Angela Ad Lib (eria)

Liberia coming to Appleton - redux!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:12:00 +0000

I pretty much want to re-post mostly everything written in my last post - with maybe a few future tense -> past tense switches!

OR&R is just a cool organization and it was great to have the chance the chance to hear more stories and learn more about the work they're doing. Andrew spoke at both services, and in between hung out with some caffeinated and well-sugared middle- and high schoolers. That was probably my favorite part, actually, because the kids had interesting questions and were just plain fun to hang with!

Have I mentioned that Liberia is an amazing, beautiful place? There is so much potential and so many challenges.... Several folks started talking about maybe going to Liberia next year to help out with some of OR&R's work. Whether it's giving money or going ourselves or something in between, I kind of have the feeling that whatever we can do to "help" people there will really end up helping us here even more - to better understand ourselves, others... a bit of what God is doing in this crazy world, and how we just might be privileged enough to be a part of that.

Liberia coming to Appleton!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:03:00 +0000

While I don't know what's next for me and Liberia, I wanted to share this as a way that those of us who live outside Liberia can help. During my visit there, I met a couple of folks from Orphan Relief and Rescue. I got to see some of the projects that they're working on and learned a bunch about the challenges of construction in the country.
I like the video below because it gives great background info on Liberia, and explains what OR&R does. I'm excited about their work because I've seen it, and because it focuses on both immediate and sustainable help for hungry and poor people.
Here's the really exciting news: Andrew (the guy in the video) is coming to Appleton! He's going to be sharing at my church on Sunday, August 30. I hope if you're in the area you'll come to meet him and hear his stories!

vis a vis apropos of nothing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:54:00 +0000

7/30 - last ditch effort from Angela:
Wondering if you have any word of time frames or updates on the project at all? I'd like to be able to communicate with my employer about the realities of where the project is at, so any information about the process or current status would be greatly appreciated.

Hope you're adjusting well and are staying somewhat dry! I've heard that it's been one of the sunniest rainy seasons on record?

8/7 - response from Richard:
As in earlier messages, all I can report is that IRD still does not have a signed project or a final budget with USDA. As before, the practicalities of delivering on the various commitments we have vis-a-vis the potential donor have required us to revisit the budget. Production of the biscuit and beverage are feasible, but more expensive than originally estimated.

You should not make any definite plans until IRD has final word from the donor and until IRD would make final arrangements with all possible partners. Our primary requirement vis-a-vis the donor is to find practical ways to deliver on all the list of commitments we have, as best we can with the funds approved, and I should flag again if approved. IRD does not yet have this information.

Thank you and kind regards,

So that's that (for the foreseeable future)! I still have my job at ThedaCare; I still haven't sold anything major, and now all that remains is to get my head back in the game here - once I've figured out what that is and which team I'm on!

my heart is heavy

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:19:00 +0000

As I write this my heart is heavy. We still have not heard about the funding for the project. The last I heard was them was a message from Richard two weeks ago: "Please do not make any firm plans yet, as there is still no signed agreement with the donor. IRD/DC staff I know are discussing with USDA ways of fulfilling overall obligations vis-a-vis donor under what is a very tight budget." This after I'd been feeling increasingly tense about the lack of communication and the fact that approved funds hadn't been granted since like April/May or sometime due to difficulties between IRD and the USDA attorneys in scoping out the project. I know this must be a challenging one for them, but the lack of communication about what's going on - or even time estimates - has made the project (from my perspective) feel very shaky indeed. My boss at ThedaCare has agreed to hold off on posting my job till this coming Monday, Aug. 3, so I've spoken with Mustafa about it asked him to plan on finding someone else for this project manager role after that date.

I'd really appreciate your prayers about this; while there will of course be a bit of relief at the thought of not having to go through all the crazy changes anticipated, I will also be devastated. I don't doubt that God knows exactly what He's doing, but I don't. And that's ok, but I wouldn't say it's easy. I hope most for the very best for the people of Liberia, and would only want this project to go through if that's what it lead toward.

Thank you, friends.

don't know when I'm going but it's no use missin' the boat

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:40:00 +0000

Here's the plan. Head to a country called Liberia where it's hot all the time and where amazing people speak a bewildering version of English and wear Obama jeans. Where I'll be stretched in ways that intimidate me now. Where I'll learn a ton and hope to be of actual help.

Sound good?

So I know the where, but the when (mid-September is still the best guess) and a good bit of the how have yet to be determined. Much of that rides on the final agreement for a contract between IRD and the USDA. They're working on ironing it all out, so hopefully it won't be too terribly long before logistics can start to be solidified.

I did talk to Richard today, the IRD guy who will be in Liberia in charge of the whole project. He seems like a good guy, from the 20 minutes I spent on the phone with him. That will be a big deal as I'm guessing I'll be working with him pretty closely. He heads to Liberia this weekend and will be there on Monday.

whispers of some quiet conversation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:38:00 +0000

Hiya! I know I've been quiet lately, but - as you can probably imagine - I've been weighing and thinking and praying quite a bit. A couple of updates:

1) I need to tell my work about my decision by THIS FRIDAY, and
2) The project start date has been moved to Oct 1, which means (if I go) I'd probably be heading off in mid-September sometime.

Many thanks to those of you I've talked with about this decision. So appreciate the listening ears, encouragement and wise insight. Can't tell you how much, really!

And apologies if I seem to be making this too drawn out or dramatic; once decided, it will be whatever it is. It's just big in my life.

Prayers appreciated!

