures in a twin-size fashion. Almost everywhere he built his structures; they were two-into-one. And unmistakably gigantic. 

In the case of William Tubman, commonly referred to as “Bob Willie,” built only one huge, gigantic, titanic, colossal, and massive private residence. At first sight, by any human person in his normal mind, the structure commands an “awe” and “wow.” It sits in the heartland and doorway of Downtown Harper.  

Anderson built his big twin-size and beautiful buildings in Downtown Harper also. As a trademark, all of his buildings carry one super color of paint – green. As for Bob Willie, his color remained as yellow.

Upon entering Downtown Harper, one sees the echelons and the tips of the Anderson and Tubman buildings towering over all else in the City like the Empire State Building with their green and white colors flashing in the distance.

Today, upon entering the City and seeing these structures decaying, one can truly agree with Mary that these structures portray the “Vestiges of life once lived.” And that those who once lived in them, without a doubt, lived exceptional and incomparable lives.

There are other structures that add to Harper’s beauty besides the private homes. They are the Churches. Most of them are also humongous. And most of them sit in the  sacred heart of Downtown or at the entrance of the lovely City.

One of those is the St’ Mark’s Episcopal Church. It is huge. It has an estimated seating capacity of 1000. It sits in the heart of Downtown Harper facing The Hoffman River. It’s bounded on the West by Mechlin Street; on the East by McGill Street; in the South by Printing Street and the North by Gregory Street. The Church’s back is turned to the Atlantic Ocean. Unmistakably, all of the streets that bound the Church are paved with concrete. And that’s amazing!

The other is The Mount Scott Methodist Church. It is also a humongous structure built by some British. It is also huge with an estimated seating capacity of 500 to 900. It has an “Uncle Ben” clock sitting on its forehead. The Church sits on top of a hill looking over Downtown Harper like a watchdog. The back is turned to the Atlantic Ocean. I don’t know why. The front faces both Downtown and The Hoffman River. It is bounded by concrete-paved streets on all sides. Maryland Avenue is in its North; McGill Street in its East; Russwurm Street sits in its south and Gregory Street is in its South.

The St. Theresa’s Catholic Cathedral is at the entrance of the City. It is also a huge structure with an estimated seating capacity of 1000. Unlike St. Mark’s and Mount Scott, it faces the Atlantic Ocean with back turned to Town. It is bounded by some paved and unpaved streets. In its due North is Maryland Avenue; Its West is J. J. Dossen Memorial Hospital and its East is Thompson Street and its South is the unpaved part of Green Street.

There are other little churches not as huge as the ones named above. But they are as old as the City. The history behind them are as huge as the structures that tower over them. Their relevance lies in their ages and historicity explaining what Harper City used to be and what it is now.

There are other landmarks in the City adding flavor to it. And that includes The J. J. Dossen Memorial Hospital.

Many years ago, as far back as the 60s, The J. J. Dossen Memorial Hospital, named after one of Liberia’s chief justices and vice presidents, H. E. J. J. Dossen, used to treat patients as far as from Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and other parts of West Africa. It was the “doyen” of medical facilities in West Africa. It had a great and incomparable medical team. Most members of the Team were well-trained Europeans. Some were Liberians who were trained in Europe and America. So it won the hearts and souls of most West Africans. Upon entering Harper, it sits on top of a hill facing the Atlantic Ocean with its back against Town.

But something strange happened: today the story is different and so is the reality on the ground. And there’s where Mary Broh comes in – they have become “Vestiges of life once lived.”

Some of the structures are evaded by grass and trees. The quality of the paint used that gave added ambiance has tumbled down like The Berlin Wall. The interior and exterior decorations have ruptured. This reality and condition strengthens Mary Broh’s claim as a city with “Vestiges of life once lived.”

All of the 21^st Century State-Of-The-Art of architectural designs, have become monuments of decay.

