Chronicle for 2010-07-23

I have just departed from Monrovia Liberia on the 35 hour trek back to Arizona. What an amazing experience this has been. I sent my wife a note from the airport telling her how much I missed the family, but even more, how much I have to share with her when I return home. This has been a life changing experience for me that I cannot describe in words.
I came to wire a few house and I left in love with a nation. People would ask me, what are you doing? Why are you doing that? I guess it was never really clear to me as I am not sure I ever gave anyone a good answer. I would reply, to do some rebuilding at a college, or to wire a few buildings. The replies were always interesting but positive and encouraging and I think I really bought into the fact that it was all I was doing. Boy was I wrong!

I believe all of us have purpose in life and that each step we take is in preparation for us to glorify God through our abilities. In the early part of this year, when I was unemployed, I had the opportunity to do some work around home. I ran water line, electrical service, poured concrete , built a chicken coop and many other projects around the house that kept me busy. At the same time I also grew in my faith and community with God. I took time to listen to his word and direction on my life. I took time to step up and start offering some of the talents that he has given me to support those who do not have as much. I stepped out and told my friend Nils that I would help him rebuild ABC University in Yekepa, Liberia. Little did I know, Yekepa would be rebuilding me.

In an earlier blog I shared the experience of the road to Yekepa, a 200 mile trip that takes 7 hours on paved and unpaved road, through war torn villages that appear impoverished and crumbling. Then I spent time getting to know the people, the communities, their history of survival, their desire to create a future and their love of each other and country. I was transformed. On the trip back to Monrovia, the poverty still existed, but I now saw the people, imagined what is in their hearts, understood the pain. I now saw a nation on the verge of a point in history where they have the opportunity to come of age. They have the opportunity to make a difference, they have the opportunity to grow into the respect of the world. I had to be a part of this, i had to do my part to help get this nation over the hump and into the 21st century.

While at ABC, I was very impassioned and convicted by a few experiences. The first I wrote about a number of days back when I visited the orphanage. There are so many kids in Yekepa, in Libereia who have so little opportunity to learn. Sheri Wang has started such a great program in www.lovingthroughliteracy.com and I feel the need to assist. Sheri has asked me to join with her team in helping to lead the direction of the organization. First steps are to get the strategy and sustainability of the program down on paper to help educate and train those who are out speaking on behalf of the organization.
The second area I have come back with leading is the development of a business program at the university. Del had expressed a need early on in the trip to have some help to build out a business program and I mentioned it here as well. After prayerful consideration ( and discussion with Maritta) it is an effort I felt called to help with. I have to honestly say, I felt called in a manner I have never felt. When I approached Del on the idea of me helping, I think i floored him (little did he know i floored myself). I explained to him that I know nothing about setting up a university program, but that i did know a whole lot about business. Del, Becky, Nils and I met for about an hour this morning to get some ideas down on paper, some next steps, and target opportunities of when we would be meeting again. Target launch date for the school of business at ABC University will be the fall of 2011.
The initial plan for the program is to have an entrepreneurial focus. Our thought is to train the local student in creating business and feeding the local economies. The other draw for the school is the 3,000+ mine workers that will be coming to the community in support of the iron ore mining operation that will be in full operation by mid next year. Yekepa is in line for some big transformation over the next twelve months and ABC will be at the heart of it. My friend Nathan Mulbah at ABC commented that the next decade will be a decade for Liberia, I firmly believe this is true, and we can help equip Liberia with the tools and education it needs to come of age.

This trip has ben transformational for me. It is my prayer that I can help in some small way, bring transformation to the people of Liberia as well.

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Chronicle for 2010-07-21

Last night at ABC, boy has time flown by these past two weeks. Everything here has exceeded expectations beyond what I ever imagined. This was something I was just going to do to help out. Little did I know how life changing it would be.

Last night was a rough one. At about 10:30 pm the rain started and the concrete we poured earlier in the evening was not set up yet or covered. As soon as we heard it, Steve, Brittney, and I were sprinting across the campus for where the concrete was at. Ahead of us was Nils, he had the same reaction when the rain started. We got there and were covering things as fast as we could, but it was pouring, we were drenched and had a mess on our hands when the rain finally stopped.
None of the four of us had ever finished concrete and the workers were long gone, so we were left with the task of figuring it out. We trekked down to the warehouse and picked up the float and other finishing tools and started trying to repair the damage in the middle of the night. Working into the early morning hours we had a new finish coati and the concrete covered in the event it rained again. God was on our side, this morning when we pulled the cover off, we had done a good job.

