Looking back at when I first seriously considered going on the trip to ABC I had a completely different perception of the locale than what Yekepa turned out to be. Hearing the town was in the middle of a rain forest and a seven-hour drive from Monrovia, the big city and capital of Liberia, I was expecting a bunch of thatched or mud huts under a canopy of 40-foot trees. That was not the case. Granted, the town buildings weren't much better than mud huts (we actually did see some), what we did see was a community trying to eke by amongst the remains of a once thriving mining community.
Back in the 70s and 80s I guess Yekepa was a vacation destination. There was even a country club and olympic-sized swimming pool, all courtesy of the Lamco Mining Company. I guess it was a gorgeous place. Most of the housing, constructed by the company, was simple by our standards but luxurious there, mostly consisting of four concrete walls and a roof.
As the country spiraled into civil war Lamco and ABC pulled out, as did most western companies and organizations. Now, 15 years later all that's left of most of the structures are the concrete walls and whatever else looters couldn't run off with and weather couldn't wear away. Most of the locals who reside there now have made their own modifications to these existing structures, while the remaining abandoned structures are slowly reabsorbed by the jungle. It was rather surreal to see all the abandoned stuructures and equipment. I felt like I was in a Mad Max, or some other post-appocalyptic movie.
Three years ago Arcelor Mittal, a major steel company from Europe, moved into Yekepa with the intention of reopening the mine. With them came a new hope of a revived Yekepa, followed by more excitement when they chose to rebuild the school. However with the global recession and decline in demand of steel there is growing concern Arcelor Mittal might have to pull out, or at least scale back their operations in Yekepa. You could sense the uncertainty in the air. The Sunday we went into town to attend church the pastor even spoke about all the gossip of the company's potential exit.
The community as a whole was a lot bigger than I thought it would have been. I never heard any actual population numbers, but we saw a fair share of people when we went into town. Brad, James and I had the honor of watching a local soccer (football) match which was a big deal in the town. There had to be several hundred watching the game. As I mentioned before we also went to church in town, which was quite an experience. Coming from a rather reserved Baptist, and now Friends, background, the worship style in Liberia was completely out of my norm. Meeting all the locals was very easy. They were very friendly and eager to meet visitors. I never once felt unsafe wandering the area (except always keeping an eye open for snakes).
You can see more of my Yekepa photos on my Flickr page here.
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