Notwithstanding, life is still alive in Harper City. But one thing is true about this: today’s life is unlike the past. Decayed infrastructures have abused the goodness and beauty of the City.

Here is the million dollar question:

Why has the offspring of the builders of these gigantic and 21^st Century state-of-the-art architectural designs in Harper City failed to enhance the legacies of the builders of the future of Harper?!

I have my answer. Mary made hers known! So what’s yours?

 

I am T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell; a social justice advocate, speaking and working on the ground in Liberia and a victim of police brutality.   

Please Give His Excellency Chairman Gyude a State Funeral; he deserves it!

I have been reading in the dailies and hearing in the grapevine that the family of Chairman Charles Gyude Bryant are rejecting the participation of the Liberian government in the funeral ceremonies ofthe Hon. Chairman, thus taking away his rightful dues as a former head of state of the Republic of Liberia.

 

I don’t know how true this rumor is.

 

But whether it is true or not; I will say what I said when some Liberians in the US refused for Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to speak to Liberians during her travel to the US to make campaign statements for the 2005 Presidential election.

 

I said to those Liberians who refused Ellen a platform to speak to her fellow compatriots: what the heck; let the oldma speak!

 

They accused her of saying, “level the Executive Mansion and we will rebuild it.” And of course she admitted to saying so during the early days of the generalized anarchy of violence that gripped the Liberian nation and plunged it into decadence.

 

All things considered, I thought the oldma needed to speak. And she did!

 

I say the same today, heck, let the Liberian government give Gyude his dues – give him a state funeral with the 21-gun salute. He deserves it!

 

Did the Liberian government do any harm to Chairman Gyude? Probably, it did! I don’t know. But does that take away from him his dues as a former Head of State of the Republic of Liberia? I say no!

 

Take a step further and ask President William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman – the longest serving President; did the Liberian government treat him right?

 

Maybe the Government did not!

 

But did Tubman not get his due respect as a former Head of State of the Republic of Liberia? Yes, he got it!

 

If one were to go another step further and interview Tubman in his grave as to the treatment he received from the Liberian government and other Liberians, I’m sure Tubman would just turn around in his grave and put up a strong frown.  But all the same, he’s the 18^th President of the Republic of Liberia. It is written; so shall it be!

 

Don’t stop there.

 

Ask the late William Richard Tolbert, the 19^th President of the Republic of Liberia.

 

Did the Liberian government and some Liberians treat President Tolbert right? I’ll bet! he’s gonna say, hell, no! But did whatever wrong the Liberian government may have done him cancel and take away his position as a former Head of State of the Republic of Liberia? I say, No!

 

Well then, heck! Let Chairman Gyude, our Honorable Chairman, get his honors! It could have been worse!

 

Ask our former President who now sits in prison in the White man country, His Excellency Charles Gankay Taylor, whether or not the Liberian government treated and/or treats him right. I’m sure his answer is a resounding no! But does that take away his dues as a former President of the Republic of Liberia? Heck, no!

 

Well then, let Gyude get his props! Let him get a state funeral with all the pomp that comes with it! He deserves it!

 

What’s about President Samuel Kanyon Doe?

 

Does one think Doe was or is happy over the manner in which the Liberian government and other Liberians treated and continue to treat him? if you ask me, I’ll say no! But if you don’t believe me then you ask him.

 

President Doe was openly bludgeoned and murdered in the open for the world to see. Did that  take away his respect as a former president of the Republic of Liberia? Heck, no!

 

Well, review the scope of things with His Excellency Moses P. Blah.

 

I understand President Blah cried his way into the earth asking for help from Liberia. But he was denied help. Did the Liberian government treat him right? If it is true, then of course not! But and still President Blah got his 21-gun salute and all other things that come in the package of a state funeral!

 

So, I say, heck! Let Chairman Gyude get his props, dues and salute, right now! No  one should  deny him his dues!

 

There’s more. And all of those former presidents, dead or alive, have reasons to cry out loud for justice.

