We send greetings, questions and are full of anticipation for your news!

Dear Ladies in Monrovia and Harper!

We are also very excited to have your first news!
Thanks a lot for your messages! Today we tried to find out a little more about Liberia. So we searched the internet. For us it’s very practical to meet in an Internetcafé for women. Not all of us know how to use a computer but together it’s no problem.
When we came to palaver today all of us were cold. The weather changed and it’s quite freezing now. Actually we have 5 degrees. We found out that at your place it’s 27 degrees and some of us are thinking about visiting you during winter :-)

We found out that English is the official language of Liberia and that there are many more.
Which language(s) do you speak besides English?
Among elderly people in Austria it’s not very common to speak more than German. Now this is changing a little as the children are learning at least English at school and sometimes a third language.
How is school in Liberia? Is there a compulsory education?
In Austria all children need to go to school from the age of 6 to 15 years. After nine years of school you can choose to continue until university-entrance-diploma or you start an apprenticeship. But sometimes it’s hart to find a place where you can be an apprentice to someone. Another problem is that boys and girls have very different wishes which profession they want to learn. Most of the girls want to become hairdressers, salesperson or clerk. This is a problem because those are the jobs with small salaries and little prestige. So when they are older and married thy often depend on their husbands who earn more or they are single moms and it’s hard to earn a living.

Some of you are Business Women and you wrote us you have children. Who is looking after them while you are out on the streets?

We saw your president on TV! She seems to be an amazing woman!! In Austria there are some women in politics but it’s far from sharing 50:50 between men and women. There is a discussion if government should do a quota regulation to force the parties to let participate more women. We are supporting this idea but we don’t think it will happen.

It’s great to learn you have a palava-hut! And we are looking forward to having the photos from Brigitte a lot!! Birgit showed us a photo from a palava-hut in Mali which we found especially interesting because it’s so low-ceilinged. Supposedly this is to avoid great conflicts as you can’t jump up in anger without hitting your head.
If this is true we think it’s a good concept! :-)
Birgit told us that the women who founded palaver-connected in Graz were thinking about a place like your palava-hut (for discussions, meetings, …) when they chose the name for the Internetcafé. Generally the café at palaver (not the computers) is open to men also (altought there is rarely one), but it’s first of all the women who meet and use the room. Sometimes it’s not easy to find a good way of communication as there are very different women meeting but this is on the other hand also kind of interesting. We are always trying to find solutions which fit for almost all women. There are some men and women here who think it’s not necessary for women to have a space on their own, but to us it’s very important.

No one of us has ever been to Africa except Morocco and Tunisia and as we stayed in hotels we don’t know much about peoples lifes there. Only Birgit travelled a little in Niger and Senegal. She told us some stories and we wondered if there are similarities to Liberia. How is cooking? Do you use gas, wood or coal? Is there a traditional meal?

On march 22cd is “World Water Day”. The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.
At palaver-connected provision is made for several activities to call the attention of the people on that important subject.
Austria is blessed with rich resources of drinking-water but nevertheless it’s important to care about this vital good and not to waste it for farming, pools, …
We are so used to always have clean water running out of the water-tap going to the sewer that it’s sometimes easy to forget how valuable it is.
There will be an exhibition at palaver-connected with drawings from women from many different countries which show their approach to water. Lots of articles are ready to be read by the women, …
It would be great being able to tell the women here YOUR perspective on water, like it would be a “real true story” from friends.
How is the situation concerning water at your place? Is there a difference between big cities and rural areas? Is there enough water for everyone? Is it potable or do you need to prepare it? How is the access to water?

So, once more we have many questions and are looking forward excitedly to having your news!

Best wishes from Austria!

Iris, Erika, Birgit