Never Loose Hope

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 30 May 2009 14:44:00 +0000

One of my favorite things as a total newcomer to this beautiful crazy place has been the sayings on the backs of taxis. So we started trying to catch photos of 'em as we'd drive along. Usually Mustafa was in the front seat, so I'd see one and toss the camera up to him quick, and Abee would slow down while Mustafa tried to get the picture. Toward the end of the trip we got pretty efficient at the process!

Here are the photos we managed to capture (with a few non-taxi ones thrown in for good measure).

Can't believe it, really....

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Today was all about wrapping up details and heading out. We stopped by Samaritan’s Purse, a good-sized and highly regarded NGO based here (not far from our guest house!). The Shanks had connected us with Bev, a program director for them. We talked quite a bit about living an expat life in Liberia, and how they manage various projects – great info. There’s a small group of women that meets to hang out and surf (!!) that she’s a part of, and that I could maybe tag along with if I come back. Here are Gladys and I outside their compound.

Chuck, a pastor in Florida who’s lived here and comes back every year to visit, has been another guest at the guest house on and off during our time here. He asked if he could ride with us to the airport. Of course we said “of course!”, so here we are packed into our car – a fitting way to wrap up the Liberia experience!

Many good-byes all around and we were off. Can't believe it, really...

[We arrived in Brussels, Belgium at 5 am, and - since our flight didn’t leave till 10:30 - we took a train into the city and bashed around the early-morning streets a bit. Here are some photos – definitely a place it would be great to explore more! So sad that not one chocolate shop was open at that early hour… I did get to try a Belgian waffle and take a picture of (what I think was!) Brussels lace….]

last full day...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Today had some of the bustling back and forth that has been fairly normal for us here. Our cancelled meeting from yesterday with the Deputy Minister of Education, Mr. Zarzar was still on today for 11:00. We had a really helpful meeting with him and LOIC and IRD (our partner organizations), and he connected us with a Ms. Pratt who focuses on school feeding programs. It will likely be she who we work with as we determine which schools will get focus. After the meeting Mustafa and I waited in the colonnade outside the building for Abee and Gladys. It was HOT so Mustafa told me to hold the expression on my face while he took a picture!

We then took our final trip “upcountry” – this time to Cape Mount County to look at one of LOIC’s technical skills schools. Since we will probably be using trainees from the program for the renovations, it was a great opportunity to see some of what they do. The students were all done with class for the day when we got there, but they must have held them back so we could see them – a tad awkward! But it was great fun to see some of the stuff they’re learning – small engine repair, hair weaving, masonry, tailoring, baking, and carpentry. We also stopped by a day care that is provided by the school so the students can attend class. All of the programs are 9 months long, and students leave being pretty competent in their trade of choice. James, the guy who had picked us up from the airport, is the administrator of the Cape Mount school. So after the students left we peppered him with more questions about how the program is run. Well – actually Gladys and I did, while Mustafa and George hammered out more details of the agriculture proposal.

The teaching staff at the school make $150 a month, regardless of their skill or level of education (very frustrating if you have a high level of education!). Because many of the students come from far away, the instructors often pay rent for them out of their own pockets, just so the students can attend class. Often their pay is delayed for up to two months because of administrative run-around with the grant that funds the school. James talked about coming down to Monrovia on Friday – the next time he’d have internet access. As we asked how some of these details could possibly work, James would explain, “it’s sacrificial, it’s sacrificial”. He’s been doing this for five years, and we get the sense that he’s getting pretty burned out with the role. He has his master’s degree and probably feels qualified and ready for something different.

We ended the day with a stop by Gladys’s sister’s home, where she’s been staying while she hangs in Monrovia. We got to meet her mom and sister, brother-in-law and ADORABLE nephew “Win”. (They had tried for five years to have a baby and had given up when he came along – hence the name!). It was great to put faces to names and chat with them for a while.

My laptop thinks its still in Wisconsin. The clock reads 7:06 PM, which means it’s just after midnight here in Liberia. That means I fly out today. I should go to bed, but I’m afraid. Afraid of the last page of the booklet that has been my time here. Not sure whether it will conclude “The End” or “To Be Continued…” and quite honestly afraid of the answer either way. At various times throughout this trip I have figuratively “surfaced” – trying to step back, step out, and consider. In my head is a continually running refrain, “I’m really, truly, in Africa. I’m seeing things and talking to people that till now I have seen only in calendars, the news and promotional material for charities.” Every moment here has been a privilege. I’m perfectly serious about that; It’s been (mostly!) easy to be a good sport about this because of that – things that are difficult here for me are everyday life for folks who live here. And I get the privilege of stepping out of one life into another, very different one. Why wouldn’t one just soak that experience in for all it’s worth? I’m scared of the day ending because I’ll no longer be able to put off making a decision about whether this becomes my life, for real, in just a few months…

Please keep your legs off the wall

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 May 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Today was a fun day in Liberia. It started with me getting a new dress! For someone who really is not a fan of clothes shopping, this is definitely the way to go: have a friend who is your same size and whose mom is a seamstress and knows how to make beautiful dresses out of African lappa fabric. Pay her to make one for you! I wore it to start the day, and then a meeting we had with the deputy minister of education was cancelled till tomorrow, so I changed so I can wear it again tomorrow.

First thing we headed off to CHAP farms - an initiative based in Liberia that is working on using agriculture to enable Liberians to live sustainably and independent of outside aid. Robert showed us around their farm and explained various aspects of rice, okra, and other types of farming they're doing there. (In the picture, I'm uploading their brochure to my laptop).

