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Gerald K. Barclay
LIBERIA:
THE LOVE OF LIBERTY BROUGHT US HERE!!!!
THIS TEXT IS THE DIALOGUE TRANSCRIPT OF THE DOCUMENTARY FILM,
LIBERIA: THE LOVE OF LIBERTY BROUGHT US HERE!!!!
A FILM BY: GERALD K. BARCLAY.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: JOHN KWEKU ESHUN.
Copyright © 2005. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
TITLE CARD: IN MEMORY OF NOOSE BROPLEH
(1954 - 2004)
LIBERIAN CULTURAL AMBASSADORS
(singing)
Liberian people, unite!
Liberian people, we want peace!
Liberian people, unite!
No more war!
Our people, Liberian people!
Liberians, we want peace!
Liberian people! Unite!
Nimba County, unite!
Maryland County, unite!
Sinoe County, unite!
Say no more war!
Liberian people, unite!
Liberian people, we want peace my people!
Liberians, unite!
No more war!
NARRATOR
It was almost 25 years ago when armed soldiers stormed the Executive Mansion and executed President William Tolbert. Several days later, members of his government were executed in broad daylight. The coup d'état led by Samuel Doe ended over 130 years of rule by the descendants of freed American slaves. I was 11 then. Those events would change my life forever. Several months later, my family would leave Liberia with the intention never to return. We settled in Staten Island, New York, where I became an American citizen. I studied Film and Television Production in school and went on to work with some of the top names in the industry. Life was good, and Liberia became more and more of a faded memory.
In 1989, the situation in Liberia worsened after Charles Taylor and his rebels ignited a 15-year civil war that introduced some of the most gruesome acts of violence in the history of Africa. The possibility of ever returning to Liberia got even worse when my grandmother—who dreamt of taking me back home—died, while waiting for an end to the war. But a series of events occurred to bring me to where I am now. So, in order to understand my story, you must first learn the history of this tiny nation.
Liberia was settled in 1822 by freed slaves from the United States and the Caribbean. It gained its independence in 1847, making it the oldest nation in Africa. All of its presidents were the descendants of freed slaves, including two of my family members: Arthur Barclay and Edwin Barclay.
Liberia remained a peaceful nation and was a shining example of Black democracy throughout the world. But it all changed in 1980, with what some say was a U.S.-assisted coup in the assassination of William Tolbert, which brought Samuel Doe into power. He became the nation's nineteenth president and introduced an era of tribalism. He was then overthrown by Charles Taylor nine years later. Taylor was later charged with war crimes and labeled a dictator.
The rest of what I learned about the situation came from what I saw on the TV news.
BBC REPORTER
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the American Embassy in the Liberian capital demanding food and international assistance.
MAN
Liberians are dying day and night! They can't come here and help us? They can't even send some money to help us?
BBC REPORTER
But U.S. marines are there simply to protect the embassy. Help seems distant as ever. U.S. troops are on standby in the Mediterranean to back up an African peacekeeping force. But West African nations have made it clear that they will only send troops if there is a cease-fire. Hundreds have been reported dead in five days of fighting and Liberia is stopped in a deadly waiting game. Rebel forces have little incentive to stop the assault on President Taylor's dwindling zone of control, but Taylor, having promised to go into exile, appears in no hurry to leave. He says he will only go when peacekeepers arrive.
CHARLES TAYLOR
If I resign, who is going to keep the massive chaos that will erupt in this country from guerrillas all over the place—angry, confused, that their leader has been betrayed and wrongly treated—and deciding to march.
BBC REPORTER
Hundreds of refugees have crammed unto the capital and conditions are rapidly deteriorating.
NARRATOR
With images like these being constantly broadcasted on television, I became more and more discouraged about ever going back to Liberia.
CHARLES TAYLOR
If you sufficiently demonize Charles Taylor, then you are fixing the problem in Sierra Leone. These are the fallacies. Demonize Taylor. Support an insurgence against Taylor. Maybe kill Taylor and then you remove that government. Maybe kill Taylor and you will solve the problem. These are the mistakes of the West. Insulting, but I refuse. I refuse to be belittled by any nation, no matter how big.
NARRATOR
While Taylor held his defiance, the number of causalities continued to grow. Death and sorrow were experienced everyday.
MONTAGE:
WOMEN AND CHILDREN WAIL AS BODIES
ARE BURIED IN A SHALLOW GRAVE
CHARLES TAYLOR
Freedom isn't free. It does take a certain amount of blood and guns. Often in these cases of revolution, you advance them for the better, but it is not free. It costs lives. What one tries to do is to limit the amount of destruction in the country.
Little girl in hospital bed anguishes in pain.
JAMES QUALLAH
How could Mr. Taylor wage a war being fully aware that that was one of the most dangerous precedents to take in a naive country like that?
NARRATOR
In January of 2001, I accepted an assignment to produce a documentary on African Hip Hop. While in Ghana, I visited the Liberian refugee camp outside Accra. What was intended to be a 45-minutes visit to find my brother-in-law, Charles Kiadii, turned into a four-year journey that would eventually lead me back to Liberia.
MONTAGE:
LIFE ON THE BUDUBURAM REFUGEE CAMP
NARRATOR
The Buduburam Camp has served as home for over 25,000 refugees. The Ghanaian government, in 1990, donated the land. A year earlier, the U.N. had pulled all resources from the camp, leaving the refugees without the basic necessities. They were on their own.
When I arrived on the camp, I was faced with a dilemma. You see, I'd never met Charles before, so I needed a little help locating him. A few people offered to help. That's when the conversations began.
YOUNG MAN
I saw you guys in the jeep. I wanted to talk to you when you were passing in front of club LIPS. There was not time to talk to you. I'm stranded on the ground here. I've got nowhere to sleep. I'm just trying to establish a place to sleep.
OLD MAN
We the refugee suffer a whole lot, going to clinics on the camp that are not catered to by NGOs. So we go to the Lutheran Clinic where we have to pay a lot of money. And if we don't our people will die.
NARRATOR
The more I listened to their stories, the more I became fascinated and wanted to know more about my people. This boy asked me to find his mother in New Jersey, while another told a story of being forced out of a refugee camp in Guinea.
YOUNG MAN
The Guinean government said we should leave because Liberians are rebels and they are threatening their government, because there are a lot of rebel incursions in Guinea. So the people forced us out of Guinea. We need some kind of international assistance. This is my first day on the camp and I have nowhere to sleep. I don't have anything at all. Just the confidence that God will make a way for me.
NARRATOR
In a way, I felt that had I not been fortunate to leave Liberia when I did, I, too, might have ended up in the same position.
