Foya, CLP and Clarification

First of all, let me clarify something for those of you reading this- in NO way did I want to insinuate in my last post that you should feel guilty about your resources and your blessings. God has given you those resources for a reason. I was challenging myself mostly about what I do with them. Does this mean you shouldn't have a nice house? No, I don't think it means that. I think that we all should honor God with our resources first and foremost. That's all. :)

This past week I traveled up to Foya (see map below) where most of our projects are right now. We have a sub-office in Foya with roughly 100 staff working all throughout Lofa County. The CLP (Church Livelihood Project) that I am now managing is running there also, so I needed to go and touch base with my staff and start putting some plans in place for this coming year.

Currently we have 200 women enrolled in our literacy project in Lofa County, and this year we will be doubling that number, Lord willing. We are in the midst of advertising and hiring 11 new teachers and teacher assistants for the new classes this year. Please pray with me for qualified and committed staff!

Being up in Foya is always a treat- the staff are great, and there is so much to do after work! There are a lot of great look outs in the surrounding area, where you can stand on the corner of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

This week there were close to ten of us from Monrovia staying in Foya, so there was never a dull moment. Taya and myself slept in mosquito tents outside b/c of lack of beds in the house- but the weather was beautiful and the sky was amazing as always! The only down side was an all night party the last night there... let's just say they had a great sound system...

Playing cards at night- we played nearly every night since the internet was down all week.

After work, if there was enough gas to go around (there is a shortage right now in the country), we would take out the motorbikes and go explore to our favorite areas. One of our favorites is a cave up towards the top of a giant rock in Foya, where, apparently a Peace Corp guy lived back in the 70's. He constructed his own little fort up there- it is quite the place! Inside the cave is a 40 foot rock face with a vine leading to a small little hole just big enough to fit through at the top. Always a highlight for the rock climbers on our staff. Justin had a great time climbing up, and Taya and I had a great time not :). We opted for the longer route- around the back and up the backside of the rock, with a shorter vine and a not so steep rock.

The cave with the climbing wall- where the Peace Corp guy lived years ago!

On my way up the back side.

Justin showing off is jump kick at the peak.

Taya and I enjoying the view!

Just playing around-

Once to the top, it is a gorgeous view of Foya city. You are up there with the birds and the wind blowing through the tops of the trees. We even saw some beautiful, large birds flying around- something foreign since anything that moves here is usually hunted and eaten.

Thursday afternoon I received a phone call saying that the UN helicopter that we were booked to return to Monrovia on on Friday was not coming to Foya. NGO workers can fly for free on the UN choppers, as long as there is space available. Instead, we had to drive the 3 hours to Voinjama in order to recieve a flight back home. Three hours on that awful road is much better than nine, so we opted to leave for Voinjama by 8 am on Friday. I had been told to be at the base in Voinjama by 12 in order to "check in." (When I say check in, I mean walking into the burned out shell of an old house and tell the UN captain from Pakistan that we are here to fly to Monrovia. He then checks the manifest, and if there are spaces not used up by UN workers, we are allowed on.)

Always better to be early, we arrived at the base at 10:45 just in time to see a helicopter getting ready to take off. Manjue, our driver sped up to the "fire department"- three fire extinguishers and three buckets of water sitting on cement pad- and honked his horn in a frantic signal to stop the chopper and let us on.


As the helicopter turned so it was perpendicular to us, we realized it was a fighter chopper and not the cargo/passenger kind. PHEW!

We walked into the base with the UN captain wondering why we were there. We told him we were here to fly to Monrovia- half expecting him to say that there was no flight today - which happens quite often. Instead he told us we were VERY early- the flight wasn't leaving until 1:45- or "one- three- four- five!" as he said. With a few hours to kill, we decided it best to head back into town and find something to eat.

Getting back into the land cruiser, I had been thinking about how nice it would be to have a McDonalds, Pizza Ranch, Arby's or the like to just swing through before we started the rest of our journey back... but my co-worker Sherri had a better idea. "How about we stop at the UN Pak Bat (Pakistan Battalion) and eat there?" Not knowing we could just "stop in" and eat, I was up for the idea since they have some great Pakistani food that they ship in on containers for all their meals.

