A GIST OF ME ( HOW WELL DO U KNOW ME?)

1) Ironically, I am not the best friend one can have….. I’m not always there when u call, but I’m always on time…….

2) I’m always smiling, cause it makes others around me comfortable and that way, I can get whatever I want. Lol

3) I like politics, like the feeling of knowing the decisions I make affects or impacts the lives of so many. In a positive way na…. Oh… least I forget, I don’t to be a legislator or run for any public office….

4) When I was 5, I wanted to become an astronaut, Miss Liberia, and some day the 1st Lady of Liberia. As of yet, I haven’t achieved one. Astronaut, my parents didn’t have the money, Miss Liberia, hmmm…it doesn’t have the prestige it once did when I was 5. 1st Lady, that will be by the grace of God, Can’t even see the light lol, with God all things are possible.

5) I believe CHANGE is an eminent factor to society. Be it radical or whatever…….
6) I’m a talkative. I like to engage people in discussions. That’s how I learn.

7) I’m a Libra… so I can be trusted, I like justice and I’m a natural diplomat. I can be flirtatious

8) I love to travel, gives me a sense of comfort. Makes me feel like I’m breaking barrels or the world is in my hands... Don’t ask me how

9) I love to be in love… makes me feel safe. It’s my fall back or back up in times of trouble or stress.

10) I love my history (background) and is proud of it. If you know where you’re from, then you’ll know where you’re headed.

11) I love love Liberia. I do believe “The love of Liberty brought us together and not “The love of Liberty brought us here”

12) I love the raining season….

13) Some say I have a “big mouth” I say, I have “the guts”. If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

14) I love to fill a room with my presence, but doing so quietly…. Does that make me a show off… no!!!! because I do it quietly..lol

15) I love to be on top of my game… lol.. but who doesn’t???

16) I love friends.. having a lot of them makes me feel rich. I don’t ignore a friend request on Facebook or Hi5…lol I even opened a second page on Facebook..

17) I like to test the waters. I’m a little defiant. Like to speak out when no one wants to.

18) Some say I’m bold or too direct and I do shake hands like a guy (firm).

19) I like shoes.. Fashionable shoes. It brings out the sophistication of my old fashion style of dress. I like vintage clothing lol……They say I’m congo-rish

20) I know I can be what I wanna be… I do hope to bring great change or make my mark in the Liberian Foreign sector. Don’t forget, I’m a natural diplomat….lol

21) My favorite male artist is Chris Brown, I believe everyone should be given a second chance….

22) I would love to have a family someday, …. I thinking soon, if I find him. Can’t wait to have my first child. I don’t want to ever divorce. I’m lazy with home chores… when I was little, I use to tell my mom when I grow up I’ll pay people to do that for me. if my boss was doing all his job, I won’t have to work…lol

23) I lack patience for the weak and slow ones… I feel they can catch up later, if not now. Lets move on without them..

24) I want to teach some day. Share some of the knowledge I’ve acquired. I’ll try to work on #23 when I’m a teacher

25) I have a good appetite for food. I love to eat. People wonder where the food goes… I say, my big toe..lol…

26) I love to dance. It’s a good exercise for me. it’s good to work out while having fun. But I’m still not a good dancer.

27) The best part of a meal is the last one. I don’t give out my last food….lol

28) I can tolerate anything as long as it’ll get me what I want or to where I want. Play the fool to gain wisdom

29) I believe in God, I’m not holy holy, but he’s always there for me when I call. Shhh….I think he loves me, but doesn’t want to make it public.

30) I like to see my friends succeed in life, cause I know they will always be of help to me.

A GIST OF ME ( HOW WELL DO U KNOW ME?)

1) Ironically, I am not the best friend one can have….. I’m not always there when u call, but I’m always on time…….

2) I’m always smiling, cause it makes others around me comfortable and that way, I can get whatever I want. Lol

3) I like politics, like the feeling of knowing the decisions I make affects or impacts the lives of so many. In a positive way na…. Oh… least I forget, I don’t to be a legislator or run for any public office….

4) When I was 5, I wanted to become an astronaut, Miss Liberia, and some day the 1st Lady of Liberia. As of yet, I haven’t achieved one. Astronaut, my parents didn’t have the money, Miss Liberia, hmmm…it doesn’t have the prestige it once did when I was 5. 1st Lady, that will be by the grace of God, Can’t even see the light lol, with God all things are possible.

5) I believe CHANGE is an eminent factor to society. Be it radical or whatever…….
6) I’m a talkative. I like to engage people in discussions. That’s how I learn.

