So if you didn’t think I was nutty enough, Kathy and I are on very different continents as we celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary today. Who would have thought after meeting a short blonde girl back in middle school 40 years ago, I’d be blogging from Africa to say “Happy Anniversary”?!  Thank you for all… Continue reading 30 Years With My Bride

After my early morning blog ended with me going back to bed, I overslept my intended wake-up time to get ready for church services.  Knowing Liberian time as I do, there was a good chance I’d still be early.  The only problem was I didn’t have baby Foton yet and it was now pouring rain, making a… Continue reading $25/Year Rent

Trying to adjust to a 4 hour time zone difference, I’m up early pondering the day.  Yesterday’s arrival was filled with the joy of being welcomed “home” to Deanville and the excitement of seeing our school approaching its intended use. But, sprinkled amongst the smiles of friends reconnecting, is the harsh reality of life in… Continue reading Screaming Frogs

The flights from Boston-Washington DC-Brussels, Belgium-Freetown, Sierra Leone-finally-arriving-in-Monrovia went smoothly…starting with a minor departure delay and ending with a slight early arrival. I had a few fortuitous events along the way. First in Boston…my three checked bags were all about 1.5 lbs. over the 50 lb. weight limit and the ticket agent let them slide by. Second… Continue reading Arrival in Gbarnga – A Beautiful School

I have not blogged for a while as my last trip during the month of April left me powerless…no electricity for the entire month because the generator at Phebe was broken down and needed parts from the States that never showed up.  Hopefully this next trip won’t be a repeat. I leave on Thursday to… Continue reading October 2016 trip

Sorry for the long delay between posts…as my departure approaches I get very busy trying to tie up loose ends.  I’ll try to remember the last few days… I think it was Thursday morning that I awoke to a strange scratching sound as I sat on the toilet. A lizard had crawled into the bathtub and… Continue reading Women’s Weekend

With one week left until I leave, I’m feeling the pressure of having enough materials on hand and sufficient details and drawings for the work crews to continue in my absence.  As the walls continue to rise on the first classroom, I went sand shopping once again yesterday. I was taken to a new location… Continue reading 51 Piles of Sand

Our trainer, Simon, has continued in a very methodical approach to teaching our group. Some are experienced masons (with ingrained bad habits) and some are newbies. On Saturday, the team was given a leader from among the group with the challenge of producing 1,000 blocks in a day. They worked well together until a moment… Continue reading Special Edition Lego Set

It was a basic day of construction and block training without any surprises….yeehaa! So nothing new to report – no news is good news! A few more photos for your viewing pleasure (click images to read captions):

Do you recall my blog post of January 9th entitled “This land is your land, this land is my land“? Remember that slice of “surprise pie” that I keep being served? Well, the waitress (dressed as an officer of the court) brought me the entire “surprise pie” yesterday in the guise of a “Writ of Arrest”. While… Continue reading Judge Judy – Africa Edition