GUITAR PLAYER
(singing)
When will the people be free?
Why they don't have any peace?
When will the children be free?
When we live in peace . . .
Can't you feel what I'm talkin about?
NARRATOR
How safe is it in Liberia right now?
REFUGEE MAN
Well, I am not in Liberia so I cannot say, because I do not know what's going on there. We only hear the news on BBC.
NARRATOR
Why did you leave?
REFUGEE MAN
Why did I leave? Because of the war. I want to be in peace.
NARRATOR
Although they were hundreds of miles away from the war, it was apparent that they feared retaliation from Taylor's forces present on the camp. Not everyone welcomed my cameras and me. As you can see here, this man began throwing rocks at us.
Man without shirt throws rock at camera.
NARRATOR (CONT'D)
That didn't stop me though. The more they spoke, the more I continued to listen.
REFUGEE MAN #2
The economy, the school system down to the health system – just about everything destroyed.
GERALD BARCLAY
Who would you say is responsible for it?
REFUGEE MAN #2
The war. Really (chuckling), the war.
REFUGEE MAN (O.S.)
Cholera, diarrhea are some of the disease that takes the people's lives because we don't have any major hospitals. If someone gets diarrhea, before you can get him or her to the hospital, they have died.
Boy with cleft pallet nods in slow motion.
TITLE CARD: THE DEFENSE MINISTER'S SON
YOUNG MAN ALLISON
My father was the former Defense Minister of Liberia: Gray D. Allison. Due to some reason, the late President Samuel Doe killed him. However, I was able to join the revolution to do something for my surviving family members and myself, in order to get them out of the country.
GERALD BARCLAY
So you became a rebel?
YOUNG MAN ALLISON
Yes, I became a rebel.
TITLE CARD: OVER 75,000 CHILD SOLDIERS WERE FORCED
INTO THE WAR, MANY AS YOUNG AS SEVEN
MAN
The kids 10-12 years ago who were 6 and 7 years old who were holding arms and didn't go to school are illiterate today. What do we expect in the next 20 years? We will have a bunch of young men and women who are illiterate, and the only thing they know of is AK-47. So we have a problem and that problem will continue unless we Liberians try to think on a new vision for our country, and put Liberia first.
YOUNG MAN ALLISON
Man, I have seen many things, which of course only God knows everything. Yes, I have seen a lot of things. People cutting off people's heads, people cutting out our people's intestines and making it into gates, people taking people's skulls and using it on cars as hood ornament. I've seen a lot of things . . .
SONG: "CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG"
TITLE CARD:
ADULT EDUCATION
WOMEN STUDENTS
A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K . . .
TEACHER ON CAMP
Many of them in here are people who are on the resettlement program. They are supposed to be going to the United States. Those who we are dealing with are the zero levels. They do not know how to read or write, even the younger ones. We have noticed that many of the young people here do not know how to read or write but they are afraid to go to school because they think that others will laugh at them. They feel they are overgrown and they can't do anything now. So we want to rekindle in them the spirit of self-initiation, so that when they go to America they can be of some help; they won't just be sitting there doing nothing. The bulk of the people here are people who want to go to America. We also want to tell them that America is not another life, because getting there is fine, but if you get there and you are useless then you will be useless.
Women continue counting.
WOMEN STUDENTS
21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30
TEACHER ON CAMP
Clap for yourself. Very good.
(women clap)
NARRATOR
Of all the refugees living on the camp, one man stood out as an embodiment of the horrors of war.
TITLE CARD: A KILLER REBORN - THE STORY OF GENERAL BUTT NAKED
JOSHUA BLAHYI
During the April 6, 1996 crisis in Liberia, I was then called General Butt Naked, but by the grace of God I am now an evangelist – Evangelist Joshua Milton Blahyi. I killed more than 10,000 people before the war and during the war. I was called General Butt Naked because I used to fight stark naked. I inherited some powers from my ancestors that told me to go stark naked in order to maintain the powers.
Since I was promoted to the third grade in St. Peters School on Brandsville Road, I have never entered classroom. I was taken into the interior and there powers were turned over to me as the priest of the Nya-na-o-weh society in Sinoe, and since that time I have not entered classroom. I have just been practicing medicine – witchcraft. I was blinded by Satan. Satan deceived me by telling me he was going to give me powers and make me anything I want to be provided if I continue serving him. I did not start killing doing the war. I started killing before 1990, and I actually started war killing in 1992.
GERALD BARCLAY
Tell me about the first time you that killed someone.
JOSHUA BLAHYI
You wouldn't understand it unless I explain it practically, but however there is no need of that now. I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't steal or lie anymore, I don't kill anymore. I believe Jesus has forgiven me my sins. I believe that Jesus has counted me worthy, and I am worthy to live again, and since then I have been enjoying my life with fellowship with Christian brothers and sisters who come around encouraging me, with pastors who schedule meetings for me to share my testimony, encouraging people that if my life could have a meaning again, then any other person's life will have a meaning. If I could have hope today, then any other person will have hope, regardless, if they are willing to make a turnaround and accept the Lord Jesus Christ. Actually, I was confused, but since I got to know that Jesus Christ has forgiven my sins, my life is revived. This is why I think it is necessary to extend a message to my brothers and sisters in the United States, and actually the message is coming from the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 11 from verse 6: “I read in the morning sow thou seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hands. For thou knowest not whether they shall prosper. Either this nor that or whether they both shall prosper.” Verse 7 says: “Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun. But if a man lives many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many.”
NARRATOR
He ended the interview that day with that scripture reading, and as he walked away he assured me that we would someday meet again.
TITLE CARD:
FINDING CHARLES KIADII
Gerald Barclay is greeted by Charles Kiadii.
NARRATOR
After that long search, I finally found Charles Kiadii. I came to Africa to shoot a Hip Hop documentary but I had discovered even something greater.
(NYC SKYLINE)
I returned to America and began interviewing others about the documentary. The very mention of General Butt Naked ignited heated debate.
Two men argue on bus.
MAN #1
I'm not saying that we can't forgive the people. Most of them realized what they did and have accepted and they never talk about it. Even if they are asked "Did you ever kill somebody?", they would deny it. And they would swear to you even if they did the killing.
MAN #2
But then they are lying.
MAN #1
Let them lie.
MAN #2
Then they are not confessing and they could kill somebody again. Why must you lie?
MAN #1
Let them lie.
MAN #2
Listen, Peter, Peter, you can't lie like that! Let me tell you something; I rather you tell me that you kill someone than you telling me that you didn't and it turns out that you killed the person. You should tell me!
