Today was spent mostly in downtown Monrovia. We visited with a friend of Isaac’s from his high school days at Obrachire in Ghana. Jeffery’s apartment building was just a few blocks from the ocean and afforded a nice street-level view.

We had to leave Jeffery for an interview appointment with one of the area newspapers. After heading to the incorrect newspaper building on our first try, we made our way to the FrontPage office. We had a nice interview there and were promised space on their website (frontpageafrica.com) and in the hard copies distributed around Monrovia. It is very exciting that two media outlets have picked us up (recall our radio interview with UN Radio in Zwedru). We’ll see how these spread the word about our efforts!

From there it was time to do a little shopping and so we headed downtown to the Waterside Market. Before the war it must have been a beautiful setting. It runs down a hill toward what looks like a bay. There were large cargo ships docked out in distance. The area looked old and worn, and trash pickup didn’t appear to be a high priority. However, the shopkeepers were kind–even in the midst of negotiating prices with Isaac.

By this point in the day we were tired and hungry, so we headed back towards our home base. One of the things I’ve really wanted to do while in Monrovia was to visit a beach. So, one of our hosts, Philip, walked me down to a lovely setting called ELWA Beach.  ELWA stands for Eternal Love Winning Africa and is a missionary base that holds a hospital, academy, and a radio station.  (You can read more at elwaministries.org)  For our purposes it was a hospitable setting for me to have a chance to exercises one of my spiritual disciplines: swimming in the ocean!  The swim was very cleansing and healing on many fronts, and I am very grateful for the time spent there.

As have I been grateful for my time in Liberia.  And now it is time to return home.  Again, we extend great gratitude to everyone who has supported our journey this time: whether in the US or in West Africa.  We look forward to moving forward and opening the school in 2011.

Blessings and may we all experience Godspeed in our upcoming endeavors.

Thursday

The road has a way of breaking a person down.  Out of the roughly 400km from Zwedru and Monrovia, there is a stretch of about 50km between Gbarnga (pronounced ‘Bahn-ga’) and Tolo Town where the driver can depress the accelerator and just drive.

Other than that, the road necessitates varying speeds from 5km (going through deep sharp holes) to 60km (when the driver can find a clear path).  Mind you, it doesn’t matter how serpentine that clear path may be — either side of the road or shoulders is fair game!  I give great credit and appreciation to Isaac, who rode in the back of the pickup truck – that Spider-Man pillow could only help so much.

14 hours on this type of road causes the mind to wonder: what can be done about these roads?  Who is responsible for them?  What would happen if officials were mandated to ride that route at least once a month. Then, would things change?

Then there are the security checkpoints.  Being a white man in the car only exacerbates the pressure by the guards for “a little gift” to allow us through.  Certainly not all guards made this, uh, request.  There were several who let us pass through without raising an eyebrow.  Still, in a country that is overwhelmingly friendly, those who demand a little something go a long way toward making transportation inhospitable for outsiders.

Add together the slow driving, the bouncing and jostling, the attention at the checkpoints, and the sum is a worn down traveler.  These are some of the trying inconveniences that make this endeavor an exercise in great patience.

Our eyes remain on the prize, however, and we will press on.  Maybe, just maybe, the school we’re building in such a remote area will have a small impact on the coming of improved infrastructure.  Who knows?!?

Friday

Today, I rested the entire day.  Isaac came into my room around 10A to ask if I wanted to go meet with the Superintendent from Grand Gedeh.  I was already taking a nap!  In my stupor I asked him if he would think badly of me if I stayed, and he said it was no problem.  I had little trouble falling back to sleep, and I stayed that way into the early afternoon.

Isaac reported that his meeting with the Superintendent went well.  In fact, apparently they had their conversation in the comfort of the officer’s car.  Eventually they made their way to the headquarters of the Unity Party, where a party convention is being held this weekend.  Isaac was invited to go inside with the Superintendent, but he declined, stating that we are not a political organization.  Who knows with whom he might have rubbed shoulders, but it was probably a wise decision.

