Gettin' By

The Gettin’ By series has generally focused on people in Monrovia. This, in large part, is because I live there. In the past few months, including the past few days, I have had more opportunity to travel out. So, a three part series on getting by in rural areas is the next installment of Gettin’ By.

Profession: Charcoal Maker

How it Works: The debate rages about whether charcoal is the environmental scourge of Africa, or something that is not that big of a deal.

Regardless, charcoal is the dominant form of cooking in Liberia. Charcoal is made by cutting down trees, and burning them. Usually - in Liberia at least - trees are cut down for more purpose than simply to turn into charcoal. As farms are only starting to build back after years of impossible existing, land is greatly needed.

Trees are generally felled by chainsaw. In some places, the logs are run through machines that make 2 x 4’s, but more often not (wood used for construction is relatively uncommon in Liberia, especially outside of Monrovia, and much of this logging is, technically, illegal).

Trees, and more so branches, are cut into small sections, usually between 4 - 15 feet, depending on width. Branches are then piled in a shape that I struggle to explain, but I will try: The final product looks like a layered dome of wood sticks each pointing towards the locus of the surface dome, and pointing out in their own direction.

This beautiful structure is set ablaze - usually with some kind of combustion agent such as gas or kerosene - and covered with dirt. Smothering the burning encourages anaerobic combustion; a slow burn in the relative absence of oxygen. This is what makes charcoal.

Charcoal is collected, and packed into palm-frond lined rice bags until they choke. Rice bags full of charcoal sell in Monrovia for around $250 LD ($3.50 US), and anyone who has spent more than a day here has observed the large diesel trucks chugging into town with preposterously balanced loads of these bags.

Some people work as itinerant charcoal harvesters, moving around to clear fields for people in exchange for the right to sell the bags themselves. Others clear their own would-be fields, and supplement their income.

In the field pictured above, Harry Akoi has two stashes of coal bags. The one you can kind of see under a white tarp (over his right shoulder), had 150 bags he said, which he has a deal to sell for $ 110 LD/bag. (As he is quite far up an atrociously bad road, this is not bad. Proximity to town raises the price, as transport cost drops greatly.) He had another 80 out of the frame, selling for the same price.

This means he makes around $ 25 000 LD, or about $ 360 US. This is a little less than the per capital GDP of an average Liberian (according to World Bank, IMF and CIA), and a ton of money in the rural regions. However it is also a huge amount of work by those wielding chainsaws, clearing the land, and harvesting the charcoal.

Plus, the land cost $ 70 000 LD, which he acquired from a low-interest loan offered by an NGO. The 5000 or so rubber trees he planted will not be ready to tap for another 5 years, so this charcoal functions as some interim capital.

With the charcoal sold, he says he will pay back part of the loan and save some to buy rice and other non-perishable foodstuffs. A small farm of cucumbers, papayas and pumpkin in the corner of the field is meant to grow their essential food, and earn a few hundred dollars (LD) per week until the rubber trees mature. For now, the broken roads keep a lot of their potential wares from getting to market, so they are spoiling in the sun.

Variables: While price in charcoal does not seem to vary wildly, price in transport is susceptible to fluctuation in fuel, and this can greatly affect price on site. For the charcoal harvesters that move around, more dangers exist. Often they are technically squatting (eg on Firestone, where itinerant workers used to burn old rubber trees; now Firestone has a mill), which has its dangers, and the low income learned from the work comes with no guarantees. Also, that long distances often have to be traveled to find this work, a lot of money disappears in simple transport.

Price Point: To catch a car from Mr. Akoi's farm to Monrovia would cost around $15, he says, though they rarely come without being pre-arranged.

Gettin' By - Block Bizness

This post is part of a larger series called 'Gettin By', that looks at the informal sector of Liberia in relation to the purported statistic that 85% of Liberians are unemployed. Read this for a better explanation, to see all Gettin' By posts click here or simply read on.

Profession - Making Concrete Blocks

How it Works - One side effect of a country hustling to distance itself from war is that there is a lot of building. I believe we are relatively familiar with the term 'reconstruction' and how much money backs that term around the world.

