Monday, Oct 26 2009
I was just about asleep around 12:30 AM when my bed shook - like someone put their hands through the window and grabbed my bed. Needless to say I jumped up and didn't know what was going on. I had earplugs in my ears so I wouldn't hear Don (my roommate) snore or hear the roosters at night, so I realized I wouldn't hear a person sneaking into our room! After my heart was put back into its place, I realized that no one was there. I inspected the bed and found that the foot of the bed in the right upper corner was broken. That foot slipped out of place while I sleeping and made the bed drop. Oh, you may think that was funny…did I say something about my heart popping out of my chest? I found a can of dry peanut butter (a gift from Don to folks for later in the week) and put it under my bed. That worked, mostly.
To save money, the guesthouse cuts the generator off at 1:00 AM. So waking up in the morning with no electric is no surprise, but it can make shaving a bit of a challenge ;-) My travel companions and I had a breakfast of oatmeal and fruit with some of the strongest instant coffee I've had in a while. Anyway, Robert Sondah, the director of VisionTrust Liberia, picked us up in his borrowed "1980" Nissan Sunny (small four door sedan like the Nissan Sentra in the US). This car has about 2 months of life left before it goes to "car-heaven."
We drove about 20 minutes to the first VisionTrust project called Prime System School of Christ located outside of the capital city of Monrovia in Paynesville. Most of the people that live around the school are from the Kpelle tribe. I got out of the car and met John the principal. We strolled through the school's courtyard. This school has 450 children from preschool through 8th grade. After a time of laughing and playing with the kids, it was time for them to eat (they eat mid-morning). This was an awesome sight - they were using the new outdoor kitchen made from cement block. More than a year ago, these children didn't get any food to eat at school. That may not sound tough, but they don't get breakfast at home, nor lunch. Just dinner. So this meal is super important to help them grow, develop their brains and give them better attention in the classroom. This program has improved so much in the 18 months we've been involved. The children are healthier, the teachers are happier, the facilities have been improved, and we've added grades 7 and 8. We have a lot more to do here…like build a new school. The average number of children per class in the lower grades is about 50 students to one teacher. God will provide in the right time!
Soon it was time to go to the VisionTrust Liberia office just down the street and review Robert's budget and questions for me. Hey - this part is mission work too!
Ok…I've got one for you. About 2 years ago on my first trip to Liberia, I had lunch at Mousu's and ordered a Cheeseburger. The waitress brought me two large "homemade" buns with a slice of cheese - no meat. I asked her where the meat was. She said, "You ordered a cheeseburger and that is what you have." Well, this time, believe it or not - I think the same lady took our order. I was smart this time and ordered the hamburger. About 25 minutes later, our food came out one plate at a time and everything was correct! Wait, the story isn't over. I asked her for salt. She rolled her eyes as if I had asked for the moon. Needless to say - the salt never came.
In the afternoon we all discussed the idea of using land to do three accomplish three objectives that we have: 1) Produce food for the school; 2) Produce food to make money; 3) Provide a place to teach Life-Skills to the children. This conversation was a brainstorming session that focused on what to grow, where to grow it, what is profitable, what is in demand, what life-skills could we teach, ….needless to say it was a brain burner because the topic is broad and difficult in a land of so many challenges.
We made it back to the guesthouse at 6:30 PM, dinner had been waiting for us for sure as some of it was cold. Factoid: The owner of the guesthouse the daughter of the past President of Liberia, William Tolbert. He was killed in 1980 by Samuel Doe, along with William's two brothers who were in power and the entire cabinet except Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (the current President of today). After checking email and working for a couple hours I went off to bed, read the Psalms and went to sleep (with the help of Excedrin PM).
I was just about asleep around 12:30 AM when my bed shook - like someone put their hands through the window and grabbed my bed. Needless to say I jumped up and didn't know what was going on. I had earplugs in my ears so I wouldn't hear Don (my roommate) snore or hear the roosters at night, so I realized I wouldn't hear a person sneaking into our room! After my heart was put back into its place, I realized that no one was there. I inspected the bed and found that the foot of the bed in the right upper corner was broken. That foot slipped out of place while I sleeping and made the bed drop. Oh, you may think that was funny…did I say something about my heart popping out of my chest? I found a can of dry peanut butter (a gift from Don to folks for later in the week) and put it under my bed. That worked, mostly.
To save money, the guesthouse cuts the generator off at 1:00 AM. So waking up in the morning with no electric is no surprise, but it can make shaving a bit of a challenge ;-) My travel companions and I had a breakfast of oatmeal and fruit with some of the strongest instant coffee I've had in a while. Anyway, Robert Sondah, the director of VisionTrust Liberia, picked us up in his borrowed "1980" Nissan Sunny (small four door sedan like the Nissan Sentra in the US). This car has about 2 months of life left before it goes to "car-heaven."
We drove about 20 minutes to the first VisionTrust project called Prime System School of Christ located outside of the capital city of Monrovia in Paynesville. Most of the people that live around the school are from the Kpelle tribe. I got out of the car and met John the principal. We strolled through the school's courtyard. This school has 450 children from preschool through 8th grade. After a time of laughing and playing with the kids, it was time for them to eat (they eat mid-morning). This was an awesome sight - they were using the new outdoor kitchen made from cement block. More than a year ago, these children didn't get any food to eat at school. That may not sound tough, but they don't get breakfast at home, nor lunch. Just dinner. So this meal is super important to help them grow, develop their brains and give them better attention in the classroom. This program has improved so much in the 18 months we've been involved. The children are healthier, the teachers are happier, the facilities have been improved, and we've added grades 7 and 8. We have a lot more to do here…like build a new school. The average number of children per class in the lower grades is about 50 students to one teacher. God will provide in the right time!
Soon it was time to go to the VisionTrust Liberia office just down the street and review Robert's budget and questions for me. Hey - this part is mission work too!
Ok…I've got one for you. About 2 years ago on my first trip to Liberia, I had lunch at Mousu's and ordered a Cheeseburger. The waitress brought me two large "homemade" buns with a slice of cheese - no meat. I asked her where the meat was. She said, "You ordered a cheeseburger and that is what you have." Well, this time, believe it or not - I think the same lady took our order. I was smart this time and ordered the hamburger. About 25 minutes later, our food came out one plate at a time and everything was correct! Wait, the story isn't over. I asked her for salt. She rolled her eyes as if I had asked for the moon. Needless to say - the salt never came.
In the afternoon we all discussed the idea of using land to do three accomplish three objectives that we have: 1) Produce food for the school; 2) Produce food to make money; 3) Provide a place to teach Life-Skills to the children. This conversation was a brainstorming session that focused on what to grow, where to grow it, what is profitable, what is in demand, what life-skills could we teach, ….needless to say it was a brain burner because the topic is broad and difficult in a land of so many challenges.
We made it back to the guesthouse at 6:30 PM, dinner had been waiting for us for sure as some of it was cold. Factoid: The owner of the guesthouse the daughter of the past President of Liberia, William Tolbert. He was killed in 1980 by Samuel Doe, along with William's two brothers who were in power and the entire cabinet except Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (the current President of today). After checking email and working for a couple hours I went off to bed, read the Psalms and went to sleep (with the help of Excedrin PM).
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