And really that was it for today.  Tomorrow’s our last day.  We will have an interview with the local newspaper “The Democrat” and a potential meeting with the Senators and Representatives of the Grand Gedeh Caucus.  Aside from that we will be preparing for home.  That sounds nice!

Wednesday found us with some easy commitments.  Oh, and it was really nice not to have to ride in a car over lots of bumps!

Isaac arranged for us to meet with the County Education Official (CEO)  to receive the documents we would need to make the DRPSL official in Liberia.  We arrived at his office to find that he had left the documents with is driver.  We discussed some of the particulars of the project with him, such as how we believed the school would sustain itself financially.   But the purpose of the trip was moot since he didn’t have the necessary documents.  As we sat there I noticed a wonderful map of Grand Gedeh County on his wall.  I inquired where i could get such a map and he told me that it had come from an NGO (non-governmental organization).  Then he told me I could have it!    I told him that wasn’t necessary, but he gave it to me anyway, reasoning that he could always get another one.  As we looked at it, we found Sayou and Buway, and so now we can show everybody exactly where the school will be on an official map!

We left the CEO for the Land Commissioner’s office to give him a photocopy of the tax documents we received before going to Twarbo Region.  He now has a complete record of our deed to place in his files, thereby fixing them permanently in the County record.  He bemoaned the fact that he wasn’t invited to travel to Sayou and particulate in the groundbreaking; literally, the GROUND breaking would fall into his jurisdiction as LAND Commissioner.  We explained that he would have another opportunity to go to Sayou when we open the school.  He understood, and also added that this is the biggest endeavor to hit Grand Gedeh County since the war.  This is quite an endorsement!!

Just to ensure that our day wasn’t completely devoid of drama, we had one, giant scare.  As we were walking away from his office and celebrating the successes of this trip, I felt a lightness in my back pocket – where my passport and cash bag was being kept.  Isaac and I discussed the fact that when he came to my door he saw me putting it in a ziplock to protect it from rain.  Panic began to sink in.  We hopped on two motorbikes and retraced the paths we took, and we called the CEO to see if it had fallen out of my pocket in his office.  The main worry, of course, was that it had fallen into the street when we rode from his office to the Land Commissioner’s office.  It was nowhere!  So we headed back to the hotel to look in my room, and then start the process of reporting it gone.  I was sure it was not in the room because Isaac had seen me wrapping it in the plastic.  I unlocked the door and looked in the room, and there it was lying on the bed.  Phew!!!  It hit me then that, after I ziplocked it, I rushed back in for my camera and must have set the bag on the bed.  I took a good bit of ribbing for it…after we all breathed a sigh of relief.

After some calming-down time, Isaac informed me that we were going to do an interview with a reporter from the United Nations Radio Network.  He met us at the hotel.  After asking us some background questions he turned on his recording device and interviewed each of us.  The show is going to broadcast across Liberia today (Thursday, 10/28) and tomorrow.  It will also stream on the web, and will be archived on their website.  The interview can be picked up anywhere in the world where there is interest in what’s happening in Liberia!  Radio is a major communication device in Liberia, so this is a wonderful medium for getting the word out about the school.

After the interview it was time to kick back.  We traveled to a local bar where we talked, laughed, and watched soccer matches.  And we endured a long (two hours?), heavy rain shower. I don’t know what that means for the roads back to Monrovia, but we’ll find out….

Stay tuned – and thank you for your prayers, they mean so much to us!

I heard the roosters crowing. I heard the morning bell ring. I expected to hear drumming and singing, but didn’t this time. I woke up concerned about what I would say on this auspicious day. The motto of the Dougbe River School is “Education is Light.” I opened my Bible looking for inspiration and soon I came across John 1, in the New Testament:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
…what has come into being being in him (the Word) was life, and the life was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it. (1:1, 4-5)

Yes, that would do!

