Liberia: The Mud That Gives Women Money

It is a busy day for Marieh Wea and her son. Ignoring the scorching sun, they knead balls of white clay dug from a swamp in Caldwell and transported to their home in Topoe Village, along the Japan Freeway, outside of Liberia’s capital, Monrovia.

This clay is the raw material for “putter”–the edible clay many people in Liberia depend on as a local food, which is mostly consumed for appetite satisfaction, particularly among pregnant women.

As a widow, Wea says this is her only source of income….