Tecee Boley Archives - New Narratives

Liberians Plagued by Mental Health Problems in Aftermath of War

Kullie is one of thousands of Liberians who are still suffering as a result of shocking things that happened to them or what they saw happened to others during the war in Liberia. There are no recent statistics available but a 2008 study conducted five years after Liberia’s civil war ended by Harvard Humanitarian Initiative at Harvard University, found that 40% of Liberians had symptoms of major depression and 44% appeared to have post-traumatic stress disorder….

Tecee Boley
Front Page Africa

Liberia: U.S. Judge Rules Lutheran Massacre Case Will Go Ahead

MONROVIA – An American court has ruled that Moses Thomas, the senior officer who allegedly ordered the Lutheran Church Massacre, will face trial in Philadelphia. A civil suit brought by the Center for Justice and Accountability on behalf of four anonymous survivors of the massacre alleges Thomas gave the command for the killings when he…

Liberians March the Streets of Monrovia In Demand for Justice against War and Economic Crimes

MONROVIA – “We are the victims; we cannot get tired!” “We want justice!” and “Yor leave us oh! Dah justice we want!” were among an estimated 4,000 Liberians who gathered early Monday morning to memorialize the deaths of 250,000 thousand people who died during the Liberian civil war. The march, through the streets of Monrovia,…

The Quest for War Crimes Court: Who are the International Players?

Monrovia – The call for a Liberian war and economic crimes court has reached new heights since President George Weah became head of state. Campaigners see the ex-football superstar as the best person to muster the political will for a court because he has no known connections to the war. This story first appeared on…

Impact of Global Oil Price on Liberians

https://soundcloud.com/user5687520/impact-of-global-oil-price-on-liberians-tecee-boleymp3 In some of Africa’s biggest oil producing countries like Nigeria and Angola the dramatic global drop in oil prices has had a big impact. Ninety percent of government revenue in those countries comes from oil sales so the drop has been felt by people across the country. Liberia has yet to discover oil and…

Tecee Boley

NN’s Tecee Boley Wins Prestigious Scholarship to South African University

New Narratives is immensely proud that our fellow and Senior Reporter for Front Page Africa Tecee Boley has won the 2014 Konrad-Adnauer-Stiftung scholarship to the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Tecee was one of three journalists chosen from across Africa for the prestigious program. Tecee was one of the first reporters to…

Breastfeeding Myths: Liberia in Top 5 for Baby Deaths, ‘Difficult Problems’ linger

Forkpah Town, Clay Ashland, Tiny Pewee Wamah tries to hold the piece of boiled cassava his mother hands to him, but his tiny trembling hands soon let go and the cassava falls to the bright red earth. The 14-month-old baby tries to find strength to cry but his voice soon fades. By New Narratives fellow…

By Tecee Boley and Kara Freedman
FrontPage Africa in collaboration with New Narratives

Lawless Liberia: Legal Failure Renews Global Calls For Female Genital Cut Law

The case of Ruth Berry Peal has prompted renewed calls from anti-FGC activists for the Liberian government to join that 24 other African countries that have passed laws that specifically make female genital cutting illegal. No such law exists in Liberia at present, prompting lawyers acting on behalf of clients like Berry Peal to pursue…

By Tecee Boley
FrontPage Africa in collaboration with New Narratives

Living in Fear: After Liberia’s First FGC Conviction, Victim Still Harassed, Haunted

In January this year Ruth Berry Peal and her family thought their three year ordeal was over. The Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that made the Bomi mother-of-eight the first woman in Liberia to win a conviction for forceful initiation into the Sande society. Three months later Berry Peal is still separated from…

By Tecee Boley
FrontPage Africa in collaboration with New Narratives

Liberia’s Education Crisis: Water & Sanitation Problems Driving Children From School

Monrovia – Ah… O Say…! Ah… O Say…! (Battle Cry) We will make sure water and sanitation issues are addressed on this campus!”, Sarta S. Bawoh yells a battle cry as her followers answer, “say!” (Read original piece in FrontPage Africa here.) Sarta, 18, is running for vice president of the student council of the G….

