One Day at a Time: Girls Club World Map: Part 2

By the time my grant timeframe ended, summer vacation was right around the corner. So I took a much-needed, 2-month break from school and the Girls Club. Upon returning to GCS for the 2013-2014 school year, Massa, my girls, and I began to plan for our WMP Completion Ceremony. It was no small ting-oh! Planning a large, community event takes a lot of work in the States. It’s even more challenging trying to do it in a different country when you want to do everything in a culturally-appropriate manner and you have none of the conveniences of the western world at your disposal (i.e., regular electricity, cell phone service in most of your town, etc.). Preparing for “the big day” tested my time-management skills, resourcefulness, patience, and my sanity, and fortunately, everything came together in the end.

The program was held on Sat., Nov. 16^th and was set to begin at 9 A.M. In “African time” that means at least by 10 A.M., just so you know. However, the World Map Project Completion Ceremony didn’t begin until closer to noon. I knew a delayed start was inevitable, but I didn’t foresee it starting nearly 3 hours late! Being that there was nothing I could do about it, I just rolled with the punches. We would start when we would start.

An overcast sky loomed overhead, the microphone didn’t work well, and people showed up late (or not at all). But the show must go on! We proceeded with the program, and overall, I’d say it was a success. Despite their nerves, the M.C. and each member that played a part in the program were all able to project their voices so that everyone in the audience could hear them clearly. Short speeches were made, allowing members to put their public speaking skills to work (something we had been practicing during our meetings), and the girls were recognized for their hard work. Every member that completed their work requirement received a Certificate of Appreciation. I also presented GCS and Massa each with their own Certificate of Thanks for their support and guidance throughout the WMP process.

I need to take the time to note that there is NO way I could have done the program “the Liberian way” without the help of my counterpart. Massa helped me create the agenda, deliver invite letters and follow up with the “big big people” in the community (i.e., senators and representatives of Gbarpolu County), and she cooked the food for the program. Preparing a menu that included rice, fried chicken, and cake for nearly 70 people is a large task in and of itself. It’s even more gargantuan when you’re doing it all over a fire. AND, as if that wasn’t already enough, Massa helped calm me down during a nervous breakdown I had a few weeks prior to the program. To fully understand the significance of this, you must know that Liberians rarely cry. They think it’s strange when we (de white peepo) cry. And let me tell you: it was not pretty. So for her to let me vent my frustrations to her and then for her to: not judge me, console me, and advise me…for hours…in her house…and not allow anyone else inside, was a big deal. I’m just grateful that she was there to help me keep my shit together when I couldn’t do it myself. So, to end this aside, I just have to say “Kalay fay daya (!) for Massa. Tank God-oh (!) for my Counterpart!

Back to the WMP Completion Ceremony….

Representatives of 5 of the nearby primary schools in Gbarma District received some packets with educational resources for map-related activities to do with students, in the event that they take a field trip to GCS’ campus. Guests also showed their support for the Golden Girls with encouraging and appreciative remarks and generous contributions to our organization, to which I am extremely grateful. (No more having to pay for everything for the Club out of my own pocket…now we’ve got some moolah!) Near the end of the program, we officially unveiled the map for everyone to see. For small money, guests could remove a sheet of colored construction paper to reveal a portion of the large 8 x 14 foot map. And just as the program was coming to a close, the sun began to shine through the dissipating clouds in afternoon sky. J

After the closing prayer (ALL meetings and programs in Liberia have opening and closing prayer), food was divvied up. I supervised as a few members served fellow members, GCS staff, and our invited guests first. Then extra plates of food and soft drinks were distributed to additional guests, because if it wouldn’t have happened, there most likely would have been a riot. So, while I wasn’t super happy about having to feed extra people who just hung around for the free food, there was nothing I could do about it. Making a big fuss wouldn’t result in anything positive, so I just went with it. Everyone ate and was happy, so I was happy.

Until the time came to hit the piñatas.