TITLE CARDS:
JULY 26, 2002,
LIBERIA INDEPENDENCE DAY
NARRATOR
On July 26, 2002, Liberians all over the Unites States celebrated their 155th Independence Day. The celebration in New Jersey included a picnic and a soccer match between the Invincible Eleven and their rivals, the mighty Barrolle.
MUSIC:
LUCKY SHANGO,
"HOW IS MY PEOPLE DOING"
MONTAGE OF FESTIVITIES
NARRATOR
I asked a few people what they thought about me going back to Liberia.
YOUNG MAN
I would say don't go back right now. They country is just messed up. People are still fighting and killing one another. Its like it start and it stop, start and stop. I mean you can go and get there, then they start fighting and you will get caught in the crossfire.
Young woman interrupts.
YOUNG WOMAN
We would love to go back! Come on now! We are from Liberia! Our parents are from Liberia! We would love to go back, but why go back and they kill you? That is why I don't want to go back.
Man (WOTOE) interrupts.
WOTOE
Okay, that is what I was telling him. Now it is good that you guys came in. We all want to go back. We all are in slavery here working like a dog. Do you see the money? Are we rich? Are they any Liberian billionaires in this country?
YOUNG WOMAN
No, not much.
WOTOE
We are all struggling, but those that are collecting money in this United States to send to Liberia to terrorize the country, those are the people we have to talk to.
YOUNG WOMAN
Our country was too sweet before this man. Sometimes I wonder why I had to come here. I did not want to come! Ask this man—when they airlifted us—we did not want to come. We said no—Konola Academy too sweet for us to come to America! For what?
YOUNG MAN
No one wants to come to a country and work like a slave.
YOUNG WOMAN
Nobody wants to come here and work like a slave. Tonight I have to go to work. Do you think I like that? I want to go party my ass off (laugh).
TITLE CARD:
SICK AND TIRED
NOWAI DUNBAR
I have a letter that Oretha Bestman and I composed along with Evangeline Walters. I think we just got sick and tired of the attitude from our own people towards the situation back home. This is what we came up with:
Liberians, let us not forget those we left behind. It's good times today but sorrows tomorrow. Is it not a shame that the rest of the African nations sit back and laugh at us?
We are known as the country of good times! When it comes to parties, we are there in numbers. In fact, we drive across state lines just to reach a party. When it comes to football games, we are there in numbers every year. Until recent years, we would gather in thousands in Trenton, New Jersey, for the IE and Barolle games to celebrate July 26. Not once did any of those games produce medicines, food, books or clothing to send to those suffering back home, yet year after year people showed up in thousands to drink and have fun.
Why are we so foolish when it comes to gathering in numbers to protest the suffering of our people back home? People are dying and it seems as if we just don't care. As we sit in our living rooms watching TV, eating good food, drinking cold beer, gossiping on the telephone, our people are suffering! They are dying! People don't have electric current, food to eat and means of escaping the war. We all know what is going on but it is not us that are going through it. We are sick and tired of people using their million and one excuses not to do anything. Until we bond together and help ourselves, we will continue to suffer.
Tell me, does this make sense, for fifty people to show up to protest for a nation? Who will listen? You do have to stop your selfish ways. Leave your jobs, use one of your many excuses and show up to support your country and those you left behind. And, as you think of going to the games this year, ask yourself one question: What are you really celebrating? Is it the death of the pregnant woman whose stomach was split open just because two wicked, ignorant fools wanted to see the sex of her baby before time? Or is it the little boy or little girl who got shot in the head because he or she was from the wrong tribe? Or is it the woman who had to look at her own son and sleep with him in order to please the sick nature and pleasure of rebels?
I just want you to know that we want you to have fun at the games this year, because the rest of us will be somewhere in the Unites States trying to protest what is going on in our native land. Thank you!
REFUGEE CHILDREN
(refugee children chanting)
We want peace!
No more war!
OLD LADY
We don't understand why we the Liberians are killing ourselves! We don't understand!
NARRATOR
As the LURD forces moved in closer towards the capital, Taylor's military leaders beat up efforts to crush their enemies.
MILITARY MAN
We are going to win this war. We are going to teach the enemy a lesson again. This is not the first time, this is not the second time we have been fighting, and we are going to win this war!
Rebel hits man with rifle.
NARRATOR
As food became scarce, the people became more desperate. Widespread looting and rioting broke out. The punishment if caught looting was often brutal.
Female rebel orders beating of a child.
TITLE CARD: A CRY FOR HELP (BUS TRIP TO WASHINGTON, DC)
TOGBA PORTE PRAYING
Father, we thank you for the ability to be heard this morning. We thank you for who you are. We glorify your name because you are God. Lord Jesus, we know that you woke us up this morning and you started us on our way. So Father, we ask that you forgive us for the sins we committed, knowing we committed them, and those sins we committed not knowing we committed them. Father, be the unseen driver in this car. Guide us and carry us safely, Lord Jesus, for the purpose we are going. We ask you Lord, that you have already began to take course for the Liberian problems. So we just thank you Jesus; we thank you for answering prayers, Lord Jesus. We pray that as we go Lord, we will go in solidarity, we will go in unity, we will go in peace. Father God, we thank you for the organizer of this bus trip. We will ask Lord Jesus, that whatever the circumstances we are facing, that we can come together and support one another, in Jesus name we pray, amen.
ALL
Amen.
NARRATOR
With no end to the war in sight, LiberianS from all over the United States rallied in Washington, DC, to ask for the Unites States' intervention to help stop the bloodshed .
TOGBA PORTE
(shouting)
Ya'll!! Y'all!!!!!
CROWD
Yall!!!
TOGBA PORTE
What is the matter with Liberia?!
CROWD
It's all right!
TOGBA PORTE
Who say so?!
CROWD
Everybody!
CROWD
Taylor must go! The killer must go!
MAN
His Ambassadors, his wives – everybody must go! We don't need them no more!
WOMAN
The purpose of him leaving Liberia is so that peace can come to Liberia. We don't have electricity, no running water. People don't have food. They working and are not being paid. I never thought—never ever in my lifetime did I even think—Liberians would be so cruel to each other.
WOMAN #2
Our people are not allowed to be free. They are not allowed to sleep in their own homes. They are not allowed to have the education they want to have for their children. Freedom means everything!
WOMAN #3
We want y'all – we want your help. We are part of you. We are part of America.
ANTHONY MCCRITTY
Let the power go to the people and not to the individual. Let the people have the power to determine their own destiny, not the individual. Removing Taylor is a short-term solution. If we remove Taylor tomorrow and we put in our so-called educated person, what is the convincing factor that that person is not going to be another Taylor?