We next headed to Margibi county to look at agricultural initiatives there. Mr. Willie Cooper is Mr. Solunteh’s counterpart in Margibi county and he and his staff were fantastically knowledgeable. We wandered around their experimental farm and nursery, and learned a lot more about how agriculture works here. Mustafa will use a lot of this info in his upcoming presentation for aid funding.

The day has ended in a series of unfortunate events. They didn’t have room for both of us at the guest house for tonight, so earlier today Mustafa volunteered to go to (a much less nice) one nearby. We were both struck by this sign we saw on the wall as we toured the place. The story gets more serious: as Mustafa dropped some of his stuff off in my room he was chagrined to see an unmannerly wretch, smugly sitting on my bed with about the filthiest feet you can imagine. What IS the world coming to? But that’s nothing to what comes next: about an hour after he left there was a sudden loud banging at my window. When I worked up the nerve to lift up the curtain and investigate, there was David, our building’s guard. He told me that “a guy” was outside and wanted to be let in. I went to the front door and peered through the bars to find David and… Mustafa! Perhaps there is some hope for human decency in the world after all: I happened to be in a fairly decent mood so I decided to let him in. Apparently they’d given him the wrong outside key, so he’d spent an hour with their security guard trying to make the key work or wake someone up to let him in, all to no avail. So the poor guy gets to spend the night on one of the lobby couches here.
Tuesday morning update: apparently that was NOT the end of Mustafa’s misfortunes: he had skeeters biting his feet all night, and was awakened at 5 AM by other residents who were ready to get started with their day. Guess if he’s grouchy today, I’ll try not to hold it against him.

Liberia owes me a hair band

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 May 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Well, we’ve been here a week! Hardly seems possible. I hope you back in the ‘States are having a lovely Memorial Day weekend.

Today we visited Monrovia Christian Fellowship, a church that’s been recommended by probably five or six different folks I’ve spoken with. I really liked it – I knew a lot of expats are a part of that community, so was pleasantly surprised when I found that it’s pastored, strongly attended and (from what I can see) run by Liberians. Great singing, great teaching, and just plain nice to be there.

After church, we headed to the home of Brendan and Christina – some folks that Joy had referred me to. They were marvelously hospitable; we talked of many things and feasted on spaghetti, garlic bread, and chocolate chip bars. Yum! They have five kids and another family living in their guest house, AND they’re leaving for the ‘States tomorrow, so it was really gracious of them to invite us in spite of all that’s going on. They had great stories of life here (like the time they wanted to buy ice and got eggs instead!), and it was great to learn a bit from them about how they’ve learned to make living an expat life workable.

We then headed back to the guest house where I had great intentions of being productive, but really just ended up taking a long nap! Ever since arrival here we’ve talked about wanting to go down to the beach but tonight was the first time that actually happened!

Mustafa was wise and stayed in the “wade” zone. I played about in the crashing-ness and half drowned myself trying to body surf and generally had a lovely, refreshing time. I am holding Liberia responsible for the hair band (not the 80’s kind!) that somehow disappeared in the process.

What Saturdays in Liberia are about - from what I can tell

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 May 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Orphan Relief and Rescue

Today the pace let up a bit. In browsing around online I’d run across an organization called Orphan Relief and Rescue. Since some of what they do is the renovation of orphanages (which is similar to what I would be doing here), I had contacted them and they got me in touch with a man named Andrew Tyler. It worked for him to meet up today so we headed over there to learn what we could about their work. They’re building a new orphanage near where Firestone has their gajillions of rubber trees, so after a brief overview of their work we took off to see it.

We got a flat on the way, but Abee (and his brother, who happened to be passing by) made short work of that problem!

The orphanage they’re building is really, really cool. When they’re done, it will be able to house 50 kids, with a wing for boys, a wing for girls, and a central cafeteria-type area. Once they’re done building this they’ll also build a school, which will serve both the orphanage, and the greater community which currently has no locally-accessible school. Andrew walked us through all sorts of details about everything from construction to material supply to how hiring and staffing in Liberia. I’m sure I didn’t absorb as much as I could, but what I did learn will be invaluable (to Mustafa, at any rate, if I don’t return ;)

We shall live!

Since we were in Firestone already, Gladys asked if we would like to meet her son, who’s staying with her brother there while she works for Shelter this week. We said, “of course!” so got to meet Amouchen (which means “we shall live!”). He was shy, but apparently that’s not typical! It was great to meet the little guy we’ve been hearing so much about. He’s having lots of fun at his uncle’s beautiful place, but we think he can come with his mom when they drop us off at the airport on Sunday.

Henhouse

Next we stopped by the construction of a poultry run that Orphan Relief and Rescue is about to start. It’s to support a different orphanage – they’re building a big one because they think it will go a long way toward helping that orphanage become self sustaining.

Evelyn’s

We finally dropped Andrew off to let him get on with whatever else he was planning to accomplish with his day, and headed into town. All week long Gladys and Abee have been telling us how wonderful Liberian food is, but not letting us eat any because 1) finding food that’s safe for us to eat is somewhat of an issue, and 2) we’ve been eating at ‘fancier’ places to meet with all these official-types – or else eating leftovers or cereal :) back at the guest house. So today we FINALLY got to eat at Evelyn’s, which serves Liberian food. It was lovely. We shared fish gravy with boiled cassava, and dumboy soup. Spicy, but really, really good!

The National Museum

After lunch, Gladys took us to the Liberian National Museum. I’ll pretty much let the pictures speak for themselves. Oh – and you’re not supposed to take pictures, but we must have charmed the guy because he told us to take all the pictures we want. When we told him we’d share them with him, he got excited and wanted us to take even more! We learned a lot about Liberian culture and history – but a ton of stuff was destroyed or sold during the war, so the collection was not huge. One stone idol-thing was actually in a German museum for a long time. They finally were able to bring it back, but it was so heavy they dropped it en route from the car to the door.