Man, was that a fiasco. So before the program, I had worked for a couple weeks to create 2 piñatas. One night I began to make touch-ups to the brown-paper-bag body of each piñata by headlamp as midnight approached and all of Gbarma town slept. The next afternoon, I stirred a homemade flour+water paste in a tiny metal pot over my gas stove because I had used up the last drop of my precious Elmer’s glue from home and needed to finish up strengthening the piñatas. I spent afternoons after school and on the weekend pre-cutting strips of colorful tissue paper, all by my lonesome, in the teachers’ office. One of the piñatas was decorated by the girls. It was their first time ever working with the materials they were working with, and I let them have at it with minimal instruction, just to see how it would turn out. Admittedly, it looked terrible, which I half-expected. Luckily, I had worked on one of the piñatas by myself earlier in the week. One side had our Girls Club flower logo on it: the red petals surrounded a bright, yellow center while small, green leaves punctuated the blue background of hundreds of tufts of tissue paper. On the other side of the “pretty piñata” were the initials “G C” in yellow against a lime green background. Flashy, just the way Liberians love it. My piñata was looking fine-oh and I was proud.

I remember thinking “I can’t wait to see people take turns to try to hit and break my creation at the program. I’ll make sure to pull and loosen the rope a lot so that it can last longer and so many people can get a turn and people can admire this Mexican tradition.” So much for that.

After everyone had eaten, I led a mass exodus of children and students from the main courtyard of the school to the edge of the football field out near the dirt road. I leaned the pretty piñata against a large tree while I rigged up the ugly one for us to play with first. Patience was the first person to try to hit the piñata. It was meant to be a fund-raising event: $10 LD gets you 3 hits. Blindfolded, I made her spin around 10 times before I led her in the general direction of the piñata. With one swing, the stick hit the rope and the piñata broke off, hitting the ground with a thud. I guess I didn’t make it as strong as I should have. Anyways, the stick- and milk-candy inside shook momentarily before settling, and then the stampede ensued. Small children first, and then older students, dove towards the ugly piñata, ripping it apart to get to the candy. They were like wild, rabid animals, fighting just to get candy. I even saw one of my 10^th graders repeatedly bring his fists down onto the back of a bones-and-skin little boy. Really, all of this just for some stupid candy? Then a portion of the kids made a mad dash for the pretty piñata. Why did I just leave it there on the ground?! Gah! Outwardly, I did nothing. What could I do? I internally castigated myself and continued to watch the scene unfold in front of me. Some of my girls chased after the kids as they ran in tandem and yanked at the piñata until it was ripped to shreds. Candy went flying everywhere. Kids got beaten, people apologized to me, and students looked towards me to see how I’d react. I wanted to scream and cry, I wanted to shout at the little shits that destroyed the piñatas the girls and I had worked so hard to prepare, and I wanted to smack the smile of the faces of the kids that toted the remnants of my fund-raising activity around proudly as a trophy. But I didn’t do any of those things. Because it wouldn’t have done anything! So, I just turned away from the field and walked back towards the buildings and courtyard.

“Oh, don’t geh vexed, Ms. Bendu. You know dem Gbarma children. They can act too rude and are greedy. Sorry-yeah!” Yeah, yeah, whatever. I wanted to teleport to somewhere with a punching bag, I was so angry! But instead I went into one of the larger classrooms, where earlier, I had been getting things set up to show a photo slideshow of the WMP. Katta, one of my senior members, policed the door and didn’t allow a single peking to enter, as punishment for destroying the piñatas and ruining the activity. Immediate retribution, alright! The members, students, GCS staff, and other community members that had stayed past the food really seemed to enjoy the slideshow. (I’d like to upload it to my blog but with the large file size and the slow internet speed here, I doubt it’d work…so wait until I’m back home in August and I’ll do it!) Photos of our project, taken at every step of the way, were strung together while a soundtrack of Liberian and American music played. (Special thanks to the Ministry of Youth and Sports for allowing me to borrow their projector for the slideshow showing!)

After that, we had an impromptu dance party! Possibly a first for GCS. It was a blast. Rachel, my sitemate, and Nimu, our closest neighbor the next town over, were there to take part and people went crazy when we took the dance floor one by one for our solo performances. Then, after we had properly opened up the floor, dancers swelled the area. It. Was. Awesome.

So despite having a few small (and one big) hiccups during the WMP Completion Ceremony, things went well. Praises were given where praises were due and everyone had a good time. It was a lot of work to plan and execute this program to recognize the girls’ effort, but it was worth it. I’m just glad it’s over!

For more photos from the WMP Completion Ceremony, click here.