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AFRICAN PEPPER Part III

Posted by Help Liberia Foundation on May 09, 2011

Little ‘domestic animals’

What kept me really amused While In Liberia, was lizards of various
sizes and colours moving around.

Some visited my room making some
noise while their fast running. My favourites were those orange and
dark grey, their scales beautifully sparkled in the sunshine. They
moved extremely fast, however, I was able to take some pictures of one or another. Lizards are not dangerous, you can feed them with
crackers.

Cockroaches, creatures of certain notoriety, are of really big sizes.
They do not move as fast as lizards, but both the cockroaches and
lizards have something in common – they keep close to people’s homes.

Ubiquitous mosquitoes become dangerous during the late afternoon and
at night. During the day they fly about, too slow to catch you up.

1.The Lizard.JPG

The Lizard.

Economy

The economy is progressing, especially building and grocery branches,
which improves the people’s living conditions at least to some degree. However, most of the capital belongs to foreign investors. Besides few modern petrol stations, there are a lot of small ones, totally unlike typical petrol stations you can see in Europe, for instance.

Most of the supermarkets belong to citizens of Lybia or India. The
Liberians run modest shops where you can buy goods at distinctly lower prices.

2.Mr. Paul at a local shop.JPG

Mr. Paul at a local shop.

***

Electricity and running water are Achilles’ heel. Only the central
part of Monrovia has electricity. Some objects have electricity
twenty-four hours a day (embassies, government buildings, hotels,
hospitals, etc.), others usually from 4pm till 9am. Out of the city
centre, generators are commonly used but, unfortunately, not many
people can afford to buy ones. In the Interior, life goes on with
long-standing rhythm, according to nature.

Only the inhabitants of the city centre have running water and in some objects it is only cold water. Out of the city centre, people take water from public wells using manual pumps.

The Internet is hardy accessible and computers in local cafes work
very slowly. Most schools have no access to the Internet, in private
houses hardly anybody can afford it.

Slow changes for the better are visible, which makes a pessimistic
person like me look at the things with some optimism. Electricity,
step by step, reaches new places. Let’s hope that the life of those
anguished people will be constantly improving.

3.Interior residents.JPG