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At a shop on the border of Guinea and Liberia, a woman sells colorful fabric called lapa.
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During the rainy season, Liberia's dirt roads become mud and are often impassible.
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A small girl who looks malnourished grips a giant cucumber, standing next to a fire where bush meat is being roasted in the cage of an old fan.
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A party dress is on display in front of a school uniform. For many girls in rural Liberia, going to school is more of a fantasy than a reality.
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Two boys dance in front of a village crowd awaiting a drama group that teaches about rights and justice.
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A young boy wears a shredded rice sack as a hat.
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Even in the midst of a humid jungle, some trees don't make it.
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A woman looks suspiciously around her village.
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Most Liberian food includes a substantial amount of hot peppers.
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An old woman holds up an animal called a doo at a village market in central Liberia.
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The border between Liberia and Guinea is a series of hills.
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A camera shop advertises its services.
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An abandoned gas station on a practically impassible road in central Liberia.
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Published January 10, 2010

Some of my favorite pictures are never published. They aren't part of an assignment or a narrative, but they're what happens while I'm waiting for the assignment or the narrative. There's a lot of waiting involved in working as a journalist in Africa. Having a camera keeps it interesting. It's an excuse to wander around the periphery and peek into people's homes and people's lives. There's so much I don't understand – what's being said, what is meant, what is wanted, what is next. But somehow, making an image of these things allows for a vague recognition of the limitations of comprehension. When I ask people for permission to take a photograph, I hope I might somehow understand more than if I hadn't taken a picture.

It's a nod of appreciation to a vast landscape I'll never traverse, peppers too hot for me to eat all at once, more fabric than I can ever wear, and the juxtaposition of all these things among the random quiet of rural waiting.

Project

Justice Renewed: Liberia After War

Glenna Gordon and Jina Moore look at Liberia's efforts to restore law and justice -- for victims of sexual violence, for communities in conflict and for the nation as a whole.
February 27, 2010 / C-SPAN

Jina Moore interviewed on C-SPAN's Washington Journal program

by Jina Moore
On February 27, Jina Moore was interviewed for the Washington Journal program on C-SPAN about her reporting on Africa's land issues for the
January 30, 2010 / Christian Science Monitor

Africa's Continental Divide: Land Disputes

by Jina Moore, Glenna Gordon
Reproduced with permission from The Christian Science Monitor.
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