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.