George Momolu

George Momolu

Q: This is Sam Robson here today in Monrovia, Liberia, the Cape Hotel. It is March 12th, 2017, and I have the pleasure of sitting down with Mr. George Sorsor Momolu today. This interview is part of the CDC Museum's CDC Ebola Response Oral History Project and we're here to learn about George's life and his experience working with responders. Thank you very, very much, Sorsor, for being here with me today. I appreciate you being here. Can I start out by asking, would you just say "my name is" and then pronounce your full name?

MOMOLU: My name is George Sorsor Momolu.

Q: What is your current position or job?

MOMOLU: I'm a chauffeur at the US Embassy, Monrovia, Liberia.

Q: If you were to tell someone in just a couple of sentences what you were doing during the Ebola response and what kind of impact you had, what would you say?

MOMOLU: As a driver? I drove a lot of CDC employees. They just are real decent people to work with. I even drove the overall bus. They flew and I drove to meet them at Tappita Hospital, and after that I saw him on CNN talking about this interview that they had at Tappita Hospital. During that time, the roads were bad, extremely bad, and the first guy I drove was Joseph [D.] Forrester. We have 00:02:00fifteen counties and we went to thirteen of the fifteen counties on a very bad road using a Toyota Land Cruiser. Extremely bad roads.

Q: I think that's a good beginning and I look forward to talking more about that in a second. Let's back up for a second though and talk about where you're from. Can you tell me where and when you were born?

MOMOLU: Yeah, April 12th, 1970, and I'm from Lofa, the Loma tribe. My hometown is by the mine, right by a mountain called Wologisi.

Q: Did you grow up there?

MOMOLU: No. I was born in Firestone [rubber plantation], Duside Hospital. My 00:03:00father was a nurse. I was born there and went to school up to the sixth grade. Life was tough, really tough. My father had a lot of children and sometimes we were almost left all by ourselves. Firestone, they gave rice and charged you just a little bit of bag of rice, farm oil, I mean cooking material, and charge you a little bit. We collected a lot of those and to be frank, things were not too good. My sister, my older sister, Mary Momolu, graduated as a nurse from Cuttington University. She decided to come and get me because I sometimes used to write her and say life is not good. She came to get me to assist her with her home problems, taking care of kids. On this day after school, I was so hungry I 00:04:00had to walk to the sugarcane farm completely downhearted, and I just saw her appear from above one of the rubber trees and I ran to her and she told me she was happy to see me. She came to get me to take me to live with her and she asked my dad. My dad said, "It's up to him." He did not complete his sentence. I had to run home for something like almost a ten-minute walk or more, and I ran home and just grabbed a few clothes. I came right by the road, they had a little stream, not really clean water, I was into it, a form of getting a shower, and that's how she took me from Firestone. That was 1982.

Q: What happened then?

MOMOLU: She took me to [unclear, sounds like "Bum Hills, Totmumber,"] not far 00:05:00from Monrovia. That used to be an old mining company and she was living in a very decent house, something like a bungalow. I was considered a country guy in that home and knew where I came from and came to a decent home through my sister. I didn't want to go back over there, so I became so respectful and hardworking. The story is long. I just have to summarize a little bit. Then she had a Peace Corps [unclear] called Laurie Ackerman at the time. Now she's Laurie Gulaid. She married to one Jama Gulaid. I came from school this day as a kid, and my sister called me, she had an American Jeep. The name of that Jeep is something like a Ranger. My sister called me, "Hey, come and take this." She bought a motor [unclear]. We found fuel and other stuff in it. She told me, come 00:06:00and get a car and take this thing home. Then Laurie asked, an African kid, young, said, "Does he drive?" She said, "Just watch." I jumped into the Jeep. I was gone with that stuff and I brought the Jeep back. She became impressed. But what impressed her, I used to work so hard: cook, wash clothes, trim flowers. She didn't see me stealing. And she asked if I had good grades. My sister said, yeah, he has good grades. I was in the ninth grade at the time. When she saw my grades, they were all good and she said, I think this kid, I'm going to take him to stay with me and I'll send him to a boarding school. That's how she took me from my sister. I moved to Monrovia, 9th Street, with her. She was always out working and I was left alone in the home. I was promoted to the tenth grade, 00:07:00then I had to go to a boarding school called Booker Washington Institute. It was a vocational school as well. I decided to take on machinery. I did machinery for four years and I graduated, and all through I was living in her home. My life changed completely. A country boy now living in an American home. Then she tried to send me to university, William V.S. [Tubman] Technical College in Maryland. I went there. That was 1989. I went to the vocational school in 1986, '87, '88, '89. Then the war--we started hearing of rebels in 1989 coming into the country. I graduated in '89, straight to the vocational school. The end of '89, I went to 00:08:00the vocational school in Maryland. The rebels kept coming closer in 1990, so I could not continue. The rebels were almost to the inner city. Then, how could they get me out of there? Maryland is far from Monrovia. They asked us to leave the campus but I didn't know anyone. But I used to run, and while running I used to run and pass by this Lebanese guy's store. He had a very pretty daughter and that was the only store I used to go to and I was eyeing this girl. So I went to her, I said, "I don't have anyone. Could you help me and keep my luggage and other stuff until I can find my way to get out?" I had really decent stuff, nice tie with clothes, steam pressed those days from the States. Laurie gave them to me. In fact, I was using her suitcase, very expensive stuff. This girl was kind of happy to receive them. I gave them to her and we were trying to leave. 00:09:00Because of my jogging skill in the peaceful quiet--I just walked one time. A stranger walking in the street, he said, "Hey, I usually see you jogging. Where you live?" I said "No, I just walk around and go back and sleep on the campus." He said, "But you guys are supposed to be out of the campus." I said, "Yes, but I don't have anywhere to stay." Then he asked me to go to his house. He called the family Williams. It was Emanuel Williams. So I moved in with them. But I was always into reading and I didn't even come out to watch television. In the evening I'd get out, go run and come back. So the family kind of liked me. They remembered me and there was a girl there in a wheelchair. Something like four or five years she was in a wheelchair, and every time I went out, I came back with candy, peanuts, chocolate. Then this day a flight came. I was supposed to 00:10:00arrive, go with the last flight. The second to the last flight, I was supposed to get on that flight because my family had booked a seat for me. But then this family had a son in Monrovia, which they didn't have any family there. He was in school. So they asked me to carry some money and foodstuffs. Then I got to the flight and they told me to get in and the distance was, if you are walking, something like twelve to thirteen minutes. The distance [unclear]. They were bringing the money and the guy said, "If you don't get on, we'll leave." I said, "But the fellow coming there, you see the guy with the bag? I'm waiting for him, he's bringing something." And the guys said, no, they couldn't wait. It was a small flight, something like six or eight small Cessna plane. I said, "If you 00:11:00guys can wait for that fellow--I can't leave him." I could not leave him because the family took care of me and they were saving money for someone in the city who didn't have family there, just as it happened in my shoes. So they said, "Okay then." They shut the door. I didn't go because I didn't want to leave the [unclear]. I had to pay it back, you know? They really helped me, so I had to stay back in Maryland and the flight took off. Then hanging on, there was a guy, a rich guy called Karkular Kporto. His flight, piloted by Russians, stopped by and this time there were so many military guys that were at the air field. They said, you guys have to help some student, please. Whether they pay or not, you guys have to get them to town please even if it's far. So we're two very close friends. I used to call the guy Korlubah Yerkerson. And me. My running skill 00:12:00helped me. I got onboard, but my friend could not make it. He left me out. I could see him and we passed through the cargo, the back part of the flight. The guy was just trying to close it up and my friend came close. I yelled. I told him, go to Rose, I have some money in my suitcase, you can take it and whatsoever you can do, and the back of the plane shut and I left him there. I managed, I got to town. When I got there, I called home, my parents, they didn't know how I came. They were so happy. They were just packing up to leave the city because the rebel was getting close [unclear]. I jumped into the car, we left.