7) I’m a Libra… so I can be trusted, I like justice and I’m a natural diplomat. I can be flirtatious

8) I love to travel, gives me a sense of comfort. Makes me feel like I’m breaking barrels or the world is in my hands... Don’t ask me how

9) I love to be in love… makes me feel safe. It’s my fall back or back up in times of trouble or stress.

10) I love my history (background) and is proud of it. If you know where you’re from, then you’ll know where you’re headed.

11) I love love Liberia. I do believe “The love of Liberty brought us together and not “The love of Liberty brought us here”

12) I love the raining season….

13) Some say I have a “big mouth” I say, I have “the guts”. If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

14) I love to fill a room with my presence, but doing so quietly…. Does that make me a show off… no!!!! because I do it quietly..lol

15) I love to be on top of my game… lol.. but who doesn’t???

16) I love friends.. having a lot of them makes me feel rich. I don’t ignore a friend request on Facebook or Hi5…lol I even opened a second page on Facebook..

17) I like to test the waters. I’m a little defiant. Like to speak out when no one wants to.

18) Some say I’m bold or too direct and I do shake hands like a guy (firm).

19) I like shoes.. Fashionable shoes. It brings out the sophistication of my old fashion style of dress. I like vintage clothing lol……They say I’m congo-rish

20) I know I can be what I wanna be… I do hope to bring great change or make my mark in the Liberian Foreign sector. Don’t forget, I’m a natural diplomat….lol

21) My favorite male artist is Chris Brown, I believe everyone should be given a second chance….

22) I would love to have a family someday, …. I thinking soon, if I find him. Can’t wait to have my first child. I don’t want to ever divorce. I’m lazy with home chores… when I was little, I use to tell my mom when I grow up I’ll pay people to do that for me. if my boss was doing all his job, I won’t have to work…lol

23) I lack patience for the weak and slow ones… I feel they can catch up later, if not now. Lets move on without them..

24) I want to teach some day. Share some of the knowledge I’ve acquired. I’ll try to work on #23 when I’m a teacher

25) I have a good appetite for food. I love to eat. People wonder where the food goes… I say, my big toe..lol…

26) I love to dance. It’s a good exercise for me. it’s good to work out while having fun. But I’m still not a good dancer.

27) The best part of a meal is the last one. I don’t give out my last food….lol

28) I can tolerate anything as long as it’ll get me what I want or to where I want. Play the fool to gain wisdom

29) I believe in God, I’m not holy holy, but he’s always there for me when I call. Shhh….I think he loves me, but doesn’t want to make it public.

30) I like to see my friends succeed in life, cause I know they will always be of help to me.

Market Places Are Their Homes and Market Stalls Their Beds

Beageorge Cooper

It all came to be known when a team of us from Youth Action International, headed by our Executive Director, Kimmie Weeks, embarked on a seven-hour drive from the Liberian border to Kono, Sierra Leone, to investigate for ourselves the plight of the street children of Kono. We worked to help the street children of Liberia, and now we were going to see what we could learn about the street children of Sierra Leone.

Upon our arrival, we made arrangements to meet and talk with the street children of Kono. We left our hotel rooms at twelve midnight and headed to the market on motorcycles. It was the best time to find them, because that’s when they need shelter.

The market was a huge rectangle covered with zinc and divided into stalls, a shelter with a roof and stalls but no walls. It doesn’t protect the children from splashing rain, wind, or heavy storms. The children sleep both under and above these stalls. They live and breathe dirt. We discovered that the street children of Kono have a whole government. They go out in shifts to “work” according to their ages. Makike, their head, is a polio victim who is known by everyone in the vicinity as “The Notorious One”.

Makike explained to us that children between the ages eight to sixteen go out during the day, from 7:00 AM till night to steal, and the older children go out at night. They all steal the same things—money, phones, food, spoons, dishes, jewelry, clothes, shoes etc.—and report these things to Makike before they are used or sold. If your property was stolen and you want it back, you contact Makike and get it back by paying a set amount for it.

The sad and wandering lives of these children and young people, from age eight to twenty-five, begin with different stories, but all have the same basis of abuse and abandonment. As we went on talking with the children, we learned how each one of them ended up on the streets. Some were taken from their villages by family members who promised their parents to send them to school and make life better for them. Instead, they were tuned into petty traders. At the end of a day’s sale, when they returned home and it was time for accountability, if there was a shortage in the reports, severe actions were taken against them.