Well, in order to 'reconstruct' you need stuff. The stuff buildings need a lot of is concrete, and for houses in particular, blocks are the chosen method.

Bags of cement can be purchased for $ 8 from sea cans and stores around Monrovia, but solid cement generally needs to mix with sand, water and sometimes crushed rocks in order to become the building supply as we know it.

(Interesting side note: concrete production accounts for around 12% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions; airlines - who take a bulk of the criticism - account for about 2%, roughly the same as the IT industry; deforestation, 20%)

Sand in Monrovia generally comes from sand mining operations - a separate means of Gettin' By that's in the pipes - and is brought to stations such as the one above. This particular operation, tucked behind the prison, finds shade on the first floor of a burned and broken shell of a building. Sand is brought in from the beach by wheelbarrows and/or rice bags, mixed on site, and poured into wooden block molds.

The team above, makes around 200 - 300 blocks a day, which sell for about $ 30 LD/block. This works out to close to $ 100 - 140 US/day as a gross, but most of this money gets sunk into expenses: several bags of cement are needed for this many blocks; they have to pay the sand miners; buy a shared bowl of rice; give a cut to the middle man; pay for security to watch unsold blocks at night and they rent some of their equipment.

Each of the 6 - 7 men working here make between LD 100 - 20, or less than $ 3 per day. The rate varies a bit, as their take home depends entirely on whether or not their middle man gets buyers - construction foremen - to come buy large quantities of blocks. Making $ 300 LD is relatively unheard of, even on a good day of mixing, pouring and hauling cement, sand and blocks all day.

All days are from "seven in the morning hour up til five, six". Every day.

Variables: Besides obvious factors such as oppressive heat, low wages and zero job security, what they are doing is technically illegal. Mary Broh - a renegade appointed mayor who confuses 'cleaning up the city' with 'demo-ing the place' - tore down some squatter structures behind them, and these workers say they constantly fear government showing, stealing their wares, and, worse, putting them out of business.

Price Point Comparison - For $ 100 LD, you could buy the cheapest pair of flip-flops, a cup of rice and two bananas, and then you can keep the $ 5 LD (7 - 8 cents) change for a rainy day.

Gettin' By- Fish Marketer

This post is part of a larger series called 'Gettin By', that looks at the informal sector of Liberia in relation to the purported statistic that 85% of Liberians are unemployed. Read this for a better explanation, to see all Gettin' By posts click here or simply read on.

Profession: Fish Marketer

Location: Local markets, head-carried trays plying the streets

How it works: If you ask a Liberian, where fish comes from, they will give you a pretty accurate answer: the sea. This, of course, is true, but its not the whole truth. Contrary to common logic that stems from Liberia's vast coastline, not that much of the fish consumed in Monrovia actually comes from that sea, ie the one you look at every day.

Lebanese merchants have frozen fish warehouses on the outskirts of town that do large-scale imports of fish from trawlers. I can't say for sure, but the people I have asked say that these are primarily Chinese and European (the Italian-Liberian Fish Company in Vai Town stands testament to the latter theory).

Crazy, right?

In short, yes. But in other ways, not. Liberian fisherman fish exclusively from small dugout canoes that have very little capacity in terms of catch. While they can pull in fish that seem impossibly big for the boats, they can't pull in many of these per load.

That's why you see the Chinese fishing trawlers off Liberia's coast every frickin' day and night: because they can.

But I digress. This is about people in Monrovia, such as the woman above, selling small-small fish. These are caught by Liberians and sold by Liberians; rare in a supply chain dominated by foreigners.

These fish are caught by hand nets dropped off for a few hours at a time, or left overnight. Small nets that have been repaired a hundred times are what catch the fish, from boats hollowed with axes over two weeks. This mainly happens in small towns and villages, but West Point - Monrovia's largest slum, and originally a fishing community - brings in tons of these 'small-small's' every day.

Fish are smoked immediately upon arriving on shore wherever they are caught (91% humidity and oppressive heat are not renowned ways of keeping fish) , usually by the wives or families of the men bringing them. In my experience, these fish are packed tightly into rice bags, and sent off on the back of moto taxis for a few LD on top of the regular moto fees. Likely, from further towns, there is a taxi or truck component added in to get all the way to the streets of Monrovia and its surrounding suburbs.