I came with a letter to the family that took care of me, the Williams family that took care of me, to give it to their son but I didn't have time, so I gave it to a friend at the house. I said, go to [unclear] and give this letter to 00:13:00anyone that come through the flight. He said, William, you should go there to ask for a letter from his friend. And William actually went there, got my letter. I gave him the direction of the house. He moved knew Georgia to my house, to my parents' house. He lived there all through the war. And he had .?. and he got killed. He got killed. I don't know how it happened but he got killed. When the war subsided, I came back. They closed everything and people told me, oh, your friend, William, he got killed. And I don't really know how it happened but they said he was so popular around the community. Know, a nice guy and he got killed. So I felt bad. In 1992, another big war hit the city. 00:14:00[unclear] 1992. So I had to escape. That was the first time--no, the second time. I actually traveled to Freetown once when we were--we called it "across the line," out of Monrovia, up-country, we called it "across the line." My older sister that took me from Firestone that was educated, during the war, things became so bad. No job and she had a serious problem with her husband. The story is long. She started getting malnourished so I had to take the chance to go to Freetown to see how I could get in touch with Laurie Ackerman. We still had her address and telephone number.

There was a car among the rebels. It used to go sometimes to the border, something like a passenger vehicle but rebels are running it, and I managed to 00:15:00join this car. I was really fit. I used to do body weights even during the war. I created my own stuff. So I joined this car to take me to the border. It was in the bush called Gbongbon Dasalamu. It's a border point between Liberia and Sierra Leone. I got there without any catch. How would I go to Freetown? I had a friend back from Firestone, childhood days, I saw him a grown up. I saw him around the border, called Robert. I said, "Robert, hey, I'm trying to go to Freetown." He said, "I'm based across at the refugee camp, so I will help you." We crossed. I went to the refugee camp right across the border, they call the place Zimmi in Sierra Leone. Zimmi refugee camp. The eighteen-wheeler used to come with a rice supply for the refugees. Then he said, "This is how sometimes 00:16:00we get food. The surplus rice, they will sell some to take it ourself and our family. So we could go when the truck comes and we help unload the truck. Then we'll get money and you could use that money to go to Freetown," because he knew my background. He even knew this American lady. Most of my friends, because of this American lady's support, I had respect. Once they know you have someone to get cash, to give you cash, we are good. So we say, okay, we will work, your money and my money, we use it to go. So as God would have it, the lorry came. We unloaded it. But I worked so hard, so they gave me an extra bag of rice. I told the driver, "Hey buddy, I want to go to Freetown but I don't have cash." He said, "You worked so hard, we will take you free." So I left the rice with my friend and I jumped on the lorry.

But then there was a rumor around Freetown that people are planning war. So they 00:17:00are afraid any new Liberians get in, you are in trouble. And once the lorry leaves the border in the morning, then obviously, [unclear]. Jesus, I was afraid, but I couldn't do anything. I got on board but I couldn't speak because I didn't want anyone to hear my Liberian accent. As God will have it, we reached around six in the morning. I was so happy. We got into Freetown. Was up a hill and [unclear] music was playing. I heard a chord of music. Just lucky to me, music was playing. I was dusted up, I didn't want to walk before I got arrested and after I speak, my accent will get me into trouble. So I just started walking 00:18:00slowly by the road. Then I saw one police car. I saw a police fellow. I walked to the police, I said, "Look, I want to go to the Red Cross, I have a sister there." And actually my sister's friend was working there, one Dr. Rose McCauley, which was a very good friend to Laurie Ackerman as well. The police car, I had the photo in my pocket with my sister being awarded with all the Peace Corps [unclear]. That was a nice photo. When I showed it to the police guy, he had a little trust, said okay, this guy might have a good background. So he said okay. The police guy's name was Timbo. He said, "You know what? The Red Cross office--you have your fare?" I said, "Yes." He said, "You have my fare as well?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Give me all two." When I give it to him, we're just a few meters away, walking distance, not even five minutes' walking distance, and we just went around a building and the guy said, "That's the Red Cross office." I was happy. I went there and I spent the whole day--Dr. McCauley 00:19:00went to the border also to see if she could send some money back to her family. Then I spent the whole day--but when I arrived at her house, Dr. McCauley's husband was in. He knew me very well, but for the fact I was just coming from the [unclear] and huge, he expected me to be [unclear] from the walk to the country. But I was so big. He was shocked in hearing news about the rebels might come into Freetown, so I guess he suspected me to be one. So he kept asking me--he didn't want me to enter. I said, "But I'm Mary Momolu's brother, I came to Dr. McCauley to see how she could get me in touch with Laurie." He said, "I know you, but why?" Just said that his son--when we used to go to the house before the war in Liberia, I used to carry candy and biscuits. So the kid, I think Nick was something like ten or eleven years old. I just saw him pop his 00:20:00head from behind his dad. He said, "Oh, Sorsor, Sorsor, Sorsor!" And he ran to me and grabbed me by the hand and pulled me. That's how his father gave way. I entered.