 

All I am saying is, let Chairman Gyude get his 21-gun salute.

 

Everything that the Government of Liberia allegedly did to him just go into the pages of history. Anyone responsible for all that was wrongfully done to Chairman Gyude will have to give an accounting in the future.

 

Go Chairman Gyude! go home and join our martyrs in the Great Beyond.

 

Whatever you have done for our country will be left with history. Honorable Fidel Castro says it right, “History will absolve me.”

 

Indeed, history will “absolve” Chairman Gyude!

 

Farewell! Chairman Gyude, farewell!

 

May your soul rest in Perfect Peace and Light Perpetual shine upon you! Pass on our love and respect to the rest.

 

Long live Liberia!

Letter to Hon. Matilda Parker, Managing Director, National Port Authority, R.L. on Behalf of Aggrieve Harper Port Workers

May 9, 2014

Thomas G. Bedell

SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE

Reevy Street, Harper, Maryland County, Liberia

Cell: +23.886.920.151/777.088.427

Email: osygefo@hotmai.com, geesayfannokon@yahoo.com

 

Madam Matilda Parker

MANAGING DIRECTOR

National Port Authority (NPA)

Republic of Liberia

 

Dear Madam: 

I trust you are enjoying God’s grace and doing well with your varied responsibilities. 

As per your request, during our first meeting with the National Port Authority (NPA), when I represented the Aggrieve Prewar Employees of the Port of Harper, please find attached a copy of the Letter of authorization to me from the Aggrieve Employees for your guidance, perusal and attention. A letter specifically addressed to you from our clients is also in the envelope. Signatories to the letters herein referred to, are all elected officials of The Aggrieve Pre War Employees and therefore are their leaders with whom you may discuss their interests as far as this case is concerned. In the event you develop any problem with the Letter, please feel free to contact us. 

Madam Parker, please be informed, in our Thursday, April 24, 2014, meeting, we agreed for us to submit another letter of authorization from our clients to you. Why? Because, the previous letter was a photocopy. Therefore, you asked for an original copy and requested the formation of a leadership team. We also agreed that a note covering the meeting be forwarded to us as a matter of record from your office. That note was forwarded on April 25 instant, except that it was very unfriendly. As such, we registered our distaste. Let there be sober-mindedness, judiciousness and calm in finding a permanent and amicable resolution to this matter. Because if we fail, posterity will not forgive us!

Thanks for your understanding in the anticipated speedy resolution of this matter. I am,

 Very truly yours, 

Thomas G. Bedell

 

Letter to Hon. Moriss Dukuly, Minister of Internal Affairs, Republic of Liberia on Behalf of Aggrieve Women in Harper

May 1, 2014

 

Thomas G. Bedell

SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE

Concerned Citizens Action Committee (CCAC)

Reevy Street, Harper City, Maryland County

Email: osygefo@hotmail.com geesayfannokon@yahoo.com

CELL: +231.886.920.151/777.088.427

 

Hon. Morris Dukuly

MINISTER

Ministry of Internal Affairs

Republic of Liberia

 

Dear Sir:  

Please be duly informed we’ve been retained by a group of women and few men whose homes were demolished by the Local government of Maryland County in 2006 during a failed expansion of The Alexander Tubman Aero Port in Harper. Damages accrued in the amount of Sixty-Six (US$66,000.00) thousand United States dollars.

Our clients informed us that this sad situation occurred during the administration of Hon. Sie-Teba Neufville as superintendent of Maryland. We are told that the Administration demolished their homes under the guise of expanding The Alexander Tubman Aero Port. Our clients maintain this unjust action by the Government is responsible for years of economic hardship, inhumane treatment, stress and abuse of their families.

As social justice advocates, our job is to seek justice for all. But in the event one causes willful harm to a people and that person or institution fails to cooperate in finding an amicable solution, peaceful and nonviolent protest demonstration is the last resort! 

