As I sit here in my huge, beautiful house with electricity, running water, heat, air conditioning and all the amenities I can't help but go back to the way a typical Liberian lives. They have small houses with dirt floors, sometimes made of bricks and sometimes a lot of the walls and roof is made of any scrap metal they find or woven leaves. They come out of houses like that on a typical weekday morning all dressed up nice for work, kids in their uniforms ready for the day. Even though it is in the 90s and very humid right in the morning, you see people dressed in layers, suits and then some with hardly anything on.
Probably the biggest thing that hit me was the smog we drove through every day. It wasn't any little smog but heavy, black fumes hitting you and making your throat scratchy after a while and people there live and walk in it every day. There are only a handful of main roads going thru Monrovia and we drove on the main one every day which is always packed with cars, taxis, motorcycles and people walking along side. Their big market is right on the main road so whatever food or clothes they sell just sit in the smog all day. And then it's the garbage. You don't see trash bins anywhere, people throw wrappers and trash anywhere on the ground. Usually they gather up the trash in piles so when you walk thru the market there are big piles of trash right in front of the stands. I guess people have seen a slight improvement since 2 years ago where now you will actually see people picking up the garbage in town, usually in front of a rich business or important places. Still, wherever you go you see piles of garbage right next to people's homes or stands.
Most Liberians only eat one meal a day which is usually rice and fish with very little variety. They sell some donut type food along the roads so some people buy those for their breakfast. They can't store any food because most people don't have a fridge so they usually only have rice on hand and buy everything else the day they will eat it. They have bananas, plantines, mangoes, coconut and pineapple there but from what I have seen the locals eat the fresh fruit very little and maybe it costs too much money to buy. So their diet is very starchy with very little fruits or vegetables. On top of that, you see a lot of the kids there sucking on candy, lollipops and stuff for their snack. At the school we were at they have a little store where kids can buy candy and you see a lot of them carrying their Liberian dollars to school, which is like American cents, so they can buy their treat for the day. So problems with teeth is a big issue as well.
There is no public transportation but a lot of people have miles to get to their work or school so the only way is to use a "taxi". There are a lot of small yellow "sunny"s that are a typical taxi and that is what we rode in every day but then there are vans or pickups and trucks that just get loaded with people and off they go. Our friends' daughter leaves the house around 6:30 so she can be at her school by 8:30. A lot of kids just walk/ride taxis with their siblings to school and you see little 6 year olds holding their little brother or sister's hands as they are walking to school.
It was very hot and humid the whole time which is typical weather for them. Most days were pretty hazy with no sun which we were thankful for because the moment the sun came out you look for shade because it is so hot. I made a comment that I think if I lived there I would either have to shave my head or have a boy haircut. :) My hair was just all over and very frizzy from the humidity so I was thankful for the bandanas/wraps I brought because that helped a lot.
The guest house where we stayed at was very nice, with electricity and internet working some of the time. It had a great kitchen so the 4 of us took turns cooking a meal every night and we really looked forward to those because for lunch they gave us fish and rice every day with not too much spices in it. I could not believe how many American groceries they sell at the stores there. You can buy just about any nonperishable food that you buy in the US, it just costs a little more, sometimes double the American price. This particular guest house was in a huge gated area where a lot of missionaries live including headquarters for the Samaritan's Purse. And so when we got back to our guest house after each day I felt very spoiled and almost bad that we have it so nice while the people there live in their little huts. The guest house was right on the beach and the ocean was amazing with beautiful sandy beaches. I didn't even bring my swim suit because I assumed there's no swimming allowed but Stacy and I were so hot after the 2nd day that we didn't care and went into the ocean in our shorts and shirts. It was so much fun to jump in the waves and cool off in the refreshing sea. The water was perfect, not too cold and not warm. The waves really push and pull you around and we laughed and giggled. It was so nice to wind down at the end of the day like that and just enjoy the peaceful nature and the crashing waves.
I have around 900 pictures and I'm trying to sort thru them so I can pick the best ones for people. Here are a few from the Monrovia streets, just showing how people live along side the roads. I will do another post soon about the work we did there and post pictures of the kids, schools and church.
It was so great to get home yesterday and see Ehren and the kids. Despite the awful blizzard we got just as we were driving to town and seeing all that snow piled up again, it's great to be home. I'm really thankful God gave me this opportunity to go there, to experience it firsthand and for keeping us safe. More about the trip coming soon!
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| OUR DRIVER |
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| CASUAL FRIDAY UNIFORM |
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| PLANTATION FOR PALM OIL |
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| LITTLE CHIMPANZEE WE SAW, HE WAS A PET |
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