Once there, the fish price varies with the imperceptible differences in fish size notable only to the trained eye. The fish in the above shots were generally listed at 10 LD (about US 15 - 20 cents, with the rising exchange rate), but are grouped into 'price piles' (just came up with that; not a real term) of 20, 30 and 50 LD (US 30 - 80 cents).

I asked a woman behind me in this picture how much the rice bag of fish she caught was. She said US $ 20, but it was a massive, split open bag, so hard to tell what that meant. The woman in this picture laughed when I asked if she would sell the whole table of fish, but declined to explain what the laugh meant. She did say she will make 200 - 300 LD (US $ 3 - 5) that day, after everything, which includes the tasty pepper powder they are served with.

On the streets, a few vendors said they buy a tray for 400 LD (US $ 6), and hope to flip it for a 550 - 600 over a few hours of walking the street with the tray on their head - a profit of about US $ 2.50 - 3.

Variables: The fish packs a powerful stench that can be overpowering when nausea pays a visit; people love to bitch about fish prices relative to their size (yes, more than average)

Point of Comparison: A cup of rice costs 20 LD, or about 30 cents - one-third a day's wages for the woman shown above.

my friend john, a village chief, with his largest catch that day. I helped pull 'er in.

Not Gettin' By

Hopefully not a metaphor for the future of Monrovia's vendors

Gettin' by in Monrovia requires some serious hustle, long hours, and perseverance. Hawkers, vendors, sellers, loaders, movers, temporary workers and others struggle constantly to make ends meet. And, it keeps getting harder.

Though it seems to have plateaued for now, the loss in value of the Liberian dollar - the staple of the informal economy - hurts the purchasing power of the sellers. Most goods demand USD to purchase, and that price stays at a flat rate, regardless of the infamous LD.


At the street level, its been a tough go for petty traders as of late. For anyone who's been in Monrovia in the past 6 months, you well know about "General" Mary Broh, the Acting City Mayor, and presidential clean up task force designate.

To greatly summarize, Broh is a tough cookie with seeming boundless power. She rolls with a pretty intense posse that includes security guards, dump trucks, bulldozers and lots of strong hands wielding lots of destruct-or tools. On 'good' days, they know to demo full neighbourhoods, clearing out anyone and anything living in 'illegal' structures or on 'private' land.

Street vendors are routinely seen fleeing the scene of zinc and wood being ripped to the ground, and crowds raging against The General, carrying their booths and wares, half laughing, half crying.

In some ways, her quest is understandable. The city's a frickin' mess, and people use this as license to perpetuate completely unhealthy living conditions. However, breaking down homes and shops of people who make earn in the 'Gettin By' bracket - around $5 - 10/day, which often supports several people - solves nothing. What does someone who's savings means whatever they have in their back pocket at that exact moment do when all their bizness gets destroyed?

Crime comes to mind, so does starving and not being able to buy meds.

Equally ridiculous are new city ordinances meant to further regulate these vendors. Ridiculous because 'crimes' such as selling in street booths, hawking foodstuffs without providing a garbage can and littering all carry stiff fines: between $100 - 200 USD. Just to emphasize how nuts that is, government employees make $ 80 /month, and the average per person GDP is $ 400 (yes, per year.)

People sell on the streets because THERE ARE NO REAL JOBS. Mainly because people in the same economic class as Mary Broh steal money by the truckload, thus inhibiting real growth. 500 Grand goes missing for a road. 1.1 million intended for health care: what happened? And most recently, $350 000 in 'shadow salaries' with Minister of Information Bropleh's signature on it.

So why should anyone have the right to stop people trying to scrape 5 bucks together? Like so many things here, its is very frustrating to watch government focusing so much energy on making sure the sidewalks are clear of people selling goods when so many worthwhile causes literally have to beg for funding and attention.

