Liberia: it’s fantastic to be part of it

It has been just over a month since I stepped off the plane at Robertsfield airport just outside of Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. The time has flown past, (forgive the pun) and I haven’t stood still.

My friends always ask me, so what is a day in the life of Mark like? I can honestly say that no two days are ever the same.  What I can say is that it’s always a challenge and that I can never walk through the office without the chorus of “Mark, Mark come e” (come here) as yet another issue has a risen.  Whether it is IT, asset management, warehousing, satellite installations up water towers, distributions… the list is endless always changing and always challenging!

It’s an exciting time to be here in Liberia with a new Country Director keen to improve on his predecessors’ work and new systems being put in place . With two big grants recently received, the future is looking bright and real change is happening. It’s a real privilege to be part of it.

The Liberians I work with are great, never shy, and always vocal so you know where you stand and you can see the passion for what they do shine through and infect you.  There’s a real two-way flow of learning, with them training me up on the vast array of what they know on child protection, education and health, and me trying to do my best on what I know.

If the next five months are going to be anything like the last, a lot of good will happen.  Even after only a limited time being here you can already see great improvements and it’s fantastic being a part of it!