At night, Dr. McCauley came. She said, "Sorsor, I passed the Red Cross office and they said you were here. It's great to see you." She embraced me. She said, "We'll go tonight to get in touch with Laurie." Freetown was kind of--they had criminals a lot. They said, "You're sure you think we can make it?" I said "Yeah." So what I did, I just did some push-ups, took off my shirt, tied it on my waist, muscular, and we walked a good distance. We went to Slate [note: possibly Slone]. That's how the telecom was called, Slate. We went there and she made a call. I was standing by her and she told the lady, "Guess who is here with me?" She said, "I can't guess." She said, "Sorsor, your son." I heard her 00:21:00screaming. She could not [unclear], she was out of words. So she said, okay. The following day she sent me some money and I swear, Dr. McCauley, I swear.

The story is long. To just cut long out of short, the few times I spent with Dr. McCauley, it was kind of difficult to get gasoline or diesel in Freetown at the time, so almost everyone had two cars. No matter how much money, you have to say we'll get five gallons, so then the other vehicle gradually in the queue--spend a few days. So that was the work I was doing for them. I used to stay in the cube [unclear]. Fuel, and get the other car refueled. So they kind of got adjusted to me. But my sister was dying back. And I was getting adjusted to the nice life over there. I even met a friend that we were in school, the boarding 00:22:00school, BWI [Booker Washington Institute], together. Did he know this guy was part of the ethnic group that were being killed in Liberia, the crime group? I didn't know, but I was just worried. And we went to get the refugee fuel with Dr. McCauley. I just heard from the queue from the back, "George, turn around!" It was Patrick Parker, my friend. I was so happy. He told me, he said, "You knew I was a Krahn?" I said, "No! But thank God you are alive." So we decided to work things together.

But then we started hearing the rumor that a war might break out. He already told me, his tribesmen, the Krahn, were kind of putting together to get back to Liberia from Waterloo in Freetown. He told me, he said, "My family, we are educated, we are not up for that stuff, so we might try to go to Ivory Coast." I 00:23:00said, "Okay, but then let me get back to my sister, I have some money to take." Well, how do I take the money back to my sister? There were so many checkpoints along the route from the bush to [unclear]. They search you everywhere down to the shirt collar. Rip it open, the hem of the trousers, rip it open. So where could I keep the money? The whole night I was thinking. I thought of something. The African slipper is layers of leather comparted together and they sew it around. But if I put the money in there and have the pair of slippers, someone might say, "This is a nice slipper," someone might take it. And my money is gone. So I got only one foot and threw the other one away. So even the one, I had to rub it on the cement to make it rough and dirty so that it wouldn't be attractive, put it in the bag. That's how I was able to get over a thousand 00:24:00dollars, United States dollars from Laurie Ackerman, to my family.

To getting up, they started making business. My sister got a job with MSF [Medecins Sans Frontieres] and gradually she excelled to the UN [United Nations]. In 1992, I made my way to Ghana to the refugee camp. From Sierra Leone at this time, I made my way to Ghana to the refugee camp on a boat called Camco Star, which is a big fishing boat with no navigation set. I almost died from sea sickness. If I wasn't a bodybuilder and really huge, I would have died. Because I was on the deck, I threw up so much. We spent almost a month. I threw up so much and got thin, and at certain times I could not even sit upright, and people would come from underneath when it's raining and check, well, he's not dead, he is alive. Bless God, I made it to Ghana. I'm just a blessed person. When we got 00:25:00to Ghana, they said, no, Camco Star can't stay there. It's from Nigeria, you have to go with everyone onboard. And there was a peacekeeper, a Ghanaian guy, soldier. He kept checking on me, but when he saw my suitcase, a nice suitcase, and I spoke to him of this American lady as well, he said, okay, when we get to Ghana, I will take you to my home until you can find a hotel and get in touch with your American sponsor. As we got there, while this confusion was going on, they had to send the boat back. He got me from the deck, he carried me to his house. I took some treatment and he showed me Buduburam Camp. I went in the camp. And once he told anyone in the camp that you have a sponsor in the States, the mail system, the American mail system called AMS, that's what they used to 00:26:00have. So I went, I met the nurse, I talked to her. She was in photograph, she took of me. The following day I went to call--in Ghana they have certain [unclear] ministries where they used to process the AMS. Get your particulars. You want to send money through the mail, you receive it from there. I still have some of the copies of the document, and I think I have a photocopy of the checks. So Laurie started sending me money again, and I built a little place in Buduburam Camp. I started living a nice life.