Several months ago, we submitted this complaint to Hon. Nazarene Brewer Tubman, current superintendent of Maryland, for her action. Previous to that, Hon. J. Gble-Bo Brown received the complaint in 2010. But up to the minute we opine, not much has been heard and/or done on record.

 

This matter could be a human rights abuse case.  

Our clients informed us that they are weary and impatient with the Government’s neglect and slow pace in allowing them to have their rightful dues.  

Our clients claim they are deeply troubled by the insensitivity being demonstrated by the Government. Therefore, it is our sole intend to lay this case before H.E. Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia if needs be for her attention.  

Prior to taking this to President Sirleaf, we herein request a conference with you in few days to find an amicable solution before the matter gets to crisis proportion.  

In view of the foregoing, we will remain engaged with your office for the purpose of seeing that appropriate action is taken in this matter in a timely fashion. 

We look forward to hearing from you very soon as time is not on our side. I am,

 

Very truly yours, 

Thomas G. Bedell

 

 

To people of good faith Let us save Little Felecia Prowd’s life!

A painful unfair start in life.

 

A 5-year-old girl named Felecia Prowd, was dragged several yards under the carriage of a Danish Refugee Council’s (DRC) motor car in Little Wlebo Refugee Camp, Maryland County, on May 15, 2012.

 

Her head kept bouncing under the motor car as the chauffeur drove on. When the chauffeur noticed the unusual movement of the truck, he made a stop to see what the matter was. When he saw who was under the truck, he was shocked. Little Felecia was hanging under the truck helplessly bleeding profusely. Every part of her head was oozing blood.

 

Little Felecia became unconscious. Immediately, the chauffeur took her to The J. J. Dossen Memorial Hospital in Harper City. The Hospital is not qualified to deal with problem Little Felecia was faced with - neurological. So Little Felecia was referred to The Jackson F. Doe Memorial Hospital in Tapita, Nimba County for treatment. After few days, she became conscious and was discharged from the Hospital.

 

Little Felecia was driven back to her Bigtown residence from Tapita to be with her parents in Harper City, Maryland County.

 

Because Little Felecia’s parents lacked the know-how and skills in dealing with her bad neurological condition, Little Felecia was forced to live with the problem for two years. She has since then been delirious and mentally confused. As a result, she’s out of school.

 

To recover, Little Felecia needs serious medical attention outside Liberia. Intervention cost could be over thousands United States dollars which is well above the family's financial strength.

 

DRC’s insurance is Mutual Benefits Assurance (MBA) Company on 17^th Street in Monrovia. MBA is doing everything in its power to help underwrite the hospital bill to help save Little Felecia’s life. But MBS says its Policy does not go beyond the borders of Liberia. And that’s bad news for Little Felecia. But the good thing is DRC, the nongovernmental organization holding the insurance and whose car dragged Little Felecia, is  expressing willingness to help Little Felecia to travel abroad for neurological treatment.

 

Little Felecia’s dad passed away few months ago and her mother is a housewife. The widow and relatives of the little girl are struggling daily to save her life.

 

We have contacted representatives of clinics outside Liberia. If needs be, we will just need to collect the money to treat her.

 

Sarah Gbuo Prowd is forced to raise her daughter alone. The little girl’s father left them few months ago while Little Felecia was struggling with head pain. Since then the mother has been struggling with all powers to see her baby healthy.

 

Little Felecia may be having serious neurological problems that may lead to brain damage. She has an extreme case that without proper medical attention her life will be in SEVERE danger!!

 

Her mother is a housewife and does not have the capability to treat her daughter. It will cost thousands of United States dollars to treat her daughter at the hospital. If we all get together we can help this family and SAVE this precious little girl!!

