We are Now Raising a Teenager

I'm going to be honest with you. This has not been a great week. So instead of focusing on the negative, I want to share something that has definitely been a positive for me.

In December, Justin (our six month volunteer), was on the beach enjoying the sunshine, when a thirteen year old boy came to make friends. Now typically when you are on the beach, this is a common occurance. "You my friend, yah?" Being a friend in Liberia basically means you are now a 24 hour ATM and they hold the PIN number. So, in most cases, I reply with a simple "Not today, thanks." Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't.

In Justin's case, he started to talk to him and got to know him a little bit. Soon he was telling the same story that unfortunately we hear all too often. Parents were killed in the war, no money for school fees, etc. Unfortunately many people tell this story whether it is true or not, just to get money from the white man.

Day after day Justin kept seeing him on the beach as he walked to and from the office. Obviously not enrolled in school, Justin kept talking to him whenever he saw him.

His name is Prince.

Thirteen years old, with no parents and no place to stay. His parents had been killed in the war, and he was taken in by is grandmother, who passed away shortly after. He was taken in by his aunt, and brought to Monrovia. He was accused of stealing, and thrown out. He had been sleeping in the trees on campus for the last 3 weeks. During the last week, rogues came and stole all of his possessions from the tree he was sleeping in, leaving him with literally a shirt and one pair of pants.

One day after work, Emily, Taya and myself decided to take a quick dip in the ocean before it got dark. While Emily and I were in the water, Prince came running up to Taya to say hello. We had talked to him a few times while on the beach, but nothing too lengthy. Taya joined us in the water and mentioned how he was needing some food. We talked about how Prince was different from other kids we meet- we could see in his eyes that he was telling the truth and not trying to just get money from us.

We decided that we wanted to have a picnic on the beach with Prince that night. We trudged out of the water and approached Prince. "Prince, would you like to come and eat with us tonight?" His eyes brightened, but he seemed a bit overwhelmed. We told him we would come and get him in an hour.

That night, we had a stellar taco salad on the porch with Prince. He had to think that our food choice was crazy, never having had anything like it before (after all, it wasn't rice!). He was pretty shy the whole meal but we just kept handing him more and more chips loaded with hamburger, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and salsa! (it was a special occasion for all of those to be found at once at the store)

After supper was over, it just broke our hearts just thinking of having to say, "Ok Prince. Off to the bush you go!" We all three looked at each other and were thinking the same thing. We went into the house, gathered one of our tents, an extra mattress, sheets and pillows and headed off to the back of our house to set things up. At least this way he would be safe and not have the fear of being beaten, or eaten by mosquitoes.

We asked Prince to follow us to the back and we showed him his new temporary "home." I have never seen a kid SO happy! He couldn't stop jumping up and down and swinging his arms. His smile spread from ear to ear.

That next day, we took him to an event we were attending. Several times through that event the three of us just wanted to reach over and hug him. At one point we said that if this is what adoption feels like... it's amazing!

In the following days, we contacted our Child Services staff member at SP, asking what our options could be for Prince. Her staff soon went to work, investigating his story to insure that it was truth. They visited his home county and learned that what he said was true. His "aunt" who had taken him in, was actually not his really aunt, but a friends mom who moved down to Monrovia and moved in with a man and his child. The "boyfriend's" son had been stealing money, and Prince was getting blamed for it. In order for his "aunt" not to lose her place to stay, she was forced to throw Prince out on the street. This too is Liberia.

The Liberian Government is really pushing hard that all children in orphanages are actually orphans, and so the process to get into an orphanage is not as easy as it seems. All things except for clearance from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has been taken care of. In the mean time, Prince continues to stay with us.

And we are loving it!

Granted, we have all realized how incredibly selfish we all are during the last month and a half. We cannot simply do what we "want" after work, knowing that we have a mouth waiting for us to feed him.

Justin paid his school fees and Prince was SO wound up by the fact that he was able to go to school, that he talked for an hour straight without any of us able to get a word in! He sported around his new green pants and white shirt for HOURS.

One evening Taya and I were asking Prince to help with something and he jokingly said no. I turn to Taya and said ,"sigh.. teenagers!"

