Interviews

How long have you been in Liberia?

Four years approximately.

Carlos, what really Attracted you to Liberia?

I was very attracted by Africa thanks to all the reading I did long
time ago, from Joseph Conrad to Che Guevara but also Kapucinsky.
Somehow, I wanted to live an “adventure”, an interesting life and
Africa meets all the requirements of this dream. Of course, an African
would have a different approach, but for a ‘white man’ Africa have
many meanings, one of them is adventure, wild adventure. However, at
the beginning I was more interested in countries like Namibia or
Zimbabwe but I got an interview from Liberia and I told me, “why
not?”. I came here with 0 expectations and that’s why I was positively
surprised for all the nice things I discovered in this country.

How do you find Liberian people?

Generally speaking I find them pleasant. Maybe they are a bit shier
than people from the neighborhoods as Ghanaians or people from Sierra
Leone, but Liberians for me are generally speaking easy going and good
people. If you respect them you get respect back, like everywhere
right?

Is there a special reason why your blog is called “the Sun Can Be
Yellow”? what is it all about?

The blog is about my life in Liberia, the people I meet here, the
situations I face, my thoughts… There is also a space dedicated to
African literature with special emphasis to the Liberian one. I think
it is nice to acknowledge Liberian writers such as Bai T. Moore or
Wilton Sankawulo. Regarding the reason of the title, that’s something
the reader will have to discover 🙂

How did you come up with the Liberian taxi talk?

I found many of the sentences displayed on the back of the Liberian
taxis very ingenious, like “No holidays for the stomach”, that’s
great! So when designing the blog I thought it would be a good idea to
dedicate a space for it. I started gathering all the sentences by
writing them on my phone. At the end it was difficult to see new
sentences, it seemed I had covered all the Liberian taxi sentences!

You’ve traveled a lot of African countries, what in your opinion is
our strength and weakness?

Liberia is different since it wasn’t colonized like most of the
African countries but got something worst, a sort of dictatorship from
a minority full of resentment and looking for power. Liberia could
have been an example for the world since it was created from people
who promised freedom and liberty but in reality they just wanted to
live like their former white bosses, which makes some sense and give
us the lesson that slavery provoked by the West was the origin of the
Liberian problems, not the ‘Congos’. In any case, 95% of the
population didn’t receive appropriate education, appropriate services
etc. and that created a lot of weaknesses. However, Liberians are very
strong, very resilient and they always manage to move on.

What is your favourite Liberian dish?

I would like to say ‘fufu’ which sounds very Liberian, but to be frank
I like rice mixed with whatever. But above all, what I really love is
the Liberian pepper. What a personality the Liberian pepper has!

What is the most amazing Adventure you had so far in Liberia?

Visiting Monkey Island was very impressive. I also love going to the
‘bush’, always had a good time in Lofa.

Is there anything to you will like to say to the Liberian Community?

Go to school, study hard, work hard, be honest, believe and you will
be the owner of your country, the owner of your destiny.