International Peacekeepers Day and UN Idol - all in One Day!

May 29th is UN Peacekeeper's Day.  Kind of a big deal for the UN.  I find it really interesting that this year's UN Idol in Liberia is being held on that day , yet it is not listed as an official event for the day - go figure. Find more about Peacekeepers day here.  Last year it was the 60th anniversary of peacekeeping for the UN.

On a side note - in a few days there is likely to be a storm in the Gulf of Mexico :)  Liberia has started squeeze them out again .

Liberia Travels

Sometimes Travel in Liberia is just a bit Different..

OOPS!!

Crossing high quality bridges are fun too

Just a couple of photos I thought I'd share with you.

Stay Safe!!

Some Liberia Photos

I just thought I would share some photos of Liberia. Just some of the scenery I have seen recently. I hope you enjoy them.

Blue Lake aka Bomi Lake

A Jungle Road

A "Loaded" Van (Looks like it is about to fall over)

Old Church

Y'all Stay Safe!

International Day of Peace Celebrations

Here in Liberia at the UN we had a big to-do with the International Day of Peace Celebration. The SRSG (Special Representative of the Secretary General), Vice President of Liberia were the main head honchos at the event. Many other dignitaries showed up as well. There were honor guards, speeches, songs, native dances, and a tree planting ceremony. I just thought I would post a few photos.

Indian Formed Police Unit Honor Guard

(yes they are all female)

SRSG Planting a tree

SRSG Planting a tree

Native Dancers

Stay Safe!!

Celebrating America's Independence in Liberia

Well,I am not used to people coming up and saying Happy Independence Day! Here working with the UN it happened all day. The US Contingent celebrated with a contingent meeting - it means no UN work that day. (OK say it- you know you want to "unwork") The greetings were nice - and somewhat unexpected by me. :))


We also had our medal parade on the 3rd of July, 5 guys got their medals for service in a UN Mission. I won't be eligible here for another 3 months. UNMIL policy is that you get the medal after 6 months. It was very short and non-ceremonial, as we did not want a lot of pomp and circumstance or whatever you get when you get medals. You can probably pick out the medals on the guys shirts.


It is kind of nice to have a peacekeeping medal - not everyone has one. I got one in Kosovo - it is a bit different.


Not much else - y'all stay safe!

Liberia Random Tid-bits

I have been in sort of a random this-and-that mode. I figured a lot of folks "back home" don't know much about Liberia.

Liberia's Flag was designed bases on the US Flag.

Liberia is the oldest Republic in Africa. It was formed by former freed slaves from the US.

Monrovia is named for James Monroe 5th President of the US

The official language of Liberia is English (though you may not recognize it when spoken by a local)

The country came out of 14 years of civil war in 2003 when the UN Mission (UNMIL) started here. Over 250000 people died in that/those civil war(s).

Liberia produces lots of rubber - Firestone has a large plantation here.

Liberia is where some believe dinosaurs still roam. The Kumbway and the Gbahali

Y'all Stay Safe!

Woo Hoo for Me!

Yes, I feel a little like celebrating! First - my other blog got some love from two other sources this week! I thought it was great.

There was mention of it in Blog Catalog's Blog (I know almost redundant huh?)Then there was a great review at Doyoudiggit.com I am really impressed at how well written that review is! All I know is, it seems to pay off when you recognize other people's efforts and post about them. It seems that most of the internet is quite reciprocal when it comes to a little credit here and there. A big thanks to both Blog Catalog and Doyoudiggit.com !

Now for some other good news for me. I just was appointed as the Chief of personnel for the UNMIL UNPOL - I know a lot of UN's there. But for the United Nations Mission in Liberia UN Police, I am the chief personnel officer. So far everyone has treated me great - I am learning a lot about the job as I go!

Funny though - I still get paid the same :P

An UN-Idol in Liberia? I Think Not!

Some of you probably wonder what the haeck do you do for recreation while in Liberia?

Well, right after I got here, I saw this poster. I was thinking UN-Idol. Gee... I wonder... What the heck, I will enter! There was actually a prize offered!

So, I decide to participate. Now, I do not have aspirations of winning or anything, but the whole idea of UN-Idol makes me sort of giggle. OK, look - don't say "You-In - Eye-doll" Say un-idol. You have to at least smirk at that.

OK, what I didn't know was that This guy was going to be there... so now there is photgraphic evidence. :P (and yes you stereo-typers he is Chinese)

So now, with photographic evidence, and all this pressure... I figured I needed some sort of special cosultation. So I found this "guru" to see what he could offer me. After all, he looks authentic doesn't he?

So anyways... nah....nah, nah, nah , nah nah... I sing Crocodile Rock - complete with "gator chop" motions and all

I was a little worried with this diverse international audience how they would react. (No I didn't steal these shots from a come-to-Jesus meeting. This is a real shot of the audience as I performed.

So guess what I won? If you guessed a certificate for participatiing you are absolutely correct. I didn't even win a prize for "worst dressed act (I think the guru got that one)

Y'all stay safe!

Bloggers Unite For Human Rights

I am not one to jump on a lot of band-wagons, but I am joining in this. I almost didn't just because Amnesty International joined in. However I work for the UN right now (I know, I know) specifically UNMIL, and I have seen many a human rights violations take place, and part of my job is to try and stop that.

All of that said, it brings me to this. What exactly is a "human right" and who decides what human rights are? For example, what many may consider a human right in the U.S. is a great priviledge elsewhere. Do we have a right to news access for example? A lot of folks do not have that. Do we have a right to a "safe" home, a house or an apartment?

The American Heritage Dictionary states

The basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.

The UN's list is long and wordy. You can see it here. Not everyone everywhere has all of those rights. Everyone in the U.S. doesn't even have all of those rights (I say that because the U.S. is a pretty rights oriented country)So what I wonder is this: is freedom from torture a human right? (the UN thinks so) Many countries routinely torture their prisoners and the populations of the countries think it is "normal." Just something to think about. Is a minimum amount of space per prisoner a human right (the UN thinks so) though I did not see that in the definition. Is having three meals a day a human right?

I may not understand all about human rights, even though I am hired as an "expert" on that among other matters, I still work for human rights where I can.

Wordless Post: The President of Liberia and the SRSG

Some Good Things About Working with the UN

This sign is one of those reasons I love Working with the UN...

They always invent new words and terms - sometimes on purpose, but mostly by accident. Drink Drivers - haha!!

We were at our driving tests today and I saw this guy