The plan was to begin the groundbreaking ceremony around 9A. We would have speeches and such in the village, eat lunch, and then a critical group of people would go out to the site and put shovel to ground. However, there were still people to arrive and so we waited. We passed our time by visiting with people around Sayou, and doing so gave a nice slice of life in the village. We watched one young man mow the grass with a cutlass (machete), and then knock down some coconuts from a tree with a very long bamboo pole. We saw children playing, and preparations being made for lunch. After enough time passed, it was decided that lunch would be first, and then the rest of the order of the day.

Lunch consisted of soup and rice. I didn’t know it until after the fact, but Isaac’s soup was made with crocodile, and mine from greens and a different type of meat. Ask me about it.

Once the meal was concluded, we waited a short time longer before we were called to a newly constructed meeting hall. The space served both as a place for meetings and for the Sayou Elementary School. It is nice to know there is some education happening in Sayou. DRPSL will be able to serve a larger population.

Once people were settled–elders on one side, guests behind the podium, the Assemblies of God choir in one spot, and other folks filling in–the order of the day proceeded. One of the teachers of the elementary school presided over the ceremony. Isaac was the first to speak – I turned on my voice recorder! To make his main point, Isaac referred to the story in the Bible of the woman who had been hemorrhaging for multiple years. Isaac explained that she had sought all sorts of experts to help her heal and had found no one who could do so. She finally took the desperate act of touching the edge Jesus’ clothes. (In their culture, a bleeding woman was considered dirty, and should never have touched a man.) However, the touch cured her. Jesus addressed her to say that it was her faith that made her well. The analogy is a strong one for Twarbo region. They are in the “bush,” just looking around one can see how poor (“dirty”) they are, and they are illiterate. And yet, they are incredibly full of faith; be it faith in one another, faith in their cultural traditions, or faith in God! Isaac’s point being that with faith, hard work, and cooperation from the whole community, they can break the cycle of illiteracy and improve their lives.

I was very proud of his speech, and it was well-received: when he announced the purpose of the day was to start the process of constructing the school, there was great applause!

After Isaac spoke, the local Assemblies of God choir sang a song – which they did between speeches. Next the County Education Officer (CEO) spoke. He explained the importance of this mission to the region, and to the county. He strongly believes that people will come from as far as Monrovia to attend the school. He also said that he will do everything in his power to send highly qualified teachers our way. This was a very important connection to make.

The District Development Superintendent spoke, among other things, about the importance of educating girls, and strongly encouraged the parents to send their children to school. He also spoke of the desperate need to improve the roads to Twarbo in order to make the mission a center of business in the region. He spoke on behalf of the District Superintendent who could not attend the ceremony due to the death in the family. Not to sound redundant, but to have these people of power in line with school will make a huge difference.

The choir sang a song about the importance of bringing Jesus closer to oneself. And then it was my turn to speak. After giving thanks once again for the warm hospitality (I’ve been received as a honorary member of the village), I talked about the scripture I mentioned above. I spoke of John’s reference of “the Word” pointing toward Jesus, and I used the choir’s anthem as an example. It is very hard to bring Jesus (the Word) close to oneself if a person cannot read. Jesus is an important Word to be able to read about, but then there are those thousands of words in daily living to which we need access. Both spiritually and educationally the school will bring light to the region. Following my words, the development chairman prepared us for going out to the site in order to break ground.

A caravan of motorbikes and the pickup truck headed out to the school grounds. I was looking forward to getting there because I had seen a picture of one of the four cornerstones that marked the school grounds, and I wanted to see it for myself. And sure enough, there it was, a few feet off the road. Isaac asked me to pray to kick off the ceremony. Then I turned on the video camera and listened to and watched individuals representing the cooperative partners of this project offer a blessing and then turn over a shovelful of dirt. The occasion was light-hearted and profound at the same time. Isaac made sure to thank our partners back in the US, and even prayed that some day students like those at Roxboro Elementary in Cleveland Heights could come and visit the school. Before we left the site, Isaac made sure to implore the community leaders to begin clearing the land, and I offered one more prayer, that the place will be one of peace for all who pass the location.

