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 MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) - The street lamp that shines on the three young women as they braid each other's hair was not there six months ago. Parts of Liberia's capital now have running water, and a unit of the newly trained 2,500-strong police force has weapons for the first time to fight Monrovia's rampant crime.
One year after Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took an oath as Africa's first elected female head of state, the woman nicknamed "Mother Ellen" by her people can claim credit for small successes.
The Liberia that Sirleaf inherited in January 2006 was still overshadowed by 14 years of civil war and lacked roads, water, electricity and an army. The Harvard-educated former finance minister promised sweeping change — lighting up Monrovia, bringing back running water, enrolling children in school and stamping out corruption.
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