The Market

We wanted to get some things as gifts for folks back home and figured this would be a good time to check out the market so that’s where we headed next. It was hilarious hearing Mustafa go back to his bargaining roots – between he and Gladys the poor shopkeepers didn’t stand a chance. And it really wasn’t nice because people generally see white people and jack prices up, and Gladys was having none of that at all. I just hate disappointing peoples’ hopes of cashing in big like that! (Any bets on my chances of survival if I move here?! :) Ok, ok, so I did some bargaining also – I am my mother’s daughter, after all!)

We returned to the car and it was covered with people and stuff – hey, it was horizontal empty space on a busy street! You can see the guy trying to sell Mustafa stuff through the windshield. It didn’t take long for them to clear it off once Abee started the car moving slowly forward. More friendly honking, and we were able to inch our way out of the area.

We headed back somewhat early compared to the rest of this week. The fruit here has been amazing, and we had picked up some “plums” (mangoes) earlier today.

So we ended the day as probably most days SHOULD be ended – stabbing slices of mango and puttering about.

Mustafa had to get this photo of the letter he got from the Ministry of Agriculture – it really is something to have it after less than a week in the country…

War.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 23 May 2009 11:38:00 +0000

One phrase we hear continually in conversations is, “before the war…”. We’ve been able to hear people’s experiences of the war; stories of lives that were turned upside down by chaos and violence. Gladys was at college when the war broke out and called everything to a halt; she and her family ended up fleeing to Cote d’Ivoire. Mr. Sulunteh and Mr. S-Saah stayed in Bong County through the entire war, and survived by fleeing and living with their families in the bush from 1991 to 2003. Before the war, all the other countries around had problems like this, but Liberia was too civilized for that kind of nonsense. But when it came, it came big and horrific. The war affected everyone here – not in the sense of just being inconvenienced: everyone I’ve talked to has seen people being shot all around them, has spent time fleeing through the bush, has had near brushes with death. They’ve watched what was a decently advanced and civilized way of living crumble to pieces. The war moved around the country, so people would go from place to place, for a while trying to resume “normal” life and then being uprooted again. Many missed elementary education, so if they were to go back to school now, they might be 20 but be in 2nd grade as far as education goes. And that only touches on the trauma: kids were drugged and forced to fight, and sometimes, to rape and kill their own parents (completely devastating to the strong African value of respect for elders). Charles Taylor was so charismatic that the kids in the army would chant, “you killed my ma, you killed my pa, I’ll fight for you”. In the US, 9/11 was a defining moment for us, but if 9/11 had come individually to every city where we live, every town; forcing us to flee on foot from one state to another, perhaps to Canada or Mexico, or – if we had connections – out of the continent, destroying and separating families bit by bit, we would have a much better sense of what these folks are going through as they deal with each bit of evidence of the brokenness and destruction that uprooted their lives.

Gonna take some time to do the things we never have

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Today is chock-filled with moments; moments that I wish I could bottle up and share with you somehow. My camera takes video, but doesn’t record sound, and suddenly that’s KILLING me. I so wish for you to be able to hear people talk; not only the way they speak, but the passion and personality that come through their Liberian words.

I’d been looking forward all week to getting out of Monrovia and into the countryside, so I have to say today was my favorite so far. Midmorning found us crammed in the back seat of a pickup, bouncing our way toward Gbanga (pronounced "Ban-gah"), in Bong County. The roads are actually pretty good for decent stretches at a time – they’re just, uh, punctuated with washouts that call for serious slow-downs and swerves. With us were Gladys, Siafa (the agriculturalist from Diversity Farm – hooray!), Mr. Salunteh, the County Administrator for the MOA, and an amazingly jerk-y (in both senses of the word) driver.

I know you’ll be surprised to hear this, but I peppered all four Liberians with questions about plants and animals throughout the day. When I first asked about a type of flower they pretty much laughed at me and said, “In Africa, we know ‘flower’, ‘bird’, ‘tree’ and so on, but we don’t worry about the names”. So an ongoing joke for the day was a variation of me asking, “Oh, is that a Red Flower?” and them laughing and saying “Yes, yes. That’s a red flower”.

After about three hours we stopped for a few moments at Mr. Salunteh’s home, and then drove on to Gbanga, where we got to see his office, and examine the detailed map of the county. There we discussed what villages and areas had the most potential for independent agricultural development if they had better market road access and storage.

(Right now, farmers may bring a basket of produce to market, and in the morning asking for a decent price. But buyers tell them to hold off, and basically wait till the farmers are desperate to sell in the afternoon or evening, so farmers end up making no money or losing it on the enterprise. Storage would solve this problem, but this is one of the reasons folks are not currently motivated to produce beyond what they need for subsistence).

Mr. Sulunteh is very enthusiastic about addressing these problems, which is why I think he’s been so helpful to us. Then we took off for one of the villages that recently has had a road developed for them. On the way, we picked up James S-Saah because he knows a lot about agriculture in that area. I was impressed with this: Mr. Salunteh gave up his seat in the front of the pick-up to Gladys, and went to ride in the back of the pick-up with James. I don’t know how other government officials are, but he continued to impress me with his low-key, listening approach to everyone we met.