When we arrived back in Sayou, we unrolled the banner that was created at a joint worship service with Hope, Bethlehem, and Grace Lutheran Churches and Noble Road Presbyterian – all from Cleveland Heights. The children of Sayou helped us. The banner will live in the care of the elementary school until DRPSL is built.

As the truck took a group of folks back to Whybo, Isaac called together the assembly of those interested in serving on the local board of the school. The process included Isaac explaining the responsibilities of the board and then asking for those who wanted to represent their village to stand, say their name, and then explain why they are motivated to serve. As people volunteered, the principal of the elementary school recorded their names and the village they represent. Only six of the 12 villages were represented at the meeting and so we have received those names. Currently there are 5 men and 1 woman on the board. One man said he wanted to serve on the board because while he cannot spell or write his own name, he wants to promote the school so that his children will be able to do that, and more!

The meeting dissolved into presentations made to the DEO and CEO. Isaac and I had again been given the honor of receiving a chicken and a goat. However, we wanted to honor the presence of the district and county education officials, and we asked that the animals be given to these men. So, on behalf of the women’s chiefdom a white chicken (signifying purity) was given to the DEO and the village chief gave the goat to the CEO. The partnership between the education officials and the Dougbe River School has been forged!

Phew…it was a full day…but it was time to head back to Zwedru. So as the afternoon faded into night we made our way back. A couple of times we had to get out and walk so the truck could pass through some nasty ground. But when I looked up into a sky FULL of stars I was reminded just how blessed we are!!

Today we took another giant step forward. Isaac made arrangements to meet with the County Education Official (CEO) of Grand Gedeh. We took a motorbike to his residence which is on the campus of a technical and vocational school in Zwedru. We shared with him about DRPSL, and Isaac invited him to travel with us to Sayou for the groundbreaking. He accepted the offer, and began preparing for the journey.

Isaac and I then went to see our old friend the Land Commissioner, Mr. Dorbah. We needed to pay the federal tax for the land we purchased last year. Once the tax is paid, we will be able to probate the deed so that there is a permanent record in the court that we hold the land. Thanks to a good relationship with the commissioner and the county surveyor (who traveled with us to Sayou last year), the process moved efficiently. We were done by morning and ready to go to Twarbo region.

Our stuff was loaded into the green truck and we headed to pick up those who would be traveling with us. Once again we had a full truck, with Isaac riding in the back, and I riding with the driver and the CEO in the front. It was cramped…but we did fine. The close confines gave me good opportunity to share the plan with the CEO who is impressed by our vision. He is looking forward to telling the National Education Minister about what we are doing. He also will advocate for us to receive the operational permit from the Educational Minister. There has been plans in the works for quite some time for a school to be built in Twarbo, but no action has ever been taken. We are EXACTLY what they are looking for: the resources (and connections) to build this school. I trust we will be in a symbiotic relationship with the County.

The ride is not for the faint of heart. Since we are at the tail end of the rainy season, there were plenty of muddy, deep ruts in the road, and some treacherous places to pass through. In fact, at some of the rougher spots, everyone but the driver got out in order to lighten the load, AND be precautionary should the truck not be able to pass without incident. The good news is that there were no incidents! Using the truck’s odometer, we tracked the distance between Zwedru and the school site. It is almost exactly 70 kilometers. The trip took us over 5 hours, partly due to stops in Ziah Town and a couple of other villages.

We arrived at Sayou to fanfare – not quite to the same degree as last year – but warm hospitality none the less. People take great pleasure in seeing how well I can greet in the local dialect. It was fun to have familiarity with people and to be less nervous and formal as last year. After our things were unloaded, we had a brief welcoming ceremony. Isaac restated the purpose ofthe school and shared the occasion for our being there – the ground-breaking. He drew great applause when he explained that the construction would soon begin. After the ceremony, Isaac and I went to speak to the pastor of the Assemblies of God (AoG) church in town. Isaac believes that she is just the right person to serve as the house mother for the orphanage. Also, we believe that she and a few other who would be willing to move adjacent to the site would serve as helpful watch-people once the construction starts. She is currently in prayer and discernment with her brother and close friends.

