Information technicians, engineers, ex-employees of international organizations. They are the most disparate professionals—those who, by the hundreds, have decided to return from western countries to Liberia. Giving up good salaries and a well-off life in order to wager everything on a dream: the taking back of their own country after the war.

Brain Drain. The phenomenon of the brain drain has for years deprived Africa of its best brains, which have taken flight towards the western countries exploiting programs of selective, fundamental immigration to combat the progressive aging of the more developed societies. Because of the brain drain, from 1990 70,000 college graduates have left the continent every year, forcing African countries to spend millions of dollars to obtain from society and western countries those services that their own emigrants would have been able to guarantee. But something, at least in Liberia, is changing: after the election to president of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, which happened last November, hundreds of Liberians decided to put their own abilities in the service of the country.

Difficulty. Not an easy choice, seeing the objective difficulties that stand: in the capital, Monrovia, electric light was restored some months ago, and the plants furnish energy for only a few hours a day. The streets are in trouble; crime is very widespread. In short, to return has been a true and proper wager, above all for whoever has placed his family abroad. There are more than a few cases of professionals who have left spouses and children in the United States or in Great Britain to spare them too severe a shock. “I felt the need of coming back to my country, but honestly, I did not have the courage to also force a choice of that sort on my wife and my children,” declared to PeaceReporter Jonathan Campbell an information engineer who lived for 15 years in London. “But if things go as I hope, there will soon be a place for them, too, in Monrovia,” he added with enthusiasm.

Without war. Whatever the reasons doesn’t change the result: the arrival of professionals and college graduates is manna from heaven for the country, that desperately needs capital and knowledge for its own rebirth. But what are the reasons that have pushed so many people to such a difficult choice? The most expected but truthful answer gives as a reason the end of the civil war, which lasted 14 years and cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. “As soon as I knew that the war was over, I did not have a second of hesitation. It was a question of reviving my country. How could I say no?” Franklin Saygbe, a doctor who came from Anversa, sees his return to his native land halfway between a duty and a mission. “I hate wars, and to see my country destroyed was a true shock. But I could not remain in Anversa. I would never be able to forgive myself.”

Trust. It seems that the arrival of Sirleaf to the presidency may not be irrelevant to this phenomenon: the new president has given trust to the population and has revealed herself to be the best negotiator to deal with institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.  Would it have been the same if the ex-soccer player George Weah had won the election? “Probably not,” Franklin admitted. “When the electoral results were made public, I was very surprised that George had lost. Certainly there are those who remain disappointed, but at almost a year’s distance we can say that it was better this way.”