The Fanti Towns Of Liberia

Inside a Fanti Boat in Fanti Town, Buchanan, Liberia - note the Ghanian influences

Fanti (or Fante) towns have established themselves all along the shores of the Liberian coast and they do business with the Liberian people mostly through their fishing enterprises.  There is nothing like walking along the beach and gathering around a Fanti boat full of fresh creatures from the sea and placing your bid on some fish.  You never know what you might get:  I remember eating hammerhead shark, barracuda, grouper, snapper, & sea turtle to name a few.  If it is in the ocean the Fanti have probably brought it up.

The "Ebenezer" - a Fanti boat in Fanti Town, Buchanan, Liberia

Dugout Canoes are often used for both fishing and
for selling fresh fish right on the beach

While not originally from Liberia, in 1974 the Fanti were so numerous in Liberia that they were included on the Liberian census as a Liberian ethnic group.  The Fanti are originally from Ghana and still keep ties there.  They are from the Akan group (the same group as the Ashanti).  One of their most famous sons is Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the UN.  They have long done business in fishing and historically provided a middleman function between trading Europeans on the coast and the interior tribes of Ghana.  They are recorded as doing business with the Portuguese as far back as the 1400's and they also traded with the Dutch and the English who ultimately destroyed the Fanti Confederation in the late 1800's.  I assume that this event helped to scatter the Fanti people all along the coast of West Africa and today they are mostly found in Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia.

Fanti Boats in Fanti Town, Buchanan, Liberia

I have always found their communities intriguing and their customs very similar yet slightly different than Liberians.  They have usually been very friendly and I remember riding my bike through the middle of Fanti Town in Buchanan as a small boy and receiving nothing but broad smiles.  What really sticks out in my mind though are their beautifully decorated boats.  If you're into photography a Liberian Fanti Town would yield a treasure trove of beautiful images.  You can find these towns on the beach in most of the larger coastal communities of Liberia like Monrovia and Buchanan.  Enjoy the pics and the following video of a Fanti boat that I was invited to enter and photograph by a friendly Fanti man.

A Bit Of The US South In Africa

Americo-Liberian Home in Edina, Liberia
photo by Ken Vogel

Liberia is an African Republic with towns that have US sounding names like New Georgia, Virginia, Kentucky and Louisiana.  The reason goes back to our own US history when the US government funded an organization called the American Colonization Society (ACS) to purchase land in Africa to send "free people of color" back to Africa.  What was some of the reasoning behind this?

"Congo-style" house, Robertsport, Liberia

Ever since the Haitian slave revolt many slaveholders were terrified of the idea that their slaves might also revolt.  Seeing or hearing about these "free people of color" walking about might give slaves the motivation they needed to revolt.  So many Southern slaveholders joined the ACS and many had the intention of sending any slave they freed back to Africa instead of being allowed to walk about free and proud in the antebellum South.  There are also claims that some of these freed slaves were children born to master's through their slaves that they wanted to hide away from their community by sending them to Africa.  This was one line of thought in the ACS.

"Congo Home" Edina, Liberia
photo by Ken Vogel

The ACS was also joined by abolitionists who surely made strange bedfellows with the slaveholders.  Their reasoning was that it is not safe for a "free person of color" to stay in the US.  A freed person would have to carry around paperwork proving they were free and could be stopped at any time simple due to the color of their skin.  The opportunities available to a person of minority skin color were also very limited in the US and many who opposed slavery didn't just want people free they wanted them to be able to thrive in a viable society.  Many of these people foresaw the decades upon decades of integration issues that would surely follow after emancipation and wanted a better life for those who were freed.  They thought, "perhaps in going back to Africa they will have a better chance of living freely."  

Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Robertsport, Liberia

Many of the "Free People of Color" were fairly skeptical of the whole ordeal, but some saw the same opportunities that some of the abolitionists had seen.  In fact, it was a free person of color and devout Quaker "Paul Cuffee" that helped lay the groundwork for the ACS.  Many of these groups of freed slaves that returned to Liberia were also sponsored by churches to evangelize Africa.  The reasoning was that someone of the same skin color would be more effective in this missionary work, what had perhaps not been considered was that culture is not a matter of skin color.  These Americo-Liberians, as they are called, brought the South with them and converts were Americanized just as much or perhaps even more than Christianized.  One tragic part of the South that these freed slaves brought with them was that some of these Americo-Liberians enslaved the native Liberians to work on their plantations!   

Americo-Liberian Plantation, Edina, Liberia
photo by Ken Vogel

What I'm sharing with you today are some of these Americo-Liberian homes and/or plantations and churches that sprung up all along the coast of Liberia.  I find them quite beautiful even in their deteriorated states.  The native Liberians call the Americo-Liberians "Congo" and call these houses "Congo Houses" so that is why they are sometimes so captioned.  To someone from the US they definitely resemble old Southern architecture and it is rather surreal to see the US South standing in the middle of a tropical rain forest in Africa! 

Congo Home, Edina, Liberia - photo by Ken Vogel

Memorial to Americo-Liberian and Liberian president Joseph Cheeseman in front of
US Southern - style home, Edina, Liberia
photo by Ken Vogel

Congo Homes in Robertsport, Liberia

Congo Home in Robertsport, Liberia

Congo House on a Hill - Robertsport, Liberia

Congo home in Robertsport, Liberia

If you'd like to see some more pictures of these Liberian Congo-style homes you can check them out on this interesting site I found here.  

The Woman Who Brought Me To Liberia

Mom with a Liberian girl - 1976

Happy Mother's Day!  I am so blessed to have a simply amazing woman as my mom!  Today I share a few pics of her just being a mom and care giver in Liberia.  They only tell of a small fraction of her amazing-ness, but just seeing her in action should tell you the kind of outstanding woman I am so blessed to have as my mother.  Not only is she the one (along with my dad) who first brought me to the beautiful nation of Liberia way back in 1976, but she also taught me how to show love with action.  I'm so proud of my mom!

Cleaning up her messy boy beside our super cool baby blue Renault

Our First Christmas in Liberia - 1976

Mom in Doedein, Grand Bassa County (now River Cess), where she was doing medical training c. 1985

Mom with one of two severely malnourished twins c. 1985
(She was able to nurse them both back to health)

Mother of the twins.  She was so happy to have her twins back healthy!

Mom giving a shot at clinic she helped start in Camphor, Grand Bassa County

Mom with one of the medical teams she helped train c. 1986

Mom with baby in Liberia c. 2007

I returned last summer (2011) to Liberia with my mom.  My mom had already been returning to Liberia for years, even before it considered safe to travel there (whatever safe means).  She is braver than I!  She is planning on returning again this summer and on and on for the foreseeable future.  Her love for Liberia is contagious and I'm glad I caught that from her!  As you'll notice from the pics, she has consistently shown love for Liberia and been a true "Ol' Ma" to her people!  Did I say I was proud of her?  Love you mom!