After the busyness of the day, it was time to turn in. I fell asleep listening to the voices of Sayou, and slept in a familiar bed. It didn’t seem long until I was hearing the morning bell. The day for breaking ground was upon us!!

Knowing that the drive from Monrovia to Zwedru can take at least 13 hours we intended to leave by 6A. Isaac woke me up a little before 7A because our driver wasn’t going to be there until 9A. A harbinger of things to come? Perhaps. We finally got away from Mr. Collins’ house around 11A. We then had to pick up a friend, plus a mechanic, for the trip (no question about it, a harbinger!). And Isaac got a beautiful Spider-Man pillow for his bum, since the truck was just a two-seater.

Once we finally got moving away from greater Monrovia the ride wasn’t so bad. It was going along so smoothly, in fact, that I had time to gauge distance markers from the Capitol. 13 hours driving US interstates can get you almost to Florida from Cleveland. So, I was curious about the distance one could travel on Liberian roads in the same amount of time. Unfortunately, my tracking experiment got disrupted and I still don’t know.

When we stopped for dinner in Ganta (about 160 miles into the trip), our driver said he needed to have the muffler fixed. Fine…we watched dusk fall and took in some of the characters of a pretty typical, bustling Liberian town while we waited. At one point during the next 40 miles, and 5 hours, we had to clear a very large puddle that was FLOWING from left to right across the road! Not much longer after that, we found ourselves challenged by extremely muddy roads, even having to get out while several vehicles from large trucks to small taxis tried to navigate a muddy stretch 30 yards square, and in some places with standing water a yard deep. I give our driver credit, he picked his spot, and went for it, and drove through it! Those events seemed to tax our valiant Ford Ranger, however. After a while it could no longer slip into gear while going up hills. So our driver and mechanic went to work trying to replace the clutch – at 12 midnight. After a good 45 mins or so, it was evident that nothing was going to work. And since it was ~1A, there wasn’t a whole lot of traffic passing us. The decision was made for us, we had to sleep in the truck! There were some pleasant sounds that helped soothe the fuming soul. Needless to say, though, while sleep occurred, it wasn’t exactly an excellent rest.

Dawn came upon us beautifully, and as the world started to wake up, a plan was made: the mechanic would go to the next town (~45 mins away), grab a taxi and a mechanic, load Isaac and me in the taxi while the mechanic help fix the truck. The taxi arrived around 9:30A, we haggled over the cost, the local villagers got some entertainment, and Isaac and I finally got away. The taxi then carried us to our next driver, who we hope–I mean, believe!–will reliably carry us into Konobo District.

I would stop there, but we had one more obstacle to pass. The taxi got grounded in mud. So with the help of some local boys, Isaac and I slopped in the mud to help push the car out, so the driver could try one more time. With the boys pushing from behind, he made it through; then we looked for a place to wash our feet…and ankles. We made the transition from taxi to truck and arrived in Zwedru around 4P – roughly 30 hours after we set out. Unfortunately once we left the original truck, I lost count of the mileage. I would guess that the distance, by road!, from Monrovia to Zwedru is 275 mile range.

One last note: before going to bed, we had the opportunity to meet with the firm who will handle the construction of the classroom building. Barwulu Agro Development and Reconstruction Agency (BADRA) has agreed with us in principle. It turns out they are also the ones who are carrying us in their truck to Twarbo tomorrow. We will have the opportunity to see some of their work currently going on in Zieh Town, when we pass through.

Very exciting to see some of these big pieces of the project begin to fall into place!
As you can tell, we continue to need your prayers.
All our best until we come back into range of the internet!

Note: unfortunately the connection is so slow I can’t upload photos or sounds(!). Please come back in a few days. Thx.

We got up early to visit Isaac’s father who is in Monrovia getting medical treatment. We arrived at Isaac’s uncle Henry’s house and found Isaac’s dad with two of his brothers. We had met one of the uncles on our trip to Sayou last year. It was nice to see Mr. Monah again, and there was plenty of conversation filled with both laughter and concern.

