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Janice H's Story

Janice tells a story about a memorable photograph she took while visiting a village in Liberia, Africa. The story is a snapshot of the Liberian bush in 1972.

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My husband and I traveled all over the world, and one of the times that I I remember very well is my time in West Africa in Liberia. When we lived in the in the bush, twelve hours from the capital city, my husband was building a five mile farm to market road, so he couldn't get off too much time to take me anywhere. But I had a friend in the Peace Corps, so he said he was gonna walk me up to this town that was very pretty and very traditional. So, Frank, Frank, the Peace Corps volunteer, and I, drove up, my husband's road, and then Frank and I got out and walked about an hour into the jungle, up a really, steep path. And Frank pointed into the water, and there were these huge catfish swimming on the gravel bottom.

And I said, great. Let's catch one of these fish and eat it. And Frank said, no, no, you can't do that. These are their totem. They are the ancestors of the village we're going to see.

So we kept climbing up to the top of this mountain, and we got to the top, and there were about 80 huts sitting on carefully swept red soil, and a gang of children were attracted by our sudden appearance, and they ran to call the chief who came, and he was a very nice man, and he took us into the village to his house. Frank had always brought something with him for these poor villages. Well, this time, we had a conical paper filled with salt, which was a very good present. And so, the chiefs shook our hands, and an old man came, tottering on spindly legs, and he was barefoot, and he had a little tiny chair that he sat down and sat on, and then another old man appeared with his traditional short chair, and he sat down, and the chief gave them the salt, and then the chief said, there's an old man who makes medicine for the village, and he has and that point, one of the old men taught it away and came back with a baseball shaped object wrapped in leaves, which was delicious pork meat. And knowing that the people of the villages never had much meat, I said to Frank, we can't accept this.

And Frank said, oh, we have to accept it. So we accepted it. And then I said, can I take some pictures? And the chief said, sure. And I took pictures of him.

I took pictures of the old man. And then the chief said, I'd like you to take a picture of the old man who made the medicine. So we went to his house, a little a little house, and there was an ancient man with a wispy mancho style beard hobbled into this, into the sunlight. And he sat on his little low chair, and he had a he had a mixing bowl, a wooden bowl in his hand, and he showed us how he made the medicine. And I said, oh, oh, can I take a picture?

And they said, sure. And they immediately switched his little tribal chair for a regular size wooden chair. And the old man's wife hurried up with this huge World War two great coat, which the old man put over his sarong. And he sat on this chair looking very proper, but I couldn't afford to miss this shot. So, I took very careful, couldn't afford to miss this shot.

So, I took very careful aim. Now, when I took pictures in the bush, most people didn't even want their pictures. This old man was different. He said, please, could I bring him the finished product? And I explained to him that the film I was using was slide film, and I'd have to send it way across the ocean to my mother, and it would take a long time.

She would have to have the slides made, and then she would have to send it all the way back to me. And I said I was so sorry, but it might be a long, long time before I could bring it back. And the old man took my hand in his tough calloused ones and looked to my into my eyes as he spoke. It does not matter how long it takes to accomplish the thing I asked, he said. I am old, old man, and soon, my time will come to leave this village and the life I know.

But if God comes before you return, I will tell him, God, I am sorry. I cannot go yet. I am waiting for my picture.

University of Massachusetts Amherst

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