Besides, why deny Liberian residents the truly awesome ability to walk past a line of wheelbarrows, and, in a matter of minutes and brief exchanges, end up with a coconut, some rat poison, a t-Shirt saying "I'm With Stupid" on top of a sideways arrow, bread and eggs, toothpicks, batteries, a bag of sugar, and a new lock for your door?!?

That should be encouraged. Whenever and wherever possible.

Gettin By - Hawking T-Shirts

This blog post is part of a larger series called 'Gettin' By', which profiles petty traders, street sellers, vendors and other members of the informal market who are part of the reported 85% of Liberians without jobs.

Click on the 'Gettin' By' search term to see past articles, or read on.

Profession: Selling T-Shirts

Location: Strategically placed wheelbarrows; roving wheelbarrows; roving sellers with
hangers of shirts

How it works:

There are a lot of bizarre things about the supply chains in this country. I don't know if I actually fully understand the t-shirt supply chain - mainly due to heavily conflicting reports - but this is what I do know.

T-shirts in Liberia largely come from the US. Most are donated, but it is not abundantly clear to me through what means. Certainly, a lot of the shirts that end up here en masse are manufacture rejects that either get donated by the companies, or more likely, sold on the little-known international used t-shirt market.

But, for the majority of t-shirts that read anything from "Auntie Louise's XXXLenent 50th" to "Waco Texas Swim Club" to homemade renditions of "Rock Out With Your Cock
Out" (seen yesterday on an old woman, and me... without a camera! shhheeeeet...) they are donations from individuals.

Now here is where I am most unclear. One friend told me that all T-shirts from the US route through East Africa; Dar es Salaam and Nairobi to be specific. I personally have a hard time believing this (look at a map), but their insistence on the matter was based in experience, so I'll just say that.

Another version of the story is that these are gathered through t-shirt drives and other auspices of 'giving' to people who need them, and then whoever forks out the change to fill the sea cans (about 12 G to ship from US) takes a cut at the port.

Yet another version has Lebanese and other merchants buying bulk shirts from places like Goodwill at pretty low prices, fronting the shipping cross, and making it all up on this end.

More pessimistic versions argue that co opted aid missions and misappropriations of unguarded, low-value goods while in ports become too enticing for longshoremen et al to bear (yo: watch The Wire season two if you don't think that is a possibility).

Anyways, I think its mainly the middle two options, with perhaps a touch of the first and healthy dab of the last option. If anyone wants to pay me to do a real article on this subject, I will expend much more time and effort and solve the supply riddle.

Moving on to easier empirics.

Sea cans on the back of trailers deliver the t-shirts to wholesalers in vaccuum packed bags labeled 'boys sports' or 'women t's.' They cost $ 100 US for about a 3 foot cube. Although sometimes the trucks serve as the wholesalers, just parking themselves in Waterside market, and selling to whoever crowds the truck.

These wholesalers are exclusively Lebanese who have connections in the port. They expect the payments in USD, even though their shirt sellers receive all payments in LD (note: this links back to the post on Changing Money, and how the money cutting works)

So Liberian sellers get the bundles, unpack them, and fill up wheelbarrows, either splitting the packs, or going it solo: a relatively big investment for petty traders.

The packs vary, but for adult sized t's there tends to be about 70 - 100 per 'bushel'- the shirts are also sorted by quality, and the higher quality ones have less per cube. Of course, there is no recourse if you receive less, or if quality does not match expectations, its just a typical 'hope I don't screwed on this one'.

So, shirts can be had for as low as 70 LD in the city centre ($ 1 US), but most tend to fall between $ 90 - 150 LD ($US 1.40 - $ 2.10). For selling a cube, vendors try to make $ 10 - 15. This is not usually possible in a day, but sellers willing to 'hel you wih speciah price my man!' take the route of selling more for lower price to add up the day. So, they'll roll a barrow into a crowded place and yell "no more 150, pay 90," reveling in the ensuing buying frenzy.

Most shirt vendors say they are happy to clear $ 500 - 600 LD, or 7 - 8 bucks, though many make much less.

As usual, 'wafer thin margins'. (nate...)

