Yesterday was my first day back in Monrovia after my Summer here two years ago. It was a joyous occasion. Joined altogether in person after two years of meeting online, I felt the bonds of love, commitment, and solidarity we have developed together during this time.

At 6 am I arrived in Monrovia just as the sun was rising. Daniel met me at the intersection of 24th Street and Tubman Boulevard with a hug and a warm smile. I was filled with joy at being back among my Liberian friends.

By midday all nine of us were assembled together, me and the eight Jetro Web Development members - Daniel, Shallon, Freena, Spencer, Mulbah, Gabriel, Janet, and Thomas. The very fact that we were all together is a testament to social benefits of cooperativism.

We met two years ago when I came here at the behest of my friend, then MCSS Superintendent Isaac Zawolo, to teach Summer Intro to ICT classes to students of the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS). All of the Jetro Web members except for Spencer, who is an MCSS ICT staffer, were students in my class. Spencer and I developed a close friendship during that Summer. He and I worked together to set up the computer lab in the MCSS Central Office Building in which the classes where held, and I relied on him for tech support throughout the Summer.

The seven students who are now part of the cooperative came from different schools and only some of them knew each other previously. Over the last two years they have formed themselves into a very effective learning community. They have supported each other in developing their skills - five of them have already earned PCEP certification - and they are now working together to plan how to take their learning process to the next level, where they have what they need to run a web application development business.

We agreed at our meeting yesterday that Thomas, Shallon, Daniel, and Gabriel will enroll at University of the People and register for classes for the next term beginning September 5th. Thomas and Gabriel will study computer science, and Daniel and Shallon will study business administration. Social Justice Computing will raise funds to support them in their studies.

We also agreed that Mulbah will focus on preparing for the Linux+ certification, and that Janet, Gabriel and Shallon will take the PCEP, so that everyone will have achieved competency in basic Python programming. We may be able to get at least one of them to do that this week.

There's No Substitute for Meeting in Person

I was so happy having all of us together in person, sharing food and conversation over lunch. Mulbah and Shallon shared with me their deep commitment to their Christian faith. Mulbah explained to me why I should become a Christian, while Shallon told me that she believes she should respect other's religious beliefs, and that while she prays for them to find God, she doesn't feel she should pressure them to do so.

While I had to honestly tell them they should not hold their breaths waiting for me to find religion, I'm more than grateful for Shallon's prayers, since I know that is how she expresses her love and solidarity.

What Needs to Be Done This Week

I'm only here for a week, and we have a lot we hope to accomplish.

1. First and foremost we need to determine whether we can move ahead with the plan to build an ICT school. We have meetings planned today and tomorrow with the the Pastor of the local church that has the land for the school and with community leaders to ascertain their support for the project.
2. Complete the next phase of planning for Jetro Web Development's capacity building. Figure out who will be learning what over the next period of time so that the coop as a whole can develop the skills it needs as soon as possible.
3. Deploy a website for Jetro Web Development and complete other business tasks the coop needs to finish before it can move forward.

I promise a next post by Tuesday, since we will hopefully have a lot of good news to report after tomorrow.

In solidarity
Jeff