Hello Again, I finally met Charles Taylor

Hello everyone, it's Mo here again. Let me start by apologizing for taking so long to update my blog; work has been hectic lately. I have been working a lot lately and i'm enjoying every minute of it. I even have to work on Saturday and Sunday in order to meet a Monday 5pm deadline.

As I indicated in my last entry, I am currently (along with other interns) assisting Mr. Charles Taylor's Counsel in the disclosure stage of his upcoming trial. It's a lot of work (over 35,000 pages of documents), but it has to be done. Mr. Taylor requested all copies of the disclosure documents.

On Wednesday, I finally met Mr. Charles Taylor (former President of Liberia). We had to deliver some of the documents we'd been copying for him. He was quite polite, charismatic and intelligent. Shaking his hands (after I was introduced to him), I forgot for a second that this is the man who currently stand accused of some of the worst atrocities known to man.

Meeting Mr. Taylor for the first time is an experience I will never forget. I was excited but also somewhat anxious or apprehensive about meeting him. He entered the room well dressed, introduced himself, asked who I was, and proceeded to say Liberians and Sierra Leoneans all look alike. Being in the presence gave me a feeling I cannot describe but will also never forget.

On Thursday and today, we (myself and other interns) continued the job of copying all of the disclosure documents for Mr. Taylor to review. I got home on Thursday only to realize that my internet connection at home was malfunctioning. I called customer service for help, but they were unable to help. So I had to take my laptop and the wireless phone I use to connect online to the office for some help.

I had a disagreement with the technicians about configuring my laptop behind closed doors, to which I didn't agree. They finally got my internet connection working again, but on my way home, I lost my keys to my apartment. I had to get my doors and locks replaced this morning due to the damage I caused trying to gain entry into my apartment.

Today, I was busy at work all day copying documents and performing other disclosure tasks for Mr. Taylor's attorney (due to court order and very strict confidentiality rules, I cannot elaborate on this matter). It is tedious, but very important work. I left the office at around 7pm, got home, can't gain entry to the aparment because someone left with the keys and got a call from my youger sister reminding me that it was her birthday today (my sister Florence turned 22 today, i'm so proud of her).

I went to my sister's birthday party, spent time with my dad, step-mom, brothers and sisters, cousins, nephew, niece and other friends of the family. We all embarassed her by singing her a happy birtday song. It was the best way to have spent the rest of my day. As you all may imagine, after a 12 year absence, spending time with and getting to know my family all over again has been very emotional and is of utmost importance to me. I took some pictures of the party which are attached to this entry (I hope you enjoy them).

Once again, as always, I thank you all for your continued interest in my work and I welcome all your questions/concerns/comments. Thank you all, I miss you all and I look forward to seeing you all again soon. Also, thanks for coming on the experience with me and I look forward to sharing more with you in the upcoming months.

The first picture is of some of the food at the party, the second is of some of my sisters, brothers, and my step-mom is in the white dress and the third picture is of me and my sister Florence whose birtday it is today and the last picture is of me, my cousin and my niece and nephew (who was asleep and we had to wake him up to take the picture, I hope he forgives me).

Happy Birthday and I love you sis.

Sincerely
Mo