I worked with the concrete crew for most of the day today and we worked until late in the evening again as well. The area we started the prior day was complete as well as the pathway leading up to the chapel. Brittney had a crew working on the entraceto the campus to get it cleaned up, Steve worked with Nils on the power to the new communication building and Nathan worked with Morris on getting some of the sound system set up. Things are really shaping up in preparation for the visit from the president this weekend.

This afternoon I took a break for a couple of hours to head over to the orphanage with Sheri. She had come across a number of text books while going through the boxes of children's books that she wanted to take over there for the library they have. It was so awesome to see all of the kids come running as soon as they saw the van. They all gathered round and helped carry the books into the library. Each kid had a book open as fast as they could, trying to check it out before it was put away. I was again impressed with the huge desire to read.
I met Emmanuel, the child that Maritta and sponsor. I had met him the other day, but did not connect the dots on who he was. I talked to him for a bit and let him know we are praying for him. I am going to ask my children to write him a letter and include a picture of themselves. Emmanuel had hurt his foot and it was bandaged up. The conditions here are so rough, i pray that he heals up ok.
These kids need all the support we can give them. When I speak of a library, it is not what anyone would imagine. A dark, dirty, dimly lit room with doors and shutters made out of wood that loosely fits together, it works and it is all they have.

Lastly I need to share something that has been weighing heavily on my heart. Del has mentioned a number of times the desire to start a business program here at ABC. Since the moment I heard him speak of it, ti has weighed upon me. Today i spoke to Del about it and offered to help ohm get the program up and going for the fall 2011 semester. I know nothing about starting a business school but i am confident i can find people who do. As I take on this charge, I would ask you to pray for guidance for me in putting this together for ABC.

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Chronicle for 2010-07-20

What a great day today, it is always nice to end a day when you end with so much accomplished. The day started in normal fashion with singing and devotions with the work crew. After, I was working with Nils to start laying out the pipe that will run from the generator to the new communications building. The workers have been working the past few days to get the 300+ feet of trench dug for the pipe we will run the electrical through. This is not your normal run of pipe or trench as the middle 100 feet run through a marsh. We glued together more than 200 feet of the pipe and laid it out across the water, watching Steve fall in the water as we were doing so.

Then came the fun part. Becky came and asked us to divert our efforts to helping finish some of the pathways they are building here to walk between buildings. The reason for the diversion is that the president of Liberia will be in Yekepa this weekend and stopping by ABC to see the progress here. It will be an honor for this university and the plan is to make the place look spectacular.
The part of the pathway we were challenged with was a circular path where four pathways meet, almost like a roundabout. The concept of using bender board and making a radius concrete for was a new concept so there was some serious education in the process. Becky asked the crew to stay late and were were all mixing, pouring and smoothing concrete up until about 9 pm. I thinking working into the dark around here is very rare, so this was a big request. It was fun to see the bonding that was going on with the team.

As we were wrapping up, many of the workers noticed a few boxes of books Sheri and team had cleaned out from the children's book collection in the library. There were coloring books, music books, and other misc books that were not appropriate for the children's library. There was a hoard of the workers taking everything they could get their hands on. Here is why, most of the people around here have no books, magazines, newspapers, etc,.... nothing to read at all. They want to read everything they can get their hands on. I have even heard stories where some of the men will take home instruction manuals just to have something to read. Really puts in perspective how much access we have to information, men in America refuse to read instructions and for the men in Liberia, instructions are the only thing they have to read!

Tomorrow afternoon I am going to head back over to the orphanage with Sheri. I want to meet a little boy named Emmanuel that Maritta and I are sponsoring. I should have met him the other day but being the sometimes clueless husband I am, did not connect the boy we are sponsoring with the orphanage. It will be fun to go back and see all of the kid again anyway.

So much accomplished today and so much left to do tomorrow in our last full day of work here. I pray that God continues to help us in accomplishing great things here.

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Chronicle for 2010-07-19

Today was the lest productive we have had so far. We are waiting for the trench to be completed from the generator house the new communications building. So most of the day was spent completing small projects here and there.
Since there were a number of miscellaneous projects, I ended up walking the campus quite a bit. It was interesting as I ventured around to see all of the activity going on.

On the multiple trips to the warehouse I watched as the welders were working on monkey bars for the playground the college has built for the park in Sanaquille (a small town about an hour from here). By the end of the day, they were near complete. The welders are amazing with some of the things they have crated for this campus.