TITLE CARD:
A SIGN OF HOPE -
THE REBUILDING OF THE
LIBERIAN EMBASSY
GERALD BARCLAY
About seven years ago, I traveled down here for another demonstration and this building was burned. It had been charred for about two years. No one could enter because it was in ruins, and I found it as a great metaphor for the state of Liberia. Liberians were calling for American intervention. They were expecting the American government to help them rebuild an entire country, but the one symbol of Liberian presence in America had been burned to the ground and they could not rebuild it themselves. I felt that in order for them to be respected, or for them to follow through on that, they needed to first rebuild their own embassy, then maybe there would be some hope of rebuilding the country. And I feel good coming seven years later back here to see that it is back in shape.
ANTHONY MCCRITTY
Like the old people say, you clean up your house first before you clean up the street. If your house is dirty and you try to clean up the streets, then its just a bunch of noise you making. We have got to start setting an example. If we all get up and say Taylor must go right now, and he hears that we are not even organized here in America, what is he going to say? He is going to laugh at us. We need to start setting good example. If we can structure and organize ourselves here strong enough, not only will we be able to make a political change without a gun, but we will have so much influence from here in the United States that we can use that influence to make the changes that are needed back home
MAN
We understand the current problem in Liberia is the current leadership. The leadership has no vision, and any nation without a vision will perish; because the leadership has no vision, the nation will perish, and we do not want Liberia to perish.
Rocket propelled grenade explodes on impact with water.
MUSIC:
BANNED WAGON, "MAMA AFRICA"
Rebels exchange gunfire. Wounded soldier being treated.
GEORGE WEAH
What we are looking for is for America to go into Liberia to bring about peace, because people are dying, and, known as the superpower of the world, with the United Nations, I think it is right for America to go into Liberia to bring about peace, because it is a Christian-governed country, too. And I don't think America should step aside, seeing women and children dying every day.
MUSIC:
BANNED WAGON,
"MAMA AFRICA" (CONT'D)
UN SPEAKER
Liberian action, Mr. President, is threatening the stability of the region. It is time for the security counsel to act now.
MUSIC:
MILITARY MARCH
Military vehicles and helicopters deploy UN soldiers.
NARRATOR
UN Troops began arriving in Liberian, increasing the pressure for Taylor to step down.
JOURNALIST (O.S.)
Since you've authorized an advanced force to Liberia, does it signal the start of a larger force to Liberia?
GEORGE BUSH
This is all a part of determining what is necessary to help ECOWAS, now called ECOMIL, to go in and provide the conditions necessary for humanitarian relief to arrive whether by sea or by air. That is what we said we would do.
JOURNALIST (O.S.)
Do you still want Taylor out or is that is still a condition that…?
GEORGE BUSH
Yes, we want Taylor out. And the Secretary may like to comment on it. He is working hard with the UN and others to insist that Mr. Taylor leaves.
COLIN POWELL
We still expect that president Taylor leaves. I am pleased with what ECOWAS has been able to do. The Nigerians showed up and did order more forces to arrive and have established a sense of security to put hope back in the hearts of the Liberian people. We support them and are assisting like the president said.
TITLE CARD:
AUGUST 11, 2003 (TAYLOR'S FAREWELL SPEECH)
CHARLES TAYLOR
Today is unique in that we take another step forward, a step that should bring relief to the people of this nation.
NARRATOR
While Charles Taylor arrived in Nigeria to begin his exile, Gyude Bryant took over as the chairman of the interim Liberian government. After 14 years of war, Liberians may have been given one last chance at peace.
MUSIC:
KEVIN BLACKSTONE, "HOLD ON"
People rejoicing and celebrating in the streets.
JACQUES KLEIN
Taylor really bankrupted the society, both intellectually, emotionally and financially. The worst thing Taylor did was he criminalized the whole society. Before last October, no one was paid.
GERALD BARCLAY
Wow.
JACQUES KLEIN
So if you talked to school teachers, policemen and anyone else the previous two or three years now, they survived by bartering, bribery and those kinds of things. And when he left he took everything with him.
NARRATOR
And what he left behind was hundreds of lives that were forever changed.
Poster containing scenes of the civil war.
GERALD BARCLAY
I want to go Liberia on July 26. I want to enter the country with my camera, my camera crew and be able to talk to a few people. What is your thought on that?
MAN
We would advise that you not get involved into politics. If you're only going there to get the news of people, limit your questions if you do not want to be hurt.
TITLE CARD:
APRIL 4, 2004 (RETURNING HOME)
NARRATOR
Almost 24 years to the day I left Liberia. I joined the line, along with hundreds of Liberians just like me, all with a deep desire to return to our homeland. And many of them had lost everything in the war: their homes, their farms, family and loved ones, but somehow they all had the hope of rebuilding the nation.
Of the hundreds of trips I have taken in my career as a filmmaker, this was the most important. From the sky above, Liberia looked beautiful. It was rich and fertile. After 23 years, 7 months and 21 days, I'm home. I'm home.
NARRATOR
Today is April 5th, 2004. It's a Monday morning and I just woke up. I am in Liberia. I had a comfortable sleep. We stayed at a pretty decent hotel, with a price very comparable to what you would find in America, but either way we are in a war situation, so ehh.
We arrived yesterday and I was actually pretty surprised to see how not destroyed the country was; maybe because it was nighttime. We are going to go out today and check everything out and confirm that. From what I gather, this is a country that is going to be rebuilding itself very fast, because the infrastructure is still there, and I am actually feeling very good knowing that even though some dangerous and awful things that happened to a lot of the people, their spirit is still up. And who knows, within the next couple of years, this place is going to be right back to where it was. I'm going to go and take a look around Monrovia right now.
MUSIC:
PRINCE NICO, "SIMPLICITY"
NARRATOR
Despite the strong military presence, life in the capital city of Monrovia seemed normal – a dramatic contrast to the situation just months earlier. My crew and I began our day by filming normal day to day activities, people doing what they normally do. Everything seemed okay until I took the picture of the Defense Ministry, and moments later we were arrested and detained.
TITLE CARD:
THE CHARGE: ESPIONAGE AND SABOTAGE
NARRATOR
At first the charges seemed serious, but it turned out that the deputy on duty that day went to school with my father. After paying a fine and receiving a strict set of rules for filming, my crew and I were released and we were back on the job.
First stop, Dukor Palace.
Gerald Barclay walks toward hotel.
NARRATOR
This building was once a world-renowned five star hotel. It received dignitaries, businessmen and the elite from all over the world. It is now the skeletal remains of its former grandeur. Its hallways are deserted and rooms and suites that hosted the elite are now occupied by squatters. The irony is that those who couldn't afford to spend just one night at the hotel now live here for free.
