Poverty, Corruption and Hope

My home life on the Mercy Ship Anastasis, docked in the port of Monrovia, was disrupted from its usual routine this past weekend. It seems some corrupt people at the port have not been playing nicely and the big guys with the guns had to take care of it. If you want a little more detail than that the BBC explains the UN takeover of the port better in this story.

How was I affected? Shore leave was cancelled from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning. Not only could we not go off the ship but we were asked to not go on the decks of the ship during this time. The white tents of a Nepalese UN camp appreared right outside our gate within days and the security around the ship and port is tighter. Other than that it has been business is usual. The UN takeover was relatively peaceful.

How has the nation of Liberia been affected? Hopefully the goods that come into this large port will go to the people they were intended for and not the few corrupt people of power. Hopefully it will be a warning sign to those who are acting injustly that it will not be tolerated. Hopefully this is just one time of many were injustice and corruption will be exposed.

Corruption is a huge problem in this country and is a contributing factor to the extreme poverty. But this is not the only factor. To read more about global poverty issues check out from the salmon's series on poverty.

The latest post The End of Poverty points out that it all comes back to us believing in the hope and proclaiming God's kingdom .