Gbarnga Mission | Liberia – West Africa

Another day of variety. A “marketing officer” from BRAC, Kpalay Tokpah, called and wanted to meet since he heard we were preparing to get our first chicks. I wasn’t sure what “marketing” meant to him but it sounded like we needed to meet before our transaction. He works in BRAC’s Gbarnga office and basically the money goes to him and he does the paperwork for reserving our order with the hatchery located about 4 hours away in Buchanan (fairly close to the airport). We discussed price again and, surprise surprise, the cost Mawolo from the Suakoko office gave were the wrong numbers. Instead of $1.50/chick it’s $1.75 delivered to Gbarnga. I could save the 25¢ by picking up at the farm but I can’t justify about $60 difference when fuel and a wasted day of travel isn’t worth it. I wanted Kpalay to meet Tumamee since they would be working together when I’m gone so we hopped in the truck and drove to Gbarnga.

I was going to “town” anyway to pick up a supply of saw dust (aka “wood dust”) from Silla’s carpentry shop for our chicken bedding. Tumamee, Kpalay, and I converged at the shop while workers helped shovel wood dust into used rice bags. Silla came over and pointed to a pile of 18 very large bags that were pre-filled in anticipation of our pick up. He’s a genuinely nice guy nut also benefits from disposal of this byproduct of his business. Our gang went to work hauling the big bags and soon our truck was full. Kpalay and Tumamee had their chance to talk so we went on our way.

I decided to hang the Rotary’s dedication sign on the pump house to get that off the list. We trimmed some 1-1/2″ conduit clips and clamped the frame to the block wall with big Tapcon masonry screws. My helpers love watching the cordless drill penetrate the cement with ease.

As I entered the guesthouse for lunch, I caught glimpse of an interesting leafy bug about an inch or so long.

Later in the day I had a small sign welded up to direct people to GLTC along the access road. Guesthouse guests and other campus visitors have commented about missing the turn and ending up in Taylor Farm. I was hoping the “real” road would be finished by now and we wouldn’t have to spend any more money on signs that will be obsolete later. I met Henry, the sign painter, who gave me an estimate of $5 USD to paint it. I guess not much money after all.

I spent the rest of the afternoon troubleshooting construction issues and campus repairs…an endless (and thankless) job…did I say ENDLESS. To top it off, I woke up this morning with no water in the guesthouse. So much for the repairs. When the sun rose I checked the notoriously leaky school toilets and found one in the girls room running non-stop with a stuck flap. Amazing how much water that wastes considering we have a 1,500 gallon tank. Hopefully that was the only issue since it was the first night with the main valve turned on supplying the chicken house and I was concerned there might be a leak during the inaugural run of the new piping. We’ll see tonight.