GERALD BARCLAY
What brought you to the hotel? Tell me.
WOMAN
Because when I was going to Bong Mines to go sell market, the rebels arrested me. They beat me and took all my money from me, put me in jail and killed some of my friends, but God was with me. I survived. I did not survive by my smartness but God was with me, so when the recent war broke out I ran away and came here.
NARRATOR
Right now I am at the very top of the Ducor Palace. It is probably one of the highest points in Monrovia and I have to admit that the view is extremely beautiful from here. As I look down I see lots of things happening. You've got traditional stuff going on with the fisherman; you've got market people doing their thing; you've got the cars and everything moving below. Unless I am extremely blind, I see Liberia is one of the most beautiful places right now and I think, more importantly, structurally, the country is still pretty much there. However, I think its more of changing the mentality and the mindset of a lot of people that are here. It is a slow process but I think eventually it will be changed.
As I look down, a lot of memories are coming back, and one of the greatest feelings that I have right now is that for the last 24 years of living away from here, is the fact that I never felt at home, even though I may have bought a home in New York or whatever. What I feel now more than ever is a sense of ownership, because no matter how long you are in America, you are really never going to feel that you are at home. So that feeling is what I am feeling right now sitting on top of my home.
TITLE CARD:
JACKSON (THE FORMER CHILD SOLDIER)
GERALD BARCLAY
What made you join Taylor?
JACKSON
Why did I join Taylor? I was about 11 years old when Charles Taylor's rebels entered and grabbed me from inside the house.
GERALD BARCLAY
So they forced you?
JACKSON
They grabbed me and I couldn't do anything because Doe's soldiers were killing people, so I had no choice but to follow the rebels, and today I am still a government soldier for Charles Taylor.
GERALD BARCLAY
What are some of the things he had you doing?
JACKSON
I rescued people from the battle zone. I brought the civilians that were wounded over to our side. When they see me today, they still have respect for me. They remember what I did for them in the war.
GERALD BARCLAY
Now, you said you rescued a lot of people, but was there ever a time you were forced to take lives?
JACKSON
I rescued people during the war. I brought them across during the World War III. I rescued people and I brought them across from Claratown.
GERALD BARCLAY
My question to you was, you said that you rescued a lot of people, but because of the war was there ever a time you were forced to take lives?
JACKSON
No.
GERALD BARCLAY
Because when you went in to rescue them, I am sure they did not hand them over to you.
JACKSON
No, I only rescued them by bringing them across.
GERALD BARCLAY
I understand, Jackson. I appreciate it.
Jackson does want to tell me the whole story. I know the deal. It's all right. It's a different time.
TITLE CARD:
THE KIDS OF DUCOR PALACE
GERALD BARCLAY
Ducor Palace has also been the home for some of the youngest survivors of the war.
NARRATOR
Watching the kids play that day helped me to reconnect with the 12 year old kid inside of me that had to leave here a very long time ago.
(E. J. ROYE)
NARRATOR
Like most Liberians, I got my earliest glimpse of our cultural performance as a kid at the E. J. Roye building. It was looted during the war and all that remains is a dark and empty space. But a group of artists meet here once a week to keep the tradition alive.
Dale Carnegie once said "Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who kept on trying when their seemed to be no hope at all."
(ARTISTS PERFORMING CULTURAL DANCE, DRUMS AND SONGS)
NARRATOR
As I traveled into the city, I noticed a group of women in an open field. They gathered every day for months to pray for peace n Liberia.
ONE-ARMED WOMAN
We have been here since last year April 6th. We've been praying for the nation. God sent us here to pray for the nation because war is here. Whenever there is war, we the women and the children are the ones that suffer from it. The children and the women are the ones that suffer the most from war. For this reason we are here to pray for God to hear our prayers and then the war will be finished.
NARRATOR
With signs like these, peace was inevitable.
(EXECUTIVE MANSION)
NARRATOR
On Monday, April 12, I was invited to the Executive Mansion for a press conference to announce a very important decision. It seemed the old ladies' prayers might have been answered.
GYUDE BRYANT
We invite you to come this morning to talk about disarmament. Disarmament has been a cry of all our people. Everybody wants disarmament to begin and we are about to do that. We mentioned some time ago that the program was to begin disarmament on the 15 of April. And I come here to confirm to you this morning that disarmament will begin on the 15 of April.
JACQUES KLEIN
So how do we do this? How do we demobilize and demilitarize 45,000 to 50,000 kids who are on drugs, who are illiterate, who don't know what tribe or ethnic group they belong to, who have been in the bush seven, eight, nine years? How do we demilitarize and then bring them back into a society where the unemployment rate is all ready sky high?
NARRATOR
After years of fighting, the child soldiers of Liberia were finally beginning to put down their weapons and become kids again.
KIDS
(singing)
Judas died today!
We will bury him tomorrow!
Judas died today!
We will bury him tomorrow!
Judas died today!
We will bury him tomorrow!
NARRATOR
Today is Good Friday, 2004. I'm still in Liberia. I was supposed to catch a flight about an hour-two hours ago. And I decided to stay. A few things were developing. There's a lot of information, there're a lot stories that need to be covered here. So, um, today, it's going to be a packed one.
(MEMORIAL SIGN)
NARRATOR
This rusted sign is a memorial to the hundreds of victims that were murdered here over a decade ago. I found a woman who survived that brutal night.
BURN VICTIM
It was December 15th, 1994. The massacre took place here. I was in the house when they burned the house and killed people. They killed my mother-in-law and wounded my boyfriend. I was in the house and they put the house on fire. I was there until the house burned and fell on me. And as God would have it, I was saved from it.
GERALD BARCLAY
Who did it?
BURN VICTIM
I really don't know who did it. They never said their names. They said that they "came to destroy human beings". They never said their names. I don't really know who did the killing. I did not recognize any of them.
GERALD BARCLAY
Take me through that day and tell me what happened? What was happening in this area?
BURN VICTIM
I ran away from them and hid myself underneath the bed. They were looking for me but they couldn't find me. So one of the boys said, "Let's put the house on fire. That will make her come out." So while they were talking, I hid myself under the bed. They brought the gas. The gasoline was in the gallon. They brought the gasoline and started sprinkling it in the room, all over the room where I was laying down. And they took the sticks and tied it together and set it on fire. And they chunk it into the house. And then the whole house caught on fire. I stayed inside because I was afraid of them, because after they put the house on fire, they waited for me to come outside. I was very scared. I stayed under the bed. The mattress started melting and started dripping on my skin. Then the floor got really hot. So I got up from underneath the bed. So when I entered the hallway, there was fire all over. I couldn't breathe from the smoke. I started looking for a way to get out. The door was on fire; I could not make it through the door. So I started shaking the door. So while shaking the door the entire ceiling collapsed and fell on me. I fell to the ground and started yelling. I don't even know how I managed to get outside.
