The Vice President Stopped by the Office

So far one of the most exciting days at the office was the day that the Vice President of Liberia, the Honorable Joseph N. Boakai, stopped by for a visit! I work for OIC International, and we have an affiliate in Liberia, LOIC. The Vice President was on the Board of Directors of LOIC for several years, and he wanted to stop by and see how things were going.

We were told he was coming at 11:00, so we all arrived by 10 to make sure we were there and everything was ready. A few of the staff from OICI and LOIC as well as the Board of Directors for LOIC waited for him in the boardroom as he was to address us first and get a tour of the facilities and compound and meet the rest of the staff.  When he came in the room he shook hands with everyone at the table, and then we all sat down. We had an opening prayer, then the Board Chair addressed the Vice President, then the Vice President spoke to us. He wasn’t what I expected. I thought he’d be tall and dynamic, but he is short and soft-spoken and moves kind of slowly and deliberately. He seemed like he was just speaking from his heart, but at first he didn’t look at us when he was speaking – he looked down at the table. As time went on, he started looking around the table.  He never visibly did anything to make me feel this way - during the tour he was very gracious to everyone, but I somehow had the feeling that even though he is older, quiet and slow moving, he is someone you don’t want to mess with.

Next we went on a tour of LOIC and OICI. When we came to OICI, the Director of LOIC introduced my boss and me to the vice president.  My boss then explained our program to the VP (using materials I helped create and put together!). He met a few more people and then went on to his next appointment for the day.

I’m not gonna lie, inside I was like, “I can’t believe this is happening!!! I was sitting at the same table with board members who are on the board because they are from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Youth and Sports , Directors of banks and other things like that and the Vice President of a country! There was only one other woman there and she was in her 60s. The rest were all men who were at least 10 years older than me! How crazy is that?!? I met the Vice President of Liberia in my first month here! I think this is going to be a good year J