On June 29, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, announced that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have erased $4.6 billion of Liberia's debt. In hailing the news, “Today is a great day for Liberia. Most of our debt is gone. A huge burden had been lifted and the world can trust Liberia again. As we look forward to our 163rd year of independence, we can proudly celebrate a new dawn of freedom and independence.”
Africa's only female president added, “This is a day for us, as Liberians, to celebrate. For the first time in decades we can rejoice and say that we have broken the decades-old cycle of financial mismanagement. We have all earned this day.”
You can read more about Liberia's debt relief at this link.
This is an important step in rebuilding post-war Liberia. Hopefully the nation's leaders will not take our struggling homeland back into debt. Instead, our national leaders should step up and pay off the rest of whatever debt Liberia still owes. The debt balance is about $300 million.
~mogama~
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Book Coming in the Fall of 2011
This blog is about my upcoming book, Refugee Was My Name.
I was pastoring Grace Baptist Church in Barnesville and teaching at Rick's Institute near Monrovia when the Liberian Civil War began, of all days, on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1989. Besides the providence of God, one of the habits that helped me stay sane was keeping a diary and a journal of what I saw, heard, thought and felt during those tedious days that turned into weeks and months. After five dreadful days on foot our group finally crossed the border into Sierra Leone before continuing on to Ghana, where I lived as a refugee before migrating to the United States.
It has taken nearly 20 years for me to be able to survive an entire trip through my war diary and journal without falling to emotional pieces. Finally, God has connected me with Jean Purcell of Opine Books, who is currently editing the manuscript to be published in the Fall of 2011, under my pen name Mogama.
In the main time, feel free to ask me questions about the book, or about the Liberian war, or about the country of Liberia. If you are a Liberian, know a Liberian, or you've ever lived in Liberia, please post a comment to that effect. I am eager to connect with you so we can know one another. If you have worked with refugees, I want to know how you've helped one of the least of these. If I already know you, just let me know that you stopped by at the blog for Refugee Was My Name.
Also, share your ideas on how I can make this blog more meaningful.
Thanks very much! ~mogama~
I was pastoring Grace Baptist Church in Barnesville and teaching at Rick's Institute near Monrovia when the Liberian Civil War began, of all days, on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1989. Besides the providence of God, one of the habits that helped me stay sane was keeping a diary and a journal of what I saw, heard, thought and felt during those tedious days that turned into weeks and months. After five dreadful days on foot our group finally crossed the border into Sierra Leone before continuing on to Ghana, where I lived as a refugee before migrating to the United States.
It has taken nearly 20 years for me to be able to survive an entire trip through my war diary and journal without falling to emotional pieces. Finally, God has connected me with Jean Purcell of Opine Books, who is currently editing the manuscript to be published in the Fall of 2011, under my pen name Mogama.
In the main time, feel free to ask me questions about the book, or about the Liberian war, or about the country of Liberia. If you are a Liberian, know a Liberian, or you've ever lived in Liberia, please post a comment to that effect. I am eager to connect with you so we can know one another. If you have worked with refugees, I want to know how you've helped one of the least of these. If I already know you, just let me know that you stopped by at the blog for Refugee Was My Name.
Also, share your ideas on how I can make this blog more meaningful.
Thanks very much! ~mogama~
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