Ebola in town

First, a musical prelude. Yes, there is a song about it.

We're in West Africa, after all.  Music = communication and we desperately need excellent communication about this virus.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ebola-town-rapper-shadows-smash-hit-soundtrack-killer-plague-1458650

Isn't is catchy?  Morbid but danceable.  I pray it helps with raising awareness that the illness is to be taken seriously.

I think the fear and panic that surrounds the illness may rival the threat of the virus itself.   Fear can drive folk to do things reality doesn't warrant. As you may have heard, Ebola, like a rambunctious mischievous cousin who doesn't know when enough is enough, is thriving in Liberia. But even worse a spirit of fear and distrust has amplified its effect.

Please pray. The word stands true:

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there   I Chron 7:14-16

So let us join our Liberian and international brothers and sisters here and pray. In an all-hands meeting this afternoon, the Ambassador really captured the truth of the issue.  Money, government mandate and international involvement are limited in impacting the spread of the virus. This is at its core a human issue and every individual plays a role in either helping to spread through disobedience and carelessness or containing it through caution and wisdom. Pray that God's wisdom will touch the heart of each and every Liberian and international resident causing them to act out of love of their fellow man and humble submission to guidance, not fear and distrust of authorities.

Thank you, friend:)

A "school garden" Liberian-style

As part of a 4-day site visit to multiple project, one of our alternative basic education school sites invited us to tour a school garden prior to observing a lesson.  We jumped at the opportunity to tour a garden, relatively new aspect of an education project that taught students valuable life/agricultural skill in addition to the traditional reading and numeracy.

Now, when I think school garden, this is what I picture.  Apparently, this is what the average American may picture since this and many other pictures of cute kids alongside cute little plots popped up in my "school garden" Google search.  Clearly the Google search engine has never ventured into Nimba County, Liberia.

When we arrived at the school we descended the vehicle and introduced ourselves to the school, project and county education officials.  

When they instructed us to get back into the vehicle to go to the garden I should have suspected something was up.  

When we drove. . .and drove. . .and drove about 15 minutes away from the school I started to really get suspicious.  

When we pulled off at the side of the road and were directed to climb up a nondescript dirt incline on the side of the road I thought "This is NOT a 'typical' garden."

So we climbed, cut through brush, turned down a lightly tread overgrown path then down another.  I though about my heels and my skirt.  I scratched my leg on a wayward branch.  One of many.  Finally one of the officials suggested we stop soon and not go "too deep." I thought we were already pretty deep.

The "garden" was a cross between a forest and a farm!  Apparently that's how they roll with school gardens up in here:)  Behold, a school garden in Liberia:  

Official pulled out a plant

Cassava plant leave.

Roots of cassava plant: The cassava itself

The Evils of Ebola

It's serious and spreading.  Conceptually easy but culturally difficult to prevent.

Since the death toll in Liberia rose to around 60 this past week, the threat of the disease is more evident in my every day life.  I see it in the precautions organizations and Ministries are taking.  Now there are hand washing stations in courtyard prior to entering buildings and guards not only ask for ID but require using hand sanitizer upon entering buildings.  There is also an increase in announcements by government leaders from President Johnson-Sirleaf and others warning people not to touch dead bodies during funeral rituals or try to take care of suspected cases in the home or in prayer houses (very common here among Pentecostals).

The epidemic has even affected one of our projects.  We fund three pre-service teacher training institutes throughout the country.  With only two weeks before graduation, a case of Ebola emerged at one of the institutes.

Read this article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201407021027.html?aa_source=nwsltr-liberia-en  We'd planned to attend this graduation this coming week but is has been postponed.

It's devastating but nothing is impossible with God. Please join me in praying for the country and the people's wisdom on containing and eliminating this epidemic.

Our Work: Alternative Basic Education

It was the first visit to the heart of an education activity. It was a chance to sit in on alternative basic education classes in a school in rural Liberia. The activity is designed to provide primary school equivalent eduction to youth who dropped out or never got a chance to attend school.  The classes took place in the evening from 7-10:30pm. The activity is in it’s 3rd year. We met at least 10 officials from the school and from the county at the school. For some reason, the more people there are to meet during what should be a routine visit, the more suspicious I am. I wonder, what are they all doing here? In my mind there should be 4-6 people: the principal, 2 other officials from the school, activity coordinator and teachers. That’s it.

The visit:  In the first classroom the teacher introduced the activity, written on the board, and asked the students to turn to the corresponding page in their workbook. As the students flipped through the book I saw many empty pages. One, if any, of the students had pens or pencils for writing. During the lesson nothing was written and no one wrote. The teacher facilitated discussion about harmful cultural practices but did not complete the lesson as it was written in the book. She then called students up to do a drama. Then there was more discussion.