The Late Bishop Emeritus, Boniface Nyema Dalieh was Truly a man of God - A Testimonial

I was born and reared in Harper City, Maryland County. If you check the map of Liberia, geographically, Maryland is located in the keyhole, deep in the belly of the Southeastern Region. There I spent my formative days. Until I returned from outside Liberia, the things I saw and continue to see beat every inch of my imagination.  That’s the bad part of my experience.

 

But there’s a good part.

 

Until now, when I returned home after being away for years, I will admit, I did not know much about my hometown and people as I know now. As a young man growing up in Maryland, there were lots of people that I didn’t know very well but left an impact and indelible print on my life. And the late Bishop Boniface Nyema Dalieh happened to be one of those people.

 

I didn’t know Bishop Dalieh when I was growing up. Maybe I did. But I don’t remember.

 

I can recall in Harper, a Liberian Catholic Bishop passed on; I think it was Bishop Juwle. We buried him in Harper City adjacent to The St. Theresa Cathedral on Maryland Avenue, right opposite the Catholic Ballpark. As kids, we all were in the Funeral procession in our school uniforms. Suddenly, for whatever reason (s), I lost touch with the Catholic Church in Harper. Not in a negative way; But I just didn’t follow up anything else about the Catholic Church and its administration.

 

I cannot explain why and how this happened. But it did!

 

On May 1, 2007, I touched ground in Liberia. I came from abroad. I had been away far too long traveling few countries around the globe and ending up in the United States of America.

 

While I was away, a civil war engulfed Liberia and caused so much damage to infrastructure and human resource. So upon my return, noticeably, things dramatically changed; the people and infrastructures were different. That made my work back home rather a whole new “ball game” forcing me to adopt and tailor my strategies to fit such reality.

 

Now, I can understand if Monrovia had dramatically changed. Because, whatever the changes were, would not and did not affect my psyche. Why? Because I wasn’t born and reared in Monrovia. But when I got home in Maryland (my hometown) where I was born and reared, the stark difference painfully hit me on the forehead. And it drove me nuts!

 

Most of my friends I grew up with left and traveled far away. So they were nowhere to be found. Others passed on. Those I met at home had terribly aged. And I was strangely dismayed. But all the same, I contained the shocked as it ran through my spinal cord. The shock penetrated abyss of my soul. So I could not pretend that it did not hurt. So I accepted the condition and treated it with calm and understanding.

 

With all of these uninmaginable happenings around me, others like Mr. Pike Mike Jury, who shared by view, wanted us to bring back the “old” days and revive some of the things needed for renewal. So a county reunion idea clicked in and we embarked upon the implementation.

 

Prior to our work in this direction, series of attempts were made by other Marylanders before my arrival back home. And so, the idea wasn’t new, except that I introduced a new approach.  

 

By getting involved in the reunion activities, I was able to come face-to-face with Bishop Dalieh for the very first time in my life.

 

And this is the essence of this testimonial.

 

When we formed The Reunion Committee, Bishop Dalieh became the Chair. He made me his secretary. The man (Bishop Dalieh) whose secretary I became was a religious man. Everyone including myself knew that. I, on the other hand, wasn’t much religious. No one knew that in Maryland at the time. See, I am an unorthodox Christian. And that speaks volumes in Liberian reality. I talk Liberation Theology, which is not new to the Catholic Church. Because, there’s where it derived. Quickly, I think the Bishop figured all that out as an experienced man, well-learned and familiar with the different views of religion and made a quick shift after I authored my first letter to the public.

 

My first letter for the reunion was critical of the Maryland Legislative Caucus. Because, in my view, in order for us to begin to heal our wounds as a society, we needed to begin to provide justice to all. So, the letter placed a serious question mark on the integrity of the Maryland Legislative Caucus. Soon, Bishop instructed his views to be produced from his Catholic Diocese’s office instead of coming from me. I didn’t ask any question. I just adjusted myself. Because a man of his caliber needed to have someone who understood his philosophy in life and his work to author his views. I was not qualified in that strict sense. So I took on another responsibility mobilizing Marylanders in Monrovia and the Diaspora.  

