SAM DOE'S AMAZING JOURNEY This would be a good one for a storybook on heroic peacebuilders. The path of Sam Gbaydee Doe to peace work started with being an undergrad in Liberia heading toward a banking career; through to being a semi-starved refugee; then to studying at Eastern Mennonite University (for his MA in conflict transformation) and Bradford University in the U.K. (for a PhD); co-founding the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding; finally working for the UN in Liberia, Fiji, Thailand and Sri Lanka; ending up in NYC, helping craft policies that may affect millions in the 177 countries where the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works.
All in 20 years. Somewhere along the way, Doe married, became a father, and eventually sent his firstborn to EMU for her bachelor’s degree (she’s now in medical school). And, perhaps most remarkable of all, friends and colleagues say he’s stayed the same “Sam”: almost as skinny as he was when he first landed in the USA, wishing Americans knew that squirrels on campus spell FOOD when you’re starving; good-humored but dead serious about why he’s doing his work (to prevent and relieve suffering); down-to-earth, the opposite of arrogant; really smart, though he doesn’t make others feel stupid; and centered in his Christian faith, which seemingly keeps him from getting cynical and discouraged.
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peacebuilder fall/winter 2013-14
A child killed by adult madness Did we mention that Sam Doe is courageously compassionate? When You Are the Peacebuilder, a 2001 spiral-bound book coedited by Doe and published by CJP, contains this snippet of one of his experiences during the long years of civil war in Liberia: By July 1990 we had gone without food for nearly three months and were hiding under beds and between concrete corners most of the day. One day there was a temporary cease-fire and I decided to take a walk, just to flex my muscles. While walking around this slum community, I came across a young boy, lying under the eaves of a public school. I remember his face like it was yesterday. He was just skin and bones. I stood over him for quite a while. His mouth was open. Flies were feeding on his saliva. In a surreal moment, I raced to a nearby community to find something edible. I found some popcorn being sold for fifty cents. I bought some and dashed back to this child. I stooped over him, slipped a few pieces of the popcorn into his mouth, and waited anxiously to see him chew the popcorn and regain his strength. “Chew your popcorn, you innocent child.” I said to myself, “God has answered your prayer.” About ten minutes passed by but his little mouth remained frozen. PHOTO by Jon Styer