Global hit

Remember the great plague scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail?

Bring out yer dead?

Well our Global Hit today could be called Bring out yer Living.

In Liberia, starting today, the government is taking its first census in nearly 25 years.

For a lot of people in Liberia who’ve never been counted in a census, the whole idea must seem rather odd…and even a little threatening.

So, the government of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf commissioned a pop song to raise awareness.

One of Liberia’s big pop stars Juli Endee got the job to write and sing the census song.

It’s being played all over Liberian radio.

Juli Endee allays one concern, as you may have just heard: the head-counters aren’t coming to town to tax Liberians.

They just want to know they’re there.

Some critics in Liberia say the census is a waste of government money.

The average Liberian makes about a dollar twenty-five a day and is dead before the age of 41.

But the government says knowing how many Liberians there are is crucial to allocating resources to alleviate poverty.

Last year by the way, the UN’s estimated head count for Liberia was 3.8 million.

From the Nan and Bill Harris Studios at WGBH, I’m Marco Werman.