{"id":1370,"date":"2011-08-13T18:16:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-14T01:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stirringthefire.com\/blog\/?p=1370"},"modified":"2014-05-14T15:31:27","modified_gmt":"2014-05-14T22:31:27","slug":"west-point-community-more-than-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philborges.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/13\/west-point-community-more-than-me\/","title":{"rendered":"West Point Community – More than Me"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Katie of More than Me<\/p><\/div>\n

Phil is in Liberia documenting the work of Foundation for Women<\/a> (FFW), an organization that strives to continually support and encourage impoverished women, both globally and locally, by funding and creating microcredit programs. A longtime supporter of Phil and his work, Kevin Castner is traveling with him and reporting back to us from the field.<\/em> They are also, along with the WTYSL<\/a> team, helping young women leaders attending a “Women’s Leadership Conference” put on by FFW make a movie for their community. <\/em><\/p>\n

We picked up Katie Meyler, founder of More than Me,<\/a> and drive around Mamba Point and past the heavily protected U.S. Embassy to West Point.\u00a0 Katie had already been 6 hours in a car today, driving friends up to the Guinea border.\u00a0 As we bounce along the streets she eats bread rolls and cheese.\u00a0 She talks about all the border checks on the way.\u00a0 Sounds like a nightmare.<\/p>\n

From the first step out of the car in West Point, it feels like we\u2019re in one, too.\u00a0 The air here is rank, the warm wind wafting odors of urine and smoking fish mixed with heat and sweat and feces.\u00a0 Flies are everywhere.\u00a0 My eyes burn.\u00a0 My nose is assaulted.\u00a0 Nothing I\u2019ve experienced in Liberia prepared me for this.\u00a0 Nothing else stunk.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Garbage in West Point<\/p><\/div>\n

A line in Jurassic Park comes to mind, the character Ian Malcolm explains chaos theory with the comment, \u201cLife finds a way.\u201d. \u00a0 Somehow it finds a way in West Point.\u00a0 West Point is vibrant, crowded, pulsing.\u00a0 People run small businesses; smoke fish in tiers over charcoal-fired metal drums.\u00a0 There is a community here with families, and clothes drying along the metal walls.\u00a0 People live here.\u00a0 Somehow.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Smoking Fish<\/p><\/div>\n

A recently paved road snakes into the slum.\u00a0 On either side and further in, it is all dirt and sand.\u00a0 And close; the length of my outspread arms is close to the width of a major thoroughfare here.\u00a0 Just to one side a pot simmers over a small charcoal fire in the dirt.\u00a0 A bit further on you can buy some in little blue plastic bags; which will soon be litter.\u00a0 People sit outside huts or storefronts in plastic lawn chairs or in the dirt.\u00a0 They pull water up from a well.\u00a0 We inch by, touching everyone.\u00a0 Somehow, even motorcycles find a way in here.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Charcoal for Sale<\/p><\/div>\n

We ask to take pictures.\u00a0 Often we\u2019re asked for money and told no when we don\u2019t produce it.\u00a0 I can\u2019t blame them if they\u2019re angry.\u00a0 Some wannabe photojournalist shows up and wants to snap away for their blog or magazine.\u00a0 They say their work will bring change.\u00a0 But has the person sitting in the dirt ever seen any change?\u00a0 From what I see with every step – they haven\u2019t so far.<\/p>\n

My normal greeting at home is \u2018Hey, how ya doing?\u2019. That seems beyond inappropriate here. I can see how they\u2019re doing. They are barely surviving.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Phil with a Mother in West Point - Curiosity of WTYSL<\/p><\/div>\n

We negotiate the dirt paths and find ourselves in an open square maybe an acre in size.\u00a0 A mix of dirt and sand with hovels on three sides.\u00a0 On the fourth, the ocean.\u00a0 Fishing boats at the ready.\u00a0 They say they go 40 miles out with a small outboard motor.\u00a0 The fish look good.\u00a0 On the way there are groundnuts (peanuts to us) lying on bed sheets, drying in the sun.\u00a0 People mill in all directions.\u00a0 There are stalls, mostly selling food items, along the sides of the square.\u00a0 A horde of children follow us, talking, pulling at our hands, wanting to have their pictures taken and see themselves in the camera; some are clothed, some not.\u00a0 And everywhere, mixed with the dirt and sand, garbage and excrement.\u00a0 Even the wind off the ocean can\u2019t blow away the smell.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Mackintosh with Two Children He Works With<\/p><\/div>\n

Some people thrive in this environment; it energizes them, pulls at them.\u00a0 Our guides through West Point are Katie Meyler and Mackintosh Johnson.\u00a0 Katie gets girls off the street and away from prostitution any way she can while Macintosh is a social worker and helps kids (boys and girls) get scholarships.\u00a0 They coordinate many of their activities through an organization Katie set up called More than Me<\/a>.\u00a0 Mackintosh grew up in West Point.\u00a0 He shares the view that the way out is through education.\u00a0 Katie found her way here somehow, and the children pulled at her and never let go.\u00a0 My respect and admiration for them is unbounded.\u00a0 Please take a moment to visit morethanme.org<\/a> and support them, if you are able.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Katie Surrounded by Children<\/p><\/div>\n

We pass a woman breast-feeding in the dirt.\u00a0 We pass happy people.\u00a0 Sad people.\u00a0 Angry young men.\u00a0 We see kids playing pickup soccer with a half-deflated ball in the sand and garbage.\u00a0 We pass more little stores.\u00a0 See palm nuts drying.\u00a0 End up at the spit at the end of West Point.\u00a0 Wooden boats lay here, their holes and broken bows lifted to the sun.\u00a0 They are surrounded by shit.\u00a0 This whole area is an open toilet.\u00a0 I don\u2019t gag easily but I think about it.\u00a0 It is hard to avoid to stepping in shit.\u00a0 It is everywhere on the sand.\u00a0 Of course covered in flies.\u00a0 Children squat in our midst and have diarrhea, stand up and leave.\u00a0 They don\u2019t have anything to wipe with so they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

We finally leave and go back to our cushy resort.\u00a0 I have a multitude of thoughts and emotions coursing through me.\u00a0 I take off all my clothes and put them in a plastic laundry bag.\u00a0 They won\u2019t see the light of day until they\u2019re sitting next to a German\u00a0washing machine.\u00a0 The next thing I do is something nobody in West Point will do tonight.\u00a0 I take a hot shower.<\/p>\n

Only a few more\u00a0FFW<\/a>\u00a0posts to go!<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Phil is in Liberia documenting the work of Foundation for Women (FFW), an organization that strives to continually support and encourage impoverished women, both globally and locally, by funding and creating microcredit programs. A longtime supporter of Phil and his work, Kevin Castner is traveling with him and reporting back to us from the field…. Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[136,137,215,216,277],"class_list":["post-1370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-documentary-training","tag-foundation-for-women","tag-from-the-field","tag-kevin-castner","tag-liberia","tag-more-than-me"],"yoast_head":"\nWest Point Community - More than Me - Phil Borges<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.philborges.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/13\/west-point-community-more-than-me\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"West Point Community - More than Me - Phil Borges\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Phil is in Liberia documenting the work of Foundation for Women (FFW), an organization that strives to continually support and encourage impoverished women, both globally and locally, by funding and creating microcredit programs. 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