The onslaught of “Uncle Jon, I need to talk to you” has begun. Every trip, as people learn of my approaching departure date, the requests for help or a laptop or a phone or school fees or shoes or something starts to intensify. I’ll politely decline for the remainder of the week. I went into… Continue reading Mary’s Meals and bony dust

Saturday morning I went to Gbarnga to buy another solar battery for the main guard house. Later in the morning I installed a USB charging port that I rigged up using a square junction box, a scrap piece of 1/2″ rubber wood, and a port meant for installing in a car dashboard. This will allow… Continue reading Of chickens and pizza

John 2 met me at 6:00am sharp on Thursday morning so we could get to Monrovia around 9:00am and beat driving in the heat (and congestion). Our first stop was at the DuraPlast plant to dump off the old cracked water tank. It was a bit confusing because we first pulled into the gated area… Continue reading A visit to The Dale Federwitz School

Last night I was invited to dinner at Lyn Gray’s house along with Sumo, Amuchain and Baby Jon. I drove the four of us in the big truck down a narrow, rutted dusty road just north of Cuttington University. We enjoyed some good company and good food as the talk revolved around education, Liberian history,… Continue reading Unexpected union negotiations

I sent everyone into a panic this morning. I had earplugs and a sleep mask over my eyes and slept till 8:45am. I usually have visitors in the house by 7am – Moses is typically first with a “good morning Mr. Rossman” said with his nose tight to the kitchen window screen in hopes I’ll… Continue reading Panic room

I tried to ignore the “good morning” through the kitchen window screen and the window frame tapping at 7am – I should be able to sleep in on a Sunday morning. But the privacy boundaries are different here. If the door was unlocked, I’m sure he would have been standing at my bedside. Moses really… Continue reading A special offering

I was determined to resolve our pesky leaking water tank fittings. I knew the problem was poor quality parts. I also knew the solution was not appealing. I began draining the tank. Lavela was working on a small project so I asked if he could assist. He was willing to climb inside the tank and… Continue reading Water, wood dust, and pineapple

Taking advantage of the relative morning coolness, I grabbed some helpers and climbed up the poultry feed storage building to install the new solar panel on the zinc roof. I pried up the seam between sheets of zinc and passed a short section of PVC pipe to act as a conduit, protecting the solar wires… Continue reading Going, going, gone

The last few days have been focused on poultry improvements. I worked with our electrician, Edwin Suah, to install a solar panel and 12-volt LED lights in the second poultry building as Lavela and some workers attached tarps that will be pulled down during the rainy season. Now there are four fully functioning chicken pens.… Continue reading Poultry luminaries

Wednesday is departure day for Leon and Donna. Thinking the flight departure was 12:05 midday, arrangements were made to transport them to Monrovia for Tuesday night at the LCL guesthouse then catch a ride with Nyekeh to the airport in the morning instead of leaving Gbarnga well before sunrise. There’s a new Brussels Airlines office… Continue reading See you later, Leon & Donna