NARRATOR
She suffered burns on over 75% of her body.
TITLE CARD:
DISPLACEMENT CAMPS
NARRATOR
I've seen many displacement camps all over the country where hundreds of thousands of Liberians now call home. Their conditions at best can be described as horrible. Unfortunately, the children suffer the most. Many of them were on their own. It was hard for me not to be touched by some of the images I saw. There are over a hundred and fifty thousand children that were orphaned during the war. Many have spent their entire lives on displacement camps, and many of them, like little Hawa here, may never leave here alive.
TITLE CARD:
MEETING AGAIN: GENERAL BUTT NAKED & ME
NARRATOR
(IN TAXI CAB)
It's about 5:00 p.m – not 5:00, its 3:30 in Liberia. I'm in the city, the heart of the city right now. And I just got a call from Joshua Blahyi. The last time I saw him, he was in Ghana. We did the interview and after I returned to Ghana, he was gone to Cameroon. And right now we are going to meet for the first time in about 5—no—exactly about 2 years, 2 and a half almost 3 years. So let's see what happens.
GERALD BARCLAY
How are you doing, sir. This is Frank.
MAN
No, no, you have to wait here.
GERALD BARCLAY
Hold on one second. Alright – cut it.
I ran across some complications. I went to see "Butt Naked" but the Manager Gertrude didn't allow the interview, because a lot of people have tried to exploit him in the past. Which is only right. So she wanted to make sure everything is correct. If she calls me back then I can talk to him. If she doesn't call me back to talk to him then it'll be a shame, because rather than paint a one-sided picture of him, I'd prefer to paint an overall picture of him. I think he is one of the most genuine characters that came out of the situation, and I wanted to make sure to include him in this documentary. So we'll wait for the call and see what she says.
TITLE CARD:
3 DAYS LATER
GERALD BARCLAY
I finally got the second interview that I wanted, but what I was about to hear would test my beliefs and reveal a dark part of our culture that has been hidden for generations.
JOSHUA BLAHYI
The truth is the dark world is real. There are forces. The good force, and the evil force. God has his government. The devil from pride was thrown down from heaven, and he was thrown down with a lot of demons – angels, his followers. The bible says, "the devil and his angels." They fell down. They fell down in different parts of the world. Some of them were left in the moon, in the sun, in the stars, in the air; some of them fell in the waters, mountains and hills. In the land all over. One third of the hosts of heaven fell with him. Those demons that fell with him are still in the earth today –some that still does not have worshipers. They are not effective because this world has laws. This world has spiritual laws, like the laws of gravity. What goes up must come down. This world also has spiritual laws. Spirits do not own this world. This world is owned by flesh and blood. No spirit can have any effective rule except they gain entrance through a human being.
TITLE CARD:
ORIGINS OF EVIL
JOSHUA BLAHYI
My forefathers of the Sapo/Krahn tribe had a conflict with each other. They went and settled in Sinoe Country from Grand Gedeh Country. After some American missionaries came from Mississippi and taught them the gospel, they decided to come back to educate their brothers. The true trademark of the Krahn tribe is the act of war. When they came back they tried to see if they were still one people, because other people traveled from other places to claim the land.
In ancient days, they would capture a place by conquest. They would overpower others and take their land.
When their brothers saw them, they started to fight with them. But because they came from where their minds were renewed, they now had a different way of living and did not fight back. Their brother killed most of them. And they were escaping back to where they came from. They came up to this big rock and decided to sleep. In that frustration is when the God Nya-na-o-weh approached them and told them that he was going to defend them. They gave him the go ahead. Then he gave him some powers. They returned and could turn to lions and all kinds of things. And they fought their brothers but then their brothers came with peace, that is why there's the Putu Mountain on one side, and Grand Gedeh Country is on other side. The Sapo Tribe on one side and the Krahn Tribe on the other side. Though they are one, they could not live as one because of the past conflict.
So that god made a covenant with my people that he should be the only god that they serve. That my people should worship him and their generation un-born. And this is how it became the biggest god of the entire Southeast. Because the more it received human support or worship, the more powerful it would become. So the entire Southeast regions were able to submit to that god. It was the god that signatured all other demon's operation. So it was like a "godfather" god. A bigger god. A lord over other gods in that area.
So this is how I became the priest of my people. This is how my father was supposed to be the traditional Priest. But he was educated, so then he promised him his firstborn child – although I was not the first child. His first child was with a woman from the Lorma Tribe, but when he took his first child, the Oracle rejected him, because the Lorma Tribe has its own culture. So the gods did not want to give their powers to someone from a mixed culture. So that is how they gave him my mother, who gave birth to me. She was already married with two children. But they took her from her husband and gave her to my father so that she will have me, and then return to her husband. So that is how she had me.
TITLE CARD:
YOUNG PRIEST
JOSHUA BLAHYI
At age eleven, I was already initiated as the priest and I had started officiating my duties as a traditional priest.
GERALD BARCLAY
What kind of initiation did you do?
JOSHUA BLAHYI
I stood up before the big rock that is realized as this god. Although I know this, the people who don't know consider this rock as the god. There is a story that has came down, that this big rock hid them. But it is not the truth. Under that rock is where the God Nya-na-o-weh the fallen angel dwell. So worshiping that rock, you think you talking to that rock, but there’s a spirit behind that rock. So I stood there before that rock speaking for three-days-three-nights, chanting. And then the rock lifted up. Then I went under the rock. The rock covered me. Then I stayed there for 11 days and 11 nights with this demon called Nya-na-o-weh, who told me so many things. About myself when I was born, about my ancestors.
We spent 11 days there because I was 11 years old. And every day we spent there, it was one day, but it was one year of my life he would explain to me. I was now the priest. He initiated me to be the priest. And then he told me to do three things: I should not tell anybody, which I'm doing; if I tell anybody I will die. The second thing, I should make sure I should never touch kola nut. If I eat or touch cola nut I will die. And the third thing is, I should never cease making the human sacrifice. Which I accepted and then he planted these things in me.
GERALD BARCLAY
What do you think that is?
JOSHUA BLAHYI
Its garhmo seed. Garmo seed. Do you know what garmo seed is? Cowry shell. He planted them in me. And I could disappear by this, hypnotize people by this, bulletproof by this. It's so many other ones all over my body. Just program the spirits and connect them. And this was like a remote control the same way if you press the button something happen. The same way if I press this, something went on in the spirit world.