 

We all began working together. We tried hosting the first Reunion, which would have been the third of Bishop’s participation; it did not succeed. We went after it again the following year. That year was my second attempt. It too partly succeeded. Soon we realized (I knew from the get-go) that the problem holding us back as a county had its genesis in the Caucus. So every time we tried and tried limited lights came on in the tunnel. The lack of funding broke us apart. So each of us when our separate ways. But we kept the camaraderie alive.

 

Within this period of separation, Bishop and I came into loggerhead position. I use “loggerhead” in this post not in a negative way. It is not the kind of “loggerhead” that makes Liberian hunt each other down fiercely. Ours was ideological and civil.

 

This is what happened:

 

As a social justice advocate, I organized nonviolent protest demonstrations and defiance campaigns in Maryland. And this was strange in Maryland especially so, when demonstrations caused too much infrastructural destruction. And nobody wanted to see that happening anymore. But I managed successfully all of those demonstrations and campaigns that I led from degenerating into chaos. But all the same, coming out of the experience of generalized anarchy of violence, some people of Maryland were still scare to march in the streets protesting.

 

I quickly found out that Bishop did not like my style of advocacy at first. He never told me so. But knowing Liberian people as we all do, those he mentioned it to, informed me. So I got the news from the grapevine. No harm meant! I knew that much!

 

For example, I advocated for the shipwreck victims. Tens and tens of women’s revenue and goods rest in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Others lost their lives. I held the Liberian government responsible for allowing vessels that were not seaworthy plying our waters and killing our citizens and residents.

 

The process of advocacy lasted for three years. In the end, the Liberian government agreed with me and paid reparation to the victims.

 

Prior to that, I conducted a nonviolent peaceful demonstration and sit-in action with more than 10,000 men and women. We shut down the entire county for three unbroken days. UNMIL sea vessels were unable to dock. And this captured national and international headlines. President Sirleaf, via cell phone, called us asking us to discontinue the protest demonstration. We didn’t immediately disengage. So some of those who marched with us, including Bishop Dalieh, took on a different posture. Bishop then began to look at me negatively. He didn’t say this to me, personally. But at some point, he spoke with others in the community. And those he spoke with told me. But I ignored it. I didn’t ignore it in a disrespectful manner to the Bishop. But I had a job to do. The people were confiding in me and the protest demonstrations, for the first time in Maryland, were not degenerating into chaos and the direct goals of reparations were being achieved.

 

As a man of God, I knew Bishop understood where I was coming from and where I was heading. But I think he was afraid of past mistakes being repeated.  As an honorable man I couldn’t argue with him.

 

What made me see him more as a man of God is that Bishop agreed that Jesus set the example for servant ministry.  And that in Jesus’ life and ministry, He gave priority to the least, the last, the lost and the left out. And that we as Christians would follow in His footsteps by serving the needs of people.  I believe Bishop knew that the Holy Spirit equips us for service by giving us gifts for ministry and by giving us a passion for serving the needs of others.  And so he (Bishop) live his life encouraging others to invest their lives in ministries of compassion and justice, moving towards God’s vision. When Bishop prayed for me at my residence, he prayed that our service that we have and continue to render to our fellow Brethren and Sistren will create a ripple of grace that touches and transforms people’s lives throughout our one world. 

 

Without a doubt, Bishop understood all this better than I do. So I prayed and looked up to God for my help so that one day Bishop would get to know me better and understand what I stand for while he was alive.

 

God heard my prayer.

 

As a true man of God, Bishop he did exactly what God asked him to – he visited with me. From that day, I received a new and powerful lesson to forge my future in my advocacy work.

