![]() "I was having anxiety and heart palpitations," he says. The idea is to grow enough rice to feed officers and to give to the poor - and also to donate "seed rice" to community members who farm.Īnother issue on Coleman's agenda is post-traumatic stress disorder, a major concern in a country that's gone through internal strife and then an Ebola epidemic. To improve community relations, Coleman created a rice farm that's run by the police in Lofa county. We are there to keep you safe."Īnd sometimes providing a meal as well. "If I was to meet a little kid and try to tell him what I did," he says, he'd tell the child: "My job to make sure that justice prevails and most importantly to assure him the police are not bad guys - we are the good guys. "It's about working with the community, going out, settling disputes." He's a big believer in leading by example, "being present every day." So it's not enough for officers to "just sit in the police station and wait for cases," he says. In Liberia, the community doesn't have great trust in the police - it's a legacy of the civil war and of past corruption. If you need any help, reach out to us.' "Įven before he came to Harvard, Coleman was changing his views about police work. ![]() By contrast, the Harvard profs "are like, 'Yes, you can do it. "In Africa, professors try to make it seem like things are difficult so you think this person is a tough teacher," he says. In some ways, Harvard turned out to be easier than school back home. "I am a slow reader," he says, "and we had to read 200 pages a night, it was taking me twice as long as others but little by little I built my speed. Then there was the matter of reading material. Click here to subscribe to our weekly global health and development email. ![]()
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