Variables: New city laws that discourage petty trading, 'the rai-in!', getting spoiled shirts,

Price Point Comparison:

if you live in Paynesville, Bardnersville or Stephen Tolbert estates and sell in town - which many do - it costs $ 40 LD for transport each way, 80 LD per day; more than 1/8 of your wages.

Gettin' By - Carting Water

This is part of a series called 'Gettin' By', which looks at what people in Monrovia are doing to make money in a society with a reported 85% unemployment. Click here for more background on the series and the job situation here.

Profession: Moving Water

Location: Constantly on the Move

How it works: As has been mentioned before, running water in Monrovia barely exists. Expat restaurants have it. Hotels got it. Compounds usually can supply. Even these often run off private reserve tanks: no functioning infrastructure of ‘pipe to tap’ really happens.

For the rest of the 1 million people living in Monrovia, running water does not, and likely will not, exist – at least not for a while.

Does it go without saying that everyone needs water?

Though there have been major water shortages as of late on Bushrod Island, a large community often described as a slum, water can be found throughout the city. There are handpump wells in virtually every community, with a slough of children filling up various jugs for their families. There are also more regulated places that pump out well water for some money (some even with mild filtration). And that’s where the water carriers come in.

Each cart – as pictured above – can fit up to 40 jugs (or ‘jerries’) of water. Each jerry holds a little less than 20 L of water. That is a lot of weight (looking at the numbers, this seems impossible: that’s roughly 1600 pounds) but I often count the jerries in the cart of the dude bringing water to my house, and when you fill the jerries, they are 5 US gallons, which is just under 20 L).

To fill these at the fill stations, carriers are charged ‘2 fa 5’: $ 5 LD (7 US cents) buys you two jerries. I believe it is also possible to get free water from community pumps, but its uncommon because to a) its largely discouraged take so much water at community pumps and b) its very time consuming.

So you take the hit. Most water comes ‘from across’. This means carriers must go across New Bridge to fill up, and then come back into town fully loaded. Prices are entirely reflective of distance traveled.

Living directly across the bridge, it costs $ 10 LD per jerry (just under 15 US cents). Prices go up exponentially after this, as, just upon crossing the bridge, the slope of the hill goes up exponentially. The most I have heard of jerries going for in town is $ 25 LD, but recent water shortages jacked the price up on Bushrod. Ultimately, you are looking at a maximum bump-up factor of 10-fold your investment on the water, but busting ass – largely negotiating 1000 pounds of water through traffic, potholes and the tricky topography of downtown Monrovia.

Basically, the more difficult the place is to get to, the more the price is. And, the more difficult the place is, the less jerries get placed in carts, and the longer the turnaround times.

From what I can tell, the price is steered so that the 3 – 4 carters needed to lug the water around can each earn about $ 5 / day. As usual, there are people who carve out a clever niche for themselves. For example, they have fixed clients where they will take full or half loads to at certain times for a flat rate. And some who need water in specific volumes at specific times will pay inflated rates for it.

Point of Comparison: A 1.5 L bottle of mineral water costs $ 1 US in stores, $ 2 in most restaurants

Gettin By - Colllld Wattah-dehn!!!

This blog post is part of a series called 'Gettin' by' that looks at the micro-economy of Liberia, that - in lieu of a formal job market - allows people to get food on the table. Please read this for explanation

Profession: Water Vendor

Location: Fixed stands with large coolers or mobile with small coolers on head

How it works: First of all, why it works. Like most of the world, clean drinking water is no guarantee. And Liberia – where running water is almost non-existent (most comes from hand-pump wells, or from guys who cart water around in jugs, of which you can expect a future post) – this is no exception.

So, to cater to a population with not a lot of money, not much clean drinking water, almost no personal refrigeration, and a perpetually hot sun beating down on you, 1/2 liter bags of purified water are made available for the equivalent of 7 cents.

Vendors buy 30-bag bags of water bags at your bulk wholesalers for just less than $ 1 US, or 60 - 65 Liberian Dollars (LD). This means the buyer pays just over $ 2 LD per bag. Which means that $ 3 LD is theoretically up for grabs with every sale.

But another cost exists: cooling.