Then I came back to Liberia in 1994. In '94, '95, '96, another war started called April 6th that was deadly again in the city. My problem was I'm fit. I wouldn't want any kid to come hitting on me, pushing me around. So every now and 00:27:00then I used to escape. So when this one started in '96, we called it April 6th War. It was April 6th, 1996. By this time I had spent some time in Ghana, I [unclear] my own place, and I took my sister's children along. I think those guys were six or seven of them and I have a half-brother. We're very close. I told him he could go along. He said yes. He went with me. So I took all these guys in at the house. Guess what happened? My American sponsor, Laurie, now she's Laurie Gulaid. She and her husband moved to Ghana. Her husband was working with the UN, called Jama Gulaid, with two kids. Mariam was three and Sophia was one. So as soon as I got there, I got in touch. I went to the UN office, met Mr. Gulaid and he drove me home, in a one hundred percent American home, and they 00:28:00accepted me. I lived with them. And my sister's children, [unclear] Buduburam Camp, they were there, and this woman--I think she came up from--no, I wouldn't call this [unclear]. I got admission, a boarding school called [unclear]. The first set went there, and the other one went to Abuakwa State College in Kibi. They call the place Kibi. So they were all in school through the help of Laurie Ackerman, and every month my sister used to send--look, look, I asked for seven. She used to send a grand; each person a hundred dollars. Then the change, gave it to Laurie, and I tell you what, that family was open to me and I had a key to their savings and I put $300. If I get it all, I would get a receipt. And guess 00:29:00what my niece and nephew did? Laurie was so nice to me. She brought clothes from the [United] States, gave me cash, so I was a [unclear]. And she tried for me to get to school in Ghana but it didn't work too well because I refused to change my course. I decided to only stay machinery and mechanical engineering, which I could not get easily, which I actually did well. I went to Ghana University. I took the entrance but I could not do that course. I went to [unclear]. I could not go to that particular area. That was the delay, and I kept growing in her home, taking care of the children. She wasn't happy that I wasn't in school, so she said, "Sorsor, we have to do something, you need to see how you can get back to school." I was aging, so I had to come back. My nieces and nephew kept 00:30:00writing back, when they see me in good clothes, I sit and drink a couple of beers, they assume it was the money my sister was sending for them. I was using. So they wrote bad letters back to my sister. She was so upset she came to Ghana to me. Two sisters of mine, they came and got their children. One is late now, [unclear], she's late. Quite recently she died. They came and they were so upset. So I had to come from Accra, I was in the home of Laurie; good-looking again. When they appear, I just wore the whole suit, sneakers, everything. When I appeared my sister asked me, "Who bought these clothes for you?" She's asking a grown-up, "Who bought these clothes for you?" I said, "Why should you ask me that?" The first time I fled Liberia, I brought three suitcases, I surprised 00:31:00everyone. You ask me who bought these clothes,. I said, "What?" She called me outside. She said, "The children gave me a letter. This is what [unclear] wrote. Your brother always having a nice time, boozing all around, buying big clothes. So that's why." I said, "Okay." I took her in, and my brother was close to a British guy called Wickerson. I think that's his full name. He used to play golf and my brother used to caddie for him. So we got over there. The guy had Wickerson's number. Wickerson sent him five hundred British pounds I think two or three days before my sister came. I said, look--I told my sister, "I wouldn't tell you how much I usually get as per diem or how Laurie is taking care of me, but the house you see your children in, you have a lot of friends of yours have their children here paying rent." She told me, "I'm sorry, thanks for that." So 00:32:00we cut it short. Then I showed her the photocopy of Wickerson's check to five hundred pounds. I said, "This is just from a friend. We're respectful to people and they recognize it. We're benefiting from it on this refugee thing. That's why you see me like this and you see my brother like that. We're done with it." But I didn't forget and I must admit I have a bad habit of that. If you treat me bad, I will pay you back regardless of how long it takes. I must be very bold. So it took a while and when Laurie and myself decided I should come back, she gave me five hundred dollars for my sister. She gave me a lot of money. I said, okay, now, I did all the good. I was considerate, not fair, [unclear] now I will apply it to work. [unclear] I will do it. And I used her money. I used it--my brother was kind of afraid. I say, no, I mean it. When I came I told her, I 00:33:00said, "Laurie gave me five hundred. But I always did my best and it's not good. It hurts. But this time I used it. She burst into tears. That's it, and we're together.

