Customer Reviews

Blue Clay People: Seasons on Africa's Fragile Edge

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In this memoir, William Powers tells of his two years (1999-2001) working for a major aid organization in Liberia. There, his mandate was to promote both environmental conservation and poverty alleviation. While his memoir gives some fascinating insights into the NGO world and sketches of life in Liberia (including the unscrupulous dealings of multinational timber companies), this is ultimately a story of personal development.

A strength of Powers's story is that he is straightforward. Many memoirs seem intent on justifying the author's intent or actions. (An annoying example of that is the still-worthwhile The Economist's Tale, by Peter Griffiths, about economic advising in Sierra Leone.) Here, Powers willingly presents aspects of his story that some might consider inappropriate or at least in need of justification (such as taking a Liberian girlfriend with no long-term intentions or getting involved with environmental activists) and lets the reader judge.

He is also honest about difficult questions he faces. He arrives in Liberia and then leaves Liberia still struggling to find the balance between eliminating dependency and showing compassion. And although he struggles, we see genuine growth over the course of the two years. Upon arrival, he wrings his hands over Liberian dependency on aid to the point of being annoying. (Quite annoying.) But by the end of his stay, he has made serious headway in encouraging self-sufficiency (at least in certain communities) by supplementing local knowledge with Western technical insights.

One drawback is that we learn relatively little about the actual work he does. He gives us glimpses here and there, but since most of the book is his personal journey, we know only fragments of his experience learning to work with and learn from local leaders. He does introduce us to some fascinating colleagues: a wise conservationist and refugee camp worker named Gabriel, a jaded long-term aid worker named The Jacket, and a working Liberian single mother who cares about both providing for her family and improving her country.

Ultimately, this isn't a book about development, but about Westerners trying to do development. That said, many Westerners (myself included) try to do or at least understand development, and for us, Powers's journey is instructive.

For a book on a related theme, read Robert Klitgaard's excellent Tropical Gangsters, in which he recounts his work as an economic consultant in Equatorial Guinea. Klitgaard is weathered in his work and thus presents less of a personal journey and more of a clear picture of government functioning and both efforts and challenges to improving people's lives through official channels. Another enjoyable aid memoir (and this is one is very short), much less in depth than Powers' or Klitgaard's (but a wonderful read), is Dear Exile, by Liftin and Montgomery, which recounts Montgomery's experience in the Peace Corps in Kenya.

Having lived in Liberia for 2 years in the early 70's, this book was very personal to me. I thought Powers did a wonderful job capturing many aspects of life in this nation that has been ruined by corrupt leadership for so long. As the Liberians say, the powers above "ate" all the money, leaving the wonderful everyday people impoverished. These people have never given up, and they deserve for their hopes and dreams to be answered in this upcoming election. They continue to "try-small", which is amazing considering all that they have been through. Thank you Mr. Powers for your wonderful details and insights on life in Liberia at the turn of the Century!

Powers' heartfelt memoir of his experience working as a humanitarian aid worker in Liberia is truly a great work. He vividly recounts the cultural and political atmosphere of the time with compassionate prose. The novel illustrates the hardships for Liberians while at the same time helps the reader to understand the coping mechanisms of people in a war torn country. Powers provokes readers to understand the complicated nature of both African politics and the involvement of the international community in African affairs. The medium of memoir allows the reader to be drawn into the history of Liberia through a personal perspective. Powers' work is certainly the most accessible and memorable reading on Liberian trials and tribulations and the intricate relationships that develop between people during atrocity.

I'm a jaded, news reporter, but Mr. Powers book about one of Africa's "hopeless basket cases" had me laughing aloud. The author deftly weaves his own life stories into a memoir of his days as the head of the Catholic Relief Services in turn-of-the-millennium Monrovia, Liberia. As he lands in the country, Powers is taken aback and notably disturbed by his own new role in a strange re-make of American Antebellum Southern living. Some of the language of the English-speaking Liberians is telling and comic. They keep approaching Powers asking for their "weekend" -- shorthand for "fun money" and just enough to make ends meet for their extended families. Invariably, Liberians in the street also refer to the author as "bossman," a funny and utterly ridiculous misnomer for an aid worker trying to get society back on its feet. The book tells us a lot about human nature in a bizarre setting and Powers' humble sprinkling of references to Graham Greene and other great writers concerned with the human spirit suggests that his own reading background is strong in this realm. The author takes on crucial issues that will interest both environmentalists and political scientists. Liberia happens to have a jungle with more diversity in its mammalian population (many monkeys) than any other locale on the globe. As an admitted ignoramus in bio-diversity, I would say that the world needs to start paying more attention -- as Powers would have us do -- to our relatives in the rain forests. Powers does flirt with "going native" and gets upset when fellow aid workers warn him of the dangers. He dumps his blonde beauty in America for a braided, barefoot bombshell in Liberia who trims his toenails with her teeth. (I could have done without the detail!) In the end, Powers' pragmatism and missionary spirit (he is only vaguely religious, but very spiritual)wins out and the girl is left in Liberia to do her good works as the author moves onto Bolivia. (Far more "civilized," we hope.) Through it all, however, Powers does not lose his classic American idealism, a spirit one runs into these days in the "Peace Corps" and very few other American institutions working abroad. Young men like Powers represent America's best foot forward in an increasingly hostile and unpredictable world. Let's hope that the author's powerful memoir isn't just a cry in the darkest jungles of the darkest continent on earth.