We left the main road and bounced our way to a place where they had a gazebo-type pavilion. Here Mustafa asked James a bunch of questions, and then we walked to the nearby village. On the way Mr. Solunteh said to me, “You know, there is one type of grass that we do identify. It’s called ‘Homework’”. Mustafa found out why not too much later when he walked through some and a bunch of little sliver-type seeds stuck to his pants: “Homework” exactly describes it!

We stopped to talk to some boys that were hoeing in a cassava field,

and then in the village a bunch of the village men came to meet us (the village chief is on the far right). We asked them about agricultural infrastructure and what would most help them and – more particularly – the villages beyond them that do not have roads like the one we had used to get there. Interesting stuff. We headed back to the pavilion where Mustafa could ask Mr. Salunteh and James more questions (and they could try almonds for the first time).

Siafa and I talked to a woman who was pounding cassava and he explained the process to me (it’s really interesting – ask me about it sometime!). Then we walked over to a well – doesn’t it look fine?

I’m sure in someone’s report somewhere it says that a pump was installed in that village and it’s listed as a success, but the pump is completely worthless. It doesn’t have a valve in it. But more than that: whoever constructed it didn’t record on it who dug it it, when it was dug, how deep it goes, what organization sponsored it, or anything. I guess it’s ridiculously common for folks to dig wells during the rainy season when the water table is high, and those wells are worthless in the dry season when they’re most needed. Golly stuff like that makes me almost as cranky as the driver! Almost.

We drove Mr. Solunteh back to his house, and began the 3 hour ride back – punctuated with a lovely Snickers break. This was thanks to Jen, who had insisted on sending them with Mustafa on the trip. We all saluted her as we mowed through them.

Unfortunately, the trip ended with our first potentially serious flub-up with our unfamiliarity with the country and customs here. The driver had been complaining the entire way about pretty much everything, and one thing he was upset about was driving us back because he’d get back so late. I can imagine that that wasn’t a fun prospect, so I really don’t blame him for not liking the idea. He was Mr. Solunteh’s driver, and since Mr. Solunteh had set up things this way, we didn’t interfere. But apparently he was seriously ticked about the arrangement. We dropped Siafa off, and then wanted to drop Gladys off. But he spoke to Gladys and she said he’d said no, he’d drop us off first. Later we found out that we really should have insisted – he was so mad by the time he dropped us off that he left her off in the middle of the city, and she’d had to walk home a long way at night – something we’ve been told repeatedly is really dangerous. We both feel terrible about it, and can’t describe how glad we are that she made it home safely. We simply had no idea that such behavior was a possibility. Lesson learned – hopefully for good.

more Thursday

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 22 May 2009 01:00:00 +0000

After breakfast with the President, and visiting the MOA (Ministry of Agriculture), we headed back to our place to regroup a bit, and then to LOIC to pick up George, then we headed downtown to meet with the MOA minister for Margibi County, then crashed a cocoa sector strategy meeting, then headed back to LOIC to meet Craig from IRD. We spent quite a bit of time there, talking through the project. We then toured the facility again so Craig could decide if he wanted to have an office there too. Here’s a photo of what might possibly be my office. George tells me it can be renovated in a 3-week time frame! Thursday night we met with a representative from Grand Bassa County (where Gladys is from) to discuss agricultural infrastructure needs there. And here is one of my favorite photos from the trip: this is what happens when you leave Abee alone in the car with the camera! (If you look closely you can see his smirk – I just love it!).

How do you say "El Presidente" when it's a WOMAN?!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:26:00 +0000

Today we were to show up at 7:45 at the Executive Mansion. Why? Why to meet Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and US Ambassador Greenleaf for breakfast, of course. Here’s a photo of us after the breakfast – I should have been more pushy and ask for a picture while we were with them, but I really, really didn’t want to be pushy. So you’ll have to take our word for it! Here’s the play-by-play – it was actually a pretty straightforward matter:

We were ushered to a gazebo on the grounds where we took surreptitious photos of each other. We were asked for ID and I had a panicky moment when I couldn’t find my passport (I later found it – PHWEW! – at the bottom of my laptop bag)! I gave him my Wisconsin Driver’s license instead which confused him (“Weesconsin??”), but seemed to work as they didn’t even ask to check my bag or run us through any security screening. Good thing the sinister nature of our visit only went so far as hoping for a photo! We were joined by two other folks (one is the acting Minister of Agriculture who we met Monday), and when the ambassador arrived were ushered into an upstairs room. Ambassador Greenleaf came in and she’s a Madison grad! So we talked about Madison for a bit till President Sirleaf arrived. She joined in the conversation as she went to school there as well. We talked about how cold it is, especially when you’re coming from a warmer climate like here or Louisiana, where the Ambassador is from. A mention was made of breakfast, but the President asked Mustafa, “so I hear you have an idea to share with us?”.

So Mustafa took about ten minutes to share some ideas for agriculture development in the country. Both the president and ambassador responded with questions about the details of his ideas. They were very positive about it, and asked how soon it could begin! We then went into breakfast, where I got to eat the first actual Liberian food we’ve eaten in the country [more on that separately!], and Mustafa didn’t because he was kept busy asking questions. It was a simple breakfast: boiled plantain, cassava, and eddoes, served with fish gravy, fresh fruit, and coffee (the president also had an oatmeal-looking-something – it could have been fufu) but it required a lot of complicated silverware to eat! Very fun. The discussion ended with Mustafa being asked what he would like from them! He requested a letter from the Ministry of Agriculture, and we were asked to come to the Ministry office right after breakfast to get it! (We later heard that this kind of turnaround is unheard of here – but also that the President has been pushing on the ministers to cut the red tape and get things to happen FASTER, so maybe that gave the minister something to be urgent about!) Breakfast was not extended – the president and ambassador excused themselves to touch base privately about something, so we finished up and headed out - stopping to ask permission to get a photo of ourselves there - it was granted, as long as it was pointing off to the side of the building. At least we got one legal photo!