In the afternoon we had the opportunity to visit with the first of what we hope will be many governmental officials. Senator Sandy is the chairperson of the caucus from Grand Gedeh County. Per usual, Isaac did a nice job of explaining the project within the context of the conversational customs of his culture. The Senator was very impressed that a son from the region has taken on such a project after settling down in the US. He also helped me understand the importance of my role as both a witness from the US and a guest to the county. The fact that I would travel into the interior with Isaac and appreciated the hospitality I’ve received there has been duly noted. Through this meeting, we should have the opportunity to meet with the rest of the senators and representatives from the county upon our return from Konobo District.

One bit of unexpected entertainment we received at the senators house was offered to us by his pet chimpanzee. Animal-rights issues aside, the senator was proud to show us how his monkey could drink out of a Coke bottle; which it seemed very much to enjoy!

Isaac has arranged for us to get passage to Grand Gedeh County in a 4X4 truck. We will leave for Zwedru early tomorrow morning!

The journey progresses. We continue to appreciate your prayers. Until tomorrow,
Peace!

The drive out to the Obrachire Senior High Tech School was about 2 hours.  A lot of that was dealing with the congestion of Accra’s traffic.  Our driver did his best to move in, out, and around the cars, buses, motorcycles, pedestrians, and the legion of pedestrian goods-hawkers.  Thank God for seat belts!

We moved out of greater Accra and into the countryside, through several villages and towns.  I had imagined Issac’s former school to be in the country, and yet found it to be annexed to a town.  (It makes me wonder if Dougbe River School will cause similar development someday?)  Mind you, “development” in this case means shops and stands lined up along a dirt road – but more than just residences.

Isaac wanted to go to the school to meet with his former headmaster in order to share ideas for our school.  When we arrived, we found out that the headmaster had retired and the school has been run by Headmistress Helena for the past year.  We were able to meet with her even though she was feeling a bit under the weather.  We quickly talked about the state of the school.  It is clear that she can use the support of alumni like Isaac to help fund renewal of the campus.  She spoke of some classrooms holding two classes at once – which meant a size of 100 students.  She told us to imagine what it would be like for the teacher when all of these young people came in from recess.   She happens to also be an ordained United Methodist pastor – and she holds chapel services on the campus on Sundays.  So, some connections with what we’ve been envisioning.  It was a very nice visit.

The evening brought us back to the Paloma, where we met with a Cleveland Heights native, Chris Axelrod, who is studying for a term at the University of Ghana in Legon.  His parents run the Pizza House restaurant on Mayfield.  It was fun to talk with someone from home, and also a young American with a global vision.  After that we took a well-earned sleep!

Thursday has taken us to Liberia.  We had a safe flight to Monrovia and are staying once again with John Collins.  It is from near his house, where I am writing today–at an internet outpost.    We’ve had a potential snafu in that the car that was supposed to carry us to Grand Gedeh is not running.  But much to no one’s surprise, Isaac is already well into plan B. (smile)  There is some talk that rain has caused creeks to rise, so we may confront some obstacles in our travel.  We’ll see!  {I believe in the print business that’s called a teaser…}

I’m not sure when I will be able to write next.  However, we’ve been told that there’s a usb device that can support internet access via mobile technology.  If that’s the case, I’ll be good until we get past Zwedru.  After that, we go dark since apparently the cell service in Zies Town is currently inoperable.

More later.  Thanks for your prayers!

Travel across the Atlantic was smooth. We had a little bump at the Cleveland Airport when the Delta rep told Isaac his bags were not only too heavy (expected), but that they were too big. We didn’t have that issue last year…hmmm. With some shifting of items, and the magic of duct tape, we got the bags down to correct size and weight, and avoided a $300 tax.

We’re settled into the Paloma Hotel. Isaac is meeting with some family members. We will then go to the school from which he graduated to meet with administrators there.

It is good to be back – such a vastly different experience from the initial trip I made here; things are just that much more familiar.

We hope everyone back home is well. More later!