A trip to the wood shop had me talking with Chris who runs the wood shop for ABC. He makes all of the cabinets etc for the campus. Chris was telling me that he is 24 years old and is working to finish high school in Yekepa. He, like many kids his age around here, did not have school they could attend during the war, so they are making up for it now. Chris told me his dad is dead and his mother lives in a village about four hours away. He lives here in Yekepa by himself and works to live and finish high school so that he can go on to college and get a degree in engineering. A driven young man thar is doing his best to overcome the adversity he was dealt. He was asking me about my family, and I look forward to sharing pictures of them with him tomorrow.

Later in the day on another trip across campus to the warehouse, I passed by Eman and crew. They were clearing an area to make more room for the garden. In the process they had killed an opossum. It was the prize of the day and Eman was go ing to have meat tonight. Nothing here goes to waste, if Eman had not wanted that opossum there were a dozen behind him that would have taken or even paid for it. At home I would have not even fed an opossum to our animals, what is wrong with this picture? There really is so much we take for granted on a daily basis.

We went to Peter and Joanna Vaughn's for dinner (no we did not have opossum). Joanna is the daughter of Del and Becky Chinchen. She and Peter work here at ABC as well. After dinner we were going around the room sharing our experience over the last number of days and how they would impact us going forward. It was interesting to go around the room and hear how each person was impacted so differently yet, we all had a common theme. The people here all have incredible stories, but they are really only incredible to us, because for them, it has been ordinary life for so many years.

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Chronicle for 2010-07-18

I went to Mt Nimba Baptist church this morning. Chris Washington, one of the men who works here at ABC had invited me on Friday. Steve, Brittney, Nathan and Michael joined me as well. We arrived a bit early so we sat in on the mens group. Today was a prayer day for the men and it was interesting to hear many of the requests. Family, work, church, and spiritual life were among the topics. I asked for prayers upon the team, that we may be able to speak of our experience here in a manner that paints the realistic picture of the very real need that exists here in Liberia.
As we went into the service a few kids joined us in the pew. We never found out who they belonged to, people were not sure, they may have just come there from the community. Sitting next to me was Tito John who was about five years old. Tito did not say much and mostly just smiled. Sitting next to Michael was Cho and his little sister. Cho must have been tired as he finally stretched out on the pew and fell fast asleep. Cho's little sister came and sat by me for a while, she was tired as well so I put my arm around her and she leaned against my side for a bit. I understand it is quite common for children in the community to wander into church on Sunday even if their parents are not there. It is nice to see the churches taking these kids in as their own on Sunday to offer them the spiritual nourishment they may be lacking at home.

As we were eating lunch, a boy, about 12, came by the house. His name is Peter and he lives in the community with his aunt. Sheri had met him yesterday, he came around looking for work. We found out he needs to work in the morning to help support the family and cannot afford the $30 a year for afternoon school. When he came by, he was wearing the only clothes he had, a ratted T-shirt, boxer shorts and broken flip flops. Nathan gathered up a pair of his shorts and a T-shirt to give Peter. Sheri is going to see to it that the school get the fund so he can attend. Please pray for Peter, his situation is representative of so many here.

This afternoon we took a trip up to the old mine that was once the economic engine for this community. Even though most of the equipment has been stripped clean, and the parts sold for scrap, it was obvious the miners had left in a hurry when the war started. Much of the equipment looked as if it was just parked where it was and the people had walked away. Steven Schiff said it best "this city is a living example of how devastating war can be". Such a powerful statement because it really captures the essence of what has happened here, war has torn this place apart.

Tonight we had dinner with Nathan and Julia Mulbah, he is a professor here at the university. Julia has made homemade peanut brittle for desert. When I say homemade, I mean everything from shelling and roasting the peanuts all the way to the final product, it was some of the best I ever tasted.
Having returned home the team is taking some down time getting ready for the week. Tomorrow we will work on running conduit and power out to the new communications building.

Til tomorrow.....

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Chronicle for 2010-07-17

I am not even sure how to describe my day today. As I sit to recollect and write this, my eyes are filled with tears trying to choke back the emotion that I am experiencing. Throughout the day, from the point I awoke and looked out the window at this amazing place to the latter part of the day visiting the orphanage each moment has burned an image in my mind unlike any other.