 

Here’s how it happened:

 

One day, I came from Downtown Harper. Just as I got closed to my residence, Bishop was sitting at my next door neighbor’s place. I didn’t see him until he called my attention. When I looked in his direction, he told me that he had come to see me. Not that I didn’t believe him, but I was shocked. Why? Because I did not expect the Bishop to come to my residence to see me. I expected him to call me to come over to his office or house to see him. Not the other way around. So I kept walking. Then he reechoed his call. Immediately, I had to stop. So I walked in his direction. Next thing I know, he was on his feet. He wasn’t sitting anymore. He took few baby-steps towards me. Mind you, Bishop was quite over the proverbial hill. I had to say something to him. I said, “Bishop, please wait for me, I’m coming to you.” He replied, “No, Bedell, I’m behind you. I’m coming upstairs to your apartment.” Judging from the many steps that one had to take to go upstairs my residence, I concluded that Bishop could not make it. Why? Because I thought he was an elderly man. And his knees were longer stronger. But Bishop convinced me he could make it upstairs. And he did! He followed me. when I got up, I put my keys in the door and unlocked it. I stood right at the entrance and waited for Bishop. He slowly took one step at a time, soon he was upstairs. I showed him in and offered him a seat. And he sat down.

 

Then all began to unravel.

 

He first told me that Sen. Ballout had complained to him that I was not giving him (Ballout) support. And so he asked that I work with Sen. Ballout. It was a pure appeal that the Bishop offered me. So I did not ask him what exactly Sen. Ballout said about me. From the manner in which Bishop made the appeal and giving the fact that he climbed upstairs to speak with me and he came all the way from his residence to my neck of the woods to see me, I knew he was very serious and he meant every word he spoke from his lips. Without any hesitation, I did what he asked me: I immediately dialed Sen. Ballout’s cell phone digits and spoke with him. I told the Senator what had just transpired. It was spiritual! As such, I promised to work with him once he’s willing to do same. I think Sen. Ballout agreed. And all was set. Bishop thanked me for listening to him and doing what he asked of me. I too thanked Bishop for coming over to see me and talk to me. I told him how surprised and shocked I was. And asked him to forgive me for walking away at first when he told me he was there to see me. We were done for the day. And Bishop got ready to depart my residence. I held one of his hands. He used the other hand to hold his cane. And down the stairs we went. Bishop got in his brand new truck; In Liberia they don’t  say “truck” they say “Jeep” and pulled off.

 

I turned around to go back to my residence.

 

That’s when my eyes caught a good number of neighbors looking in my direction. I think they did so with apprehension. I think they were as surprise as I was. It seemed to me that those neighbors who were looking at me were either shocked to see the Bishop visit me or maybe they had other things running around their brains. Whatever the case was, I couldn’t say.

 

I walked through my door and took a seat in the Living Room just where Bishop and I were sitting and talking. Then I began to recollect and reflect. For a minute, it seemed to me that what had just happened was a dream. Imagine the Bishop Emeritus of The Catholic Diocese of Cape Palmas, who did not like my style of advocacy, came over at my residence to see me. Such a thought haunted me for the rest of the week until there was a replay of the same incident but for a different reason.

 

One week later, Bishop Dalieh came over again to see me again. This time, I  wasn’t shocked. I was mesmerized.

 

I was talking with friends in the yard when Bishop approached  in his vehicle. I looked his way as if I were expecting him to visit with me. Then I saw him disembarked his vehicle. I tried to return to my conversation with my friends when I noticed something strange: the Bishop sternly looked at me. That look that came from the Bishop recaptured my attention. So I kept my eyes on him until I heard him say, “Mr. Bedell, I’m here to see you.” I rushed to him immediately. Then he said, “Let’s go upstairs.” Again, I thought of the many steps to go up to my flat where we earlier met. Slowly but surely, we got upstairs. He sat in the same seat he used the last time he was at my place. He probably loved that particular seat. I think because it was very soft and comfortable. The back of the sofa was turned towards the window facing the Atlantic Ocean. And there’s where the nice breeze came blowing from. Strategically, I used that particular seat because it faces the best part of my residence – the kitchen.

