despairing and hoping

Yesterday on the train, I picked up a newspaper that the man next to me dropped and read an article about the earthquake in Pakistan. I read that over 20,000 people had died and more than 50,000 were injured. Click on this link for today's story: Earthquake in Pakistan. By the time I finished the article, I was fighting not to cry on the train and I pushed the paper away and stood to leave and at that very instant my iPod started playing, "Great is thy faithfulness, oh God my Father..."

Despair?

Sometimes.

Today I've been reading about the elections in Liberia. 22 candidates, including the favorite, an international football (soccer) star, George Weah. In 2000, when we were driving from Buchanan to Monrovia, his car raced by us at obscene speeds honking the horn and flashing the lights in a ridiculous display of impunity which I can only assume is likely to continue if he becomes president. Then again, I might have made a scene, too, if I were passing someone driving that slowly in an overloaded pickup. His main competition is a woman, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who used to work for the World Bank. My new-found Liberian electoral process knowledge tells me that a candidate needs 51% of the vote to be elected, so there will likely be a run-off. More information and pictures of the polling can be found by clicking on this link: Liberia's Election.

Hope?

I don't know yet.