When you look at ABC campus, it sits in the middle of a small valley with hills that turn into mountains on each side. The past few days clouds have covered the mountains about half way up with scattered clouds touching the sides all around. It is such a beautiful place and I guess that is why it makes it so hard to imagine the level of affliction these people live through daily.

We started the day with the men from the team taking a 2+ mile hike to the Guinea border where a lavish resort once existed prior to the war here. Along the way there were ruins of estates that once housed the wealthy and executives from the local mining company. The thought that this was once a prosperous community full of life and hope was overshadowed by the ruins of buildings barely visible through the tall elephant grass. At the border there was a small guard shack and some makeshift buildings that acted as the inspection facility. In the background were tennis courts overgrown with grass. Next to this was a pool larger than many olympic size pools and one could imagine the lavish surroundings when the place was in it's prime. The walk back ventured down a road almost overgrown with jungle from each side. There years of war and oppression combined with the rapid growth of the jungle made the ruins look hundreds of years old. Hard to
imagine....less than 16 years to get to this state. Nils kept reminding me this was was ABC looked like in 2006 when the Chinchen's returned to the campus. Finally we walked along pathway that led down the side of a hill with some very large steps and through some of the town of Yekepa until we were back at the ABC campus.

After lunch, Nils and I walked down to visit Eman (Emanuel) who runs the warehouse to get some supplies for attaching the grate over the well at the orphanage. On the way back we stopped to talk with Nathan and Julia Mulba (sp). Nathan was at ABC before the war as a student and was one of the first to return in 2007 after the war was over, as a professor. He was describing some of the atrocity the rebel leader Charles Taylor brought upon the country, how he targeted educated people who could possibly challenge him, and how more than 250,000 people were murdered, leaving families lives destroyed. I could see in his eyes the hurt and sorrow for his country and I could hear in his voice the hope he has for the future. He is a smart man of great passion and I am confident he will help lead this country to a brighter future.

We headed back to the house to take a trip to the mine, which turned into a last minute change to the Betty Jonah orphanage. I was excited we were going there but apprehensive at the same time as I had no idea what to expect. The orphanage is in a place called Camp 4, outside the city limits of Yekepa. As you may imagine being outside the city is rougher than inside and when the inside of the city is rough, the outside is bad.
As we were driving up to the orphanage the kids started running out from the fields and surrounding buildings toward our van, and as we stopped in front they gathered round in such a mob it was hard to get out of the van. I felt like a rockstar and maybe in some ways to these kid, I was. Little did they know, this rockstar was choking back tears.......the kids were surrounding us, shaking our hands, just wanting to get close, I told them my name..Adam...and in unison a few of them said, just like in the bible.
While I was introducing myself to Betty and Anthony Jonah there was an amazing harmony of Jesus Loves Me coming from one of the buildings, As I walked in, there were the kids singing and doing hand motions to the song with everything they had in their hearts.....wow it was amazing to hear.....my heart ached and my eyes welled up.
After a few more songs the men went with the boys to play some football (soccer). They boys were excited and were running to the field. On my way there, a boy about 10 came up beside me....I asked him his name and he replied, Charles. We walked together, he was carrying a small baby doll, I later found out it was one of the few toys they had to play with. We walked along for a bit...he reached up and took my hand to hold, just like my own son. We walked along, hand in hand, tears running down my face and my heart aching for this boy who has no father or mother...I was honored to fill that gap, if only for a few minutes.
We played soccer for a bit and I found a small boy who had a book. I asked him if he wanted me to read it, he just giggled, and shook his head yes. I sat on the ground in the dirt soccer field and started to read him the book, and older boy stood over my shoulder and read some of the words with me. Soon there was a crowd and I was ready the book to all of them.....I hope it meant as much to them as it did to me.
The kids were in line for some candy and had just completed a craft, making bookmarks, when a little boy, Benjamin, ran up to me and wanted me to write down my name for him because he was going to write me a letter, so I wrote my name on the back of his bookmark...he was now my friend.
As we were saying goodbye to all of the kids, I was looking for Benjamin, but did not see him, it was time for choir practice so I assumed he went there. I got in the front of the van with Nils, we were getting ready to pull away and all of a sudden there comes Benjamin running full speed directly at us. Instinctively I jumped out of the van as he ran up and he reached his hand out and handed me a letter he wrote.....

Dear Adam Krahling
Thank you for coming to mother Betty Jonah orphanage home to visit me and the other children. May God bless you and your family. Moreover my name is Benjamin Quewon. I am 13 years old and I love to play soccer. What sport do you like? What is your favorite color? I wish to hear from you any time.
With love
Benjamin Quewon

Today was an incredible day!

