NagbeFinancial14

Some even choose to put their numbers on the ground as long as it can be seen.

This mail box is for someone who lives on a farm/rural area far from the main road

The grey box you are looking at is where all that community mails with a particular code are placed for delivery.

This is a collection of mail boxes situated in a compound of town houses.

First, please take a good look at the pictures of numbers above and try to do the same so that our children will do likewise when we are gone, dead and have left the country in their hands. Do we need foreign aid to help us put addresses to our homes? Currently, most if not all of us go to the main post office to pick up our parcels or letters; there we have to register for a post office box and number. Nothing wrong with that. But have you ever thought about how difficult or impossible it will be for you to travel to the post office or government offices or bank when you get into your 70's or when you are ill or handicapped, (even though most of us highly reach this age, which should not be the case, also) and are unable to go to the post office by yourself and that you probably have no one at home to go to the post office for you to pick up your mail or to go to the Finance Ministry to pick up your retirement checque, if there is one. Why can't your checque or slip informing you that you have some funds somewhere be delivered directly to your place of residence, or to your farm. Home delivery should not be limited to well known public places. Is the civil war the reason why? Or has it been the case long before? Because of the disorganized state of many of our communities it is impossible for a visitor to direct anyone while in Liberia, let alone in a foreign country, to a particular house in Liberia. ISN'T IT TIME to begin from somewhere by introducing the idea that most of us are already familiar with, to give our respective homes, etc., etc., an address for easy reference? Don't we know that tourists will appreciate this and would like to return, which generates revenue and jobs! One should be able to send a parcel to Liberia and then Monrovia and subsequently to a particular street or avenue or road or place or crescent or boulevard or rural road, and then to a particular house or building or farm or store or shop. If it is a building with several apartments or rooms in it, you should be able to direct it to a particular apartment or unit or suite or room in that building. It can no doubt be said that the government postal office will generate revenue from stamps issued by doing so, largely when it comes to parcel postage since the internet is gradually taking away letter posting. Until a new city can be developed with a more organized system, we have to do something now by beginning from somewhere. From now on please let us make it a habit to stop building in such disorganized and shameful manner that frustrates economic development and impedes modernization. We could at least start doing so in the following manner and not wait for the government to initiate the process:

First discuss the idea with your neighbor(s) and, with their cooperation, carve out numbers in a decent and good looking manner so that the numbers can be placed on or in front of the houses in your communities as seen above. Let the numbers be no less than 5 inches in height so that it can be seen from a good distance and could be as large as you want it. Do not write on your houses. Find a more decent way to place the numbers in front of your house, apartment, building, stores, etc. You can even set up a private business for the purpose of selling numbers that others could buy to place in front of their homes so that they will be able to receive their mails, including retirement incomes, etc, etc. right at home whenever they are sick or unable to leave their homes because of age. This process even helps to create jobs for those who are going to deliver your mail. The money to pay this person comes from stamps that will be sold, etc.

The next stage will be to establish a postal code for your communities. A postal code is that code or number that distinguishes your community form the rest in the entire country. It is similar to area code use for telephone calls. Because there may be other homes or buildings in the city that might bear your number, the postal code is what limits your number to a particular community. If your government is unwilling to accept the idea to set up a computer system where the numbers can be stored, go to your community leader and let him store your numbers to avoid duplication of numbers. Whenever a new structure or building is built the owner can then go to the community leader who will accordingly issue you an appropriate number. Again, the idea here is to make life much easier for you when you are older. An organized system like this is also good for business, i.e., the general economy.

Take a look at the above addresses. Put aside the fact that our communities are currently disorganized. Let's us at least put addresses on our structures or buildings. I am sure when we begin to realize the benefits, efforts will definitely be made to organize future construction. Or are we going to sit back and say well it's too late and face the consequences for not doing anything. For example, when you are alone and are seriously ill. You will no doubt want to call a taxi. How will the driver know where you are located. Some might say do it the African way. Call your sister or brother, etc. who knows you and where you are located. What if they don't have a cell phone or their phone is not charged at that moment. I am sorry to say this is the reason so many Africans die at a very young age, though there are a host of other reasons. This is the fact. Many lives have been lost because of the lack of appropriate direction or addresses. Most Africans have cell phones. But what good is it when help can't get to you when you make the call. Look at the following addresses and try to imitate what you see so that when your children grow up they will do the same. Isn't it time? It's been so long that we now tend to write out of frustration. So pardom me and I beg your indulgence if you are currently doing this. A community does not need much money to initiate such a policy. Let this be initiated even in the most rural parts of the country. It is simply trying to organize oneself in case there is an emergency. Simply put numbers on your structures/buildings, whatever it may be, to easily get someone to where you are located or going. The next subject we might discuss, in addition to many other important community development issues, is the importance of trees, flowers or greenery. You do not have to have an expensive house, building or environment for it to look attractive. Our parents have left us in such a deplorable state that it is difficult not to be derogatory in our remarks as we endeavor to catch up with other nations.

These pictures may look, well, beautiful as compared to our communities. The purpose here is for you to start from somewhere, by simply putting numbers in a somewhat organized manner on your buildings. If you do, rest assured that one day your communities will look the same if not better. Those numbers are not just for the sake of numbers. They go a long way towards ensuring that a community develops smoothly. IF OTHERS CAN, YES YOU CAN!