The Paramount Chief and One Wise Woman: A Liberian Tale

This tale is a love story. A very wise man, the paramount chief, meets one wise woman. She turns his life upside-down in the best kind of way, as you would expect in a love story. You’ll have to decide which one of them is the wisest. I love a good folktale and my journey with them began in Liberia where I gathered this tale as a Peace Corps Volunteer. It was so long ago and feels like another lifetime. It is dedicated to my best friend Daniel and his wife Theresa. From then unto now, Daniel has given me a friendship that spans time and distance. During my Peace Corps days, I’m told I once met Theresa, but I don’t remember it. I am just going to have to believe her. Two weeks after I left Liberia, the country fell into a civil war that lasted for fourteen years. One of the worst affected locations was my Peace Corps hometown, Zwedru. It was the region of the ousted president and therefore a target. Zwedru became a deserted ghost town for seven years. For part of the time during the war, Daniel and Theresa fled to the Ivory Coast. It wasn’t safe there either. They eventually fled back into Liberia and settled into Daniel’s home village of Tugbaken. It’s my most favorite place in the whole country. I revisited Liberia when the United States Embassy brought me back to paint murals with Ebola survivors. On that trip, I finally located my friend again. I wasn’t even sure if Daniel was alive. I’d not heard from him for a couple decades. But, we reconnected and I visited Daniel and Theresa in Tugbaken. Since then, we’ve been able to connect much more frequently. I can’t wait for them to read this Liberian love story because their story is the best real-life love story I ever saw in Liberia.