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Chronicle for 2010-07-16

Winding down from the first week in Liberia. It is Friday evening, everyone is reflecting on the very productive week. The warehouse lighting is completed, house six wiring is completed, many add on electrical and other misc projects are complete as well. The dehydrator is working well with pineapple and onions but the bananas were to moist.

Toward the end of the day today Sheri mentioned a need to build a cover for the open well at the orphanage. The well sits in the middle of their yard and is wide open with about a 20 ft drop. Sheri said she was amazed as she could see footprints on the side walls of the well where kids would climb down to get whatever had fallen in there. After a quick sketch (by yours truly with help from God since you all know I cannot draw) we had the welders in action making a grate to cover the well. It turned out amazing, incredible what can be done with rebar. The current plan is to head over to the orphanage on Sunday after church to play some soccer with the kids and install the cover. I am really looking forward to going to the orphanage, the kids here are amazing and I pray they have opportunity in life.

Tomorrow we plan do do some touring around Yekepa, visit the market and the old open pit mine. We may work on a few projects around here as well, but most of the work crew will not be around. Looking forward to a little bit of down time and just having a chance to see some more of the community.

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Chronicle for 2010-07-15

Had a good day today. Steve and I spent most of the day working on the wiring in staff house six. We should be completed with most of it tomorrow. It was fun again working alongside the local workers, hearing their stories and interactions with each other.

At one point there were a couple of small boys, Joshua who is 12 and Caleb who is 10. They are the sons of Eliazar, a professor at the university who is from the area around Yekepa. I was chatting with the boys and giving them the little round knockout disc from the electrical boxes. Steve had made a foot bag from a sock so I showed it to them and how to play it. They were having a good time until on of the walked back quietly and handed back to me and preceded to tell me they were told they could not use it anymore.........basically I had gotten them in a bunch of trouble. I was happy to know I could still cause trouble thousands of miles from home.

Lunch today was interesting. Peanut butter soup with beef over rice. Never know so much could be done with peanuts, it was not bad, but definitely my least favorite of the local dishes so far.

Becky Chinchen got the go ahead from Del on the pig house she wants to build. I hear there are a number of workers showing up tomorrow to start making bricks for the project. I am assuming I will be working on that project at some point before i leave although I am sure it will not be anywhere near complete before then.

Nils and I walked around a bit after dinner and he showed me where some future electrical plans were headed to support additional staff housing. Del's master plan for the campus is to house and educate about 300 students and staff. This would be about double the size of the campus prior to the war. He is a man of great wisdom and faith and I am confident he will take this university to a level it has never seen.

Looking forward to tomorrow and continuing the work around here.....

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Chronicle for 2010-07-14

.....just a few additional thoughts from today. Actually there are so many I am not sure where to start and where to end. I guess I have come to the realization that over the past number of months, as i have grown closer to God, that I have witness so many miracles and acts of faith, but it has taken me until now, really until tonight, to realize it. I am not sure if I can even describe what. I mean, other than just witnessing what God has done here in Yekepa. To hear the stories from Del on how things continue to fall into Gods plan, and how everything just keeps coming together for this university .......... it is nothing short of awesome.
The progress with the library that was made today was not planned, it was merely a need and to fit that need, God had the man who could fill it drop by the campus today. I am sure the man had no clue, he was just dropping by to say hi to Del, but the timing was perfect. The leaders of this country understand the need for education, unfortunately the extreme poverty is standing in the middle of filling the need.

I was talking to Edward today (the one who put 4 people on a motorcycle) and he thanked me for helping his country and his people, it hit me at the core. He explained that if he were to come to my county that he would just be a visitor or a guest, but he said what we do is so different. We come to help them and they are so appreciative of it, he knows the poverty they are in, and he knows that by working along side us, by rebuilding the university, by learning, is the only way hay can rebuild and if not for themselves, at least for their children, provide a better life to live in. I hope and pray I am really impacting Edwards life as much as he is impacting mine.

I worked alongside a man today, who I am told was a child soldier in the rebel army. When I look in his eyes, they seem so cold, yet he seems more alert than anyone I have ever met, constantly scanning the surroundings. I am sure he has seen more horrors than any of us could imagine and wants to put it all behind him and move on. I have not really figured out how to engage him in conversation, but I have felt a need to and will continue trying.