We pull up to the gate of the camp where two UN soldiers come to my window. Knowing they would want to see my ID, and knowing it was at the bottom of my back pack, Sherri handed me hers. "You are both white and both blonde- they won't be able to tell the difference!" Taya says to me. I roll down the window and hand him "my" ID card. He asked what we were there for, so I said, "We want to eat. Is that alright?" They exchanged a few words to each other in Pakistani then waved us through, never once questioning if that was me on the ID card.

The Pakistani bases are really a separate world in themselves- laid out very nicely and decorated with colorful flags and large pictures of their homeland of Pakistan. We followed Sherri to the Officers Mess hall where she had eaten the last time she had come. We walked in to find a very large table decorated with red and yellow flags... it didn't look like a "normal" place setting. Soon an officer came and asked, "You are here to eat? We have been expecting you" We all looked at each other and kind of laughed and said, "Um... you weren't expecting us- we did not have an invitation." He asked again, "You had an invitation?" "No, sir, we do not."

He explained that they were having a special dinner that day, and would find a separate room for us to dine. He ushered us into the officers "rec" room equipped with AC, soft couches and a tv with cable. After sleeping outside all week and on uncomfortable couches, we all willingly plopped our dirty and dusty selves on their soft couches to watch some TV while we waited. A few officers came in and asked which NGO we were with and where we were from. Soon we were led to a smaller room, but still at AC and some amazing Pakistani food for the seven of us.

The food basically looked like two types of green glop, which you were supposed to dip their special bread into. The two soldiers assigned to make sure the guests were happy, kept placing hot bread on our plates whether we wanted more or not! As we were eating we all bust out laughing when they took out their cell phones to take a picture of us around the table eating.

After eating we decided to use the bathroom before heading out to the bombed out house to wait for the chopper to arrive. To my surprise, the bathrooms were equipped with 5 bathroom stalls, 4 showers and a massive water heater! I was very tempted to take a quick hot shower but refrained! :)

All together, it cost the seven of us $21 to eat. Not bad. I felt kinda bad that we just kinda showed up, but the food was SO good. I know i'll be inviting myself over some more in the future!

Back at the base we sat in the shade while we waited for the chopper to arrive. The captain came over to check our names with the manifest- always a good sign that you will get on. So many times we have 6-7 people signed up to ride, but maybe 1 or 2 will get on. It was looking hopeful!

As he went around checking our names, he then asked for our waivers... I said, "we don't have a waiver- we were never given one." He explained that it comes electronically with every booking- but we have someone at the office do all of our bookings, so we never see the waivers. So there the six of us sat, so ready to get back to Monrovia, and now we find out that none of us have the proper paperwork for us to get onto the chopper.

Thankfully, the captain was able to find a waiver that we could all sign in order to fly.

Time to board the chopper. We all pile in and place our bags in the center and sit down. Time to find some ear protection. Where it is normally hanging there is none to be found. Hmm. A minute later, one of the Russian pilots turns with ear plugs to hand out. With not enough to go around, Justin takes out his leatherman and starts cutting them in half so we can all have them.

Our favorite part of the UN chopper is when the pilot announces where we are going and how long the flight time is. Usually we cannot understand a single word of his mumbled english and we all end up laughing.

So finally after a stop over in Gbarnga to re-fuel, we arrived safely in Monrovia!! I am very thankful for our house on ELWA and all the amenities we do have. The internet had been down all week in Foya, so we were all behind on work and personal emails. So to be able to access our email again is so great!

I will be in Monrovia for the next week and a bit before returning to Foya for a Teacher Training workshop for CLP.

More adventures to come...

After One Week

Tomorrow night marks one week of being back in Liberia. Even though I spend 11 out of the 12 months of the year in this country, there are still things to get used to after spending a few weeks at home!

My time at home was fantastic! I had a blast seeing family and friends, being able to do some traveling to Cancun with my family, even being snowed in at Christmas! It was definitely cold while I was home, but the snow was so beautiful, and such a drastic change from the humidity I'm used to in Liberia. Pictures soon to come.

My flights back to Liberia all went well- no delays, no interruptions at all! I kept thinking how much it differed from my trip back last year, when I was stranded in Lagos, Nigeria for 22 hours. I arrived to a temperature in the mid 80's... laced thick with humidity! Unfortunately that humidity didn't disappear once at my house, since our air conditioning had been broken for over 3 weeks. No AC means not only hot sleeping quarters, but moldy clothes in the closet! But all is fixed now, and we're hoping it lasts a lot longer this time.