Since that time I've been around. My sister, Mary, helped me to get a job, driving job. She said, "We have to find something for you, you're a good driver." I have a friend called Dr. Carter who had been trying to put on a radio station called [unclear], but later it became the best radio station, called Star Radio. Eventually, the government closed it. So she helped me get a job with them. Be so nice. Be so nice and hard working. I used to drive for the manager. Be so nice and hard working. Mr. George Banner was the manager of the radio station and in 2001 the government shut it down. I didn't leave. I was a 00:34:00member of the skeleton staff. Some friends used to say, hey, you don't have a home to go. There's no job, you are not getting paid. You're serving everyone, sleeping there, you don't sleep home. But I didn't respond to them and it didn't even take long. There was a chief technician, Greg Kentz. His name was Greg Kentz. His wife started working at the US Embassy as the Ambassador's Help--how do you call that program--the Ambassador Self-Help Program. She was the coordinator of it. Every time they went up-country, they got stuck. She told her husband, "I think I need to get Sorsor over so that he can be taking me up-country," and that's how she came for me. She got me. She said, "Would you 00:35:00like to go to the US Embassy?" I said, "Yeah!" And she just had a document set for me because I took them from Liberia; I drove them to Abidjan. Their kids from the States wanted to see bad roads and experience it because they talked to them a lot about bad roads in Liberia. They asked if I knew the route, and my time in Ghana, I used to travel by road and come to Liberia. So I knew the route. From Liberia south was very bad. Bad, muddy road. So they asked me and I said yeah, so I drove them from Liberia to Abidjan, so they had a document. It expired just in time when the US Embassy driving vacancy came up, so she got me and she took me in 2001. That's how I got the US Embassy job. But this one, if it wasn't because of God and her, I wouldn't have gotten it. She took me there, 00:36:00I got the form. She was with me. I got the form but they had a plan, she was done with the job, they planned to go back to the States. It was just a week she took me in. The HRO [human resources officer], I don't want to mention names, had someone for that space, and at the time when they took me, I was the youngest in the motor pool, supposed to be the youngest in the motor pool. So the HRO decided to wait. When she left, then she can take whosoever she wants, then I'm out. But it took a little while before I took the form in. They gave me a date and it was the date I took the form to the US Embassy, the form outside on the wall. I called her, called the HRO, and she took the phone. I said, "This is George Momolu, I have the employment form." She said, "Oh, I remember, I remember. Disregard, we have someone already," and dropped the phone. I didn't know anyone. I turned around, my eyes got dark, I got drunk automatically. I 00:37:00could not walk. I held onto the wall. Until the security came and patted my shoulder and said, "Hey, people don't stand here, go across there." I was walking and all of a sudden, as God would have it, the lady came to collect some document to the US Embassy. I was at Gate 2 and she was at Gate 1. She saw me from the back and told the security, call that guy; if his name is Sorsor, let him come. So I heard the security, "Sorsor!" I turned around. I spotted Gena Kence was her name, Gena Kence. I ran to her. I was out of breath. I ran to her, I was out of breath. I said, "I just called the HRO, this is the form. They say they've got someone." She asked for feedback [unclear]. It was the first time I entered the US Embassy, straight to the HRO's office. She had some fruit in the plate. [unclear] She was surprised to see me and Gena came standing. The lady 00:38:00asked, "What did you say to this guy?" I will be straight with what she said in Liberian English, and she started blasting, "Hey! What told you the--what did you tell the lady?" Liberian English, it means, "what did you tell this lady?" "You're a countryman!" [unclear] made sure I kept quiet. When she was done speaking, the lady collected all the forms and took me to the admin [administrative] office to the GSOs [general service officers]--say exactly what happened. She told them, she's taking me in. She and her husband are responsible for me in case of anything. She trusts me. Would she please hire me. That's how I got in. That is about the US Embassy job. I have been there for the past sixteen years accident-free.

Then the Ebola came in. About Ebola, I don't know if I have much to say because I experienced a little bit of the war here. Even 2003, I didn't leave the country. That was the end of the war because I was in the US Embassy compound, that's all. I did not leave. But if I was out, I was out there. But the worst part was that I had a kid now. Since I had a good job with the US Embassy, I decided to get a family and I had my first son. He's fourteen now, and I named him after the American lady's husband. His name is Jama, J-A-M-A. That's my son's name after. I used to call the American lady's husband Uncle Jama and that's his name, Jama Gulaid. He was out there just [unclear] one. And 2003 was 00:40:00the end of the war here. But when people are shooting guns, sending rockets, other stuff, and they are firing a gun, you will get away. You will move. You know they are coming close. You leave when they get closer. You will try to go farther where you can seek refuge. But for Ebola, where will you go? You don't even know. You are afraid to move and other people don't want you to even move from one point to the other. They don't know what you are bringing. So once you get out of your house, get into the taxi, you will handle the door to open the door. You don't know who has touched that--you are going to touch it. I mean the Ebola was just deadly. You don't know how to think. Worst of all, in African society, they stress. Stress gives you a headache. Hygiene level. Most people, 00:41:00they don't have the facility, so the hygiene level is low. You get diarrhea from that. So headache, diarrhea. Body pain is just something the poor Africans--it's part of their life every day. Then that became the symptom of Ebola. So for Ebola, it's just hard, hard. It was bad. What I saw, whether you were affected or not, you suffered from it. You can't move. Even if you have an ordinary headache, within yourself, you say, I wonder if I have contracted Ebola.

I'll tell you a personal experience of mine, it's quite the reason I started telling people that Ebola was so severe. My son, almost every entertainment 00:42:00place was closed. Guest houses were closed. Shopping centers, a few used to be open but everyone was just mindful. So I had a little entertainment place close to my place. The weekend, I decided to take my kids there to get a soda. Then across the street, a guy was selling the young coconut with the jelly. You know when it's really young, it feels like jelly in there. My son said he wanted one. I got hand sanitizer, sterilized it. Even when you bought the soda you have to sterilize it and you have your palms soaked with the sanitizer. That's how we move. Even sitting in the chair, the arm rest, you have to use it. We were practically having showers with sanitizer around here. [laughter] So I bought the jelly. He was drinking the soda, it was Sprite. He opened the coconut, and 00:43:00guess what? He drank the coconut water and left half and poured the Sprite into the coconut and mixed it, he drank that stuff. We went home. It was in the morning around 1:00 am or 2:00. It was quiet. He started throwing up and defecating on himself. That paranoia was just--if it was in the day, I would have gotten in trouble one hundred percent, say Ebola symptoms. Throwing up and defecating on himself on the bed. And guess what? You are not supposed to touch a person but that's my first son. I prefer we go together. I didn't tell anyone. I just hugged him. He was throwing up on me and defecating on me; I'm wiping him. I usually carry in my backpack--I suffer from upset stomach frequently once 00:44:00I eat out, so I'm always having some medication. I had this one called lemon tea, it's mostly for diarrhea. You're supposed to take one. I gave him four. He took four and eventually in the morning, I mean the whole house was messed up. I didn't tell anyone. I just told the office here I was not feeling good, and I went a week out. In the morning, I wrapped everything up, I buried--they had a banana usher [note: phonetic] somewhere, so I buried it there. Got in the shower. Bathe him. And waited. Through the day, he ate. He didn't lose appetite. Everything was okay, the following day was okay. [unclear] he didn't get sick anymore, so it was okay. But I thought, if someone just saw it or if I told 00:45:00someone, forget it. It would have forced us to the Ebola center. They would have forced us there and maybe he didn't have Ebola, maybe he would have contracted it there or what have you. So sometimes, the whole Ebola stuff, based on the situation in your location and who you're dealing with--our first son, people got into trouble like that. That was the [unclear].