Earlier today, coming back from lunch I almost stepped on a snake, as I was walking I looked down and right between my legs on my stride, I saw the ground move....freaked me out.....it is now dead. Everyday God challenges us to address our fears and become better out of it, today with the snake, I definitely addressed one of my fears!

It is after 10 pm and it is raining hard outside and I am getting ready to turn in for the day. As you end your day, please pray for those around the world who are in need of a chance, for a fraction of the opportunities we take for granted every day.

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Chronicle for 2010-07-14

I was really tired today, it was hard to get up. The morning started with Nathan trying to run down and catch a rooster that was crowing early. His attempts were in vain as the rooster could outrun and out turn him, but it did add to some comic relief for the day.
The electrical in the warehouse was finished by mid morning. Brittany filled the dehydrator with some fruit and it will be interesting to see how the drying process goes with all of this humidity in the air.
Steve and I headed down to start running wire in the new staff house. This will be the sixth staff house on the campus and has been built from ground up, where most of the other staff houses were existing structures that needed to be rebuilt. Steve is an electrician and it was fun to learn from him. The house was full of people doing various things, except for Steve and I, everyone was part of the local work crew. Along side us doing electrical, there were people plastering block walls, installing windows, and various other activities. It was the Liberian version of Home Makeover. It is amazing what these guys make do with. The most impressive adhoc trick I have seen yet is a c-clamp made out of rebar. Something else i learned yesterday is all of the block they use in the house is made on site, i plan to take a look how they do it in the next few days.
Lunch was with the teaching staff and students again. We had palm butter with fish (talapia harvested from the fish ponds). As we were finishing lunch there was a huge downpour of rain. All of the roofs on the structures are made out of zinc sheets and when the hard rain hits them in a large room it is deafening, could not even hear the person sitting next to me.
Sheri shared some great news with me at lunch. Much of the land in Yekepa is leased by a large mining company. The local general manager stopped by to visit Del today and he brought him over to meet Sheri. They were discussing her library project for www.lovingthroughliteracy.com and he loved the idea. In fact he donated the land and the shell of a building that is on it for the project. In fact he was so enthusiastic, he also wants to look at replicating the library in a few other Liberian communities where the mine operates. Praise God! I have offered to help Sheri build out a long range plan for the program so we can ensure it will be sustainable and have the long term support required. I plan to sit down for a few hours with Del and Becky to make sure we understand the hurdles of staffing and running the library here. It is awesome to be partnered with such faithful and visionary people as Nils and Sheri Wang.
Tonight we are headed to bible study with Nathan and Julia (one of the professors here). More to come later....

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Chronicle for 2010-07-13

Today started early again today. A short meeting with the crew and devotional were at the start once again. We finished the dehydrator before lunch and carried it into the warehouse. The power was not completed so we will have to wait until tomorrow to get it in production. Becky sent someone to get some pineapples from a nearby farm, and we have plenty of bananas. Edward, one of the locals, had brought a bunch of bananas to Steve yesterday so we will cut those up and tty to dry them. Next I joined Nils, Steve and a number of the locals to finish wiring the warehouse. It has been progressing well and s Gould be completed to tomorrow.
We had lunch in the dining hall with the team of teachers and students they are teaching to be teachers. Casaba greens over rice were for lunch. The casaba plant is similar to a potato and the greens are the tops diced up in a paste like substance. Very different taste, not bad, just not like much i had experienced in taste before. After lunch, the teaching team had a number of children show up for a camp. All of the kids looked very happy to attend.
For me the afternoon was spent working on electrical. By the end of the day, about a third of the lights were up and running and so was the socket where the dehydrator will go, so tomorrow it will get filled with fruit.
Dinner was at the Chinchen residence again this evening, Becky figured we had our fill of rice and the local fare, so Chili was the meal for the evening. They have been such great hosts, it has been go to get to know them. Their love for Africa and this university is obvious in everything they are doing here. Del was telling me after school he is thinking of starting a business program here as well. There is a local iron ore mine that is the lifeblood of Yekepa. The mine will be ramping up production starting next year to start pulling ore out of a new site nearby. Del expects there to be a number of people who would be interested in a night time business program. He said his only need at this point is for someone to chair the program. If anyone knows someone with a masters who can start a business program, let me know.
I was finally able to talk with Maritta and the kids tonight via Skype from my iPad. It was good to hear her voice, I miss them but appreciate how supportive they are of ke being here.
About time to turn in for the evening. I do not think I have mentioned hod dark it is here at night. After the generators are shut down, there is literally literally no light. The last couple of night I have laid awake in bed and cannot see my hand in front of my face. It did not matter if my eyes were open or closed, it was just as dark either way!
Til tomorrow............

