Ballout Confession: Split in Caucus is Responsible for Proliferation of the County Citizenry

January 6, 2009

 

I’ve been in Liberia on a working-visit for more than a year now. I know this situation of mine confuses too many people. But that’s what I always do best – confuse people till the end when the light shines so brightly. My working visit is a Re-evolutionary task. At least, that’s how I describe it. It is a radical departure from things as we know them. It comes after a 14-year generalized anarchy of violence when infrastructure and human resource destruction reached astronomical heights. It demands everyone to chip in and make the Reconstruction effort a success. So my NGO is helping. And I am personally making a difference. Thanks to those who are supporting me in their own unique way!

My whole intent when I came to Liberia was to work in other counties other than Maryland. But I was convinced to go to Maryland.

Why did I want to go to other counties to serve besides being in Maryland? Simple! I am a student of history. And I have read history widely on men and women who tried to identify with their homelands but were ostracized. For it is said in many books and the Books of books that no village has ever embraced its own.

Jesus’ experience tells it all including that of many more prophets and revolutionaries around the world. I found mine out quickly.

To date, it is Marylanders, especially current leaders, who are attempting to destroy the work we do. Why do they do so? Simple! They want to say, “Aha, aha, there he is. He said he came to help. But there he is struggling. He has done nothing to help!” And then they can lower citizens to sleep and marginalize them. But I am measured up to the task!  

Anyways, let get to the focus of this Article.

It’s all about Senator John A. Ballout’s final admission of my claim. I say the split in the Maryland Congressional Caucus is responsible for the County proliferation and the lack of infrastructural and human resource development.

It is also responsible for the backwardness in the County. It is also responsible for the emerging armed hostilities in the County. Senator Ballout had no choice but to openly admit on UNMIL radio station on the program, “The Palaver Hut” that my calculations against his is correct. I was on the show with Mr. Thomas Collins when Ballout made the confession.

Let’s start with the actual split Question. Then we can go to its negative impact. And then to why Ballout admits now.  

Split -There are five members on the Caucus.

Three are Representatives of the Lower House. And the other two are Senators from the Upper House. The Representatives from the Lower House include James Bannie (Harper District), Bhofal Chambers (Pleebo/Sodokeh District), and David Sidee (Barrobo/Karluway District).

The senators include John Ballout (Senior Senator) and Gloria Scott (Junior Senator).

All of these elected officials do not see eye-to-eye.

On the Caucus, all of the three Representatives are hands-in-glove with Gloria Scott except for John Ballout who is the only one that is all by himself.

So the split is between Gloria and Ballout. Whatever the four other members agree to, Ballout’s vote is insignificant.

Although he is the Senior Senator, but he is powerless on the Caucus. Democratically speaking, within the split on the Caucus, Gloria has the edge over Ballout. If Ballout refuses to submit to democratic centralism, he cannot influence any decision, whatsoever. Because of this, all development packages are shredded all the time.

The Caucus never comes out with a single decision. Ballout goes his own way. And Gloria Scott goes her own way. But what's good for Gloria (I mean in terms of democratic understanding) she always carries along with her three others Caucus members. And that always make them four in number against single Ballout.

So democratically speaking, Gloria has the majority. As a sign of dissatisfaction, Ballout goes out and musters his supporters on the ground to oppose the Caucus’ decision. Gloria Scott too, in return, musters and energizes her base both on the Caucus and in the County. And when this happens, the supporters of both senators collide either on the streets of Maryland or on the farms and villages of Maryland.

Each time this happens, everything in the County crumbles. The evidence is well and alive. President Sirleaf knows this. Because she has seen this split-attitude in her presence many times.  

My forecast – having traveled in-and-out of Maryland on numerous occasions and worked with several local and Congressional leaders as well as youth groups, I came to the conclusion that the split in the Caucus would provoke serious problems in the County including armed hostilities amongst ethnic groupings.

I was right.

Rocktown and Wetchukeh clashed. And two citizens died. To date, the case is still in court. And both groups are being ripped apart at the seams by the very Caucus. I saw this and I warned the officials. They refused to listen. So here we are locked in a legal case in court with one time good neighbors now turned into "enemies."

My Proposal – Looking at this situation which is eating up the very fabric of our County and that is holding down progress, I propose the problem splitting the Caucus be first resolved before approaching anything concrete. Otherwise, the entire County will remain split right at the seams. And that could damage the entire County. I discussed this with most local government officials including the previous Superintendent, Hon. Neufville, and the Caucus to find time and resolve these differences. I helped set November 29 for Reunion and Reconciliation activities. But the Local and Congressional leadership have not giving it the required support it deserves. Even though the Caucus has seen all my forecasts come true, it still continues to live in denial. But not too long, the truth broke loose on Xmas Eve when John Ballout could no longer hold the truth in his stomach.

