A quarter-century ago, the little college at which I worked offered a scholarship for one year of study to a church official from Liberia who needed updating in business and accounting practices. Since this was a mature individual with a wife and children to support, leaving them for a whole year was a big deal, particularly since the scholarship covered his expenses at school but little else. Nonetheless, this was an important opportunity, and he prepared diligently so that when he set off for America it looked as though his family would fare well for nine months with the help of his brother and other extended family members. You can only imagine his distress when he came to our house to share some catastrophic information he had just received from his wife calling from his brother's home…