Gbarnga Mission | Liberia – West Africa

Is this what you had for breakfast this morning?  It’s “fufu” with “bitter ball and chicken feet soup”–a traditional Liberian dish that everyone eats–and in this case many of the workers had it for the most important meal of the day. Fufu is made from cassava (a root plant that’s a staple throughout much of Africa)… Continue reading No Running With Scissors

Saah and I returned to the work site this morning to find baby FOTON already moved from her muddy resting place by Sam and his work crew so the sand hauling began immediately.  I opted to stay back and enjoy watching the masons construct wooden forms for pouring concrete at the “garage” and entry door locations… Continue reading Potato Greens and Possum Anyone?

Another early morning alarm to get me going back to the mud zone.  I called Sam and he met Saah and I over at the lonely FOTON.  When I walked around the passenger side my heart sank below my knees…the battery was missing!  I thought, “What happened to the security guy?”  With Sam’s LandCruiser still… Continue reading Mud Wars 2015 – Mud Leading Series 2-0

My Sunday pancake breakfast was awesome!  I joined the members of the Deanville mission church for their rockin’ African singin’ and swayin’ service.  There were about 50 people there but the singing made it sound like 100.  Sumo, the evangelist, offered an impassioned plea to his membership during announcements regarding their “duty and obligation” to… Continue reading Humbled By The Mud

My Phebe guesthouse-mate, Bruce Moilan, is a retired hospital administrator, now Lutheran lay minister, who has been coming to West Africa for the last three years.  He has some interesting connections with staff members at Phebe Hospital, including the hospital administrator, Dr. Sibley, whom he hosted for a month in the US some time back. He’s… Continue reading 2 Weeks of Construction Completed

It was good to get back to Phebe and, despite the lack of luxurious a/c, the routine I’ve gotten into has been good.  Getting up and out to the work site by 6:30-7:00am after the previous night’s hectic drive, however, was not welcome. But seeing great progress was! The foundation work was complete, the side walls of… Continue reading We Are Fam-i-ly

It’s been a busy last two days…sorry I just couldn’t stay up to write last night. Thursday started off in Monrovia since the FOTON was not ready for pick up as originally planned on Wednesday. The dealer told me the registration would be ready and the vehicle all set by 11am.  Along the way to… Continue reading License, Registration, and Scratch Card Please

Not much news other than it’s been a back and forth day with the insurance company working out the coverage details. Went back to Cemenco to purchase a “decorative, open cement block mold” for use in allowing ventilation but blocking unwanted intruders into the buildings.  It looks something like this when installed: I placed a… Continue reading Insurance Wednesday

Lest you think I’ve disappeared if I didn’t blog today, I felt compelled to at least report about a Tuesday will little to report on. I had a very smooth ride with Dr. Konuwa to Monrovia after he kindly picked me up at Phebe 7:00am this morning.  We had a nice conversation on everything from… Continue reading Uneventful Tuesday

Just when you think there’s been a communication breakthrough…. Driving to the work site with the promise of a new dawn of Liberian volunteerism now that funds to feed these workers had passed into the right hands, I reached the crest of the embankment leading to the warehouse and my dawn turned to dusk.  I didn’t see any volunteers happily… Continue reading It’s Deja Vu All Over Again