12/04/2003

During the 14-year civil war in Liberia, almost a third of the population has been displaced.  An estimated 500,000 Liberians live as internally displaced people (IDPs) throughout the country.  Almost 400,000 are registered in IDP camps around Monrovia.   There are an additional 94,000 registered in “irregular shelters” throughout Monrovia—abandoned buildings, like the Masonic Temple.  Built in the 1800s, the Masonic Temple is a stunning, decrepit building near the U.S. embassy compound in Monrovia.  It is surrounded by hundreds of columns.  The floors are marble and are linked by winding staircases.  The large arched windows are still imposing despite their lack of glass panes. The elegance is in stark contrast to the squalor in which people like “Albert” and “Elizabeth” are living.  

Staking out small areas of the floor or landings on the staircase, 8500 people gather their meager belongings. Charcoal fires burn in the corners and a small informal school run by the residents operates in the remnants of a closet on the ground floor. A clinic run by an NGO dominates the circular driveway; and a few latrines stand in the front yard overlooking the highway.

Albert told us  “I’ve been living in the Masonic Temple since June 2003. I came here with my family from Grand Cru County in the southeast (near Cote d’Ivoire). When I lived in Grand Cru, I was a schoolteacher. I taught English and mathematics.

“Since I have lived in the Masonic Temple, I started a small business with money that I borrowed from friends. I sell tea and bread. I live here with my wife and three children (ages 5, 3, and 2). We are very lucky as we all managed to get here together. I serve on the Camp Management Committee where we try to take care of the other people here. Many of them are very young and very old and need help.  We try to run our committee on the village principles that we were raised with.

“We have had problems here with combatants selling drugs and raising a palaver [ruckus]. We ran off the people who sold drugs so things are a little more quiet now. I also try to work with some of the child soldiers who have come here. They are traumatized but very angry. You have to show them that you are stronger than them to make them behave. Usually, they pay attention to me.

“I invented a song to sell my tea and bread and when the shooting began in July, I used this song to keep the children from being afraid. When the bullets were flying and children were crying, I would sing this song and they would all laugh and clap their hands and forget for a few minutes about the war.

Albert sings the song in his gravelly voice:  “Children?”

All the children come running towards him shouting, “Yes!”

“Are you hungry?”

“Yes!”  They all begin to chant and clap “La la la la la la clap clap!La la la la la la, clap clap!”

All the children dance and smile and clap for a few minutes and then wander off to entertain themselves amongst the charcoal cooking circles, mats, and bundles that serve as their homes within the temple.

Anthony looks forward to returning to his village in Grand Cru where he can put this life behind him and return to working as a teacher.

“Elizabeth” is a small woman, not much larger than the 15 young orphans under her care. She has been living in the Masonic Temple for the past four months. She desperately wants to leave and live in a better place, but she doesn’t know where else to go. All she knows is that she had not received food in three months, although she has heard that food will be distributed within the next few days. She explained, “I am responsible for these 15 children. I must beg for food for them. The people living here are generous, but I am embarrassed.” Like Albert, Elizabeth is one of seven volunteer teachers at the Masonic Temple, and each day 250 children attend their closet-sized school. She worries about the future of the children and prays for a speedy UNMIL (United Nations Mission in Liberia) deployment so that they can all return to their homes.