Little children under the age of ten were sometimes starved for days; some were beaten mercilessly with electric wires or other harsh whipping instruments. Some of the scars left were so horrible, I shivered seeing them. Some of the children suffered broken bones. There was one young man whose hands were burned for returning more change to a customer. This brought tears pouring down my cheeks. Due to such treatment, the children left their homes to survive by stealing. Others had no parents (deceased) and had to survive on their own. Some were once in orphanages that closed due to lack of support.

We could see that these children were willing to do or participate in whatever was necessary to improve their lives. Just by hearing us speak of the hope of a new life, we could see joy in their faces and hear it the tone of their voices. They were tired of the cold wind against their bodies at night; tired of having nowhere to rest during the day; tired of knowing that some days there would be no food; tired of getting beaten down mercilessly when caught stealing; tired of being treated like rags.

The street children of Kono are crying out for help. They need a better life. They need places to live. They need to know how to sustain and provide for themselves legally. They know what they want. They are willing to go into orphanages that can provide their basic needs; they need skills and loans. They long to be loved and accepted and live a normal life. They long to fit into society. They are drowning and need to be rescued before it’s too late.

The meeting was a good, heartfelt and inspiring one, but I left there without a heart. I left my heart with them, a heart full of hope. Hope, that as they stretch out their hands to be helped, someone, somewhere, will grasp just the tips of their fingers. That someone will hear the last echo of their voices. That someone will reach out a rope and pull them out of that sinking sand.

Market Places Are Their Homes and Market Stalls Their Beds

Beageorge Cooper


Beageorge Cooper 160 x 160It all came to be known when a team of us from Youth Action International, headed by our Executive Director, Kimmie Weeks, embarked on a seven-hour drive from the Liberian border to Kono, Sierra Leone, to investigate for ourselves the plight of the street children of Kono. We worked to help the street children of Liberia, and now we were going to see what we could learn about the street children of Sierra Leone.

Upon our arrival, we made arrangements to meet and talk with the street children of Kono. We left our hotel rooms at twelve midnight and headed to the market on motorcycles. It was the best time to find them, because that’s when they need shelter.

The market was a huge rectangle covered with zinc and divided into stalls, a shelter with a roof and stalls but no walls. It doesn’t protect the children from splashing rain, wind, or heavy storms. The children sleep both under and above these stalls. They live and breathe dirt. We discovered that the street children of Kono have a whole government. They go out in shifts to “work” according to their ages. Makike, their head, is a polio victim who is known by everyone in the vicinity as “The Notorious One”.

Makike explained to us that children between the ages eight to sixteen go out during the day, from 7:00 AM till night to steal, and the older children go out at night. They all steal the same things—money, phones, food, spoons, dishes, jewelry, clothes, shoes etc.—and report these things to Makike before they are used or sold. If your property was stolen and you want it back, you contact Makike and get it back by paying a set amount for it.

The sad and wandering lives of these children and young people, from age eight to twenty-five, begin with different stories, but all have the same basis of abuse and abandonment. As we went on talking with the children, we learned how each one of them ended up on the streets. Some were taken from their villages by family members who promised their parents to send them to school and make life better for them. Instead, they were tuned into petty traders. At the end of a day’s sale, when they returned home and it was time for accountability, if there was a shortage in the reports, severe actions were taken against them.

Little children under the age of ten were sometimes starved for days; some were beaten mercilessly with electric wires or other harsh whipping instruments. Some of the scars left were so horrible, I shivered seeing them. Some of the children suffered broken bones. There was one young man whose hands were burned for returning more change to a customer. This brought tears pouring down my cheeks. Due to such treatment, the children left their homes to survive by stealing. Others had no parents (deceased) and had to survive on their own. Some were once in orphanages that closed due to lack of support.

We could see that these children were willing to do or participate in whatever was necessary to improve their lives. Just by hearing us speak of the hope of a new life, we could see joy in their faces and hear it the tone of their voices. They were tired of the cold wind against their bodies at night; tired of having nowhere to rest during the day; tired of knowing that some days there would be no food; tired of getting beaten down mercilessly when caught stealing; tired of being treated like rags.

The street children of Kono are crying out for help. They need a better life. They need places to live. They need to know how to sustain and provide for themselves legally. They know what they want. They are willing to go into orphanages that can provide their basic needs; they need skills and loans. They long to be loved and accepted and live a normal life. They long to fit into society. They are drowning and need to be rescued before it’s too late.

The meeting was a good, heartfelt and inspiring one, but I left there without a heart. I left my heart with them, a heart full of hope. Hope, that as they stretch out their hands to be helped, someone, somewhere, will grasp just the tips of their fingers. That someone will hear the last echo of their voices. That someone will reach out a rope and pull them out of that sinking sand.