On the Radio in Kakata and 124 New Friends

Students create their first clay demonstrations

As I type this it is Wednesday, May 9th, 6:05pm WAT (Western Africa Time), 2:05pm in Florida and 11:05am on the American West Coast (Hello Oregon!)

Today began with a scheduled 7:00am departure time from the hotel. Our destination: Kakata, Liberia a city 34 miles to the northeast of Monrovia. In addition to the crew you've already met for this adventure (Tim, Jay, LouElla, me) we added one more teammate: Calvin. Calvin is a lifelong friend of Jay's and the Applied Scholastics representative in Liberia. This would be rendezvous #4.

The first stop of the day was at a radio station in Kakata for a live interview at 8:30am. The late departure from the hotel only served to invigorate Jay and his driving. We were running late but he was going to get us there on time. And he did too!

The roads and drivers here are unlike anything familiar to an American eye. The traffic patterns are chaotic. The laws seemingly nonexistent. The drivers creative and free-spirited in every sense of the word. Everyone drives how they need to drive to get where they want to go. Motorcycles driven by guys wearing sandals and no helmets are loaded with two or three passengers and dart in and out of every tight space. Pedestrians carrying bags on their heads and bundles in their arms don't break stride to walk through traffic. Animals zip along the dusty roadsides. Honking is part of the driving technique. There's a honk for everything: "(HONK!) I'm passing you on the left!" "(HONK) Get out of my way bicyclist!" "(HONK!) Watch out goat!" Every vehicle looks like it has been taped and bolted back together so it might last another week. Four passenger cars carry seven. Eight passenger vans carry a dozen or more, faces and shoulders pressed to every window. It's exhilarating, breathtaking, and anxiety-producing. LouElla rides shotgun everywhere we go so she gets a front row seat to all the action.

The most amazing sight from the day's driving was three people riding on a motorcycle on the highway going 45 mph. The best part was the guy in the back who had his arms extended behind the motorcycle and was holding the handles of a wheelbarrow. This picture here doesn't do it justice. Lou snapped the photo with very little warning. HE WAS PULLING A WHEELBARROW BY HAND ON THE BACK OF A MOTORCYCLE AT 45 MPH!

Every man's hero!

We arrived to the radio station, as promised by Jay, exactly at 8:30. We jumped out of the truck, were escorted into a dark room in a small building, threw on headphones, got mics put in our faces and the interview began. Tim, Calvin and I were interviewed live by a gentleman on the other side of the glass. Jay and Lou floated back and forth between the rooms snapping pictures and passing notes. We were there to talk about the literacy and Study Technology event we were doing in city hall at 9:30. We took turns being asked the questions from the interviewer, talked about Study Tech, invited people to the presentation taking place the next three days.

Tim, Calvin and me coming to you live from Kakata, Africa!

Calvin as seen from the interviewer's window

Tim leading the way

Once the interview was over we piled back into the truck and made our way to Kakata City Hall where the event was set to begin. We were met by 124 students from ten schools who had just finished a meal provided by us as part of the event. It took us a good thirty minutes to cobble together the AV system: speakers, mics, laptop, projector, screen (reversed Applied Scholastics banner). We hung two new Applied Scholastics banners.

For the next four hours or so we gave a presentation on Study Technology that focused on the first barrier to study, lack of mass. Prior to starting Jay and LouElla rearranged all the students into a random order so no students were sitting next to friends. The event was opened by a local dignitary who began the proceedings with a prayer and led the students in traditional song. It was beautiful. Calvin and Jay said some words then brought me to the front. I presented slides, gave examples, asked for answers, got students to chant out important concepts. We interspersed my talk with videos from Intelligensint. They were very well received. At different times both Jay and Calvin spoke about different aspects of the first barrier to study and mass.

Students act out lack of mass phenomena for the class

Student creates a clay demonstration for the class while Jay explains

Student and her crown

Student's entire school campus in clay

Students write success stories

The event was a success. We're expecting the same with tomorrow's.

On the drive from Kakata back to the hotel we made an unscheduled stop at a roadside fruit stand. When he pulled up, Jay told the rest of us to wait in the truck while he made the purchases. He didn't want the sellers to jack up the prices on account of us touristy types. In the end, he walked away with about with six bags of freshly picked, organically grown, locally harvested, exotic fruits all for the low price of $17.00.

Jay and Calvin and friends

Tired but exhilarated, that's all for today. See you tomorrow.

And here's the link to show your love for this project: https://www.gofundme.com/african-literacy-project-2018