Running Water

March 12, 2014

Liberian plumbing system

We often forget the importance of turning on the faucet and getting safe drinking water, but for most of the world water is first hauled out of a deep well by bucket then put into another bucket, carried to a barrel where it is stored. Carrying the water is usually done by younger boys and girls. Here in Liberia it is transported on your head. I suggest you try to lift a full bucket of water over your head, let alone carrying it up a hill for some distance.

My needs are about two-three buckets of water a day which is brought by the young woman who cleans my house. On wash day it is even more. My greatest use of water is to flush the toilet, not unlike America. So I try to follow the adage from California water shortage times, "If its yellow, let it mellow. If its brown, flush it down". Even then, I let the brown stick around.

Returning to campus

 March 10, 2014

Today marks the beginning of classes at Cuttington University. This is after postponing the scheduled opening one week to allow students to return home to get more money to meet the university’s sudden announcement of a greater down payment to enroll and after the passing of another week of schedules classes which neither students nor instructors observe. All this reduces class time by two weeks while fees remain the same.  I am happy not to be a part of that mess again.

There is an excitement about being back on campus and reconnecting students again. If anything the relationships are more relaxed than if I was still an instructor. The wonderful part is their eagerness to participate in one of my programs. It kind of lights a fire under me to get them involved and get others moving.

Today I label as “Condom Day”. I was visited at my house by former Immunology class students who have started and want to expand an HIV/AIDS/Family Planning program to neighboring towns and rural areas. They need some money for travel and other minor expenses. I am trying to get a small grant for them. They left with a case of 3,000 condoms after distributing over 1,000 last semester. They may serve as a model about how to conduct similar training in America. Another case of 3,000 condoms goes to the President of the Student Union Association to support his plans. Finally some students from last year take a few hundred condoms and I see them randomly handing them out to other students as they pass by.

 I enter into a discussion with others about whether distributing condoms simply encourages random sexual behavior. To this I refer to my daughter who works for the Minnesota Aids Project as a case worker who states that many studies have been conducted showing that condom distribution and sex education actually reduces sexual activity. Whether that applies to Liberia, I can’t say, but I can say that awareness of pregnancy prevention and HIV has increased. High school and college students in this area carry condoms along with their cell phones as part of what is important to them. Who knows, maybe they do think twice be ore hormones completely take over their bodies?

The news is also spreading about the opening of “Dr. Nick’s”. It seems like the students really want a more private place off-campus where they can go , have a beer, and relax. It encourages me more as construction moves more slowly than I would like.

Dr. Nick's progress report

March 9, 2014

Any where in this world you go contractors are the same. They say they can do the job, start the project, accept half down, the disappear to another project. Liberia is no different. Despite delays Dr. Nick's continues to be built.

There are no power tools and only the basic hand tools are used. Cement is mixed with a shovel and hauled in a bucket. The carpenter has one saw, a hammer, and measuring tape.

As of today, the walls have all been plastered, ceiling installed, electrical conduit run, and shelving constructed. The cement floor is still not finished. It is beginning to look like something.

Family picking, hauling, and leveling fill dirt in preparation for floor cement. Note Brett Favre jersey.

Cement work starting. Cement applied to walls first to produce a smooth surface.

Outside cement work done. Carpenter building inside shelves.

My Faux Pas

 March 8, 2014

New President of Sinyea Youth Association, Roland Kollie (in white) and his Veep

Youth associations are important in Liberia. It seems all matters concerning youth are their responsibility. Being elected president of the town’s youth association is a big deal and induction of new officers is an all-day event with the installation ceremony lasting almost four hours, with subsequent food, and finalized by an all-night ball. There lots of planned speeches by local dignitaries and politicians, prayers, and signing. The climax of the installation ceremony is the putting of donations into a basket to raise funds to build a youth empowerment center. When you donate you announce the amount and are entitled to say a few words.  Being a “Special Patron” with a front row seat and the only white person, I have the opportunity to speak for the first time to the town folk and leaders.

For the past week, I have been increasing my Kpelle vocabulary and practicing it on unsuspecting locals. Since everywhere I go I am called “White Man”, I go by the Kpelle equivalent.  When I am addressed as “White Man”, I reply in Kpelle, “My name is White Man”. This shocks people to hear their native language come from a white person.

The morning of the induction I greet people in Kpelle with “How are you doing”, getting quite good at it, even mastering the contractions. Well, during my donation speech I want to show-off my Kpelle skills by saying how I am trying to learn Kpelle followed by rehearsed “My name is White Man”. Instead what came out was “My name is how are you doing”. Looking at puzzled faces and fearing a mispronunciation I repeat my faux pas.

Mistakes can be the source of building bonds. My attempt at speaking coupled with the fact that I am the only White Man living in the town helps me in my quest to complete the many projects I have started. 

Liberian Village Cuisine

March 6, 2014

My meals have definitely improved living in the village and having the meal prepared for me over the chicken-fish over rice served at Cuttington cafeteria.

Almost everything is served over rice. Most commonly with what they call a soup which consists of some green leaf (potato, cassava, palaver, or water cress) mashed in a drum with a long pole, boiled down to a thick liquid. Other times a vegetable like kidney beans, bitter ball, or okra are added to the soup mix. This is then cooked with some kind of meat combined with fish. Vegetable oil or native red palm oil is added to help it slide down and maintain ones regularity. Lots of hot chilies are added to give it a real kick.  This is the main and often the only meal of the day. Breakfast and a late snack usually consist of a cracker or biscuit.Water is the drink for all meals. A spoon is the only needed utensil..

The dumo dish below is a special dish. The white dough ball in the center of a spicy soup is made by pounding cassava root in a drum into this sticky mass. Liberian culture requires you to never chew the dumo but swallow each spoonful whole. I have mastered the technique, kind of like eating raw oysters.

Bitter ball soup with ground hog and canned fish

Dumo in pepper soup

Kidney bean soup with pigs feet and chicken

Potato green soup with ground hog anh canned fish

Spaghetti with canned fish, a breakfast delight 

Martha

March 4, 2014

Martha

Martha is my nurse, or Americans would say "housekeeper". She brings me water carried on her head from the community well, does my washing, daily cleans and straightens my house, cooks and brings me meals. She is teaching me the local language, Kpelle, while I work with her on reading English. She is 19 years old, in the sixth grade at the local school, and the mother of  Larry, the cross-eyed little boy.

Martha's story is not unusual for Liberia. She is from an even more remote village. She came to this village, Sinyea, to live with her aunt and go to school. She became pregnant by the son of the woman who heads the local women's association and earns her and her baby's keep by doing household chores, as well as, attending to me where the family can earn money. She is not married and in a way kind of an indentured servant. Just what her future may be is hard to predict.

Martha asked me some questions about why she was not having her periods. She is still nursing and I thought that may be the reason until she said she had a five year birth control chip implanted in her arm. She had no idea about the physiology of the chip or menstrual cycle. I gave her a box of 100 condoms which she readily took and told her to give some to her female friends.

Liberian Gas Station

March 1, 2014

Liberian Gas Station across the road from me

When I first came to Liberia, I saw these stands along the road with glass jars of a yellowish liquid. Using my superior intellect, I quickly deduced that Liberians have a sweet tooth and a special affection for honey. Wrong.

The yellow stuff is gasoline. Liberians constantly run on empty . When you need gas, you buy a quart or gallon. Sputtering up to one of these stands is not unusual or waiting for the motorbike or car taxi driver to walk to the nearest stand is just part of travel. Fortunately, there seems to be a stand every 100 yards.There are a few actual gas stations, but they are often unreliable sources for gasoline.