Persevere!

Friday, August 23, 2003, marked the official conclusion of my secondary school days in the coastal city of Cape Coast, Ghana. This came after 9 years of intense struggle for educational enlightenment. It all kicked off in 1994 when two men showed up at our Kéïbli home in Bloléquin, western Côte d’Ivoire. The night was cool and dark. After they had exchanged greetings, the men asked my mom if she would be interested in enrolling any of her children into a refugee school system that would be launched in the town. She nodded. Few months later, School “B” was opened. I was among the first batch of students. My class was “KG” ~~~ Kindergarten ~~~ and my nickname was “ABC Grandma”. Yes! That was exactly what I was among those young kids: the oldest, the tallest. That was my first time to ever step foot into a classroom.  All along, I served as breadwinner for my family. I sold fish balls day-in and day-out to feed my family.

Thankfully, I had a relentless mom (Teyah) who stood strong and supported me in everything I wanted to do and pampered me. I learned to spell name at age 9, before having a full grasp on the entire alphabet. The length of my name was a bit of a problem for me, though ~ nine letters. So my mom put it into a song and I was able to remember it within a few days. I recited my name at least trice each night before going to bed. I started kindergarten at age nine, with the support of only my mother. She threw a party for me each time I topped my school. From the first grade, I received double promotions four years in a row. My grade point average hardly went below 96%. My mom was so proud! However, by the fourth double promotion, she began to believe that the school was not challenging enough for me.

She enrolled me at St. Mary Catholic School in Duala, Monrovia, Liberia. There, I topped my class in every exam, was appointed secretary of the class, as well as teacher’s aid for our French class. I also came out with flying colors in the annually administered West African Examinations Council’s 9^th Grade exams. A year later, I went for further studies in the Ghanaian city of Cape Coast, in West Africa. In Cape Coast, I enrolled at the University Practice Secondary School (UPSS), where I did my senior secondary studies completing the A Levels and a West African Examinations Council (WAEC) certificate in August of 2003.  At UPSS, I studied General Arts [electives: Literature-in-English, Economics, French & Geography (both Human and Physical Geo)]. I was also counted among students achieving highest academic distinctions at the end of each term. Within a space of 9 years, I was ready to say goodbye to grade school.

I drove to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on Saturday, August 2003.  Unfortunately, that West African state had plunged into brutal civil conflict that went full-blown in September 2002, forcing my mom and other siblings to seek refuge in N’zéreékoré, Guinea. They stayed in Guinea as dual refugees; uprooted from their community of origin in Liberia and now, by a raging conflict in their newfound safe haven, Côte d’Ivoire.

Dozens of Roadblocks

After a week in Abidjan, I drove west, to Man, Ivory Coast’s western capital. The city if Man is picturesquely nestled in a ring of steep green mountains with waterfalls. My older sister, Salimatou had been waiting in Man to receive me. Road travels at the time across the country were very risky. A failed coup attempt in September 2002 had birthed a major division in the country. Rebel forces claimed the northern half of the country and parts of the country’s central region, leaving the government only a minute southern half.

Abidjan was fairly calmed.

Before the civil war broke out, the journey from Abidjan to Man took eight or nine hours. This time, it took me two days, because I had to pass through at least fifty roadblocks. In some places, there was a roadblock every half an hour. They were makeshift roadblocks made of tree limbs, pieces of junked machinery, tires and concrete blocks. The boys on guard ~~ especially those in Logoualé (the last major town before entering the city of Man) ~~ roused themselves from the shade of mango or coconut trees, grabbed their AK-47s, and glowering behind sunglasses, they walked over to our mini van, fingers on triggers.

They wore leather thongs with polished wooden or stone amulets, leather clubs or sheathed knives around their necks, with tones of rings on their fingers. Wearing these, they believed, made them bulletproof. Also, carved fetish collectibles stood guard alongside the roadblock. The boys ordered everyone in the mini van to identify and bring their luggage into a tiny warehouse for inspection. They searched inside each; demanded to see travel documents/identifications and collected roughly $20 from everyone onboard.

Another Separation

My sister found a bus to convey me to N’zérékoré. She stayed to make arrangements for the family’s return. After four months in Guinea, we returned and settled in Man.  Few months later, I received my WAEC certificate from UPSS. Leaving my family behind, I returned to my home country, Liberia, with the aim of seeking personal and professional advancement. I took computer training courses to enhance my academic achievements and soon landed a job at a bi-weekly newspaper then located on Crown Hill, The New National.

