This is a short video I did for the supporting church in Salmon Arm, BC, who is supporting our work in Malawo, the village I talk about in previous posts.
Note: you will see images of trees, etc.. these areas are the "devil bush" areas. The large tree you see cut down is the woman's devil bush which they gave up to us to construct a school community center and church! The circular cement object is the altar they used for human sacrifices.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
In Transit
I left Monrovia last Wednesday, October 1st and am currently in Germany visiting some good friends that I was able to get to know when I was in Waterloo/Cedar Falls. We have been busy seeing so many amazing things- the beaches of Normandy, the castle of Heidelberg, european culture... it has been great! I will be leaving Brussels Sunday morning, October 12th, and will be arriving home in IOWA that evening.
I will be home throughout Christmas, and will be returning to Liberia in the beginning of the year for another year with Samaritan's Purse. SP has committed to completing another 8 buildings on ABC's campus, so more teams will be coming through. But hosting teams won't be my primary role this time, since I will be the new Communications Manager! This entails photographing, gathering stories and making media presentations in order to strengthen our donor relations. I am very privelaged and excited about this and for the opportunity to continue to work for this great organization!
I will be posting pictures from my time in Germany, and hope to see as many of you as I can while I am home!
I will be home throughout Christmas, and will be returning to Liberia in the beginning of the year for another year with Samaritan's Purse. SP has committed to completing another 8 buildings on ABC's campus, so more teams will be coming through. But hosting teams won't be my primary role this time, since I will be the new Communications Manager! This entails photographing, gathering stories and making media presentations in order to strengthen our donor relations. I am very privelaged and excited about this and for the opportunity to continue to work for this great organization!
I will be posting pictures from my time in Germany, and hope to see as many of you as I can while I am home!
This and that...
Just some totally random pics in Liberia... mostly the non "professional" ones.. but I hope it gives you another look at my life here.
Taya and the ladies of Malawo. She is their adopted daughter and a "citizen" of Malawo.
Me and my namesake Yassa from Malawo. That is my Loma name, Yassa.
Attempting to climb the rock wall using a vine.. it's been done before but I decided it won't be done by me! It doesn't look it, but its about 50 feet tall.
Helping plaster one of the latrines in Malawo.
It keeps falling off!
STAY!
Installing a water filter in one of the homes in Malawo.
Went for a bike ride with Bev and Taya. I'm the one in the middle.
Foya lookout point. The ground is littered with bullets from the war.
Bev, Taya and I.
Our reflection in the motorbike helmet.
One of the mud bogs I had to ride through!
One of the many log bridges we have to cross.. except this time we hooked a log and pulled it right off with us!
mmmm bush meat... "that sweet meat-o!"
Tay-tay and I getting ready to go check out some water filters.
So I am always seeing the kids roll their wheels down the street, so I decided I would give it a try... it's a LOT harder than it looks!
They make it look so easy.
Supper time! Grab a spoon and dig in.
Getting ready for the hike down from Malawo.
And after we reached the bottom... ewww....
Me and Hauwa. (SP Senior Projects Manager)
The WATSAN and company office. Bev, Taya and myself. Next year I get a real desk :)
The focal point of our whole office...
My first trip up to Malawo.. taking a breather... if the redness of my face doesn't tell you how out of shape I am, I don't know what will!
Downloading pictures in Malawo. There is an open house that we have been staying in, in tents.
The sunset my last night in Liberia. Thank you, Lord!
Celebrating Bev's birthday! I made my attempt at cake decorating... don't ask what they were supposed to be!
Erin (worked with Special Projects) and Taya (Water and Sanitation Program Manager)
Janell and myself. Janell manages the Community Livelihood Program, AND her parents operate ABC, which is who I worked closely with.
Seren and Lisa. Seren runs her own organization called L.A.C.E.S, doing soccer leagues and mentorship, and Lisa coordinates our HIV/AIDS programs.
Our house on ELWA. Seven of us girls live here.
Our new office building on ELWA!
This is how you do homework when your electricity isn't working...
Golfing at Firestone Rubber Plantation. $5 for 9 holes, $5 for a caddy!
