Greetings From Monrovia!

After a long flight, complete with impromptu adjustments to the plane in Accra, we made it to Monrovia. Walking out of the airport, we were met with throngs of people -- teenage boys marching for voter registration, families loading onto the backs of pickup trucks, 20 somethings piling onto motorcycles. It seemed that anything with a working engine was being used to transport people.

The drive -- open windows, our driver Hasan blasting Akon, warm humid air and green all around. Small shanties -- some tile, some wood, some with just propped up sheetmetal. Juxtaposed against larger compounds with 9 foot walls and barbed wire. We passed the army barracks (no photos!), Charles Taylor's old compound, President Sirleaf's house, the women's police unit from India (UNMIL). And along the side of the road, people hailing taxis. People, young and old, dotted the entire 40 mile drive into Monrovia. Granted, it was a Sunday afternoon, but this might have been a glimpse into the grave unemployment most in this country face.

For me (Mary), I could not help but feel a sense of worry and anxiety as I watched women and children carrying large buckets of water over their heads and going about their daily routines. Are these the women and children we have been reading about who faced and still face sexual violence? Seeing them made the research and project much more real. They are men, women, and children, who deserve to live in a society where gender-based violence does not go unpunished. When you actually see the people, then it is not just information in an article by Human Rights Watch, or statistics in a State Department report. It is real life - very real.

Not sure if it's the lense we are bringing with us, but you can still feel the memory of the war, and can almost envision the trails through the terrain dotted with young soldiers and AK 47s. There might not be so much a sense of unease as a sense of people just not being sure of what is going to happen next. We hope this week will give us some insight into what mechanisms, if any, can restore a sense of lasting peace and belief in justice, to this nation.