TITLE CARD:
HUMAN SACRIFICE
JOSHUA BLAHYI (CONT'D)
We use to literally catch people and kill them and take out their blood. First of all the major thing is the white blood cells. So we'll hang them up and all the white blood cells will drain down. You know, like when you hang your foot long, you see your foot gets numb. Its because the white blood cells is down. So we hang the person for a very long time. And then we use the syringe at a certain place behind the vein. Shove the syringe there and then contact the white blood cells and drain it out. The white blood cells are where the life is. It's the white blood cells we use for our ritual. The person needs to be living to take out the white blood cells so that it can be active for any spiritual powers. And then before we start taking out those parts, there are some people who used to buy them.
Like for this, when I was fighting before combat, to activate this, I had to eat a certain part of the human heart. I had to eat it to activate this. This thing is like the phone card now. If you’re using a phone card to call to America—if you buy $50.00 credit and use it to call America—it depreciates faster. If you’re calling local, it depreciates gradually. So if you allow the $50.00 to finish while you are communicating, the phone will cut off. So with this power we used to plant the human willpower in it. When we took out the white blood cells, we would make certain incantations to recharge it spiritually. So every time we went to fight, we would have to recharge. So there’s certain parts that I'm supposed to eat for it to be recharged.
You understand what I'm saying? Okay. The same way you cannot take the Lone Star credit to fill Celcom in Ghana, it's the same way you can't take any other part to recharge this. So there are some people who are supposed to eat ear, eye, according to the coding and the programming of the power that was given to them. So we used to kill people; kill them, take out those parts to eat them to activate these things in us.
GERALD BARCLAY
But as a human being didn't you feel it was wrong eating others human beings?
JOSHUA BLAHYI
We didn't know. I didn't know I just thought I wanted power; and I just thought as a priest, every human being was mine.
GERALD BARCLAY
And this went on for all these years?
JOSHUA BLAHYI
Yes.
GERALD BARCLAY
At what point did you wake up one day and say this is enough?
JOSHUA BLAHYI
I didn't say it by myself. I met Jesus. I think I told you about that in Ghana. I was on the front just coming from eating a three years old child. I took out her heart, cut it in pieces to give my boys some and ate some, when this light came from behind me – this bright light, brighter than the sun. And said, “My son, why are you slaving?” In fact, he called me his son, though it was in my local language. He said “An’ju, daee kay’ev wa?” He said, “My son, why are you slaving?”
That is the exact equivalent translation: “My son, why are you slaving?”
And I thought was not a slave at the time, because at that time I was General Butt Naked. If I say kill you, they kill you even if you did not deserve death; and if I say don't kill him, they won't kill you. So I thought I was a king. And I said, “I'm supposed to be a king.” And he said, "Yes you are really supposed to be a king.”
But he was so bright that I could not look at him face to face. I was forced to look down at him and his feet were in a cloud. Though in a human form, he looked very bright. A little huge, bigger than me, or a little more huge than normal being. But I could look down and see through the cloud, because I was sitting like this. When he come from behind me so, I could only look down and see his feet. I could not look up. Then I told him I was not a slave. He said, "No you are a slave.” I said “How?” He said, "Because your servant, which is the devil—the demon you carry on your shoulder—is suppose to be under your feet." I said, “What do you mean by that?” He said, "You won’t understand that but repent and live or refuse and die." And he vanished.
Then, since that day, strange things started happening to me. I'll shoot my gun, it will bust in my hand. Bullets that I thought would not come close to me, bullets suppose to go a hundred miles—a hundred meters away from me—I found that bullets were touching me, though it did not enter. But it hit me. I was so confused strange things were happening to me, until a church that the Lord appeared to through a prophecy told them, that he had arrested me, and they should come and minister to me. Those guys came and talked to me about salvation. It was not easy: all them fasted 54 days. So it was not by my own power. And God made sure he defeated the gods of my fathers. Every night he would come and go soul-traveling. I used to sleep from 6 o'clock to 10 o'clock or at least 8 o'clock to 10 o'clock. And I'd wake up by 10 o'clock prepare myself spiritually, and by 12 o'clock he would come, and we would go soul-traveling. And by 4 o'clock I'd return to my body. My soul would leave and return to my body by 4 o'clock everyday. So when I started seeing these strange things, he used to come, but never related to me as friend. It used to be dour, until those guys started fasting. And one day I went to bed and didn't wake up again until the next morning.
GERALD BARCLAY
So you slept for the first time?
JOSHUA BLAHYI
For the first time.
NARRATOR
If what he just said was true, it reminds me of a story in the bible about a brutal killer named Saul whose life was somehow turned around by God. He became Paul and grew to become a very powerful man of God.
JOSHUA BLAHYI
So I know that I was wrong. I know that it was by frustration and confusion, so this regret that I ever took part show out the genuine repentance that I am not just saying it, I am not defending myself. I am telling people I know I was wrong. I know that there is nothing I can use to prove or to back or defend anything I did in the past, so this genuine repentance make people to accept me.
As a matter of fact, I came back, I am not thinking about security. I am convinced that if I have done anything in the past and they want to bring me to justice, that is fine. Let justice take its course. If I am supposed to go through any penalty—if the law can forgive me—that is okay. I won’t be so disappointed because I know my contribution was so deadly and frustrating. I am saying this that a good sign that I am not walking about with a bodyguard even the people I am appealing to. Some of them look at me and waste water on me, some of them insult me, and I still do not get back at them or get angry at them, because I know they are hurt, and were hurt and frustrated, so I need to tell them I am actually sorry. So since I came, to be frank, I have not had it hard being accepted.
MAN
I believe he is not faking. He is a child of God working under the power of the Holy Spirit.
LADY
He is not afraid to talk about his past. When a person is saved, when a person is born again, when a person has encountered Christ, it's a different story. There is no more fear, and that is what I see in this man.
LINCOLN BROWNELL
He can be a good example, probably even better than some of us who are the Reverend, because his life is a living testimony that Jesus Christ is alive and the love of Jesus can save and can empower us to help save Liberia and save the world.
ISAAC DUAH
The Butt Naked that we knew before today is another Butt Naked that we can see all right. He is a Butt Naked now for Jesus Christ and I think that is a great change.
TITLE CARD:
DISARMAMENT IN JALLAH TOWN
JOSHUA BLAHYI
(praying)
Father in the mighty name of Jesus this one has confessed their sins oh Lord regret their sins oh Lord and willing to be used by you, Father, if you can use a blooded-hearted man like me, a destructive man . . . .