One of my favorite spots... on the porch overlooking the ocean.
Taya and the ladies of Malawo. She is their adopted daughter and a "citizen" of Malawo.
Me and my namesake Yassa from Malawo. That is my Loma name, Yassa.
Attempting to climb the rock wall using a vine.. it's been done before but I decided it won't be done by me! It doesn't look it, but its about 50 feet tall.
Helping plaster one of the latrines in Malawo.
It keeps falling off!
STAY!
Installing a water filter in one of the homes in Malawo. 
Went for a bike ride with Bev and Taya. I'm the one in the middle.
Foya lookout point. The ground is littered with bullets from the war.
Bev, Taya and I.
Our reflection in the motorbike helmet.
One of the mud bogs I had to ride through!
One of the many log bridges we have to cross.. except this time we hooked a log and pulled it right off with us!
mmmm bush meat... "that sweet meat-o!"
Tay-tay and I getting ready to go check out some water filters.
So I am always seeing the kids roll their wheels down the street, so I decided I would give it a try... it's a LOT harder than it looks!
They make it look so easy.
Supper time! Grab a spoon and dig in.
Getting ready for the hike down from Malawo.
And after we reached the bottom... ewww....
Me and Hauwa. (SP Senior Projects Manager)
The WATSAN and company office. Bev, Taya and myself. Next year I get a real desk :)
The focal point of our whole office...
My first trip up to Malawo.. taking a breather... if the redness of my face doesn't tell you how out of shape I am, I don't know what will!
Downloading pictures in Malawo. There is an open house that we have been staying in, in tents.
The sunset my last night in Liberia. Thank you, Lord!
Celebrating Bev's birthday! I made my attempt at cake decorating... don't ask what they were supposed to be!
Erin (worked with Special Projects) and Taya (Water and Sanitation Program Manager)
Janell and myself. Janell manages the Community Livelihood Program, AND her parents operate ABC, which is who I worked closely with.
Seren and Lisa. Seren runs her own organization called L.A.C.E.S, doing soccer leagues and mentorship, and Lisa coordinates our HIV/AIDS programs.
Our house on ELWA. Seven of us girls live here.
Our new office building on ELWA!
This is how you do homework when your electricity isn't working...
Golfing at Firestone Rubber Plantation. $5 for 9 holes, $5 for a caddy!
One of my favorite spots... on the porch overlooking the ocean.Family Visit!
I was incredibly blessed to have my Grandfather, Dad, Sister and Cousin come and visit me in Liberia for 2 weeks! To say that they had a true African experience would be an understatement! Here are a few pictures of their time here.
Dad and Grampa are introducing themselves to the students at the
Orphanage School in Yekepa.
Dad and Ma Jonah, the "mom" of the orphanage. She was pretty excited when
she figured out this was my real dad!
I showed Dad and Grampa the old iron-ore mine up in Yekepa-
with TONS of old, HUGE equipment.
That's one big scoop!
One of the three tipped over trucks on the road to Yekepa. It was quite the ride!
Getting a campus tour from my good friend Dave, the project coordinator.
SP had a visiting surgeon here for two months... Dad and Grampa were pumped to be able to go in and watch a few of his operations.. little did they know what was to happen later that week...
Dad is helping wash down the Samaritan's Purse helicopter.
Grandpa posing by Franklin Graham's seat!
So midway through the trip, my cousin Anna was having severe stomach pains. Thankfully we had Dr. Cooper here with SP to come and check her out.
Me, Bev and Ali keeping Anna company in the hospital room.... I am the human IV stand.
It ended up that Dr. Cooper thought it might be Apendicitis... and Anna had to have an operation right here at ELWA hospital! Ali, Bev and I were able to go into surgery with Anna, to help keep her calm. As we were gowning up, we couldn't help but laugh at our "duck bills" as masks!
Here we are, in surgery. Anna had a spinal done, and as Dr. Cooper has her intestines out, she looks at me and says, "Has he started yet?" :) Yes Anna he has.
