About Liberia

For anyone interested, here's a little info on the history of Liberia, from what I (Jamie) have gathered from here and there:

When slaves began to be freed in America, many people still believed that Blacks and Whites could not live together harmoniously. Pursuant to that belief, it was proposed that freed slaves be sent to the West Coast, but some feared the freed slaves would join forces with Native Americans and Mexicans and overtake Whites. This fear lead to the idea of sending freed slaves to colonize Liberia. Liberia is the only African Country colonized by America, and it has the same constitution, flag, etc. as America. There was severe conflict between the indigenous people of Liberia and the colonizing freed slaves.

Although Liberia was once a thriving resort destination, the devastating Civil Wars (1989-1996 and 1999-2003) that claimed 100s of thousands of lives have left the country in ruins. Many people consider Liberia to be the poorest country in the world, with little to no running water or electricity, 85% illiteracy, life expectancy at 42.5 years, 80% unemployment, etc.

Liberia's current president, Ellen Johson-Sirleaf, was Africa's first elected female president, and she is also the first elected black woman head of state in the world. She has done much to restore her country.

One other thing that was interesting for Corey and me to learn is the Liberian connection to Congo-Kinshasa (formerly Zaire), where Kendra's Birthmother was born and raised. When Corey and I embarked on our 2nd adoption adventure, we looked extensively into adoption from Congo-Kinshasa. When that option didn't seem feasible, we decided on Liberia by process of elimination. Come to find out, the Executive Director of Acres of Hope (our adoption agency) was raised as a Missionary's daughter in Congo-Kinshasa. When we told her we had originally hoped to adopt from Congo-Kinshasa, she said our child may very well be Congolese anyway! She went on to explain that when the freed slaves set sail from America, they first went to Congo-Kinshasa, as that's where most of them were from originally. The Congolese people refused to allow them entrance, because they couldn't be sure all of the freed slaves were 100% Congolese. The freed slaves then sailed to Liberia, and accordingly, many Liberians are of Congolese descent. It will be fun to find out Micah's specific heritage, which we should learn about when we travel to get him.

There is a great video, about 20 minutes long, that was done recently by a TV station in Maryland, America. It is about Maryland, Liberia, and is very well done. The footage is excellent, and the video provides a good overview of Liberia and its history as well. Here's the link: http://www.wbaltv.com/video/11260264/index.html

Also, you might have fun with this computer-game-jigsaw puzzle-type thing that tests your knowledge of Africa's geography: http://www.addictinggames.com/africamap.html (I failed with flying colors, but had fun doing it!)