Beyond the Palm Trees

Beyond the Palm Trees begins with the historic arrival of American free black slaves at what was once known as the 'Grain Coast' and is now called Liberia. It illustrates how the acquisition of land began in the country and the establishment of the Oil Palm Plantations Company, the first and largest plantation in Liberia. Beyond the Palm Trees tells the story of a young man from the country-side whose primary ambition-to marry and live a normal family life -is derailed by a series of unfortunate events, including catching his newly wedded wife in bed with another man. Later, he marries another woman who produces two, fine sons. Due to his frequent and prolonged absences from his village because of work, however, the young man one day returns home and finds his wife heavily pregnant by another man. What happens next is up to the reader to discover. This story does not reflect the true images of actual people who may still bear the actual names of its main characters: there's no entity known as the ''Oil Palm Plantations Company'' in Liberia; and although there are villages named Nyandemoh-Lahun in Lofa County, Dar-Es-Salaam in Grand Cape -mount County, and Gbakokoyata in Bong County, there is no settlement in Liberia known as ''Lopolu or Freeman Town.'' References made of Gardnersville, Bardnersville; Charlesville and other settlements are purely an illustration of fictional dimensions and have nothing to do with the reality of the present-day geopolitical divisions of Liberia.

The author is a product of the Demographic Unit of the University of Liberia and Sir David Owens Population Center in the United Kingdom. He holds a doctoral degree in social anthropology; a master’s degree in economic and social studies from the University of Wales; a postgraduate certificate in post compulsory education and training (PGCE/PCET) from Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University; and a higher diploma in psychology and criminology in the community. He is also a mental health first aider and a trained transactional analyst, specializing in stress management. The author was for many years, a school teacher at the Samuel Grimes Memorial Institute in Kakata City, rural Liberia, before becoming a senior statistician and assistant director for research and statistics at the then Liberia Ministry of Rural Development in Monrovia from 1980-1989. He was an associate tutor at the Cardiff School of Social Sciences from 2009-2011. He co-authored the research findings into the mental state of refugees and asylum seekers in Wales for the Welsh Refugee Council, entitled ＂Healthy Minds at Work,＂ published in 2009. He has served in various capacities at the Welsh Refugee Council, including inclusion officer for refugee education and training (2010-2011), policy and research officer (2011-2012), quality information officer (2012), and subsequently advice case worker (2012-2013).The author also served as volunteer international welfare officer for the British Red Cross Society in Cardiff from 2000-2007, where he assisted with the tracing and delivery of messages to people separated by civil conflicts and natural disasters. He simultaneously served as volunteer administrative assistant with Oxfam Wales headquarters in Cardiff from 2000-2007, where, among other administrative duties, he helped take phone calls from potential donors and the general public in times of natural disasters, including the catastrophic 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.