Obviously an overwhelming experience to have surgery, much less in Africa. I was able to hold her hand the whole time and keep her calm. The appendix came out, but didn't appear to be the problem. He did in find an adhesion to her stomach wall from a previous surgery that was causing the pain. Looking back, it was totally orchestrated by God... it is VERY rare to have a surgeon here, not to mention one of the best field surgeons out there. Thank you, Warren for all of your help! You really are a God-send!
(AND the bill for EVERYTHING was only $245! Can't beat that!)
Ali-Bali and I at the lookout in Tubmanberg.
Grandpa and his grand-girls...
The five of us (before the surgery)
Underwear Town. Apparently the man who built this town did most of it in his underwear. Hence the name :)
We went to see some of the SP projects in Bopolu.
Dad and I decided to take the motorbikes instead.
One of the main reasons I wanted my Grandfather to come to Liberia. He spends most of his time working at Hope Haven in Ireton, building wheelchairs to send overseas to the disabled. Samaritan's Purse, Liberia distributes some of those chairs. He was able to meet one of the beneficiaries and see a chair that he made!
Me and my Pa
The five of us on our front lawn.
Grandpa's in AFRICA!
No, this was not posed...
It was a great trip and I thoroughly enjoyed having each one of them come and experience a little part of my life here in Liberia. Even though there were unplanned medical issues/scares, it just proved once again that God's hand is in everything- big and small.
Dad and Grampa are introducing themselves to the students at theOrphanage School in Yekepa.
Dad and Ma Jonah, the "mom" of the orphanage. She was pretty excited whenshe figured out this was my real dad!
I showed Dad and Grampa the old iron-ore mine up in Yekepa-with TONS of old, HUGE equipment.
That's one big scoop!
One of the three tipped over trucks on the road to Yekepa. It was quite the ride!
Getting a campus tour from my good friend Dave, the project coordinator.
SP had a visiting surgeon here for two months... Dad and Grampa were pumped to be able to go in and watch a few of his operations.. little did they know what was to happen later that week...
Dad is helping wash down the Samaritan's Purse helicopter.
Grandpa posing by Franklin Graham's seat!So midway through the trip, my cousin Anna was having severe stomach pains. Thankfully we had Dr. Cooper here with SP to come and check her out.
Me, Bev and Ali keeping Anna company in the hospital room.... I am the human IV stand.
It ended up that Dr. Cooper thought it might be Apendicitis... and Anna had to have an operation right here at ELWA hospital! Ali, Bev and I were able to go into surgery with Anna, to help keep her calm. As we were gowning up, we couldn't help but laugh at our "duck bills" as masks!
Here we are, in surgery. Anna had a spinal done, and as Dr. Cooper has her intestines out, she looks at me and says, "Has he started yet?" :) Yes Anna he has.
Obviously an overwhelming experience to have surgery, much less in Africa. I was able to hold her hand the whole time and keep her calm. The appendix came out, but didn't appear to be the problem. He did in find an adhesion to her stomach wall from a previous surgery that was causing the pain. Looking back, it was totally orchestrated by God... it is VERY rare to have a surgeon here, not to mention one of the best field surgeons out there. Thank you, Warren for all of your help! You really are a God-send!(AND the bill for EVERYTHING was only $245! Can't beat that!)
Ali-Bali and I at the lookout in Tubmanberg.
Grandpa and his grand-girls...
The five of us (before the surgery)
Underwear Town. Apparently the man who built this town did most of it in his underwear. Hence the name :)
We went to see some of the SP projects in Bopolu.Dad and I decided to take the motorbikes instead.
One of the main reasons I wanted my Grandfather to come to Liberia. He spends most of his time working at Hope Haven in Ireton, building wheelchairs to send overseas to the disabled. Samaritan's Purse, Liberia distributes some of those chairs. He was able to meet one of the beneficiaries and see a chair that he made!
Me and my Pa
The five of us on our front lawn.
Grandpa's in AFRICA!
No, this was not posed...It was a great trip and I thoroughly enjoyed having each one of them come and experience a little part of my life here in Liberia. Even though there were unplanned medical issues/scares, it just proved once again that God's hand is in everything- big and small.
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