One option is that you have your own cooling. Either you have access to a fridge (which means you have access to a generator) or you buy ice. The generator option can have a huge range of costs, depending on the amount of people sharing the generator and/or fridge. Ice sells for about 40 – 60 LD per block, and a typical cooler as pictured above needs about 2 - 3 blocks of ice to keep things frigid throughout the day, provided you supply the requisite blanket insulation

This eats into the profit margins, but is necessary.

Successful stationary sellers in a decent location can sell 3 - 5 ‘bag-o-bags’ in a day, or 90 - 150 bags. After the cooling factor, it means that 4 - 7 bucks (USD) is a pretty good day, though some boast higher net profits.

Sellers that roam the streets – almost always children, sometimes as young as 5 or 6, and rarely older than 16 – buy off the larger coolers in very small increments: 3 bags for $ 10 LD, 10 bags for $ 30, or other such arrangements. They fill up their various pieces of detritus that serve as carriers – usually chunks of Styrofoam with a piece of cloth over top - and tote them around on neighbourhood circuits to the nasal cry of…

“Coollllllllllld Watttah - dehn .…Ice Colllld mineralllll...” – you have to hear it to really get it, I s'pose.

For the kids, they are usually just making some extra change. Either they work after class to help their parents pay school fees, help pitch in to destitute families or they are being blatantly exploited by incompetent, alcoholic and/or lazy parents (or 'guardians') who would prefer to sit at home all day, and get extra income. Earning a dollar after costs is a pretty good day for a lot of the small kids selling, though those who hustle all day can earn ‘small more.’

Dangers and variables: Extreme boredom universally grips the stationary stalls. Kids can get robbed easily, and reports of child sellers being lured into dangerous or exploitative situations are common, but seldom proven.

You MUST know the patented call. It really is amazing how uniform the “Cold Waattttah” tone and pitch really is. It begs yet another kick at the nature/nurture can, but not on this blog. At least not now.

Many stationary vendors – as the one pictured above – sell juice or pop along with the staple of water, adding a few extra dollars a day.

Gettin' By - With Changing Money

This is part of a series called 'Gettin' By', about the informal job sector in Liberia. Please read this for explanation

Profession: Moneychanger and Phonecard Vendor

Location: Street Corners, Storefronts, Money Booths

How it Works: The existence of money changers hinges on two basic realities: a dual-currency economy and a banking system that is so slow, its not worth waiting every day to get the better rates. A small niche,but an important one.

Liberia, like many developing nations around the world, uses the US dollar, as well as its local currency, the Liberian dollar, or ‘Liberty Dollah’. Many people – myself included – are paid in US dollars, receive US dollars from overseas or run businesses that operate primarily on US. But most local goods and services officially demand the use of Liberties.

And so changing must transpire.

At the booths, its almost exclusively a US changing into Liberty racket, though they will change the other way if you want. Street changers peg their exchange rate (written on the booth in the photo as 70, which means you get 70 Liberty dollars for each US buck) so that they make 5 Liberties for every $ 5 US they trade.

Typically, this rate is made over two transactions. One, changers set the rate a few per cent higher that the rate at Central Bank by a few Liberty: if Central Bank rate is $ 67 or 68 LD, then street rate will be around 70. Fairly straightforward.

The second flip is a bit more complex, and gets into the strange business economy here. Moneychangers (or the people who run the booths) take advantage of their US dollars to buy off street vendors. Essentially, street vendors depend on Greenbacks to purchase their raw goods – toiletries, rice, used clothes, socks and underwear, food – from the Lebanese merchants who control the supply chain. But, they sell the goods for Liberty on the street, or in the small shops. So, moneychangers use USD to go around and buy up the Liberties at an inflated rate, and bring it back to their booths to sell.

For example, if changers are trading at 70, they’ll charge 71.5 - 72 to purchase USD. This is done to the tune of a $40 US here, $200 US there, etc. Small-small.