By Tecee Boley
FrontPage Africa in collaboration with NN and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Women Entrepreneurs Take Liberian Business to a New Level

It is often said that the growth of a nation depends on the economy and the ability of its people to venture into the private sector. Since the war, petty trading is fast becoming the main form of employment for many Liberians. Some are taking it to the next level – entrepreneurship. But this new…

By Tecee Boley
Liberia Women's Democracy Radio in collaboration with New Narratives

Rapists’ Nation? Rape Still Stalking Liberia’s Kids; 1 in 10 Victims Age 5 And Under

“The boy is my neighbor’s son,” says the grandmother. “We eat and play together. They came to me begging I agreed not to go to court. That court thing can waste time and money. I just want my little girl to be all right.” – A grandmother to rape victim. Published in FrontPage Africa on…

By Tecee Boley
FrontPage Africa newspaper in collaboration with New Narratives

Wildlife At Risk: Experts Warn Hunting, Deforestation Killing Liberia’s Future

Monrovia – Dalida squirms on the lap of a woman at a restaurant bar on Tubman Boulevard. (See original post here.) The young chimpanzee was captured just two weeks after her birth. Now four weeks old she wears diapers and a T-shirt instead of sleeping with her mom tonight in a tree in Liberia’s fast-diminishing…

By Tecee Boley
FrontPage Africa newspaper

Crisis Point? In Monrovia, Half A Million Gallons Water Lost to Broken Pipe

The Liberian government submitted information to the World Health Organization and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program that estimated eight percent of households in urban areas have pipe borne water and 88 percent have access to an improved water source. Ironically the nation’s capital has been out of water for a long time, which, coupled with other…

By Tecee Boley
FrontPage Africa newspaper

Liberia’s Water Woes: Why Clean, Safe Water Is Still Out of Reach for Many Liberians

Monrovia: “Water! Water!” Eugene Seoh shouted from his three-story apartment building on Benson Street, a main avenue in the center of Monrovia. From across the road, water vendor Jerry Worlogar looked up and nodded. Seoh hurried down the stairs. He stood before Worlogar’s hand-drawn cart full of white five-gallon containers. “Thirty-five \[Liberian] dollars for one…

By Tecee Boley
FrontPage Africa newspaper

NN’s Tecee Boley and Joanna Devane on Liberian Reaction to Taylor Verdict for Global Post

Charles Taylor guilty: Liberians have mixed reactions In Monrovia, some Liberians denounce Taylor’s conviction, others welcome it. By Joanna Devane and Tecee Boley April 26, 2012 12:48 In Freetown, Sierra Leone, Mohamed Traore, one of the amputees of the civil war, welcomes the conviction on war crimes of former Liberian President Charles Taylor. Taylor was…

By Joanna Devane and Tecee Boley
The Global Post

NN’s Tecee Boley Featured on PBS Newshour on Liberia’s Clean Water Problems

Radio journalist Tecee Boley’s investigations on the water crisis in Liberia is featured in this PBS report. For full transcript of the show click here: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/globalhealth/jan-june12/africawater_04-25.html…

By Steven Sapienza - The Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting
The Newshour

Water and Sanitation Problems Plague Monrovians

It is often said in Liberia: “to spoil it is easy but to build it is hard.” So is the case with water and sanitation here. The 14-year civil war destroyed much of the water supply and sanitation facilities. People escaping brutal battles in the heart of the country relocated to Monrovia—overcrowding the city’s slums…

By Tecee Boley
Liberia Women Democracy Radio

Liberia’s Teen Moms Have it Hard

Having children early may seem like an adventure for many teenage girls, but most soon discover that this choice leads to lasting consequences. The high rate of teenage pregnancy increases the economic burden of Liberia by creating generation upon generation of very poor families. The majority of teen moms live at home with their parents,…

Tecee Boley
Liberia Women Democracy Radio

Will Liberia’s Women Support “Ma Ellen” again?

Women make up about half of the total registered voters in Liberia, according to the National Election Commission. They made up slightly more than half of voters in 2005. That is almost certainly what propelled Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to become the first woman elected president of an African nation. Does Ma Ellen have the women’s…

Tecee Boley
Liberia Women Democracy Radio

Broken Promises of Foreign Palm Oil Company Anger Locals

Two years ago the government of Liberia signed an $800 million dollar concession agreement with Malaysian palm oil giant Sime Darby to cultivate 220,000 hectares of land. In the agreement, the company promised to build schools and clinics and provide workers with decent housing. More than a year later workers are living in the shells…

By Tecee Boley
Liberia Women Democracy Radio