I had made up my mind to not just sit aside without doing something to help develop my country that is still recovering from a 14-year of civil war.  I wanted to do something positive to promote peace and harmony. I, therefore, decided to accomplish this aim through the media, thus, thought of becoming a reporter and use my reportage to highlight the triumph and the setbacks of the ongoing development activities in the country. With a keen interest in advocating women’s rights, professional advancement and empowerment as a cardinal tool to peace and societal growth and development, I became a roving reporter, covering post-war activities and developments in and around Monrovia with specific attention to the various internally displaced camps in and around the nation’s capital. As we all know, there can be no peace without development and there can also be no development without women’s involvement. So, women’s involvement in peace building processes remain crucial in conflict resolution.

At the Observer….

My days at The New National were, however, short-lived. The newspaper eventually merged with the Daily Observer newspaper in June 2005. The Observer is Liberia’s first independent daily newspaper.

I started out as a Women & Family columnist. From June 2005 through August 2013, I researched and produced a weekly column, strongly advocating for evolution in some traditional systems in which a woman’s right to speak is negotiated; she has no right to desire who her husband should be; she is not entitled to education; she is expected to do what her parents or husband say; she only has one right and that is the right to remain silent.  Those advocacies have yielded positive results as they have helped to enlighten the minds of Liberians on the need to eradicate all forms of discrimination in helping to foster a more mental development of the Liberian society. Women & Family also covered social issues, produced analytical lifestyle articles; touched on political and economic issues affecting the ordinary Liberian woman. Of course, I didn’t forget to extend our lenses to those female political heavyweights, those shakers and movers of the Liberian society.

At the same time, I was a cub reporter in the newsroom. I struggled with lead paragraphs, headlines. Soon, I began producing coherent, accurate, balanced and clear articles. My articles were narrative, analytical, and descriptive. Gradually, I began navigating my way to the upper echelon of the newsroom; became a junior report, then, a senior report covering the Liberian presidency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as state-visits by foreign heads of state.

In 2009, I landed a job at the United Nations as a research support and monitoring officer.  In June 2010, I returned to the Observer, following the completion of the research project at the UN.  For one-year-six-months, I researched and wrote news and features, conducted high-level exclusive interviews, directed the operations of the newsroom and wrote articles for publication on the web in my capacity as Associate Editor. I also commissioned and edited stories; liaised with newsroom staff (reporters, freelancers photographers), printers and layout staff.

From January 2012 - August 2013, I ran the editorial department of the Daily Observer newspaper as Senior Editor. That position required me to formulate editorial guidelines/policies, edit daily editions of the newspaper and direct the production process of the newspaper. I also prepared written contents to daily deadlines, wrote news, special features and editorials, directed and managed operations of the newsroom, pitched story ideas to reporters, correspondents and freelancers, and made final decisions regarding the placement of stories for submission to layout department. A quality newspaper was produced for the newsstand every morning, stories produced were newsworthy, coherent, well-researched, well-structured, descriptive, analytical, narrative, etc. and headlines were attention-grabbing and thought-provoking.

So! If I could, what makes you think you can’t? Slow and steady wins the race, but it all depends on you as an individual. Don’t use anything or anyone in your life as an excuse for not achieving your dreams/goals. Keep your eye on the prize and continue moving forward. The sky is never your limit.
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I am now brand manager at Bella Crown Inc., based in Rockville, Maryland, USA. A professional Liberian digital and print journalist working on political, developmental, peace and conflict issues in Liberia, I also serve as International Account Executive/Senior Associate working African affairs, peace and conflict, human rights, women's issues and international media relations at 11:59, an advocacy, lobbying and public affairs firm based in Florence, South Carolina, USA. At the same time, I am a licensed Life, Accident & Health Insurance Producer operating within the State of Maryland (MD), USA. I hold a degree in Political Science from the African Methodist Episcopal University based in Monrovia, Liberia. I also hold an advanced Certificate of Excellence in Digital Journalism from the International Academy of Journalism based in Hamburg, Germany. I have studied Good Governance, Democracy and Leadership with Integrity at the Marquette University's Les Aspin Center of Government on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C., USA. I have  also studied Peace Building and Conflict Resolution at the Rotary Center of Peace and Conflict Studies located at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.