Phone cards are bought in packs of 10 for $ 47 US, and sold for $ 5 /card at money changing booths. Also available is making phone calls on trader’s phone (in lieu of no pay phones), transferring money ($US 1 - 2) onto phones, and occasionally other services like loaning, or buying petty goods they have lying around (see plastic bags hanging top right photo, sold for $ 5 LD, or the shoe sitting on top of the box, $12US)

Money Earned: Top changers can trade up to $ 1000 US/day, meaning they make $ 1000 LD, or about $ 15/ day off that. They also sell 2 – 3 sets of phone cards, meaning another $ 10 US, maximum. This is rare though.

Some – as in many – only trade a mere $ 2 – 400 (and so earn only a $ 3 – 6 US), and sell a handful of cards, maybe $ 2 – 5 US more. Your gross depends on your commitment to hustling for connections. Knowing local business owners, and offering loans to the right people makes the biz a lot more profitable, and gives you a good local rep. All this increases your flow.

Lastly, the lowest earners are younger men that are paid a day rate by the people who supply the overhead. They usually get a flat rate $ 5 for a 12 (ish) hour day, plus limited use of phones and phone cards.

Variables and Dangers: Holding so much money is a huge risk for so little cash. Strangely though, there are very few robberies, despite the fact that money often gets left out in the open. Changers tend to sit in pairs, or work outside businesses. This means a small, loyal army is on mutual watch, and will chase down any thief, and likely beat them senseless, or to death. That this occurs with some regularity in Liberia seems to serve as a fairly strong deterrent

Rain closes up shop for most, and sitting in the hot sun all day sucks.

Point of Reference: The cheapest cell phones in the country cost $ 35 US, and a scratch card

Gettin' By - With Coconuts

This post is part of the series 'Gettin' By'. Read this for explanation.

Profession: Coconut Seller

Location: Roaming

How it works: Coconuts come to Monrovia packed into trucks and cars from villages all around the country. The outer husks have been hacked off with machetes, to reduce size and weight. Sellers are generally old women, who carry up to 25 or 30 on their head (which is psycho heavy), or young men who can carry up to 80 in wheelbarrows.

Every seller carries a machete, allowing them to split the coconuts for anyone who stops them as they walk through the streets. They wait patiently as buyers drink, split the coconut to access the meat, take the empty shell, and move on.

Cash: Street sellers buy them wholesale for around $10 LD ($0.14 US), or '2 for 15' [$LD] at spots around the city. Coconuts generally retail for $20 LD. Meaning that to make a dollar, 7 coconuts must be sold - roughly 15 pounds of weight.

Variables and Dangers: Insanely sore neck, machete wounds.

Net Profit: For female sellers, they rarely earn $ 5 US /load. Some will take more than one load per day, but it is rare, as they often have families to tend to, and business can be slow.

Wheelbarrow men can earn over $10 US/day, but this kind of profit demands a 10 hour day.

Point of Reference: used T-shirt sold on the street costs $ 1 - 3 US

Gettin' By

As the United States and Canada start to freak out that their unemployment rates approach the double digits, officially, Liberia's unemployment rate remains, on paper, as 85%. Almost, but not quite, making it an inverse relationship.

The CIA Factbook uses this 85% stat, and I think everyone else cites it and throws it around like its an iron-clad stat. Its not.

While Liberia certainly lacks locations for official, regulated employment, that only 15 % of the population works is an absurd assumption, and one that would be practically unattainable. While severe poverty is rampant, Liberians are not starving to death. Reason being, that as in any society where basic infrastructure has been destroyed, people find a way to get by.

They fill in the gaps of people's needs, finding small ways to deliver goods and services to the population at large. 'Git my hustle on,' as many say.

In this hustle, profit margins are wafer thin. Full days of work often produce just a few dollars, which in turn often gets spread out to family and friends in need.

During my eight months of living here, and poking around at all levels of society, I still remain fascinated by the micro-economy. So, I have been collecting info about how many people manage to 'get their daily bread' - another ism.

Starting tomorrow, every 5 - 7 days, 'Gettin' by' will feature some of the professions that interest me the most. Until I run out of petty traders, or until I get bored.

Admittedly, it will be Monrovia-centric, but many of such trades extend around the country.

If you feel you have insight into how some small service works around here, please feel free to contact me.

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