Giving Back, Liberians in America (Part 5)

"One thing that has really resonated with Liberians is that they have not forgotten their homeland. So, you have various organizations, which are seeking ways to rebuild the country. We are aware that government cannot do it all." -- Danlette Norris, Liberian professor.

This fifth and final installment in my series about the Liberian diaspora shows how members of this unique expatriate community raise money to fund education and health projects back in the war-devastated country they fled.

Even one dollar can make a difference in heavily-damaged areas like Maryland County, Liberia, which is on the southeastern border with Ivory Coast. That’s where Norris and some of the other members of the Rhode Island Liberian community come from. As an evening fundraiser stretched into the early-morning hours, hundreds of dollars filled tin-foil receptacles.


Part 1 of this series was about why so many Liberians are in the small state of Rhode Island.

Part 2 was about Liberian immigrants helping each other out, especially young and old.

Part 3 was about setting up shop and the challenges of getting papers in order.

Part 4 was about the most important issue of raising the children of the diaspora.

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Liberians in America, Part 4, The New Generation

"The community provides a sense of cultural identity to be able to instill certain cultural values; for example, hard work, dedication, respect for your father, your mother, the elderly, these are values that really help to make an individual a good person." -- Edmund Zar-Zar Bargblor, Liberian teacher.

This fourth installment in my five-part series about the Liberian diaspora explores the challenges Liberians face raising their children in America.

Rather than having just one meal per day -- a common diet for many a Liberian child – the children of Liberians in America often just want to eat junk food. Rather than praying to go to school, or having barely enough money to afford a pencil, the children of immigrant Liberians often complain about their schoolwork.

Rather than showing the traditional respect for their parents, many young Liberians in America talk back to them.

They also have many more opportunities to succeed in their schooling, and most are free of worries about basic survival. They live between two cultures, and they are forcing their parents to adapt as well.

Liberians in America, Setting Up Shop

"Here, life is how you make it. Everywhere is hard, but here, it is ok for many of us. Because many of us came here unexpectedly, and we are doing good here." -- Martha Gargar-Charley, Liberian owner of an African food store.

This third installment of my five-part series on the Liberian diaspora takes a look at businesses that cater to and hire Liberians. Gargar-Charley and another woman profiled in this video are thriving -- they’re earning money and creating jobs.

But many Liberians in the United States live in fear that they will be forced to drop everything and go back to their war-ravaged homeland.

Thousands of those who fled Liberia and came to America live under the U.S. Temporary Protected Status program, which allows them to work and own property. However, their status is temporary, and could suddenly be revoked.

The U.S. government says Liberia is now stable, so Liberians should be able to go back. But with jobs and sometimes businesses and homes, as well as children with U.S. citizenship, many feel they should be allowed to remain in the United States.

Part One of this series looked into why so many Liberians live in Rhode Island, while part two was about how Liberian immigrants help young and old.

The Immigrant Experience: Liberians in America, Part II

"We do help each other. Like me, I open up my home to people who do not have food. I shelter people. That is what I have been doing since I came here. I not only preach the word. And it's very important. It's good for the soul. You feel better when you do that." -- Beatrice Mansfield, Liberian Pastor.

This second installment of my series looks at how Liberians in Rhode Island assist the elderly within their community and help new arrivals adapt and survive.

Despite ethnic divisions in their own country, Liberians in the United States come together through their churches, civic associations and other organizations to make sure those in need get help.

Elderly Liberians who might have enjoyed frequent contact with their neighbors back in Monrovia’s open-aired courtyards now find themselves isolated in the closed-off, high-rise apartment buildings that house many of the newly-arrived in America.

Many Liberian youth who finally make it to the United States don't always know what they have gotten themselves into.

Sometimes, Liberian immigrants don't have any relatives here, but they find they can count on other Liberians to help them get going on their American experience.

The Immigrant Experience: Liberians in America, Part I

"Rhode Island is a small state. Rhode Island reminds us of Liberia. Liberia is just a little larger than Rhode Island." Elaine Traub, Liberian nurse.

"I can drive from here, two blocks, and meet another Liberian, and go downtown, and wherever I go, I will meet Liberians." Eleanor Gaye, Liberian restaurant owner.

While I was Voice of America's West Africa correspondent, from 2003 to 2008, my favorite country to visit was Liberia, partly because of the way people spoke English there with such energy and flavor, frankness and poetry.

I was always interested in finding out more about the Liberian diaspora as well. By most accounts, nearly a third of the country's three million people fled the war, corruption and neglect that ravaged Africa's oldest republic over the past 20 years.

Many of them have never returned.

In the United States, the largest concentration of Liberians is in Rhode Island, the smallest American state.

The first installment of this five part series asks members of the Liberian diaspora why so many of them decided to make Rhode Island their home away from home.