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Chronicle for 2010-07-12

Started the day around 6 am today with the sun coming up shining through the window. The team joined the workers at 7:30 in the new communications building that is under construction. The day starts with a devotion, some singing, and them assignments. There must have been at least 30 people there to work for the day. Our team is five, plus James (from Samaritans Purse who has been here for over a year) and a bunch of local guys. Nils introduced our team again, similar to church yesterday. The work assignments were very diverse, some went to purr concrete paths, others to work on the block for the communication building, Nils was leading lighting for the warehouse, Steve (Nils's son in law) and Nate were finishing lighting in the new mens dorm, and Brittany (Nils's daughter) and I were assigned the food dehydrator.

"There's not really a Lowes around here" was the best quote of the day, as Brittany was rattling off a list of the materials needed to build a food dehydrator, to James. All of the food raised for the University here is sustained by the farming that is done on campus. The task assigned for Brittany and I today was to build the dehydrator as an experiment to see if it would be possible to dry the fruit and vegetables to store for the off season. Lucky thing Sheri brought a fan with her, we convinced her to part with it to use as the air source along with a couple of light fixtures for the heat source, some scrap wood and we are 2/3 of the way to having the dehydrator completed. Jutonue is going to be a sophomore next year, he is working through the summer to earn money for school and was helping us today. He told me he had never had the opportunity to build anything and by the end of the day he was really catching on. Tomorrow we should have it
finished before lunch and full of fruit to start drying by the end of the day.
After work was completed for the day, we met up with Becky Chinchen, and walked to a corner of the campus, across a bamboo bridge, to look where Becky wanted to build some pens for pigs. With the campus expanding and growing in population, they need a way to get more sustainable meat. Becky has an amazing garden filled with papaya, very hot peppers, green beans, pineapple, mango, cucumber, potato, cassava, rice, avocado, and other things. Also included are ponds where talapia is raised. Truly amazing all of the work that has gone into it!

Sheri and the team of teachers, had the first workshop with 36 student teachers who will be going through the two week program. A very successful first day filled with desire and enthusiasm to learn in order to help others learn. They spent the afternoon visiting the orphanage here in Yekepa. There are currently 57 children that live there. It is run by Betty and Anthony Jonah who are 67 and 74 years old. God bless them and the work they are doing to help these kids.

Winding down for the day, ready for more work tomorrow, finish the dehydrator and start with something new.

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Chronicle for 2010-07-11

As I sat in church this morning, "convicted" was the first thought that came to mind. So much faith and appreciation from people that have so little. We really do take so much of what we have for granted, being here makes it more obvious than i ever imagined. Each person at the church so gracious in their giving of themselves and their finances. I was ashamed to think the money I usually carry in my wallet could fund that church for half a year.
Nils was introduced as the team leader and he introduced each of us. The congregation applauded as each person in the team was identified. Following this, they asked us to stay in our seats and the entire congregation, including children, came to each of us and introduced themselves. It was such a a welcoming experience to meet everyone this way. Every person was dressed in their best clothes and the children looked amazing in their Sunday best to honor the Lord. In a world of so little, it was obvious that Sunday, the day of worship, was special.
After the service, there was a congregation meeting that we did not stay for. All of the children we outside waiting for the parents to finish the meeting, waiting patiently sitting on the steps outside the church, it was amazing.......my kids are in so much trouble when I get home. As we were leaving, Edward, one of the students at ABC climbed on his motorcycle, with his 3 children and rode home (yes, 4 people on 1 motorcycle, I have a picture to prove it)!
Sunday is a true day of rest around the campus here. The rest of the day will be spent in relaxation and fellowship with one another.
Nils and I spent time walking the grounds and chatting about all of the work that has been done here. Power is going to be an issue here in the near future. With the campus continuing it's expansion, and only 2 generators, they are not going to keep up with the demand much longer. Hopefully some of the infrastructure will get rebuilt here soon.
I had the opportunity to meet Princess (the 4 year old girl who's picture is on the www.Lovingthroughliteracy.com site). She and her mother were here so Sheri could give her some treats. I shared some pictures of my girls with her and told her Reese was close to her age.
Had dinner with Del and Becky again this evening, we had Palm butter, which is a local staple made from the extract of the palm nut. It is made into a gravy with chicken and served over rice, very tasty. After dinner, most of the team is relaxing watching the world cup game. I am siting on the patio chatting with some of the team and watching fireflies out in the grass.
Tomorrow the work starts, we will begin with finishing some lighting in one of the new mens dorms.

