what we did in Liberia

Some people have asked me what exactly we did in Liberia so I will try to explain our trip.  There is so much to talk about but I'll do my best to summarize.  Our church has started a friendship with a church in Monrovia just a few years ago.  It started as more of a friendship between our pastor and theirs and as our church has sent a few teams over there we just wanted to help the church and school there in any way.  This pastor and his wife started a church and a school from nursery to 9th grade and our church just wants to come along side of them and try to help them move ahead in any way we can.  They have so many needs and sometimes it seems impossible to know where do we even start but at the same time every time someone from our church goes there our relationship with them grows, we understand each other better and they are so grateful for everything we do.

This particular short-term mission was to do health screenings for all the kids that go to their school.  A couple nurses from our church already did the screenings like this over there 2 years ago and this time we did it at the clinic that is very close to the school.  The nurses there and the teachers helped us with checking the kids' temperature, blood pressure, height, weight and vision.  Stacy is an RN from our church and she has been there before and my job was to help her in any way.  It was such a great experience and just getting to know the kids there a little bit was great.  We ended up screening about 340 kids in 3 days.  Some kids didn't show up because their parents didn't think they needed it.  It was not very surprising though because most of the kids we've seen have never been to a clinic or anywhere.  They don't seek medical help until they are very sick, most of the times when it's too late.  Our hope is that now that we've done the screening with them and brought all the supplies and forms for them, they can do it on their own once or twice a year.

At the same time, pastor Bruce came with us and his focus was to do a pastoral training for church leaders.  People there have such little resources available to them and they are really hungry for teaching, seminars, anything where they can learn more.  They are always so thankful when pastor Bruce is able to come and they appreciate him very much.

Another thing we were hoping to achieve in our short time there was to assess the school situation the best we could, just seeing the real needs and how we could help in the near future.  Their school seems very organized and runs well in comparison to many other schools in Liberia and their kids get some of the highest scores in tests, yet even that is not enough and they are trying to improve so the kids that graduate are able to go to a university.   To be honest, at first I thought it would be almost impossible to assess their situation in such a short time, not really seeing how they do school.  But God really showed us the needs and weaknesses of their school.

Our first day there we toured the school, all the classes and even got to be substitute teachers for 6th graders. :)  That was fun, we played some games, kids sang some songs to us and we wrote down assignments for them on the black board.  It was interesting to me that no matter where you're from, kids act the same.  Preteens act exactly like ours.  Some of them are more shy at first because they don't see very many white people but they are just as much curious, playful and eager to learn as our kids. And they can figure out electronics in minutes just like our kids. :)  Stacy let some girls play with her phone for a bit and they figured out a lot of stuff right away.  A funny thing was that when I told any kids my name they were so excited and kept saying "Hi Ester" to me everywhere because Ester is a very common name over there.  Of course they say it like "Estaaar" with their Liberian accent.  Sometimes it was very hard to understand them, especially when they turned to each other and talked really fast I had to focus really hard to get just a few words out.  It actually doesn't even sound like English at all, especially when they are singing unless it's a song you know and then you can decode the words to our pronunciation. :)

One really cool thing that happened was that at the guest house we stayed at we met a lady that is from the US, she is an educator with a doctoral degree, has her own school in Monrovia and helps a lot of different schools in Liberia.  It was like God brought her there just so we can talk to her about our concerns and to help us understand the mentality and the way Liberians are taught.  The number one thing is that they are taught to repeat everything after the teacher, memorize sentences on the black board which results in not being able to think critically or creatively.  We saw this right away when we toured the classrooms because every one of them was copying sentences off the black board.  For their homework, they had do copy sentences down from the black board and just fill some words in the blank.  And that is how every subject is done, they memorize and if they come across a different word or sentence they don't know what to do.  Another part is working on phonics at an early age.  They don't do much with phonics at all and pretty much just memorize each word they read so if they see a word they haven't read before they can't sound it out.  One immediate need this school has is to set up their library.  Right now they have a room that is full of books, just sitting in piles.  They have wonderful kids books, encyclopedias, textbooks and workbooks just sitting there locked up but they don't do anything with them at the moment.  It would be really wonderful if a team from our church could come and help them set the library up efficiently and with that train the teachers on ways to use it most effectively and creatively.  So in a nutshell, there is a lot to be done but if the teachers there can be given some teaching tools, ideas and specific things they can do to improve the kids' learning it could be huge.  There obviously isn't an overnight solution and it would take time to see any changes but little by little I think something can be done.

So, that is what our trip was about.  Our church is planning on sending another team of people this summer and we're hoping to send some teachers along and do some training for the Liberian teachers, maybe some day camp activities for the kids since they will have a break from school then.  At the same time we hope to ship some newer books over to them, maybe some dealing with phonics.                 
Well, that is about the whole trip in a nut shell. :)  We also had 2 days of no work.  Friday we went to visit and tour another small school these same people are supporting.  It was far away, 3 hours one way from where we stayed at and it was in a mostly muslim community so running a school for their children is a big ministry, teaching the Gospel to those kids.  Then on Saturday there was a youth leaders' seminar that we went to, on Sunday pastor Bruce preached at their church and after that it was time to get to the airport and back home.   

It is interesting when you meet other white people there, most of the times it is missionaries, doctors, nurses, or teachers.  It is very interesting talking to them about what their project is and how it's going, what their challenges are, etc.  The needs in Liberia are very great and it almost feels like the work we do is a tiny drop in the ocean, yet I know God is calling us to do work there and just establishing those friendships is so huge because a lot of the people there have no hope of getting ahead and feel alone in their poverty.  All the people we have met are so thankful and excited that we are there, it means a world to them when to us sometimes it seems like not enough.

Here are a bunch of pictures of the kids and people we've worked with.  It was an amazing experience for me and I really hope some day our kids are able to go somewhere like that.

LUNCH TIME

PACKING IN TOGETHER AS THEY WAIT FOR THE SCREENING TO BEGIN

AT THE CLINIC

THAT WHITE BOY IS BLACK BUT HAS SOME STRANGE SKIN CONDITION WE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND

PASTORAL TRAINING

2 ESTERS

THE SCHOOL'S RICE AND PEAS FOR A MONTH

JAYNE

OUR DEAR TAXI DRIVER JOSHUA

    

Liberia

Wow, where to begin? :)  I thought I would have time typing some thoughts out while we were in Liberia but that didn't happen so I am going to try to recap my experience there.  I can't say I saw anything shocking or unexpected but seeing firsthand how people there live really impacts you.

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!

OUR DRIVER

CASUAL FRIDAY UNIFORM

PLANTATION FOR PALM OIL

LITTLE CHIMPANZEE WE SAW, HE WAS A PET