We’ll definitely be chalking this experience up as one of those moments-in-a-lifetime experiences. Especially since Jen is a HUGE fan of President Sirleaf – I have little doubt that she’ll be killing us the moment we arrive in Minneapolis.

I bless the rains down in Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 May 2009 04:00:00 +0000

I woke up sometime in the middle of the night to some loud alarming noise. I cast about in my head, trying to place it, until it started becoming more and more steady: it was African rain beating down on African zinc (tin) roofing. Once I identified it, I settled back to sleep more content than before; you can’t beat the sound of the ocean waves crashing here, but rain on the roof is a very close second.

Meeting with Robin and Suliman

On the recommendation of the Ministry of Agriculture, we met with some folks from another NGO doing work similar to what we might be interested in. Their work sounds just amazing; their whole goal is to build sustainability. They have facilitated farmer cooperatives forming; and those in turn creating relationships with banks for microfinancing and exporters for trading. If they were taken out of the equation tomorrow, those structures would still be in place – there would simply be the loss of further training. Good stuff.

Lunch with Mr. Sulunteh

Mr. Sulunteh is the superintendent of agriculture for Bong County, where we plan to visit on Friday. We had a lovely lunch at Gladys’ favorite restaurant, the MonaLiza, and had a great talk with him. We learned a bit more about the county, and he said our meeting will help him prepare for our visit – as long as his Chinese-made (which they really seem to detest here) Nissan is finished in the repair shop by then.

Meeting with Fellow

After lunch, we met with a guy named Fellow who’s setting up a vegetable farm. It was actually great to run across a program we were less-than-enthusiastic about as a means of contrasting our experience with the other great ones we’ve been running across. They plan to start up a farm, hire villagers to work on it, and pay them back from the profits! Modern feudalism, anyone? All of the other projects we’ve been discussing have been all about equipping farmers to run their own businesses, and maximize their own market and crop knowledge, and – ultimately – profitability. Far more betterer!

The highlight of that part of the day was coming back to the car that had been nicely roasting in the Liberian sunshine, to Abee fast asleep IN HIS SUIT COAT. That guy would never survive Wisconsin. Here's a picture of the car...

Meeting at the Bank

Mustafa asked Gladys if it would be possible to meet with someone from the banking system to discuss the topic. She (of course – she’s Gladys, after all!) “knows a guy”. Well, in this case a woman in the Risk Department who set up a meeting for this afternoon with a branch manager. So we found ourselves in the midst of a crazy market street, walking into a tall, marble building that would be indistinguishable from a US bank except that it was packed with lines and lines of people. We waited a while and were ushered into an upstairs board room where the branch managers and a couple of other dudes in suits discussed microfinance and other topics with us. Mustafa was blown away by the sophistication of the banking system compared to other post-conflict countries Shelter works in – definitely a good sign for future development work!

On the way out of the bank, Mustafa decided to get his shoes shined. As the guy was working away Mustafa asked if he could blacken mine too. (I was wearing strappy shoes). The guy bought into the joke right away and was like “no, I don’t have enough polish for that!”.

LOIC

Next stop: the Liberian OIC. It’s an NGO that Shelter will be partnering with for my project, and possibly for future ones. George (the one that was found) is the guy who runs it, and today we met up with him to visit their building. There’s a chance Shelter’s office space will be set up within the OIC grounds; it’d be nice to be in close proximity to them, and we may get a cheaper/more secure setup by doing this rather than setting up separate office space. LOIC does tons of job skills training - in the picture you can see the chairs the students have been working on.

Internet café stop

We wanted to get on the internet before our evening meeting. We stopped by the Y just as they were closing, so on the recommendation of a guy there, we found this great little place not far away. The internet was SLOW, and it was HOT, so we got a great sense of accomplishment out of that deal!

Meeting with Richelieu-Mitchell

We ended the evening at the Royal Hotel (woo hoo) meeting one of the assistant ministers that had been at the earlier meeting at the Department of Agriculture. He was amazingly gracious and spent probably three hours with us, telling us about his life, and discussing agriculture. It was such a privilege to hear stories of his experience with the war, and taking on everything else life has dealt him.

Oh – and there was a DEER there! Liberian deer are funny looking, aren’t they? This one must have been tamed…

And on another note: this continues to be crazy. Mustafa tried in vain to set up even one of these meetings ahead of time and nothing was a go. Having things work out to the extent that they have has certainly been unexpected – wait till you hear about tomorrow!!

Beyond barrel hopping

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 May 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Did you ever play Donkey Kong on one of those old Commodore 64s in the early 80s? “You” were Donkey Kong and you were trying to climb this series of tilted platforms while jumping barrels as they rolled toward you? It was awesome.

I’ve mentioned before that as I’ve considered this trip, and – more broadly – moving to Liberia for the 2-year project , I’ve thought of it as taking a step through each door as long as it remains open. Over the past several weeks, doors haven’t been shut, exactly, but there have perhaps been a series of barrels to hop on the way to each one! The egg allergy was a big deal right up to the end. Before the immunization scafuffle I could at least eat eggs (as long as they were well cooked). It took me eating an amazing omelet at Jen & Mustafa’s the day of our departure – and feeling completely miserable for a good bit of the first leg – to realize that further egg eating is out of the question for the foreseeable future. It was probably a good part of why I had such a hard time recovering from the immunization. Not rocket science, I suppose, I just didn’t expect “normal” to have changed liked that. Mustafa also had just a crazy time prepping for this trip. His barrels took the shape of misspelled names and times on visas, multiple projects and school work coming due at the same time, and all sorts of fits and starts with the initiation of the project. And then the travel itself had several points at which we might easily have been held up until Tuesday or beyond.

