1st Weeks in Monrovia: A flip-flop and an unwelcome guest

Last night in Bible study we talked about journaling as a way to remind ourselves of questions posed to God and what the answers looked like. This morning I decided to look back through old journal entries I had written right when I initially arrived in Monrovia.  Here is a particularly memorable moment:

“I’ve been in Monrovia for about six weeks.  First temporary apt was bad experience. Second permanent apartment is working out pretty well… except for the A/C issues -- and then the unwelcome guest. After my bedroom A/C started leaking and soaking into the carpet on Thursday I shut it off.  A/C men didn’t come on Thursday. No show Friday.  So I was to spend the weekend without A/C.  That was fine since it wasn’t too hot in my bedroom.
 But then late last night I saw an unwelcome guest on the move with purpose coming down from my malfunctioning A/C. A roach! A big one nevertheless, known by some as a waterbus.  I screamed and realized I had no insect spray.  Instead I grabbed a fly swatter.  I approached it.  It fled in the opposite direction and continued to descend the wall. I texted a neighbor to ask if she had spray.  She had none. A few thoughts of desperation raced through my mind.  I lamented the fact that I didn’t have any.  I thought about using white vinegar mix instead. I resolved to sleep in the living room that night.  I wondered how comfortable my couch would be. Then I prayed, sincerely asking for help.  It was one of my most heartfelt prayers.  How was I to a) get to it and b) kill it? Dead.
 I imagined it roaming around the room, maybe even following the path of my wet upturned carpet and making its way onto my bed.  Oh, the horrors!  Then, breaking my train of thought, I saw it near the window close to me.  I grabbed the vinegar mix and sprayed it.  Then it started moving across the floor towards me, in plain shoe-hit range!  I flung off one flip-flop.  Not sure why.   It moved a bit closer within my reach.  I grabbed the flip-flop and “Bam!” I stopped it in its tracks, yelling the entire time.
 David had his Goliath. Mine was a bit smaller but equally unnerving.   What praise went up that night! God hears my prayers, tends to the needs of my weak heart and strengthens me to do great exploits!  An hour later, once I was ready to go to bed I mustered up the courage to clean up my kill.  I approached it to scoop it into the dustpan.  The antennae moved. “Bam!” It was truly flat them. Scooped it, howled/squealed/groaned in angst, heaved it out the front door, then went off to sleep.  In big and small things, God is a true Father, Keeper, and Strength.

Crafternoon: Thanksgiving in Liberia

Happy Liberian Thanksgiving!

What a gift to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving twice in one month #1 up November 6th.

In honor of the day I invited a few craft-inclined ladies over to work on and share crafts using one of God's greatest gifts: the gift of creativity.

Voila pictures and the fruits of our labors:

1st attempt at an origami telescope.

Group effort papier mache.

I think this was needlepoint.

Pom-pom and my favorite easy craft: flower pen.

Lovely local fabric apron.

Ebola: Awareness-raising

Some have asked me "So what is it like living there? Do people talk about Ebola at all?"

Do people talk about it?  Here it's like talking about the weather: frequent and sometimes informative. 

On the way back from Firestone the other week I got inspired to take pictures of the posters.  We were going at a snail's pace in the towing vehicle so it provided the perfect opportunity. 

The outbreak will end and the posters and paraphernalia will be replaced by other ads.  So I memorialize this moment while I can:

Ebola awareness-raising in the heart of Monrovia. 

Road trip to Firestone Plantation

Yes, THE Firestone.  As in the tires.

Little know fact: Some of trees that Firestones taps to get rubber to make their tires are in Liberia.  Bought for a ridiculously low price, the Firestone company owns a HUGE plantation that is like a city to itself with a hospital, clubhouse, golf course and even a school.  It's one of Liberia's best kept secrets. They also did an amazing job at curbing the spread of Ebola on the plantation: Article with video Firestone Did What Governments Have Not. A briefer albeit inaccurately titled article is How Firestone Shut Ebola down in Liberia.

One Sunday I spontaneously joined three colleagues for what ended up being an eventful yet delightful day.

Fascinated by how the trees are "tapped" or cut at a were precise angle in for the rubber sap to flow correctly.  Buckets are attached to the trees to catch the slow drips for days.  For some reason looking at this gave me an appetite.

After explaining to me how the seeds of the tree drop to the ground and create new trees like weeds, Ken went off searching for seedlings. The seeds come in clips of 3, sometimes 4.  In the background are beautifully manicured rows of trees. 

Firestone golf course.  Lessons $10 an hour?!

  

Me and one of my favorite folk.

After leaving Firestone we made a stop for catfish.  We ended up taking a look at the other items for sale.  We got nothing but a few laughs with the ladies.

Friend inspecting dried fish at the side of the rod to Monrovia.

Palm oil seeds

After leaving the catfish/palm nut/dried fish stand, Ken's car refused to start.  We were still a ways outside of town so we flagged down some help.  They jumpstarted the car.  A few miles down the road the car started sputtering and slowed down to a stop again.   By this time we were already in Monrovia. 

The remnant of the 11 dudes plus an Embassy colleague.

 The way crowds gather around unusual events, especially those involving foreigners, is uncanny.  When dudes started crossing the road to the car I estimated 15 people would gather.  I was too amazed to take a picture.  We ended up with 11.  They were unable to jumpstart the car this time around.  We called the Embassy and they sent a vehicle to tow us home.

Favorite picture of the day: Damsels in distress.

Lourdes and Ken happy to be towed.

Altogether a delightful day.  

It's 0.001.

0.001.

That's the percentage of the Liberian population that has Ebola.  I feel like someone should start a campaign letting people know how absurd the hysteria over letting people from the region into the US or any country for that matter.  The likelihood that a person will NOT have Ebola is so much higher than the slight chance that they would have come into contact with someone who has the virus.

Literally less than one in a million.

0.001% of the population of Liberia has contracted Ebola.

Oddly enough this unprecedented spread can be credited more to individual behavior not the virulence of the virus alone.  Liberians are purveyors of a complex culture which has at it's core a deep distrust of government.  It is evident in the main message of the in-country awareness campaign "Ebola is real."  For months many people didn't believe it was real and refused to change their behaviors.

0.001.

This number came up in conversation with my mom.  I assured her that while there are 4665 probable/suspected/confirmed cases of Ebola in Liberia, more than in any one country, the population is 4.6 MILLION.

I did the math.

Yes, it is sometimes deadly but it is also rare and treatable, especially in the US. No matter what we say, we have a basic trust in government, especially when it comes to health messages.  Who will hear me when I say "An Ebola epidemic in the US is the least of it's worries."


0.001%.

The value of lives lost and transformed directly and indirectly by the virus can't be quantified.  This is a region in grief.

It's been painful to watch the media and a portion of the American public that the media chooses to represent expressing such misinformed and downright malicious perspectives.  This is truly a battle against fear and undue discrimination that is based on paranoid delusions of a violent epidemic, not on the facts.

While my fellow countrymen watch from across the ocean, sometimes condemning healthcare workers for their contributions, belittling their immense sacrifice while lobbying for increased travel restrictions, I look to the Lord.

May God to continue to comfort those from the young to the old who have lost so much.

May God bring healing to the hearts of those who are gripped and blinded by fear around the world.

May physical and emotional healing flow worldwide to those directly and indirectly affected by this crisis.

An excretion

Every Friday I go to ladies bible study.  Hands down the highlight of my week.