Gbarnga Mission | Liberia – West Africa

I walked the path to Deanville today, past the palms and post-season mangoes trees, past the cashew trees (below), past the now functioning hand pump well (thanks Becky and Dave), and up the hill to Deanville proper. On my left was a crowd of people including a man, Flomo, who has worked on the school… Continue reading Signage Sunday

Besides being Mother’s Day, it’s also my daughter Kim’s birthday. Sorry Kim, no poem for you just a photo of the security guard’s dog lying in a flower bed to keep cool. His name is “Mission Dog” and he has a companion named “Mission Girl”. Happy Birthday, Kimi!

Most Mother’s Days in the recent past have consisted of meeting my Mom and Dad for a picnic lunch of Kentucky Fried Chicken at various venues from sculpture mazes to cemetery arboretums. With a lack of KFC’s in the Gbarnga vicinity, I’ve decided to enjoy some fried chicken at the Passion Hotel in honor of… Continue reading Mother’s Day verse

When I come to Liberia, the time to accomplish my long list of goals is limited. Each night I crawl under my mosquito netting and snuggle up to a battery pack for recharging my phone, a lantern charged by solar the previous 12 hours, a spiral notebook, a pen, ear plugs, and a water bottle.… Continue reading Nocturnal scribbling

I woke up very early thinking solar, solar, solar. With the blessing of cloud cover, by 7am I was on the school roof running the solar wires down through conduit. I retreated after the first set as a slight rain made me concerned about slipping when trying to get off the roof. After a short… Continue reading Learning solar Sanskrit

We made it into the warehouse with the solar panel crate. Tomorrow is my solar Christmas when I get to unwrap it all! I had to share this photo of TWELVE men working together to gently place the crate on the ground. In Kpelle you say “Kwatekeh gemah” (qua-TEE-kay GAY-ma) – “we are working together”.… Continue reading Kwatekeh Gemah

I’m in baby Foton on my way back from Monrovia with solar panels and solar batteries! Also picked up supplies, per the usual routine, at Eagle. Then to a variety of shops trying to find a hanging scale to weigh our feed in those aforementioned-mathematically-correct portions. Finally found it at Ousailli Store (pronounced “ow-OOO-sah-EE-lee). Of… Continue reading Solar panels are here

Thanks for the double check of the feed calculations. For those who responded, those are the same figures I got on my spreadsheet but when they told me 10 bags I thought the sun had affected my brain. Now I’ll need to review this with the guy from BRAC to see if there’s any logic… Continue reading Feed calculations – Thanks.

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… Continue reading Wood dust from Silla