The Daily Observer

Yesterday Ann Elizabeth and I had the chance to take one final trip with a group of students.  Throughout the year we have been leading a writing workshop with a group of 10 students.  We meet for an hour each week and listen to the students' writing and work to improve each person's skills.  Throughout the year we have worked on descriptive writing, research, informative writing, creative writing (writing short stories), writing about the past, writing about the future, etc.  We are continually impressed by the writing of each of our students... their creativity, unique way with words, and genuine enjoyment of the writing process.  In order to wrap up a great year, we wanted to take the students somewhere that would be educational yet enjoyable.  So on Tuesday we went into Monrovia to the headquarters of the Daily Observer, one of the most popular and oldest (it has been around since 1981) daily newspapers in Liberia.

Our contact person at the Daily Observer was Mr. Kenneth Best, Manager and Publisher of the paper.  Mr. Best had to be at least 70 years old, but you would never know from meeting him.  He was extremely knowledgeable (especially when it comes to Liberian history!), engaging, and inspiring in his conversation with our group.  He nit-picked the students pronunciation of every word - especially his last name... for example, his name isn't "Bess" or "Bea", it's "BesT."  As he pointed out, Liberians like to leave of the "t" or the "s" at the end of a word - but not in his office!  We stood in his office for well over 2 hours - although I think our backs and feet were all sore by the end, our minds were spinning.  We talked about everything including the secret love of a former President/poet, why he prefers to publish his most recent book here and not the US, how many times previous governments burned down the Daily Observer office because of the articles they wrote, and his time in prison for writing about the government.  I think we all could have stayed there talking with Mr. Best for the rest of the day without losing interest!

After talking with Mr. Best we met the new Associate Editor, Fatumata, a bright young woman who just recently accepted this new position.  She could certainly serve as an inspiration to many of our female students!  She showed us around the building to the IT room, the press room, the publishing room, the printer, and the library.  I think one of the most impressive things about the Daily Observer is how unimpressive the circumstances are where they are working.  The headquarters is an old building with a roof that leaks in the rain.  There is one small toilet in a space more akin to a closet than a bathroom.  There are a few new Dell desktop computer but otherwise the office is dominated by ancient-looking PCs and printers.  The work space appeared to mostly be large desks in small rooms used by as many people as could fit in the work space.  The library was nothing more than a small room with papers grouped together with manila folders and stacked in piles around the room.  Even the printing room was composed of only a few small printing machines; it was clear that if one broke, the whole operation would be thrown for a loop. 

Despite the limited resources, the Daily Observer puts out a lengthy newspaper, on time, each morning.  The paper features articles about health, the environment, sports, international news, local politics, economics, editorials, columns, and so much more.  The paper is one of the highest quality papers in Liberia.  Although Mr. Best pointed out that no paper is ever error-free, they strive to continually improve the paper and make it the best it can be. 

Some of the most exciting parts of our trip were the opportunities we were given by the Daily Observer.  They first offered to publish a short story written by one of our students this Saturday!!  We are working on editing the story now and will submit it tomorrow morning!  Additionally, they offered to publish any articles on environmental topics that our students wanted to write.  What an incredible opportunity for teenagers to have their work published in a major national newspaper!

We finished off our tour with sodas and biscuits (oreo-like cookies) generously provided by Mr. Best and the Daily Observer.  What a great trip!

If you want to check out the paper, you can do so here:
http://www.liberianobserver.com/