Anyone been to Liberia (West Africa)?

[5BlueHydrangea]

I have the opportunity to go to Liberia early next year for 2 weeks with a small group from my church. Would be staying in a missionary environment so fairly secure I think, with basic but adequate facilities. We would be visiting different areas of the parish (greater in size than Kent) to meet locals and gain an understanding of how the church works there, and how they live, with a view to further supporting them on our return.

But.. I am rather scared! Never been anywhere like that before and reading up on eg government website makes it sound very scary - risk of being attacked, raped, stopped at gunpoint.. As well as potential for disease - Ebola, malaria and more.

Any advice from anyone in the know?? I need to decide in the next couple of days. Leaning towards yes but still not sure!

Anyone have any advice please?

I've never been and it's not somewhere I would want to go.....

For all of the reasons you listed above ...

Read the advice from the Foreign Office on traveling there. I'm very surprised if it says it's a safe destination, in fact I'd imagine it's a no-go zone unless unavoidable.
Last place I'd go to.

Well it'll been an experience that's for sure. Have any of the people in your Church been before?

This book is a fantastic read on Liberia. Don't be put off by the title.

I'd love to go to this part of the world. A friend was in neighbouring Sierra Leone for a couple of years and it sounds fascinating. As long as you're with a trusted local, you don't eat bush meat and you take sensible precautions you should be fine.

It's not somewhere I'd put on my to-do list.

This is the FCO advice for Liberia regarding safety and security - it doesn't look good to me.

Oh and there's still a risk of Ebola. As well as malaria, hepatitis A, B and C, cholera, typhoid, yellow fever and dengue fever. If you do decide to go make sure you have all vaccinations and medication you need.

Thanks. Still can't decide! The people I would go with have not been before but our church has strong links with the mission out there. The priest there has sent quite a detailed email about facilities etc and that side sounds ok. But... I have a 5 year old and I guess my biggest fear is if something happened to me, the effect it would have on her.

send the money that you would spend on air fare, airport parking and the cost of the jabs (these are not all free on the NHS) to the mission and let them make better use of it. really would not go here at all. far, far too risky. would you even get health insurance at a reasonable cost?

I'd say the Church would pay, they need people over there to spread the word.

Contact Bradt (travel guide co) to see if they can sell you their Liberia travel Guide/look for second hand copies. That ought to give you a feel post revolution, but pre-Ebola. Apologies if I have misread your post, but I am not sure that you are visiting as a healthcare professional.

I hope you have been given sufficient information by your church/charity to enable you to make a sensible decision.

Have any of your aspiring passengers (in the UK) done any travel in sub-Saharan Africa? Or anywhere else where you have to "make do"?

Can any of you fix cars/change wheels or know more than basic first aid?

Do you feel fairly streetwise/not easily flustered? How do you deal with extremely sad circumstances where villagers can't be saved etc etc? Do you have a coping mechanism?

Are you confident that you can deal with observing extreme poverty?

How resilient is your tummy? Do you recognise when you are feeling too hot/ probably have food poisoning and need to rehydrate pronto. You want to assist the community you are visiting, not hinder them! Get more jabs than you think you need (they take a while if you need boosters) and buy Malaria meds in the UK (I'd take my own basic sterile needles/IV/dressings too and make sure that somebody else knew how to use them).

In your situation I would have a jolly good think about why a visit from you and accommodation/travel logistics, personally, would "add value" to the lives of Liberians as opposed to sending them cash or goods with the money saved from the trip?

I can't imagine that you'll just be visiting for a week so, if I had a 5 year old back home, I would query why Liberia couldn't wait another 8-10 years.

Make sure that you are very clear why you are visiting Liberia and be prepared. Make sure your family understand your reasons too.

That's really useful Madcats, thanks.
I'm not visiting as a health care professional as such although I am a nurse and would be the only 'medical' one in our group. Most of your points I think would be ok. Can change a tyre but am not a mechanic! And I suspect none of the others are either.. Is a 2 week trip.
We have another meeting soon to discuss but I'm not sure it's even going to happen now for various reasons. But it's good to know where to turn for info. And to be honest I think I'm going off it a bit..

Good post from Madcats Why on earth would you visit a high risk country like Liberia when you have a 5 year old at home?

I would be asking what exactly you would be doing if you visited

eg
Would you be teaching english ?

My friend went on a church organised visit to another country. Some of the money the church group paid for the trip paid towards food at an orphanage where they stayed. They played with the children. The children had very few toys eg an old tyre. I think they took a few things with them eg football, singing, dancing
They made mud bricks which were to be used to build an extension to the orphanage. She said it was an amazing experience. She also spent some time sight seeing in another part of the country. It was not an english speaking language, attempts were made to learn the lingo before going..
She gave her time and her love.
I dont think any of the group were medically trained other than basic first aid

It cost alot in money to go !
eg flights, accomadation, food, insurance, injections

I think some of the money raised went into "the coffers of the charity"

I would ask what they need. Maybe not money
What about clothes, books, old mobile phones, old computers, toiletries
What about a visit exchange programme or pen pal
Or sponser a child programme, but ask for evidence of where funds are spent

Be very, very careful and go in with your eyes open. I don't mean about personal security/health in such a country (saying that as someone who has lived and worked in the developing world) but with regard to what the organisation is doing in the country and how they are going about it.

For example, as the poster above mentioned people going and making mud bricks for an orphanage. Was that really helping, or were they doing the local mud brick makers out of a job?

These things are horrendously complex and you are at risk of inadvertently causing harm to a local community. Another example being people who go to help in 'orphanages' in Cambodia (where I worked) who had no idea that the 'orphans' were actually children bought from their rural parents to populate a tourist attraction...

I don't doubt your intentions, but this is a very murky area and unless you are 100% sure I wold, personally, steer clear.

Thanks for all your advice/info. I will share it at the meeting this week.
The trip is only 2 weeks. We would be staying in the missionary and we would cover any costs they experienced. There are only 4 of us going (if we go) and would be otherwise paying for ourselves. We would have further communications with our contacts out there so see what we could bring to help them. Some things have already been suggested.
The priest we are in contact with has been there for many years so very capable and aware of all issues and needs locally.

There must be other parts of the world where you could make a contribution based on what you believe without potentially putting your life in danger. Especially given that you have a five year old child.

I went two years ago on an aid mission. I felt totally safe, and even walked from the hotel to the local supermarket in Monrovia unattended. The locals are friendly and I didn't come into any trouble. You'll be very well looked after.

Yes, there are risks, but if you follow the advice you're given you'll have an amazing time. What an experience! I'm very jealous.

Doesn't tick my boxes for high risk. It's not Syria or Libya...

I would go if I thought the church link was a good thing. You have a local contact who will know how to keep you safe. But take any malaria risk fairly seriously.

You need hepA jab at least 2 weeks before you go. My combined typhoid, hepA & yellow fever jabs cost about £170 recently, but you can sometimes get some of these & others on NHS. Phone your surgery sooner rather than later to make sure to get appt. with travel nurse. My arms were sore for a few days afterwards (ouch).

Good DEET repellent because the anti-malarials aren't perfect; the best strategy is to cover up & spray any exposed skin well with DEET so you don't get bitten at all while outside the mozzie net.

I don't think I saw a single mozzie in Liberia!

You need yellowfever for your visa, too.