Then when Joe Forrester came, I was driving him, the CDC guy. The first place we went, I think it was Ganta, the first place we went. I mean the whole southeastern region, I said we have fifteen counties, we went to thirteen. The only ones we didn't go to were Tugmanburg, [Bomi County], and Grand Cape Mount 00:46:00[County]. They're just right around here. But the rest, we went to all. But the southeastern region was kind of calm because they had a security system, and even the people in the county like Samuel, the superintendent, he used to get in his vehicle and drive commercial vehicles coming in. [unclear] it didn't really affect them as it affected us in Monrovia. Lofa was deadly. Then he took me to Foya. We went to Foya, the worst place. When we got there, he told me not to get out of the car. I will try to bring up some of those photos or just put them on a stick and send it to you. And the roads were so bad and muddy, the accidents. As much as we had Ebola, we didn't go for it. The vehicle would slide from the 00:47:00hill completely overloaded with passengers, and they dump. Another vehicle will start, you see people helping people out. [unclear] We didn't actually go into that, but sometimes we used to spend hours before we get around.

We got to Foya. I saw I think eight pick-ups loaded. Whether it was patients or what, but loaded where you could see they were sick. Everyone was standing by the side of the road, sad. He told me not to get out. He got out, he went to the center. He spent hours. We drove back. It was really, really, really deadly. Went to a lot of places but it wasn't as hard as it was around Monrovia and Lofa. We even went to Voinjama. Then I met the [unclear] guy. He walked over to me on Dr. Forrester's work. Went to get some water, and he walked over to me. He 00:48:00said, "My brother, thank the American government for CDC, but I've got a problem. I'm a high-ranking person within the Muslim community here but the problem is our culture is creating problems for us now. A lot of people started getting annoyed with him. They were not on good terms. But he just played cool. There he told me--I didn't know it but he said, if for example he sees a high-ranking person, that you have a little bowl with pour water in it, that's the last blessing. That water came from the body of a dead person in that, you dip, you wash your hand in it for the final blessing for the dead because he was a high ranking person. He said, can you imagine that? He said, that is a plan. 00:49:00He wouldn't do that and in fact, his children, they are backing up, even he himself backing up a little bit from most of the ritual stuff they perform. He told me that personally. I joke him. I hold him, I said I didn't know that if a high-ranking person dies, mostly from they shower them, they will pour that particular water in something or dip their hand for a final blessing. He told me that. But it was really, really, really great working with CDC and I'll tell you what: the Liberians didn't take anything for granted. They respected all, any part of what we were told. If you wanted [unclear] Everyone was really afraid. We had a war, but the Ebola war was deadly and everyone was enemy to Ebola, so 00:50:00we just had to fight it as we were taught by CDC. What next?

Q: Thank you. This has been really wonderful sitting and listening to you tell me your life story and about Ebola. That's amazing. Would you be able to describe Joe Forrester a little bit?

MOMOLU: Yeah. Joe Forrester physically, you see him. I think he told me he's a soldier. I don't remember that quite well. His name is Joe Forrester, but he's physically fit with a little bowed leg. Bald headed, but he didn't grow hair. But you know, when somebody is bald, whether they grow hair or not, you know. I mean it's not--I wouldn't call it--he's fit. He's not too much muscular but if 00:51:00he was, you see him running. And sometimes when I can't stop, he's moving around the car to help me. He's a real fit man. A little bald. He's about my height.

Q: What's he like as a person?

MOMOLU: Ah, words can't express it. He's a very intelligent guy. Sometimes he writes me. Let me name this guy--Joe first and Karlyn [D. Beer] was the second. Then another Colleen [B. Scott] and another guy called Jay [Joseph N. Roth]. I have their full names. I will give you them. Jay, but I think it's his initial. I will recall his full name. Then, oh, a lady, another one of this [unclear] for me, Jennifer L. [Hornsby-Myers]. I will get their names, their addresses, and 00:52:00lately the other lady in fact took us for lunch here, she's Kimberly Richards. That was the very last, one of the last CDC. And here you are, I wouldn't say the last, but the very last, Kimberly Richards. She was a soldier. We went to Gbarpolu [County] and we used to jog together and she showed me her photos, being promoted her and stuff. That was an active soldier. Kimberly Richards. I have the names of all of them. All of them I will tell you, not just Joe, but I didn't come across--I worked with the embassy very long. Some people come, they don't talk to you, you guys go on. But you know, a driver driving you and you don't even ask any questions, you don't speak to him, he doesn't really feel free. All the CDC employees that I came across, they are wonderful people. I 00:53:00don't know whether there's a special training you guys go through, [laughter] but they are wonderful people like the Peace Corps. I understand that because I was [unclear] about one of them. They had a good record here. [unclear] The CDC, I hope you guys are still around for a long time or I will say forever and have a base here. CDC are great people.

Q: Thank you very much for saying so.

MOMOLU: Thanks, it's really wonderful meeting you.

Q: It's wonderful meeting you as well.

MOMOLU: And best of the best. Thanks to Karlyn Beer, I appreciate that.

Q: Of course, Karlyn's backpack.

MOMOLU: We will always keep in touch, and I would like to have your address as well.

Q: Of course.

MOMOLU: I will keep in touch with you and I pray to my team, my job, and keep 00:54:00going on.

Q: Is there anything else you wanted to say before we conclude the interview?

MOMOLU: I will just say thank God I met the CDC family and it was good that you came to conduct this interview. God bless CDC.

Q: Thank you very much, Sorsor. It's been a privilege listening to you, so thank you.

MOMOLU: You're welcome.

