Our Liberia office has a name for every vehicle we have... so for example, the first two land cruisers we ever had are named Adam and Eve. We have Ruth, Boaz, Ezra, Nehemiah, Naomi, Jesse, Abraham, Caleb, and so on and so forth. Last year we received news that we were getting a new vehicle... a helicopter! Pilot Dan and his family arrived in Liberia early February, and soon after we were putting him to work. It was only fitting for us to name the chopper "Elijah." (and if you don't know why... look it up!)
Taya, our Water and Sanitation program manager is implementing a well project deep into a forest in Liberia, where no other organization is working. From one of our sub-offices (3 hours from Monrovia), it takes 11 hours to walk to the farthest community that we are working in. So with thousands of pounds of supplies needing to go to villages with no roads, Elijah was the perfect candidate.
Everyone giving an effort, pushing Elijah to an area where we could take off.
Being the photographer has its perks, since I am generally allowed to be the "co-pilot" in order to get the shots. What a view!
We landed in Bopolu, which is where our sub-office is located, where the WATSAN team was ready with all the supplies that needed to be dropped. There was a team on the ground getting each load stacked properlly for Elijah to lift in a sling, and a team on the ground in the villages ready to unload.
Dropping the load... very gently...
Most times Elijah would not even touch ground on the drop off, and would head back for another load.
Here some of our staff are carrying a generator that was just dropped in.
February 17th, the day we arrived in Mourakole, a beaming man greeted us when we arrived. His wife had just given birth to twins! How surprised he was that not only was he a new father, but a father of twins! It made me think about how the women in rural areas never have the opportunity to see an ultrasound picture, or even know that they are carrying more than one baby!
The father brought Bev and I to see the babies, and allowed us to name them. Bev named the little girl Taya, after our WATSAN Program Manager, and her work there in the village (pictured above). Since it was my dad's birthday that day, I was able to name the boy. Since Sylvan was a bit hard for them to say, I went with his middle name- Dean.
Little Dean
Africans are OBSESSED with President Obama. You can't get much more rural than where we were, yet this is what I found while walking through the village!
A view from above as I flew out.
Buzz was on the ground in Bopolu helping set up the loads, and communicating via FM radio with Dan for fuel needs, etc.
The beautiful people of Liberia.
Here are Love (on left) and Janet, OVC staff, choosing farm tools to give to the community.
Lisa, OVC Coordinator, talks to the community about the importance of this farm land.
Cassava is the plant of choice on this farm. This woman is cutting the cassava branches to plant.
Just a little different than planting in Iowa.
Once the holes are dug, the women throw in two sticks of Cassava to grow.
