Back in 2000, when I started work on these issues, I was primarily working on my organization's newsletter. Part of my responsibility was to go out into the field and try to get an understanding of what the situation was like, what the logging activities were like. The more I went out and talked with people, and saw logging actually taking place, the more I was drawn to the issue. So in 2001, I began to work full-time on logging.

It was public knowledge within Liberia at the time. All we did was pull the information together, organize it, and present it to [NGOs] and influential policymakers who were working outside of Liberia. That paved the way for more dialogue and more discussion of these issues.

As I went out more and more to talk with people, their stories were just very disheartening, traumatic in a way. I talked to villagers whose houses had been destroyed by logging companies in order to build roads through their villages, women who had been harassed and intimidated by militias belonging to those companies, and individuals who had been arrested and detained by the different militias belonging to the companies. So it kind of challenged us to ask ourselves, "What can we do to change this situation?" Even though it was a fairly difficult thing to do, we felt somebody had to do it.

When you experience the level of poverty, the level of humiliation, the widespread human-rights abuses that are being perpetrated against these people, it makes it really difficult to turn back, in spite of the risks associated with trying to bring the issue up. So we saw it as a calling, in a way. We felt we had to stand up and say, "This isn't right, this has to stop."

In our everyday work, we had to live with the fear that when [the information we were gathering] became public knowledge within Liberia, it would have very serious implications. That fear was always there. When we published our report in September 2002, that brought the issue to the forefront. Once, when [Taylor] granted a radio interview, he went off track and made very threatening comments about our work. He said that if he were ever so fortunate to lay hands on the individuals who published that report, their families would have to mourn their loss. The words he used were that their families "would have to wear black," which in typical Liberian parlance means that that person will be killed. The president himself said this.

There was no question about that whatsoever. Just listening to the comments that were thrown across the floor by the Senate, just getting a feel for the intensity of debate, the level of comments being made, there is no doubt in my mind what would have happened. Some of those who dared to challenge the system in the past actually lost their lives. Some of them went to jail. So I can only imagine what would have happened to me if I had stayed.

I had to go hang out in Sierra Leone, which ironically was one of the countries deeply affected by Taylor's war activities in Liberia. After a while, I moved on to Cote d'Ivoire -- and then Cote d'Ivoire became embroiled in a conflict, which was again promoted by Charles Taylor. So I was just running around in the West African subregion. My family was still back in Liberia, so day in and day out I had to just think about them, and stay in telephone contact with them. They laid low and things went OK, and we are all very happy that we can be together again.

All that has happened as a result of this work is a very, very powerful indication that when there is something wrong in your community, you can make a difference by standing up.

She has made some very positive moves. She has acted very boldly to cancel all [timber] concessions, at our insistence. She has put together a committee to look at the industry in a holistic manner, and come up with a blueprint for how things can be turned around for the benefit of the country. For the first time, we have been asked by the government to play a very active role in that entire process.

To be quite honest, I haven't really come to terms with the fact that I've been awarded this prize [laughs]. But it is going to raise the profile of our work in a lot of ways. It is going to add credibility for what we did, for what we stood up for. It tells people that even if what you do doesn't appear to be that big, a lot of people can value it very much. I think it will be a source of inspiration for a lot of people back in Liberia.

I've been talking about this a lot with my colleagues, and one thing we've agreed on in principle is to use the money to strengthen the communities we are working with -- those communities most impacted by the illegal logging activities. We want to work with them to help them find their own feet, their own voices, so that we don't always have to be there to talk on their behalf.