It began to get dark and there were no lights in that classroom. My heart sank. In addition to the mediocre instruction, there were no lights. I thought: How could any student possible be learning and writing without lights? How can the students really be progressing if they can no longer see the material just one hour into a three-hour school evening?

Now you see it.

In the next classroom there were dim lights that could have been better placed. As we sat down, teacher began the lesson. I would have thought he would have been already a few minutes into the lesson. There were Level I and II students in the classroom. It was a numeracy activity. No one near me was on the right page. I asked one student to show me the page. He found it in a neighbor’s book and the lesson was from the 1st semester, already completed. Again, few wrote, not everyone had a chance to practice to skills being taught.

Now you don't:(

In the end there were many thank yous and niceties. The students asked for lights and a machine to grind cassava from the school garden. Granted they need lights but my question is: are they doing the best with what they have? We thanked them for having us took pictures with both classes and walked out. The students also left?! I was in shock but managed to ask a few of the questions I had to the coordinator.  I made a few suggestions about light placement. She mentioned how the school put their money together to buy lights but just didn’t have them that evening. I responded “Ok. . .”

My heart remained sunk. It was clear the entire evening was staged. Somehow things got lost in communication. We thought we were going to observe a class in session. They thought they were to show us what a "class" looked like. I wasn’t sure if the school was finished or if true learning had ever really started.  I left with a LOT of questions.

Home sweet home

I have arrived at my permanent home:  A delightful 2-bedroom apartment.  It so different from living in the palatial 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath home I'd grown accustomed to in Benin but I welcome the difference.  

I've been here for about two weeks and I'm SO glad to be able to start nesting.  In my 1st week I started doing what I've grown to love: decorating.  These may look familiar to some of you who visited my home in Benin:)

Apt #3 Basil plants getting a good shower

Small joys of discoveries at home:  Today I noticed that each apartment has a garden plot in the front yard from previous/current tenants.  In my plot I was pleased as punch to discover I'd inherited two very healthy basil plants.  Aside from swiss chard, probably the best edible plant for me.  

Another view from my apartment:

The Atlantic Ocean on a very rainy day!

Feeling the Weight of our Work

A few weeks ago I attended a meeting about the status of a global fund that contributes millions and millions of dollars to education in Liberia. It was my first time at a meeting with high level officials from the Ministry. It was a pretty intimate gathering of about 12 people, including the Minister herself as well as the Deputy.

First impressions: My first trip back to the US I will HAVE to organize a movie night and show Pray the Devil Back to Hell movie. There was the conversation. And then there was the spirit behind it. There is a scene in Ghana that reminds me so much of the spirit of the conversation with the Ministry that day.

I walked away feeling funny. They talked about serious issues that have plagued the people and particularly children of Liberia for decades. In the room were “big big” people with the authority and the financial resources to do something about it. There are blockages and setbacks. But I feel that’s not the issue. There was a lightheartedness characterizing the conversations. The representatives from DC managing the fund were urging the Ministry to do many things to fulfill their requirements. The response was positive but lighthearted. There was acknowledgement of the seriousness of the situation but the weight was not palpable. My prayer is that those with the authority and resources to do something about the dire situation of education in the country truly and deeply feel the weight of the situation. May their hearts ache for their country’s children. May they feel the pain of frustration felt by so many youth with minimal possibility for advancement due to substandard education.

And what is the weight we should feel?

• Half of the women in Liberia are illiterate 
• No one passed the entrance examination for local Liberian University this spring. No one. 
• The education system is plagued by bribery and corruption enabling families to use money and sex to pass children through the system without gaining necessary skills or knowledge.

I am convinced that change rides on passion. Not money, not position. If people have no passion spurring them to inconvenience themselves in large or small ways to enact change, it’s difficult to move them to do much of anything, no matter how much money is involved.

In preparing to come here, the verse that settled on my heart was:

I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. 13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.    I Chronicles 7:12b-16

This is a complex country. Like much of West Africa, it is a highly churched country. It was highly churched before the war, then many of the youth committed atrocities against their own countrymen including murder, rape, maiming, cannibalism, etc.

Praise God the war is now over.  But the battle continues. 

And Liberia continues to be highly churched. Some Liberians, like many West Africans, will not hesitate to invoke the name of Jesus in one breath and offer "worship" to lesser god/idol of money, possible wealth or power in the next moment. It’s complex. But God is God and is so faithful. Sincerity and true repentance moves Him. I believe it has and continues to happen here: people who have humbled themselves turning from wicked ways and seeking God. My prayer is that it happens en masse and that will usher in true change.