Ballout Confession & possible Solution - Recently, the senior senator of Maryland County, who is the lone wolf on the Caucus, submitted an admission and confession. He said everything I have charged the Caucus of is indeed true. He admitted the Caucus is in fact sharply split! This is the first time any member of the Caucus ever admitted to a split in its rank-and-file.

Ballout went on to say the split is responsible for the proliferation of the County citizenry. Another thing none of the Caucus members ever admitted to.

So to change this dull reality, Ballout said he has begun to make sincere peace efforts. How sincere these “peace” efforts are will be determined by time and conditions.

Another thing he did on the nationwide radio was to openly inform the Liberian nation and Marylanders that he had extended several “olive branches” to all his colleagues. One to Gloria. One to Chambers. One to Bannie. And the last one to Siedi. Lots of “olive” branches were extended by Ballout prior to Xmas. According to him, all his colleagues have accepted his gesture and are willing to put behind them all their differences.

Whether or not this is true remains to be seen. But there is one important thing out of all this: he has admitted what I have been saying all along. Not only has he admitted it, but he did so on nationwide radio. So it reached every hamlet, village and squalor of the land. And it is on tape.

Ballout made the admission and confession on December 24, 2008, Xmas Eve. Not only did he confess, but he agrees with me unless and until the Caucus reconciles its differences, all the crises in Maryland will remain unresolved.

The only thing he did not allude to is if the Caucus refuses to resolve its differences, it should be kicked through the back door. And that we can go shopping for new candidates and/or leaders. He made his confession on air.

Mr. Thomas Nma-Mle Collins, secretary of the Klemoweh Chiefdom Association in Monrovia and its Environs was on air when Ballout said this. I was one of the panelists on air when he made all of these confessions. So they are recorded and legitimate.

Additionally, Ballout promised all Marylanders and the country he would reunite the Caucus and the County. He said this was his New Year’s gift to the people of Maryland. He also promised to extend an “olive” branch to the people of Rocktown during the New Year’s.

When and how he plans on doing this is something everyone is waiting to see. At least that’s exactly how the radio moderator put it to him at the end of the Program. I am not alone.

There are many others waiting to see how John Ballout's "peace" initiatives and "unity" move will unfold in and among the people of Maryland and the Caucus!

All eyes are wide open!

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

5000-MAN MARCH in Harper City THE SHIPWRECK VICTIMS ACTION COMMITTEE (SVAC) Maryland County, R.L.

June 7, 8 and 9, 2010, The Women of Maryland held a Peaceful Demonstration. Thousands of them showed up. The March was peaceful! Their DEMANDS include but not limited to: 1) REPARATION, RESTITUTION, DEBT-WAIVER for all the SHIPWRECKS Victims and 2) Refurbishment, Rehabilitation, and the Paving of the Fishtown-Harper Highway

Considering the tremendous pain visited upon our Women and our community by the shipwrecks, we the Men of Maryland County will march on Harper City on Monday, June 14, 2010 to express our SOLIDARITY and SUPPORT!  

We will walk in silence throughout the major streets of Harper City. We will dress in white tops—the color of peace and absolute freedom. All the Victims of the shipwrecks cannot continue to suffer abuses, neglect perpetrated by ship-owners and their partners in Government.

Please join us in this Peaceful March in support of our Women’s DEMANDS!

The Peaceful March will begin at 6am from the Merry-Go-Round.

From the Merry-Go-Round, we will march throughout the major streets of Harper and then to the Harper City Hall where a Statement will be read and presented to the Superintendent of Maryland County, Hon. Gblebo-Brown to be handed over to H.E. Dr. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia.

The March will center around the slogan: This is not only a road and ship issue; it is a human life issue!

We will call on the international community to act and condemn the many shipwrecks and the suffering and deaths it brought on our poor women, men and children and the County!

For more information please call: 06.920.151/06.666.957

The Shipwreck Victims Action Committee is a local, non-profit, nonpartisan, independent civil society group focused on REPARATION, RESTITUTION, REIMBURSEMENT, DEBT-WAIVER for the victims of the many shipwrecks that took innocent lives, investments and personal properties of Marylanders. The SVAC currently includes more than 100 business men and women of Maryland. It maintains an active presence in Pleebo, Kalorkeh, Barrobo and Harper.

Signed: Thomas G. Bedell/Chair/Advocate

Tribute to Ayo and our Beloved Comrades Who Perished in Shipwrecks

If he didn't hear from her at night, he'd go frantic. This is Oldman Achala Cole in his grave speaking. He’s speaking through tears about his daughter Ayo who died in Havea shipwreck. Unlike him, his daughter Ayo will have no grave to rest her troubled back from all her struggles for family and nation. Simply because her corpse disappeared in the belly of the Atlantic Ocean. We don’t want to guess what could have happened to her body. And Oldman Achala wouldn’t want to know how his daughter could have been devoured by the creatures of the Sea.  