This evening after everyone left, Mustafa and I sat out in the guest house living room discussing this trip so far. We can’t help but feel that God is directly involved in how so many things are coming together. The seemingly random chain of events that brought us here, that brought Shelter’s work to the attention of Rob Sirleaf and the Ministers we met yesterday, and that’s pulling together a most unique series of meetings and visits in a 10-day period, feels more than random. Where it will end, I have no idea, but I’m thinking it would be interesting to log the meetings so far, with a (hopefully) high-level summary.

Sun. night

James Richardson, a Liberian who works with OIC, picked us up from the airport and explained some of what he does with training ex-combatants (former child-soldiers: the school renovation project will probably be largely staffed by these guys).

Mon. morning

Gladys and Abee. Both have been constantly by our sides and helped us navigate. Abee, the streets of Monrovia, and Gladys – pretty much everything else. Honestly have no idea where we’d be without her.

Mon. lunch

Rob Sirleaf and the Minister of Agriculture and several assistant Ministers – I already wrote about that one!

This morning

Gladys set us up to meet someone from her church: Aaron Dahn with Diversity Farms – a Liberian that’s working on jump-starting multiple agricultural programs. Aaron was fascinating to talk to. He and his fellow agency members are personally funding a nursery and running classes for farmers to learn how to better manage the soil and produce greater

harvests. I could talk about what they’re doing for a long time, but one neat aspect to their work is that they’re staffed, funded, and completely run by Liberians – no outside intervention or help at all to this point. They’re putting in for a government grant to significantly expand their work.

Today lunch

Craig from IRD – a partner organization in the school renovation/school feeding project. Interesting guy, just flown in from Columbia, trying to set up the food fortification part. It’s not as easy as you’d think, as there are practically no food processing plants in the country.

Today dinner

George (WE FOUND GEORGE!! This is George!) from OIC, who Shelter will be working with pretty closely on perhaps multiple projects. George is a fascinating guy – he got his education in the Soviet Union and got a

chemical engineering degree there. He’s spent considerable time knocking about Europe, and speaks with such a strong Liberian accent that I can’t understand him unless it’s relatively quiet in the room and I’m really concentrating. George knows a ton of people, and later this week we’ll get to find out a lot more about what’s he’s up to.

Dinner also included David A. and Paul from the UN. Mustafa knows them from a connection back in Minnesota.

They’re incredibly helpful – the meeting started off with Paul setting us up for a meeting with a Deputy Minister of Education for next Monday, and ended with them coordinating our trip to Bong County on Friday.

Tonight

Really random – my church’s denomination (Evangelical Free Church) isn’t particularly huge or anything, but tonight when we came into the guest house and started talking with some other guests, who would they be but E-Free pastors! They’re here for a training thing with ABC (Africa Bible College), whose campus we’re on. Titus and David both seemed like solid, caring people, so it was great fun to connect with them.

So what’s the big idea? No idea – and no, I don’t know at this point that I’m coming back for the project. But I am trying hard both to be here, and to step away a bit and try to figure out what living here for 2 years would really be like.

Gladys gave me the phrase today, to use when things aren’t working at the level of expectation of bewildered westerners (like not being able to find George): TIA. This is Africa.

it's all in your head...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:15:00 +0000

I was about to post something about how amazing it is to be walking around the capital city here, and see women walking by with amazing amounts of amounts stuff on their heads. I haven't gotten a good picture yet, so I was holding off. Well - I just ran across this post on another blog - and she tells it far better than I would have!

take II on Monrovia

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:17:00 +0000

I’m sitting in the back of the car as we drive through Monrovia’s streets. Even though it’s only 7:30 pm, it’s pitch black outside and the horn is continually being sounded as people, taxis, and other cars get too close. It’s not overly congested, really, it’s just that there is great variation in the state of repair on the roads (occasionally calling for big swerves), and in folks’ interpretation of traffic best pract

ice.

They drive on the right-hand side of the street here – as long as there’s not a compelling reason to be on the left. If I end up moving here, I’m definitely going to have way too much fun with the driving side of things. I like the idea of honking a lot, and without any particular malice.

Last night I w

as overwhelmed as I posted here. Understandable, hopefully, but I was tired and unhappy and wishing I wasn't in a place where you are SUPPOSED to be untrusting and suspicious of everyone around. I don't want my pocket picked, but I also don't want to be thinking that it's a possibility with any stranger I encounter. That's no way to live! Today was far, far better.

It started off great – we met Gladys, our host for the week, and Abee, our driver. Gladys met Abee over a year ago, and likes to employ him as driver when they need one as he’s very safe. Gladys is married to George, who is Mustafa’s primary contact in Liberia. He’s already done quite a bit of work for Shelter, and will probably be Shelter’s first employee in the country. He’s in the States right now, raising funds for a youth program that he and Gladys are running, so he char

ged her with looking after us while we’re

in the country. She is beautiful and soft-spoken and very resourceful. She’s helped us connect with folks and found us a guest house out of the city to stay in that is wayyy cheaper ($30/night instead of $100 plus) , cleaner/safer-feeling, PLUS it has an incredible ocean view which (of course) has me beside myself with happiness.

