My day started off with two flattened – yet delicious – croissants that I tucked into a Ziploc bag then jammed into my backpack at the Brussels airport to make my breakfast a little easier this morning after yesterday’s long day of travel. This was followed by attending the daily devotion that most of the… Continue reading Flat as a croissant

My itinerary says I arrive Monrovia at 6:30pm via Freetown…well after doing this for six prior trips I expected that was the norm for reaching Liberia. But this is travel to Africa so be ready for a plot twist. This time Brussels Air went direct to Monrovia so I arrived 2 hours earlier than expected.… Continue reading A personal guide

I departed Boston yesterday afternoon with the usual flurry of plans running through my head. My focus this monthlong trip is to help develop some of our small business ventures on the school campus to lead us toward financial self-sufficiency — a challenging goal. The trick for me will be not getting sidetracked although I… Continue reading On my way

The email from Sumo arrived this past Saturday morning as I was packing to leave West Virginia with Mt. Calvary’s youth after a week-long mission trip repairing homes in Central Appalachia. I sat on my bunk – stunned – surrounded by my open suitcase, bag of dirty laundry, and a flurry of dazed youth wandering… Continue reading I’ll Miss You,Sando

I got to the Monrovia airport within 15-20 minutes of boarding. No flight delays this trip. I’m sitting at baggage claim in Boston and will arrive home a long 36 hours from departing Gbarnga. My bed will feel awesome! And tomorrow we’ll have a spring snowstorm here with 4-8 inches predicted. A good day to… Continue reading 36 Hours to Home

Since we left our last repair, the traffic has been awful. because we were en route to the Foton dealer, I decided to buy “original equipment” belts as a backup. You know what I’m going to say next…another belt shredded. As we examine a little more closely , we can see the pulleys are not… Continue reading Abandon Ship-Plan B

I’m waiting as John 2 searches for another belt because the one we just put on has shr sides within 2 miles! Uuuggghhh! He’s back…hopefully it will at least last till the airport.

Ok, another police stop with extinguisher check…this time we passed with the old “insect spray”.  Moments later, the same evil warning lights illuminated on the dashboard that we’ve witnessed several times now. After pulling over and lifting the truck cab, we see the same shredded fan belt #3)…I guess it’s actually the alternator belt. This… Continue reading My Kingdom For A Durable Belt

I really like staying around Deanville and not going to Monrovia. By now, the checkpoint in Gbarnga knows us and there is no need to stop us for a little “tip”.  On our way with John 2 to Monrovia for some final errands before heading to the airport this morning, we had the joy of… Continue reading Insect Extinguisher?

Late last week a group of men from a Liberian version of the Army Corp of Engineers came to the site at the request of Sumo. They have volunteered their time to evaluate getting heavy machinery in to finish the road our villagers recently brushed from the school to the highway. Good news! This week… Continue reading Is There a Surveyor in the House