[break]

MOMOLU: What was really, really interesting about driving the CDC group, and even me, is that the group I drove all those months were not--I would call it fortunate to really go where you see Ebola patients lying down or you see them being carried. Maybe the CDC Americans, they saw some. Because I always used to tell them, I stay around the car. I didn't really move around with them. They 00:55:00saw a lot. But in the street, where to see someone--it used to happen a lot of places, but I didn't see some together with them. There was only one occasion that was--so the southeastern side. We left from [unclear, sounds like "Motonko"] in [unclear], heading for [unclear]--I don't remember the village name quite well. We were by the car. And we went up to a house. They stayed ever so long, over three hours. There was a passenger on one other vehicle, a UN vehicle, he wanted to buy a beer. He saw the sign. He said, "Come walk with me. Let's go get a beer." I said, "No, I can't get a beer, especially when I'm driving." And besides, if you drink a beer, you want the windshield up, it was raining. You carry beer [unclear] in there. "I don't want to embarrass you, but 00:56:00you might get into trouble for putting people's life at risk." So he said, "Just walk with me."

While I'm passing this building, the owner of the place called. She said, "Hey, good friends, come." Then I walked to her. She asked me what's my name. I said, "My name is Sorsor." She said, "Are you from Lofa?" I said, "Yes." She said, "Oh yeah, I'm from Lofa too." Then I spoke Loma. I asked her, "What's your name?" In Loma. And she [unclear]. I said, "Walk with me over there." She says, "I saw you guys." I say that I'm going to a place. And she spoke Loma to me, "Don't go there. We should not go there." She was the girlfriend of the town chief, and the town chief, they are hiding the town chief because he is sick. They don't 00:57:00know whether it's Ebola or not, but he's been sick for a while. All in Loma. The plan went anybody comes, we should not expose them. But [unclear]. I said, "Oh, thanks." She said, "No problem, I can get a beer for you guys at another place." Well, she just told me she's the girlfriend of the town chief. And he's sick. Would you like to accept something from that girl? Who knows--so I told her, "You just told me that," and she said, "That's true. I'll call one of my kids." She said, "We're all getting really worried." Who knows whether you're affected or not? Eventually, we spent the day--I think we went there around 11:00 am, and 00:58:00we left from there almost 6:00 pm. And eventually, they were able to convince the guy and the caretaker to take him to Sinoe [County], and he died. Because I followed the story. It was Jay and the other Karlyn, I have their full name. On that stuff, I have the photograph of them as well. When they came they were washing under their feet, their hands, other stuff. The one that I drove, he was standing, his back was turned in the midst of the people, I took that photograph. He told me I should try to send something. Actually, you see for this, I will make sure, this is the [unclear] that Karlyn bought for me. [unclear] It's freezing. That's why I got all this stuff staying in it.

Q: What was it like talking to your kids, like Jojo, about Ebola? What could you 00:59:00tell them?

MOMOLU: Probably they heard of it a lot, but they didn't--they knew it was a killer disease. I was always out there, so I didn't leave them in my community because it was around the community. Their mom and myself are not together, I'm a single parent of two. So I talked to her, I said, "Look. Your community is safe in Monrovia here, we haven't heard of any sign of Ebola being around us, so could you take the kids while I'm out there?" She agreed. After a few weeks, she decided to send them to their uncle without my knowledge. The same day she sent 01:00:00them, the case number [unclear]. So the same day she sent them, I was in Maryland. My phone rang. I pulled over. I used to worry a lot out there. I pulled over and answered the call, and I heard Jojo. Because her brother is kind of shy, and he knows I think of stuff very fast. So I heard Jojo. Just in a Liberian way. She said, "Papa, our Mom sent us to Uncle Kujo's place. We are [unclear], speaking on somebody's phone. We are not at our place." I said, "Okay. I'll call her right away." Then I told her [Jojo's mother], "I want to speak to Jojo." She said, "Oh, I just--" I said, "Stop right there. Go for my kids now. I know where they are. They just talked to me on the phone. Go for them. I will call tonight, I will call you and I will ask them." She did, she 01:01:00went for them. She carried them. I said, "I'm afraid for the kids to go out, and you send them to another community? No! Absolutely not. Don't do that." So that's just what I did. They didn't really see anyone, they didn't move around, but they're always scared.

The story seems to be almost in every community, the death of some family member, someone would know someone that died. But then, guess what? I don't know how true is that, but from my point of view, the embassy staff, I know nobody died, and I don't even think anyone died connecting to the family of some employee. I didn't hear--if it happened, I didn't hear it. But for the staff, no. From the motor pool, one guy passed after Ebola, but he died from a stroke. An old friend, one Jeff Cooper. But it wasn't Ebola.

Q: What did the other drivers--what were their experiences like? Do you know?

MOMOLU: Some actually went out, but during the real Liberian--the heat of the Ebola, I was out there a lot.

Q: Do you know if they have similar opinions about CDC?

MOMOLU: I will tell you yes. CDC has been here awhile and almost every driver drove them. I would say yes. It's just the [unclear] is really, really difficult, I was close, and we spent real time together. I was close to them.

Q: Can you also tell me a little bit about--what Karlyn told me was that you--you taught her a lot, basically. You taught her about the country and you 01:03:00were just a really good resource for learning about people. Can you tell me about that aspect of it?

MOMOLU: Karlyn is a person--it is just the second day I'm spending with you. If you and myself went as far as the time Karlyn and I spent together, you would be wearing the same shoes, too. You ask questions. The thing is if you don't ask someone questions, try to get to all the aspects of the livelihoods of the citizens, it's kind of difficult. You need someone to pinpoint what aspects they want to go through. Karlyn is the kind of person, she sees things--she observes a little bit and comes closer to the answer. She tells me, "You look at that person, you can tell me what ethnic group they are from?" Those are the kind of questions she asked. What ethnic group they are from? I got some right and we confirmed it, and some I didn't get it, but those are the kinds of questions. You just look at the person's appearance, how do you know? Then I said, 01:04:00sometimes, you move forward to them. I'm a Liberian and for me, if I speak, if anyone listens to this interview and knows I'm from Lofa, my accent. Because I didn't speak English when I was a child. Up to six, I spoke the vernacular. Then after that, your tongue. So when I speak to a typical Liberian man, they'll say, "This guy's from Lofa." I applied that to when she asked. I will work with them, [unclear], and I will get some right. But some, some guys, they are eloquent enough. My kids, they don't speak any dialect, so for people to see them, except for their names, they will just speak [unclear]. She was a person who would ask specific questions that will drive you to what answer you will give and we spent a long time. As I said, we would drive some people, they don't talk. They just 01:05:00do their work, get in the car to the next place. They don't really frown, but they're serious, focused on their laptop or making notes. But Karlyn is not like that. I'll tell you, most drivers, especially driving--let me be blunt, a white person, you have to be careful or sometimes you feel inferior.

