Love in the Time of Malaria
December 5, 2009 Leave a comment
Humanitarians are transient people. Some have extended contracts which permit their stay for as long as they can tolerate the work, local culture and living conditions. For others, like myself, the contract is fixed with a foreseeable end. In my case, I leave Liberia on Dec 23rd. This temporary understanding leads to some difficult questions.
What do you do if you meet someone you like? I mean ‘LIKE LIKE’.
Does it make sense to start something when you know you are going to leave? Is it fair to either of you to begin a relationship just to know that it must end? Is seems to make the most sense not start anything but maybe, by not trying, you are missing out on that one really important person who will change your life.
I have seen both sides of the spectrums here. I have seen couples find each other, separate and come back to the noise, congestion and chaos of Monrovia then get married and start a family. On the other end, there are those whose casual and eventual end to their time here has brought a terminal strain to the relationship.
If you do start, how do people date here? There are no drive-ins, no make-out points and a curfew of midnight. How do people date in countries of humanitarian crisis?
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