Prince has definitely been a blessing to us, even with the challenges. This past week, all the expat staff got together and went out for Chinese food. We brought back a plate of food consisting of rice, beef and green beens for Prince. I had a feeling he was going to complain about the beans...

With nothing but the beans on his plate he says,

"What are these???"

"Green beans! They are good! You need to eat them. They will make you strong."

"But I am not a fighter. I don't have to be strong."

"I don't mean you have to fight if you are strong- eat your beans! They are very good for your body and will make you healthy."

"But this is from the Chinese? If I eat them, I will start speaking Chinese!"

"Eat your beans, Prince."

Forty-five minutes later, after much convincing and dealing, the beans were gone.

Since Prince has started school, he has taken on a new "name." He now calls himself Prince Justin. And on his Bible cover? Emily, Joni, Taya are listed as his mother.

Up Country Exercise

So Bev put together an exercise plan for myself and Kendell... to get us fit... My program started while I was going to be in Foya. Nothing big, just a 20 minute walk a few times a week to get started.

No problem, right? But here are just a few things that happened in 20 minutes time:

- over fifty children running and chanting "Pumwee, Pumwee!" (white man, white man) at the top of their lungs

- every third person looks at you strange, laughs, and then asks, "are you taking exercise?" (I mean their whole lifestyle is an exercise- of course it looks funny!)

- one woman walked ten feet in front of me, mimicking how I was walking, causing all the onlookers to die laughing. At least I brought some entertainment for them!

- one man was in the middle of his shower (outside showers behind a palm leaf structure) and came sprinting out with excitement (and sopping wet) to talk to the white woman

- two people gave me a thumbs up

- and my personal favorite... I was met head on with a motorcycle going close to 50 mph with a crazy looking man on the back holding a chicken. As they approached, and as I was frantically trying to get out of their way, the man in back leans out towards me holding out the chicken and yelling something in Kissi, all the while the chicken JUST barely missed my head.

Although I love Foya, I am looking forward to some more "boring" walks around ELWA in Monrovia!

11 vacancies, 140 applications

I've been up in Foya for a week now, with the big task of first hiring 11 people for the Church Livelihood Project (CLP), and also helping conduct a Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop this week.

I arrived Wednesday night after a very very very bumpy and rough 11 hour drive. It may not be raining anymore, but all the holes from rainy season are now hard as rocks. It is anything but smooth. I was in the back of the landcruiser with a good majority of my supplies for the workshop and also the beginning of our classes this year. Finally by hour 5 I had managed to arrange everything well enough that no boxes were falling on me as we drove along. For a few hours I had a very comfy position all figured out with the two personal bags that myself and a co-worker had along. But, by hour 7, it was no longer a comfort. Because of lack of vehicles I had rented a landcruiser for two days to get us to Foya. Unlike the States, when you rent a car here, that does not mean you get to drive it. This means that the car comes with its own driver.

Yippee.

Liberian drivers are more frustrating for me than pleasurable. Nothing like speeding up as fast as you can to only slam on your brakes for holes every 50 feet for 11 hours. This trip was no exception. The only thing that was different was that this driver was constantly stopping for bananas because he was hungry. Hawa and myself made the whole trip without having to stop for a bathroom or anything, but our driver stopped 5-6 times. The sixth time Hawa and myself just shook our heads as the driver SPRINTED to the bush b/c he had eaten too many bananas.

Oh Liberia.

With a splitting headache and neck ache, we arrived at base. My coordinator came soon after so we could begin sorting through the applications and make calls for the following day. I had no idea how big that task would be.

Thinking there would be roughly 30 resumes to read through, my mouth dropped to the floor as she poured out 140 resumes. We were going to be there awhile.

Reading through the resumes was a good reminder of where Liberia is at regarding employment. The unemployment rate in Monrovia is 85%, and 80% in the rural areas. It showed through the number of applications. I felt bad and almost guilty at how easily I could toss someone's resume- their hope of an income to support their family and themselves- into the "no" pile.

I knew that these people needed a job so badly... I probably can't imagine some of their situations, yet I was looking for the right people to fill these positions. I didn't want 11 people who simply wanted a job. That would be easy to fill. I wanted 11 people who were also passionate about teaching the women of Liberia how to read and write and instill some confidence in them, creating a new future for them, all the while being able to share the Gospel with them.