Jet lag was definitely an issue this time, which is not something I usually struggle with. Two nights in a row I was up until 3:30 or 4:30... extremely frustrating, but I was able to get a lot of work done during those times! I've been able to sleep through the night for 2 nights now, so I should be back on schedule.

Monday was officially my first day back in Liberia... I didn't go into the office so I could unpack at home and get re-organized before the chaos began. I was outside of my house when a man on the beach started jumping and yelling, "JONI! JONI! WELCOME!" The sun was directly behind him, so I couldn't tell who it was- I looked at our security guard and asked, "who is that guy?" He was also unsure, but by his enthusiasm, I was certain I should recognize him. As he got closer, my excitement dropped. It was Eric, a man who had first visited me in December,as I was trying to relax and have some time to myself on my front porch. I had been reading in the hammock when he and his teenaged daughter were two feet in front of me, watching. (Where are the security guards now???)

Really wanting and needing a time of relaxation, the temptation to not look up from my book was there, but I put my book down to hear a story that seems to be all too familiar. Eric began to explain how he didn't have a job, and his two girls were unable to return to school unless their school fees were paid. He had no funds to cover this, he could barely make his 800LD ($10 US) a month rent of his 2 roomed house. "I beg you Ma, please help my daughters go to school. I have nothing to give them."

Feeling bad for his daughters, and knowing how important education is for an African girl, I went and got the money to pay for their school fees (usually I don't give in to complete strangers, but I was feeling generous that day). The following day I left for my homeleave in Iowa.

Monday, January 18, Eric was back. He welcomed me back to Liberia, and again asked for a job and something to help the girls. He spoke about how he had to give the girls a dollar each morning in order for them to pay their transportation to and from school, and with that, he had no money for food. He honestly didn't know where the next meal was coming from.

That is when it hit me. The drastic difference between home and Liberia. Never once at home did I not know where my next meal was coming from, or hear parents talk about how keeping their kids home b/c of no money for education. The big worries I heard were about mortgages, not that it wasn't affordable, but that it was there. About 4 bedroom houses being too small, about needing upgrades on cars. North Americans (myself included) are ignorant on how incredibly blessed we are. Granted, we know we are blessed, but we don't have a full understanding at all. I think that we take it for granted.

(I am reading the book "When Helping Hurts" by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert- shedding light on how to properly care for those in need, since in most situations just giving them money is actually hurting them more... more thoughts on that later)

It was like a sock in the gut after such an enjoyable time at home, where I let all the comforts we have sink in deep, and thoroughly enjoyed them all. It was a slap back in to reality, and how the majority of the world really lives.

Wednesday, January 20, I walked to the office at 6:45 am to prepare for our trip to Robertsport for an Operation Christmas Child (OCC) Distribution. I was asked to photograph it for our Ministry team. Time of departure was 7 am. But our vehicle was no where to be found. Turns out, one of our staff took it home for the evening (our expats take them at night to go home and back to the office) and wasn't expecting to be at the office until 8 for our morning devotions. Since we had to drive for 2 hours, photograph and return before 1:00, we didnt have much time to spare. So we planned for a vehicle swap- take a vehicle from the yard and swap it at her house at 7 so we can leave on time. Except the vehicle in the yard wouldn't start. So there we sat waiting. At 7:50 the car showed up and we piled in. Traffic was a bit heavy so it took longer to arrive from what we were anticipating. Boakai had been calling the lead pastor in Robertsport to check on how they were doing. His answer every time was, "Everything is great and ready to go!"

We arrived at 10:15 and parked along the street. But I didn't hear the usual cheers or laughter of hundreds of children that I usually do at OCC distributions. We walked up to the church and there were stacks of boxes, and about four pastors.... and no children.

Boakai's first question to the pastors was, "where are the children?" They all looked at each other and didn't say anything.

The lead pastor turned to Boakai and said, "I'm confused by your first question of "Where are the children?"

With no possibility of a distribution happening that day, we loaded back up and headed back to Monrovia.

At least I got a nap on the way home. :)

This too, is Liberia.