The night Ayo was crying out for help in a vessel not seaworthy few miles away from her residence in Harper, Achala Cole, her father, was deeply troubled in his grave where he had been lying for over three decades. He told his daughter to be calm, and she did. She remained calm believing her government would arrive in time to save her including the innocent children and other adults that perished with her. Then the opposite became true. The Government failed her and the rest of the victims. The wrecked ship took her life down the Atlantic Ocean along with little children and some other adults. 

That young man is “Wicked-Joe.” He was her husband. He cried out to the fishermen to help. Did the fishermen understand him or just became selfish and unfeeling when they did nothing?

Ayo was most likely thrown by the sea-wave into the Atlantic’s depth. The little child that she cared for, slowly, crying for a motherly love and salvation, dropped into the very depth of the Atlantic.

Ayo remained dashing into the belly of the Atlantic Ocean while the rest were carried 100 to 200 miles away from the port of Harper and dislodged from the mattresses upon which they have been floating and dumped on the Beaches of the Ivory Coast. Some came out with broken limbs. Some came out with broken souls. But Ayo was no where around to be found.

I know very well where Ayo was born - right in the hood of Marsh Street. She was the most beautiful woman of our time. And she kept her beauty until Havea, a vessel not seaworthy, dumped her body forcibly into the belly of the Atlantic Ocean. 

Ayo would have been in her mid 50s. But a vessel not seaworthy thrashed her entire life in a ditch of no return.

The Liberian government says the vessel that killed Ayo and other citizens is “authorized” to ply our National waters. But it was not seaworthy. How was she supposed to know? National Port Authority, Bureau of Maritime and Ministry of Transportation didn’t know too? So who “authorized” the vessel to ply National Waters? Even we know now, it will not bring back our Ayo! Our President of Maryland Women Inc.

Nothing can bring Ayo back, but we want justice. Who authorized the vessels that are not seaworthy?

It is as easy -- and terrifying -- to put oneself in the place of Achala Cole, Ayo’s dead father, watching his beautiful little girl drowning and calling for help in vain. It is impossible to place oneself in Ayo’s late dad’s position. It is also terrifying -- to put oneself in the place of the parents of those little children that were sucked by the power of the Atlantic Ocean into their early graves. They could have been Presidents like Dr. Sirleaf had they lived and given the same opportunity.

I, too, would want justice. And I would also want those ship owners rot in hell. I would feel righteous for channeling my vengeance into the rule of law, but I would also feel justified for hating, not forgiving, the perpetrators of our grief. 

Some religions teach, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,” But Jesus Christ says in Matthew, "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." On the cross, Christ absolves his crucifiers: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Gandhi embraced those who would destroy him: He said, "Hate the sin, love the sinner." 

Samson's revenge on the Philistines is to kill more of them at his death than he killed during his life. When Agag, the captured king of the slaughtered Amalekites, is brought to the prophet Samuel, he asks for mercy: "Surely the bitterness of death is past." But Samuel "hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal." After Haman's ten sons are killed in battle, Queen Esther asks King Ahasuerus to hang their dead bodies from the gallows. The prophetess Deborah, writes Soloveichik, "appears to relish the gruesome death of her enemy, the Philistine Sisera, who had, fittingly, been executed by another woman. Every bloody detail is recounted in Deborah's ebullient song."

It will be up to our secular legal system, not our religious traditions, to decide what justice means to the captain who killed Ayo, the two little kids, other adults, ripped off the fingers of Ma Eliza and killed a twin kid of Sister Seebo and leave her feet into semiparalysis. The law draws distinctions between homicide, manslaughter and murder. Mens rea -- intent -- matters. This may be helpful for distinguishing different kinds of punishment.

Experts in the field say that when we carry hostility around we can kill all of us. Wanting someone to rot in hell, we are told, does more damage to ourselves than to the objects of our anger. Healing comes from letting go of the hatred.

I pray that Clara Ayo Cole Nyema’s late dad will find peace, and that Sis. Seebo will fully recover, and Ma Eliza’s fingers that have been ripped off by vessel that was not seaworthy will not happen for nothing and that the friends and families of those great sons and daughters of our great country that perished in the belly of the Atlantic Ocean will find comfort in the bosom of Christ our Lord and Savior. But I am unable to understand, and unprepared to believe, that their path to healing must pass through the country of forgiveness when their debts are not cancelled and no restitution is awarded.

I am Thomas G. Bedell, a peace volunteer, I write, speak and work from on the ground in Liberia!

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.