I think that is what I found. I pray that is who I found.

Another thing that struck me is sadly how few women are qualified for many of these positions. Unfortunately girls are overlooked in Liberia, and many countries in Africa, forced to stay home and work on the farm instead, resulting in many illiterate adults today. Ultimately I would love to hire all women to teach their fellow women of Liberia, but that just isn't possible, especially in the rural areas. (The program is designed to have people from the community teach their women.) I look around the palava hut in our morning devotions and notice that of the 50 of us there, 43-45 are men.

But, I am happy with my new staff. We were able to get a good mixture of men and women, and I look forward to working with them this year! The TOT is over half way finished and is moving very well. Next week the facilitators and Aides will be wiring up their classrooms for the generators and preparing their lesson plans. We plan to be offering classes to 400 women in Lofa County this year.

Thank you for your prayers as we went through the hiring process. I'm learning more and more each day about managing... and managing in Liberia. Please pray for me too! :)

Not in Iowa Anymore!

"You are a Liberian woman!" I can hear quite a few times in a week. That particular phrase makes me smile most of the time, indicating to me that even though this is not my home culture, there are small ways where I fit in, and am not seen as different, even though my skin color is.

But there are many things from this culture that I will never fully understand, no matter how long I live here.

Yesterday I spent the day visiting our Community Health and Evangelism team in Vonzua, Grand Cape Mount County. This program teaches basic health and hygiene training while also weaving in Bible stories. The areas the CHE team is in are predominantly M. areas. But since the stories are told in a chronological order, they are familiar with all of the OT stories. By the end of the 9 month training, the "whole package" has been presented! It is a program filled with transformation.

One of the villages we visited was incredibly friendly. As they were leading us around the village to show us their new well and hand pump, I noticed a fenced off area in the center of the village. I was informed that it is a "Withcraft Hospital."

Interesting.

We were heading towards it to take a look around, but was told that the doctor was not in town today.

Apparently the "doctor" is certified by the government, and even government officials come to this remote village about 2 hours from Monrovia to be cured of any curse or "juju" that is placed on them. We were told that inside were a lot of people suffering from very disturbing things.

Our staff told the story of one man and his two wives. The man was treating one wife better than the other, so the wife who was being ignored placed a juju curse on him and his head turned into a face of a pig. The man was so ashamed to be seen, that he started to walk towards Sierra Leone, and died along the way.

My North American mind quickly says, "No way. Not possible." Yet, our staff was adament that it was not just a story.

There are countless times here in Liberia where I hear stories like this. For example, the general during the war that could disappear into rocks or trees and be invisible to his enemies. Like the "ningee" people who live underwater and who pull under small children and kill them. Or the "dwaft" people who live in the mountains-whose feet are backwards on their bodies so that when you see footprints that are going away from you, they are actually coming towards you. The stories are endless.

My point is not about the "crazy" stories I hear, but more about the difference in culture and belief system I grew up with compared to the Liberian traditional religion and their culture.

Do I have a hard time believing a lot of these stories? Most times I do.

Does that mean that they don't exist? No.

But fortunately, no matter what culture we come from, we have a God who prevails over all of it.

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.

Cattle Project

With the entire country on the run from rebels during the war, scavenging for food became your only concern besides trying to stay alive. The result of this, is a country with little to no animals. All the sheep, goats, cattle, even zoo animals were killed and eaten in order to survive. In 2005, there wasn't even a dog that could be found running around, which is really rare for Africa.

SP has a few livestock projects ongoing in Liberia, one being the cattle project. Currently, SP has the only successful cattle project in all of Liberia running! Five farmers are chosen in a community for training, in which they learn all about the health, proper cleaning, shelter and feeding of the animal. Each farmer is required to build a shelter for their animal before they recieve their cow.

One farmer recieves a bull, while the others all receive females. When the females give birth, the farmer is required to pay SP back with their first female calf, which is passed on to the next community, thus a self sustaining program.

Most times, the cattle turn into the farmers "bank"- creating funds to send their children to school, or put tin on their roofs for rainy season.

This woman just received her cow this year, and is anticipating that first calf!

This particular farmer has had his cow since 2007 and LOVES him. In fact, in the rainy season he will even build a fire inside his bedroom and let his cow sleep in his room!