The character arc of Leymah Gbowee
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 1 February 1972 in central Liberia. Between then and now sit plans for further education interrupted by the outbreak of the First Liberian Civil War in 1989 when she was seventeen, a three month training course in counselling people traumatised by war that made her recognise her own situation, three children, life as a virtually homeless refugee in Ghana and near starvation, a week-long bus journey home taken on credit, a volunteer post in a church programme, a degree in social work, the leadership of a womens non-violent peace movement, and a Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Leymah Gbowee?
She rode home on credit. Then she organised the women.
She was born in central Liberia. At seventeen she was living with her parents and two of her three sisters in Monrovia and planning to continue her education, when the First Liberian Civil War broke out in 1989 and threw the country into chaos until 1996. That is the whole of the plan, gone, at seventeen.
As the war subsided she learned about a programme run by UNICEF that trained people to be social workers who would then counsel those traumatised by war. She did a three month training. What she wrote about it in her 2011 memoir is the important part: that training led her to become aware of her own abuse at the hands of the father of her two young children.
Searching for peace and for a way to feed her family, she followed her partner to Ghana, where she and her growing family lived as virtually homeless refugees and almost starved. Her third child was born there. She fled with all three children, riding a bus on credit for over a week, in her words because she did not have a cent, back to the chaos of Liberia, where her parents and the rest of her family still were.
In 1998, trying to get into an associate degree programme in social work, she became a volunteer in a programme run by the Lutheran Church in Liberia. That is the least dramatic sentence on this page and it is where the rest of it starts: a woman with three children and no money, volunteering, to qualify for a course.
She went on to lead the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, a womens non-violent peace movement which helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003, and her efforts alongside Ellen Johnson Sirleaf helped usher in a period of peace and enabled a free election in 2005. In 2011 she, Sirleaf and Tawakkol Karman were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for womens rights to full participation in peace-building work. Her memoir, Mighty Be Our Powers, was published the same year.
The moments
Leymah Gbowee's timeline.
The 1970s
Born in central Liberia
Everyday. Central Liberia, 1972.
The 1980s
The war, at seventeen
Setback, and it changed everything. She was planning her education. The country collapsed.
The 1990s
A three month training
Milestone, and it changed everything. Three months of training in counselling people after a war.
She recognises her own situation
Setback, and it changed everything. The course about other people taught her to see her own life.
A refugee in Ghana
Setback, and it changed everything. Virtually homeless, and close to starving.
Stay in Ghana, or go back to the war
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: go back to Liberia, taken, or stay where they were. She volunteered her way into a social work course, led a womens peace movement, and won the Nobel Peace Prize.
A bus home, on credit
Milestone, and it changed everything. A week on a bus, with three children, and no money at all.
She volunteers to get in
Milestone, and it changed everything. She volunteered in order to qualify for a course.
The 2000s
The Mass Action for Peace
Milestone, and it changed everything. A movement of women, and it was non-violent by design.
The second war ends
Milestone, and it changed everything. The war ended, and the women had helped end it.
A free election
Milestone, and it changed everything. Peace, and then an election that could be held.
The 2010s
Mighty Be Our Powers
Milestone, and it changed everything. Her own account, in her own words, in the year of the prize.
The Nobel Peace Prize
Milestone, and it changed everything. Three women, one prize, for the same argument.
The Nobel citation talks about womens right to full participation in peace-building work, which is a formal way of saying what she actually did. What she set moving began with a three month counselling course that taught her to see her own life clearly, which is a thing worth noticing about training courses.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
Hers has a bus journey in the middle of it, taken on credit, with three children and no money. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Leymah Gbowee: frequently asked questions
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What is Leymah Gbowee's character arc?
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How did Leymah Gbowee get back to Liberia?
What is the memoir of Leymah Gbowee?
Where does this timeline of Leymah Gbowee's life come from?
More character arcs
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Sources
- Leymah Gbowee, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Mighty Be Our Powers, her 2011 memoir.
- The Nobel Peace Prize citation of 2011.
- The record of the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace.