In the middle of the night last night I was jolted awake by what sounded like an explosion. Immediately all of my senses were on full alert trying to figure out what was happening. It took me a few moments, but I finally figured it out. A drum corps full of vigor and might was pounding on the tin roof. It was a massive rainstorm. The tin sheets served to amplify the sound to double or triple its force. It was loud! I laid awake for a very long time amazed, impressed, and a touch worried that the roof would be soon separated from the house. Lou slept through the entire episode.
Right now it is 8:36 PM WAT. I am sitting on Jay's patio typing away. In Florida, it's 4:36 PM and most are ending their work days. In Oregon and California folks are probably getting back to their day after lunch. It is 1:36 PM there. Our Friday is coming to a close. The day took us to three places: African Methodist Episcopal University (AMEU), a local craftsman's shop, and back to the orphanage. This picture, probably my favorite from the day, was from the orphanage.
The long-in-time-but-short-in-distance morning drive was much like the others with two notable exceptions. A few blocks out of our neighborhood, Jay spotted one of his young female neighbors standing on the side of the road waiting to catch a taxi or motorcycle to school. Knowing we were heading the same way, Jay changed course and picked her up. She squeezed in between Tim and me in the backseat and off we drove. She was a nice addition to the crew. Her name was Mariama, a 21-year-old college student. Jay broke the ice by getting the two girls to ask one another three questions each. By the time we dropped Mariama at her school, Jay and LouElla had made, after intense, fun, and protracted negotiations, the agreement that LouElla would tutor Mariama on her studies and in exchange LouElla would get an African shirt. For most of the ride, repartee between LouElla and Jay kept the entire truck entertained. Each would push the other, both unwilling to give in without a sarcastic comeback. It was great theater.
Traffic turned very bad not too far into the drive. Turns out there was a police stop at one of the town's main intersections. The police were stopping cars if they had window tinting. If they did, they made drivers rip off the covering then and there. We got stopped and the truck is now missing most of its tinting. Jay grumbled — a lot.
The main event of the day was a 90-minute presentation on Study Tech to twenty-five teachers at AMEU. This was the first event of the trip held in an air-conditioned room that had its own projector and screen. Nice. All things considered, it went well. Despite having to cram a lot of information into a shorter time than we needed, the message was well-received. The format: Jay opened, Tim spoke, I presented, Jay gave the final message, successes were gathered. All attendees walked out with their very own Learning How to Learn books as well as a lesson plan outline and barriers poster.
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| The presentation |
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| Demoing a demo |
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| Jay builds the passion |
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| Success! |
Two views from the windows of the presentation room. It was a drizzly day in Monrovia. The second picture shows a building being constructed. It was an amazing display of teamwork and hard work, with minimal machines for the heavy lifting. Wheelbarrows did all the work of moving the rocks and cement from the piles to the mixer and from the mixer to the second-story floor being constructed. I watched for a long time.
Stop number two was a craftsman's shop. We're coming back home with a bagful of beautiful hand-carved items. Most of the time spent here was spent haggling. Jay and Tim versus the two salesmen. In the end, I am sure all were happy. Jay got us good prices and the sellers made a good sale, $90.00 total. By the way, this was the same seller Xane and I visited too years ago. Tim has returned many times.
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| Colorful craftsman shop |
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| Carver |
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| Let the haggling begin, Lou looks on |
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| Store front |
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| Almost bought this! |
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| One of the two carvers/sellers. Great shot! |
Our return to the orphanage was better than the first visit. We played with the volleyball we brought (and left behind), we were toured through their school, we wrote names in the dirt. It truly was an amazing experience. The stark contrast between the smiling, cheerful faces and the environment in which they live is hard to get your mind around. This is a country struggling to pick itself up and dust itself off in every important way. And here is a group of children at the very bottom of the ladder faced with more challenge than any other Liberian...yet many a have spark in their eyes that says they find some joy in life and have some hope. As we drove away, windows rolled down, LouElla broke down and cried as the children, under Jay's direction, chanted her name and sang her goodbye. It was a moment never to be forgotten.
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| Greeting on arrival |
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| One of the classrooms |
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| Mother Florence dramatically captured by Tim's iPhone camera |
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| Student inside the school, showing us around |
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| Student touring me room to room (Love this shot!) |
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| LouElla playing ball with her friends |
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| Learning each others' names |
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| Friends |
We've come to the end of our last Friday here, another day of powerful moments and emotions.
Just a few days left for this adventure. The best thing about what we're doing here is each day we're laying the foundation for more programs that will help more Liberians and generate more support. I like that.
Here's the link. Do what you can to help move this forward.
https://www.gofundme.com/african-literacy-project-2018
Colin
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