NARRATOR
Any doubts I had towards Rev Blahyi and his preaching were lost when he invited me to one of his disarmament crusades. I watched the former child soldiers agree to put down their arms and accept Jesus Christ into their lives.
JOSHUA BLAHYI
You and I were fighting to kill each other but because of Jesus Christ, we are embracing each other. Enter their hearts now Lord Jesus and make it your home, Lord Jesus, make their hearts your home. Thank you precious ones, in the name of Jesus.
TITLE CARD:
THE MIND OF A REBEL
JOSHUA BLAHYI (CONT'D)
Because I am having this complex that your argument is developing more reasonable than mine, to confuse the whole thing, I will start insulting. It is the same way if those guys don't have the benefit for this disarmament. Because $75.00 is not enough benefit. I can tell you that one of those guys can use their guns and get more than $20,000.00 in the twinkle of an eye. So if those guys turn in their arms that they used to use to get gold, diamonds, and all those stuff without replacing that vacuum of being inferior.
So giving those guys money alone is not sufficient. And the trend that they are taking immediately if a man is not manageable, he won’t be able to manage anything. Even if they take a bag of money and give it to them and take the arms away, the complex that caused them to take arms is still there. The complex of them not being anything. Even those big guys—Rebel Leaders—what is that complex?
They are 100% convinced that if they go to the ballot box, they do not have sufficient credit to become President. They know they can’t be Ministers by competency. So they will take the guns, get into the bush, and then dialogue comes up. And when the dialogue come up, they become president, ministers, this and that. So let Liberians start developing themselves if this nation wants to be developed, and there is no way any government can be effective if the people in the government are not governed so they can produce collective governmental skills. But imagine in Ghana, they lobbied around to be Finance Minister. They could not be Finance Minister and so they say, give me Public Works. They could not be Public Works Minister, so they say give me Telecom. They could not get Telecom, so they opted for Labor. They could not get Labor and so they wanted Sports. They did not know what they want, so they don’t want anything to be developed. If you did Accounting or you did Management – something about finance and want to be Finance Minister, that's good. But you did sports and want to be Finance Minister? You did Engineering and you want to be Finance Minister? It does not make sense.
So Liberians should learn to be strategic if we want the future to be a better one. Tell them the truth, if they don't change, if they don't develop themselves, and they have the opportunity to be President, the same thing that happened yesterday will happen again, because the complex will make them build some kind of defensive system which will go against democracy. And every nation that abuses the interest of the masses, the masses will rise up again. So there is no hope except we the Liberians develop ourselves.
NARRATOR
And on that note, we ended the interview.
Woman on bus.
AUDRAIN SMITH
Remember we are behind many, many years; and although we are behind many years, I have a dream that in my lifetime Liberia will come back to itself. And we will bring Liberia back . . .
(Applause)
ISAAC DUAH
John F. Kennedy once said: "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” So we must be willing to take the steps while the international community is here to help us. We must start to identify where we went wrong and start to correct them so we can begin to build a good society and a good nation for our children.
NARRATOR
Liberty means freedom, and with that freedom comes responsibility. We as Liberians must begin to put aside our differences, return home and begin working together to rebuild this once great nation. We must also learn to instill values in our children so that the past is never repeated.
Crowd sings Liberian National Anthem.
CROWD
All hail, Liberia, hail!
All hail!
All hail, Liberia, hail!
All hail!
This glorious land of liberty
Shall long be ours!
Though new her name,
Green be her fame,
And mighty be her powers!
And mighty be her powers!
And mighty be her powers!
In joy and gladness
With our hearts united,
We'll shout the freedom
Of a race benighted!
Long live Liberia, happy land!
A home of glorious liberty,
By God's command!
A home of glorious liberty,
By God's command!
All hail, Liberia, hail!
All hail,
All hail, Liberia, hail!
All hail!
In union strong,
Success is sure,
We cannot fail!
With God above,
Our rights to prove,
We will o'er all prevail!
We will o'er all prevail!
We will o'er all prevail!
With hearts and hands,
Our country's cause defending,
We'll meet the foe,
With valor unpretending!
Long live Liberia, happy land!
A home of glorious liberty,
By God's command!
A home of glorious liberty,
By God's command!
(Crowd cheering)
Car driving into cemetery.
TITLE CARD:
FULFILLING A PROMISE
NARRATOR
Before my four-year journey could come to an end, I had one more trip to make.
Gerald Barclay standing before his grandmother's grave.
NARRATOR
Dear O'Ma, words cannot express how I wish you were alive to see this day. The war in Liberia is over and peace has returned to our homeland. Also, your dream of taking me back to Liberia has been fulfilled. I came to Liberia and I made sure to find all the things you told me about as a kid. I went to Kingsville Number 7 and found the farm you grew up on. I also found the space next to your mother's grave that you wished to be buried in. I promise you we will fulfill that dream.
Aunty Sangei died during the war. She was buried in Number 7 next to the market. Her daughter Baby is fine. And despite all the hardships, she still has the smile I remember as a kid. I found your adopted son Boy Wonda alive and well. He was happy to see me and was glad we did not forget him. He continues to work as a schoolteacher, even without pay. Aunty Kenneh and Uncle John survived the war and are still married after 27 years.
The family's fine and continues to grow. You now have 11 great-grandchildren. Lady Bea proved everyone wrong and graduated from college with a master's degree. Even your daughter Bea Barclay has become a famous singer. Who would have ever thought that would happen? I know that you are smiling and although you are not here, your spirit will always be with us.
We love you O'Ma. Thanks for making an impact in our lives.
TITLE CARD:
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
JACQUES KLEIN
So I will say lets give the people of Liberia the tools and the means to fulfill their dreams so eloquently articulated so long ago. I think they deserve better than they have received in the past. And I really think they can make a difference.
Now, I was born in France, in Alsace, and my countryman of the last century, Albert Schweitzer, came here; and Schweitzer said something very interesting regarding Africa. He said: "we are not free to choose whether we will or will not do the right thing in Africa, we owe it to them. The good which we do is not an act of charity. Indeed, after we have done everything that is in our power to do, we shall have repaid only a small part for the damage committed against them in the past.
GERALD BARCLAY Hmmmm. Very insightful. So let me close on that note.
(Gerald Barclay and Jaques Klein
shake hands)
MUSIC:
LUCKY SHANGO, "I WANT TO GO HOME"
MONTAGE
OF
MONROVIA CITY LIFE
CLOSING CREDITS . . .
FADE TO BLACK
Script Terms
O.S. (Off Screen): Dialogue spoken by a character in a scene who is not seen on camera.
TITLE CARD: Text or an image used to give information about time, place and scene.
Copyright © 2005 Gee-Bee Productions
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