Q: Sometimes what?

MOMOLU: You feel inferior. You don't want to make mistakes. But she does not [unclear]. She comes down to Earth, makes you feel free. That's how I really like her, I took to her. She's a nice person and she creates the avenue for someone liking her. Yeah, for someone really liking her. You see? I was a driver 01:06:00in [unclear], I dealt with a lot of Americans. Your culture is kind of different, the cultural barrier is different. The kind of person Karlyn is, so down-to-Earth, and a pretty young girl. If you are not smart, just an ordinary person, you're not thinking twice, you would think you would want to go in for some relationship which you will blow off, you get into big trouble. That's the difference, what I notice about Americans. They come, they make you free and [unclear]. For here, girls don't come like that. When they come like that, you feel okay, this girl likes me. Boom, he goes in. For our culture. But that side, no. It's a free working relationship for you to relax and work fine. Some people 01:07:00make that mistake. But she's a lively person. I learned all of this from Laurie Gulaid. She was so nice and helpful.

Q: Is Laurie still living?

MOMOLU: Oh yeah! I think she is in South Africa. Her full name is Laurie Anne Gulaid. She's still alive, still alive, we communicate once in a while. Karlyn, Karlyn was great. Karlyn, Joe, Jay, another Karlyn. And the first guy I went with, his name was Adam. It was Adam, Karlyn, and I. And Adam left soon. And she and myself left on a trip, came and went back. So many times.

One time she said she wanted to [unclear] Grand Gedeh [County]. She said she wanted to be in Maryland inside of eight hours. She wanted to be in Maryland by 11:00 am. I said "Okay, Karlyn." The road was extremely bad. No car was allowed to move from one county to the other one, but we had an immigration clearance because it was CDC. And because it was CDC, sometimes we would get to a village and the road is bad, but there's an alternative route to pass between the houses to go. The villagers wouldn't allow it. But once we got there and we moved straight through them, and I will tell Karlyn to stay. And whoever is the leader, I say, "Follow me. CDC is here to help us for Ebola. They can help for Ebola, giving ideas." It's one of them I'm thinking, then I will come to the car, speak to her, and then they will allow us to pass through the village, show 01:09:00us the route. And pass by the mud.

When she said she wanted to be there at eleven, I said "Okay, fine. The roads are very bad but I'm sure I can make it. Wake up at 3:00 am, and we will start." She said, "Sure." I say, "Okay." So we got up at three, we jumped on the vehicle, I started going. Something I found out, [unclear] village, there was an alternative route. But what the villagers did, they used that route in the day, opened it out. When a vehicle passes, they pay. But when they go to bed, then they plant trees with leaves and block it, you wouldn't know there is a route through there. So you're forced to go in the mud and get stuck, and once you're stuck, they hear the car vrooming in the mud and they come help pull you out. 01:10:00You pay. [laughter] So I passed it, I didn't see it. Fell straight in the mud. I went deep, I got stuck. I came up. She was kind of taking a nap. When she heard the car stop, she says, "Sorsor, what's all this mud? Are you sure we can make it?" I say I can make it. [unclear] those guys heard the vrooming sound, and she's sort of like, "Who are those guys?" I say, "They are villagers. They come to help." "Are you sure?" "I'm sure, relax." So the guys, they hit a flashing light on me. They say "Hey, big brother! You stuck?" I say, "I think so." They say, "Okay. Try. If you can't move, we'll come." And I try, I back up. And they say "Okay, this is the deal. We'll show you the route, go through the town, and you give something." I say, "I'll give you a five." They say hey, come come come. They pull the trees out of the road and we went through it. Karlyn said, 01:11:00"Wow, these guys." [unclear] We made it by eleven.

Q: I know that you have ten-hour days, which already is a long day, that you work. During Ebola, were you working longer hours?

MOMOLU: No--when I get out there, that's how I work. I tell you, "My boss, forget about hours." Once I eat, then I'm done. I will just eat snacks. I will work extra hours. The problem is I will talk to them, they won't even consider how much hours we were working for. That's how Karlyn and I were looking. Can you imagine if I start that early, 3:00 am, and we get there--we work very hard and have a nice time. After hours, then we'll go. We had this as our code. "You 01:12:00need to lunch?" "I think I need one or two." And we'll go have one or two lunches. To bed, and in the morning, we start. Sometimes when she rests, she says, "Did I miss lunch?" I say, "Me too, I missed lunch." We used to work extra hours through. She was a good person.

I think CDC even wrote an award for me. Fine, there was an--I think supervisor or dispatcher called Jucinta. She had this girl name. They wrote an award--Joe Forrester wrote, I think a couple of them wrote an award for me. I didn't drive Jacinta, but she saw it, she knew it. She said, "You are Sorsor, right?" [unclear] I say "Yes, I'm Sorsor." She said, "Okay, there's an award for you." Then after a year she came back. I didn't see her, she was in the new compound. 01:13:00She saw me from the back. She said, "Sorsor!" I say, "Yes." Jacinta, "Do you remember me?" But I did not tell her she has the same name as my daughter. The same name. I just shook her hand. She said, "Did you receive your award?" I said, "No. They didn't call me for anything." She said, "Uh-oh." So I don't know how really that went.

Q: Good. Perfect. Well I think that's pretty much all I have. Thank you.

MOMOLU: You're welcome.

END