Today was our day to meet up with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s son, Rob Sirleaf. And that’s exactly what we did! A cavalcade of 3 cars – a police car, Rob’s Lexus, and an SUV (with a bodyguard - complete with ear piece and shades) in which we rode – picked us up at the hotel and took us to a simple (but very nice) café-type place for lunch. Rob was down to earth and funny, and we had a relaxed meal and great discussion. With him was Mohommed, a secretary-smart details-managing sort of person. Mustafa was able to explain the agriculture project that Shelter is planning to bid for, and Rob and Mohammed asked many good questions. Next we went to the Ministry of Agriculture where we had to wait for security clearance and then were ushered into this circular room with a huge table. There we met the Minister of Agriculture, and several assistant ministers of other departments. We spent considerable time there as Mustafa answered their questions and asked questions of his own. They made recommendations for two specific counties where it will probably be ideal to run the project.

We’ll try to visit both counties some time this week, and the ministers will set up time with the superintendents of those counties to be able to meet up with farmers and see the areas.

The day also included purchasing a cell phone, getting groceries, and other various meanderings about the capital. I like Liberia 10 times more today than I did yesterday - and it has everything to do with meeting and connecting with concerned people.

Picture 1: Mustafa & Gladys by the Nido - had to share the pic with those of you who have backpacked with me!

Picture 2: near our guest house, this evening, with Abee and Gladys

Picture 3: Mohammed, Rob Sirleaf, me and Mustafa

splash!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:05:00 +0000

Well, I'm actually "Ad Lib". And it's crazy. Mustafa and I landed an hour and a half ago to muggy weather and darkness - even though it was only 7:30 at night. I'm thinking because we're so much closer to the equator there won't be the "long summer days" effect here. It's so good to be here after all the flight crazyness - there were a few points in there where it was truly questionable on whether we'd get here today (and the next flight doesn't come in till Tuesday). Here's a pic Mustafa took of me as we were disembarking; the lens fogged up immediately, so it wasn't QUITE that hazy out, but we were told that we weren't supposed to take pictures of the plane (oops! busted!) so this is as good as it gets for tonight!

We were picked up by James, a Liberian who works for OIC (one of Shelter's partner organizations for this project). He drove us to our hotel and answered tons of silly outsider questions on the hour drive into Monrovia. We could see the buildings that have generators to light them - so basically the nicer places - and it was fun to get a quick outside overview of the place. There will be tons to learn and see!

Did someone say Amsterdam?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 17 May 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Greetings from Holland! It’s 8 in the morning here, 1 AM back in Wisconsin, and no we did not plan to be here. Let’s just say that we were caught in a stream of unfortunate events and are feeling pretty lucky to be here and leaving shortly for Brussels.

It’s amazingly painful to fly into some place you’ve always wanted to visit and not be able to leave the airport! But we only have a 2 hour layover – clearly not long enough to make an actual visit possible even if you don’t mind pushing it. I’m a tad more missing-flight risk-averse than normal after our most recent scafuffle, so I’ll just content myself with watching the tourist-attraction video clips and the occasional Vincent van Gogh Museum shopping bag floating by. Mustafa got no sleep on the flight over, and I only got a bit so am still pretty tired – hopefully we’ll be able to sleep on the Brussels-Monrovia flight…

and you thought I was making up stories again...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 16 May 2009 05:40:00 +0000

...but yes, I really DO have a visa for Liberia! I just met it tonight, as Mustafa had it & I figured I'd pick it up once I got here. Welcome to my passport, Visa, where (since history repeats itself) you are certain to get rather poorly treated.

I love this picture of Jen & Mustafa. Thought I'd share since I'll be mentioning them quite a bit!

flawed altruism

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:27:00 +0000

So - there's some really thought-provoking stuff on flawed altruism on this Project Diaspora blog site. It's definitely worth reading! One of the things I've really liked about Shelter for Life is that from everything I can tell it's really concerned with long-term solutions, long-term viability of its work. I actually remember having conversations with Mustafa about this subject like five years ago. I think they've seen a lot of the damage that's done with hit-and-run humanitarian projects, and are doing what they can to support communities in not only meeting immediate needs, but also in becoming fully self sufficient. I'm looking forward to hearing and learning from Liberians and expats based in Liberia about what they've seen and learned on this topic - I'm guessing if I ask I'll get an earful! I'm halfway through This Child Will Be Great and Sirleaf has plenty to say about the misallocation of aid funding. Pretty sickening, really.

a bit aboot school feeding

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 12 May 2009 05:02:00 +0000

So, Mustafa assigned me this HUGE document to read. Really interesting stuff, actually, but I thought I'd share out this from page 14 of the document because it's directly related to the project Shelter will be doing in Liberia. I'd love to know if this project ended up getting funded or not... hmmm!

Investing in School Feeding Hunger and illiteracy are mutually reinforcing. Hunger in early life impairs cognitive development and limits future mental capacity. It keeps children out of school and inhibits their ability to concentrate once there. In turn, adults whose mental capacity and literacy is low because of childhood hunger are unable to take advantage of learning opportunities and cannot enjoy the economic benefits that result.
The linkage between hunger and illiteracy affects more than the potential of individuals and households; it also helps to determine the wealth of nations and the stability of states. A legacy of hunger in a critical mass of households can stagnate national economic development, deepen socio-economic cleavages, intensify conflicts over resources, and reverse national human development, as well as trigger and fuel wars. Conversely, reduced levels of child hunger coupled with increased literacy can give rise to a generation of youth and eventually adults with increased productive capacities which can be leveraged to spur economic growth, promote equitable distribution of social benefits and engender national stability.