Ordeals in Seeking Asylum

"You can't stop the human spirit and you certainly can't stop someone when they are in fear for their life. If there is a border and it's an artificial border, they are going to find a way." -- Deirdre Gilblin, Asylum Attorney

What is asylum? "In layman's terms, it's basically when people flee to the United States for human rights violations and they seek sanctuary here and they ask for that sanctuary from our immigration system. If they are granted asylum, they are allowed to stay in the U.S. indefinitely and eventually get their green card and apply for U.S. citizenship," explains another attorney, Lisa Laurel Weinberg, at the Community Legal Services and Counseling Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Attorneys there say that in recent years, asylum seekers have been required to provide more proof of the risks they face back home in order to win their case.

According to the U.S. government, asylum is a form of protection granted to individuals who have been persecuted or fear they will be persecuted on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

Recently, there has been a rise of asylym cases for gay and lesbian individuals, as well as for victims of domestic abuse, or genital mutilation.

This vlog also tells the story of John, a gay man from Jamaica, who says he couldn't sleep anymore and couldn't walk to work, for fear of being attacked because of hatred for his sexual orientation.

This report for VOA by Lisa Schlein details how more and more people are seeking asylum in industrialized countries.

Diversity Job Fair Combats Minority Unemployment

"You need to inform as many people as you can, try to talk to family members, friends, ex co-workers, ex bosses, try to place yourself out there. You need to join networking groups, local associations. You need to try to update your resume and come prepared for an interview. You need to do research on companies, and, most importantly, you need to make a very good first impression." -- Ricardo Villalba, Job Fair Organizer.

The latest U.S. unemployment figures show that 8.9 percent of the American workforce is out of a job.

The American economy has shed nearly six million jobs since January 2008. That’s the biggest employment loss of any U.S. economic slump since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Minorities have been hardest hit. The latest figures show unemployment among African-Americans at 15 percent, and Hispanic unemployment at 11.3 percent.

This vlog is about a diversity job fair aimed at combating these trends. The information booths run by U.S. government employers, in particular the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the State Department, attracted large crowds.

This television report by Mil Arcega shows how recently laid-off workers are also turning their attention to “green” jobs.

The Israeli-Palestinian Divide in the USA

"We are demanding that the United States stop arming and aiding Israel. We are in fact calling for a cut-off of all aid to Israel." -- Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the Answer Coalition.

"There have been too many meetings with politicians in backrooms and not enough conversations in people's living rooms and at their kitchen tables. That is what it's really going to take." -- Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, President Israel Project



The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most divisive issues in the world today.

In the United States, activists line up on both sides of this complex impasse, which has sparked decades of violence.

This report looks into some of these activists’ arguments and counter-arguments, their strategies and their views on U.S. government policy.

A related audio-video report by Cindy Saine and Leta Hong Fincher shows how President Barack Obama is pressing Israel's new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a two-state solution.

Another audio-video report by Mohamed Elshinnawi describes how experts differ on whether President Obama can succeed in bringing peace to the Middle East.

A Clinic on Wheels Helps Immigrants

"[The people we help] do not have access to health care. [This job] is very important for me, because we are saving lives." -- Mama Bus worker.

U.S. government data indicates at least 40 million Americans are without health insurance.

Within this vulnerable group of people, a disproportionate number are immigrants who typically receive fewer health benefits than native-born citizens.

This vlog is about the Mama and Baby Bus, run by the Mary's Center, a charitable group which helps individuals and families with limited or no access to health-related services in the Washington, D.C. region.

The bus makes regular stops to provide women with free pregnancy tests and information on where to get free health care. It also gives free health screenings to anyone who drops by, as well as referrals, vaccinations, and dental exams, and guidance on insurance enrollment.

Sometimes even affluent people drive by and park their fancy cars to get a free dental checkup inside the bus.

I caught up with a morning bus crew as they made a stop on the corner of Columbia Road and 14th street, in one of D.C.'s largely Latino neighborhoods in an area in the northwest part of the U.S. capital.

One of those interviewed, outreach worker Chelsea Nycum, followed up with an e-mail, trying to explain in better detail her motivation to do the work she does.

Her words also shed light on a part of the story that my camera was not allowed to capture.

Here is what she wrote: "When someone comes to the bus for an HIV or pregnancy test, the results that will come to light in our 20 minutes spent together have the potential to be life changing. In those few minutes, people usually aren't nonchalant and they don't pretend to have it all together. I am able to be a part of someone's life during something that is honest, vulnerable, and real. Now, I don't pretend to think that after a few minutes with someone that I know their circumstances or understand fully (or even partially) what makes them who they are, but I think that people appreciate being asked about the things that matter to them and they appreciate being heard. Too often, especially in the populations we serve at Mary's Center, people are coping with a lot of pain and tough circumstances and nobody ever reaches out to them to listen to their stories or to let them know that they matter."

Recent Voice of America reports on health care in America, include this radio spot by Gabe Joselow on the White House budget director’s claim that investing in health care is key to creating economic growth.

This radio/television report by Paula Wolfson is about President Barack Obama starting efforts to overhaul the U.S. health care system.