"Liberia is my home"

Liberia is my home
Liberia is my home
Liberia is my home
One day, I shall return

This was one of the songs of Liberian refugee women from a scene of "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" (I think it was the scene where they are protesting outside the venue in which the peace talks were being held in Accra in 2003). This documentary is a powerful portrayal of the courage and activisim of Liberian women of different faiths in ending the civil war although, sadly, it equally demonstrates human capacity for evil and greed and all the vices of war. Excellent work, I highly recommend it.

For some reason, the song has stuck in my head and I keep thinking of what it would be like to not be able to go to my own country. Or, on a more positive note, I wonder what it must have felt like for these women when they finally could return to their homes! Did they sing Liberia is my home, today I have returned? I can only imagine...

As I prepare to go to Liberia in a few weeks, I keep wondering what it would be like. My strategy is to brace myself for something completely different so I can appreciate more the similarities I'm bound to experience. We'll see how that goes! Although I am Proudly Nigerian (born and bred), I am not proud of the fact that I have never been to any other African country (not counting my 8 hour layovers in Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Airlines). I know, it's a shame... I made it all the way to Singapore once, but never made it across the border to Benin. That's why I certainly wanted to spend my summer internship in an African country and I'm extremely curious to see how my living in Liberia for the next couple of months would change my perceptions of myself, my country and of my home, Africa.