 

Then Bishop began to speak to me.

 

This time it was different. He frowned for a minute. I asked him why. He answered, “Bedell, my knees are not what they used to be.” In a minute, he was ok. He put up a smile. And I did too. Then he asked me to come closer. I did. He didn’t hesitate. He asked me if at all I heard anything he said about me. I didn’t want to say “yes.” So I said, “No.” Then he asked me to bow my head for a prayer. I did. He prayed and all was well. I was still wondering as to what was in the pipeline. But I kept hope alive.

 

It seemed like Bishop knew that I knew what he was about to tell me. Why? Because that’s what wisdom is all about. When you have lived long enough and passed through a whole lot of things that you learned from and you are a man of God like Bishop, you would know a lot of things especially, when someone is pretending, like I was doing. 

 

Then he made his opening remarks.

 

He asked me to forgive him. I asked why. He told me it was something that he said about me when I newly came to Maryland that he should not have said. He told me what that was. It was all about my style of advocacy. Did I hear it? I answered in the affirmative. Because, truly, I heard it around town many times.

 

Why did I have to admit that to him so quickly? Simple!

 

Here is a man of God who has been around longer than me and probably my dad; he’s come to my residence to say something that probably troubled him for a while. Who am I then not to cooperate with him?

 

I had to cooperate.

 

I wanted to say to Bishop, forget. It’s ok. Then he said, “Let me finish.” I shut up immediately and waited for him to conclude. And when he did, I knelt before his Bishopship and apologized for anything I also may have done that may have troubled him. After that, he took me by the tip of my fingers and asked me to stand. I did. Then he prayed again and said, “Bedell, I have to leave. I am expecting an important call from abroad.” As I did previously when Bishop came to see me, I escorted him down the stairs and he departed.

 

I looked around again to see who was watching.

 

See, in Liberia, people poke their noses in other people’s business. So of course, some folks were watching again. This time, I just ignored them and walked in.

 

Few days later, Bishop was passing by in his vehicle ( he always went by my way almost every day to visit his sibling living around my area) when he saw me. He stopped and spoke with me briefly. Since that time, I have never had the opportunity to see Bishop nor talk with him again until I heard his knees were letting him down. Something inside me told me to go and find him. And I did.

 

See, where Bishop was living in Harper was a walking distance from me. But I got a ride to go and visit with him. When I got at his residence, I was told that he was asleep. So I couldn’t see him. But his staff assured me that they would inform him of my impromptu visit.

 

After left his residence, I never saw or talk to Bishop Dalieh again until I heard that he had passed on in the United States of America. Indeed, his death news devastated me and broke my heart!

 

Right away, I began to reflect on his visits with me and the things he said to me. They were resounding in my head. So I bowed my head momentarily, not in prayer, but with a broken heart. Later on few tears dropped from my eyes. That was a sign of regret. Later on I raised my head and I said to myself, “Who knows better than God? Bishop’s death is God’s will. And as our Creator, His Will will always be done!” I had to accept the condition and reality that Bishop Boniface Nyema Dalieh had finally left us, permanently!

 

Indeed, Bishop Boniface Nyema Dalieh was truly a man of God. I know that! And I can testify!

 

The short time I got to know Bishop Nyema Dalieh, he impacted my life significantly. Some changes that have occurred in me are because of my meetings with him in a strange but divine way! For me not to make record of such a humongous and historic meeting will not be fair to him or I.

 

Our two meetings make my life not to be the same again. It’s better! I owe this to the late Bishop Emeritus of The Catholic Cape Palmas Diocese, The Right Reverend Honorable Boniface Nyema Dalieh!

 

May his soul and the souls of our dear departed rest in Perfect Peace and Light Perpetual shine upon him!

 

Goodbye Bishop! And God be with you till we meet again!

 

 

 

I am T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell, a social justice advocate; working and speaking on the ground in Liberia and a victim of police brutality.