I found myself hiding away to read this book from cover to cover.
William Powers writes like a white guy in a Liberian culture - out of his element. Which I loved! There's no faking how he felt or what he went through. The process that he went through as an aid worker in a war torn country was very honest, relevant, and real. If you're hoping for dry journalism, don't look here. This book is an intimant and colorful read.
I learned first hand what it might be like for me to be in Liberia, what I would see from my own US eyes. I learned about the cultures in Liberia, both the white and the black. I learned that this man can write. I bought the book for three people for Christmas and am looking forward to his next book. Five stars!

This is non-hero real look into the day to day opperations of foriegn aid work. It presents clear looking to issuse of poverty and enviroment and the history of a unstable area. Worth the time if you are interesting in topic or think of traveling to do aid work.

Blue Clay People: Seasons on Africa's Fragile Edge. This book is a compelling current events memoir about Liberia. Mr. Power's strives towards understanding not just contemporary Liberia, but West Africa as a whole. It's a fast-paced book that reads like a novel. For example, the book explores what having enough "really" means. The Liberians have too little. They lack food, water, shelter, and security; the things Westerners take for granted. The writing style holds interest and the subject, Liberia and Mr. Power's first-hand account of his experiences is captivating. For those visiting West Africa, this book is truly significant. Mr. Powers did the world justice by sharing his experiences. You should help spread the word to those with a social conscience, or those who are just interested in what's going on in the world.

In this powerful and compelling account, William Powers helps us all strive toward having "enough". The Liberians have too little. They lack food, water, shelter, and security. But too many westerners have too much. The excessive natural resources consumed by each westerner are obtained at immense cost to the environment and the people of third and fourth world countries. The mahogany of old growth trees clear cut from the Liberian rain forest is sold to Westerners to enrich Charles Taylor and finance war on his own people. Engagement rings made with "conflict diamonds" pay to oppress many poor Africans. But intervention is difficult as William Powers found out as he worked in Liberia to "reduce poverty and dependency while preserving the rain forest". Western ways do not solve fourth world problems; instead they usually add to the problems. Simple, elegant, sustainable solutions, integrated into each unique physical and cultural environment can make a difference. This book is a fascinating invitation to listen to nature, rather than dominate it.

"Blue Clay People" is a must read for anyone trying to gain some understanding of the complexities of foreign aid programs. This is a particularly timely book given the focus of the recent meeting in London where additional aid for Africa was promised but questions were raised regarding money and supplies reaching their intended recipients.

Powers does a masterful job describing his experience as director of a non-governmental program in Liberia. He recounts in detail his aspirations and the reality of the situation he encountered. This is a highly readable and personal account. The author uses the local dialect which adds much charm and authenticity to the book.

Having served in the Peace Corps (although not in Africa), I was able to relate my own experience to those of Powers'.

I would highly recommend this book not only to individuals but also to book clubs. It raises many questions and provides few answers. However, it is clear that the world has to learn how to help these needy nations in a manner which respects the local culture and at the same time channels the aid to those who need it.

When God was making people out of blue clay, he accidentally sneezed and covered them with pepper, resulting in their tendency to violence and destruction, according to a Liberian legend. The story of William Powers's encounters with violence and destruction in Liberia when he arrived in the country in 1999 as an aid worker is told in this book.

No matter how carefully prepared an aid worker is before arriving in a country, there is almost always a huge gap between what he or she imagines will be achieved and what the situation and available resources allow. The author hoped to enhance food security and achieve sustainable development, but the system was creating aid dependency. He hoped to conserve the Liberian environment, but the President was interested only in plundering the forests for personal gain.

As the book progressed, I found it increasingly difficult to empathise with the author. After a year of working in Liberia, he returned to America and broke up with his fiancée, who was not keen on the idea of raising a family in a dangerous environment. The author does not seem to have recognised how living in a high-stress environment tends to cause short-term personality changes to aid workers, making them more demanding and less agreeable. On his return to Liberia, he fell into a affair with a local woman, apparently without taking much responsibility for the relationship, and abandoned her when a new job offer came up in another country.

The book is useful for its descriptions of the conditions in Liberia at the turn of the century and the descriptions of aid interventions which worked and those which did not work. However, I was left wondering whether it was wise for Catholic Relief Services to have allowed their substantial aid operations in Liberia to be run by a leadership team whose members apparently did not subscribe to the organisation's core beliefs.