I have been busy with things I didn’t anticipate would take up my days. By evening I’ve been too tired to sit under my mosquito net and blog about our days here. Today, however, I’m sitting outside the covid testing center in Monrovia as Roxanne gets her pre-travel test so I’ve got a few free… Continue reading The Swiss to the rescue

It’s so easy at home in the States to simultaneously leave lights on throughout the house, a TV going in the living room, phones and laptops charging, an electric hot water heater running in the basement alongside an extra storage freezer, and the oven baking cookies while a microwave reheats leftovers in the kitchen. Here… Continue reading Powerless

My Monday started with an early phone call from Joshua to welcome us to Liberia. It’s nice to be welcomed but I would have also welcomed another half hour of sleep. I got up and decided the first thing to address was the lack of chlorine in our guesthouse water which showed up when I… Continue reading GLTC Cultural Troop

Just when I thought we were in the clear. After unloading Saah’s Land Cruiser and splitting up into guesthouse rooms, I discovered one of my checked bags was missing. My stomach sank as we double-checked outside, in the rooms, and even calling Saah back after he departed home so we could get his assessment of… Continue reading What’s with this patience thing

A cacophony of syncopated beats pounded the fume-laden night air as we sat motionless in our attempt to travel the last leg of our journey from Boston/JFK to Monrovia. Our driver, Saah, leaned helplessly out the car window to assess the situation. Cars, motorbikes, Land Rovers, and 3-wheeled kay-kay taxis packed the road as far… Continue reading Traffic tangles

It seems so long ago that I tapped my fingers on my phone keyboard at Logan airport to share the beginning of another journey to Liberia. If there’s one thing a pandemic can teach is patience. After our February 2020 trip, I had hoped to return in the fall and perhaps again in winter to… Continue reading Pandemic patience — and other lessons

Thanks to your generous support we’ve raised $91,000 towards our goal of $150,000 to construct and furnish our next school building in Liberia. We need your help to reach this goal so we can expand our growing classes through 8th grade. Throughout the month of October, we’re having a virtual fundraiser called Get Movin’ for… Continue reading Get Movin’ for Education

Listening to the radio as I drove between jobs today, I heard a guest expert refer to our current national political environment as “tribal”. Although I identified with his general sentiment, the use of this particular word struck me as odd. The implication is that “tribal” is a negative adjective — divisive, hostile, combative, selfish.… Continue reading Are We Tribal Enough?

Join Gbarnga Mission as we celebrate UN International Literacy Day today! Step back and read this eye chart for an important message. Give today and support our adult literacy classes and the Liberia Reads program in the early grade levels of our school in Liberia.