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Chronicle for 2010-07-11

It is Sunday morning and has been so quiet. Everyone has been taking it easy recovering from the long few days of travel. It rained hard last night, some of the hardest rain I have ever seen. Annual rainfall exceeds 200 inches a year here and most of it comes between now and october.
At night they shut down the generators and it darker than you can imagine. I woke in the middle of the night and could literally not tell if my eyes were open or closed, could not see my hand in front of face.
We slept under mosquito nets that hung from the ceiling. We were joking that the beds looked like princess beds, my girls would have loved it. I miss them.
Last night we met a man named Nathan, is is a professor here at ABC and he is preaching at the church we will be attending this morning.
Everyone is getting ready to depart so I will write more later.
This campus is amazing, considering 3 years ago it was ruins that were cut from the overgrowth of the jungle following the long civil war here. Will write and describe later.

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Chronicle for 2010-07-10

Starting the trek from Monrovia to Yekepa with 11 of us packed in the ABC van. Probably 9 hour trip. It has been raining most of the morning and there was a large storm early this morning before we woke up. As we drive we pass many interesting things. Many people carrying baskets on their heads. This morning a guy walked past the house we were staying at with a large basket of doughnuts on his head. So many of the structures are just burned out ruins, all remnant of the long civil war that occurred here. So much of the infrastructure was completely destroyed.
Just passed a UN truck there are a number of them.
Went past a small guard shack and are now headed down the rough road to yekepa passing through the Firestone plant. The countryside is filled wit rubber trees. And we have see many people doing an endless job of keeping the undergrowth cleared from the trees.
Stopped at a market to get some misc supplies, pretty much filled with every thing a person would need.

Stopped for lunch along side the road. Becky had arranged sandwiched to. Be packed for us, it was nice to get out and stretch a bit.
We are about 5 hours into the trip and the road has been getting worse, still better than i had imagined, but constant obstacles, potholes mudslides etc. The poverty is constant, unlike other places I have been where there are better areas than others, here I have seen very few "nicer" places. We have passed a number of villages where there have been large numbers of people at the market places we are told that each village has it's own designated marketplace day of the week where there is more available than other days

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Chronicle for 2010-07-09

Wow! What an amazing day it has been. Customs at the airport was an interesting experience. As we were go ing through the final check point, they wanted to see what was in the 12 large boxes we had with, so the customs agent proceeded to open a box, found a couple of Nil's shirts then reached deep in the box and pulled out a bible, she smiled, closed the box and let us pass through with no more questions asked. Gos was with us.
Had dinner with The Chinchen family tonight, it was good to meet Del after hearing so much about him. Looking forward to getting to know them better over the next couple of weeks.
We are staying on the ELWA campus in a dorm house next door to the ABC residence here in Monrovia. We are right on the coast of. The Atlantic, literally 100 yard out the front door. Such an amazing sight, I took a few pictures and hope I will figure out a way to get them posted at some point.
Plans have changed a bit and rather than spend the day here tomorrow we are going to head to Yekepa around 9 am in order to get a jump start on the work we are here to do. It is about a 7 hour drive from here, so tomorrow will be another long travel day again.
The ride here from the airport was sobering. The poverty and need is beyond anything I have experienced to date and I am assuming it will not get any better as we. Head out of the city tomorrow. Makes me really think how fortunate we are to even have the things we brought with us for this trip.
Time to get some rest, did not sleep much on the plan rides, more to. Come tomorrow with our adventure to Yekepa.

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Chronicle for 2010-07-08

Just read the most amazing note from my wife on the way from brussels to Monrovia. How amazing it has been to grow in our lives together over the past 17 years and I look forward to so many more amazing years to come. So often we have asked each other over that time the question ...what does God have planned in our lives. It is always challenging to leave the decisions up to him, but it is so amazing when we see his plans fulfilled in our lives.
I pray that through this trip I am able to listen patiently to His plan and let Him lead me.

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Chronicle for 2010-07-08

My butt hurts, been flying for 10 hours and still have at least that much to. Anxious to be there and get to the work we are setting out to do. We will arrive in Monrovia, Liberia in the evening on Friday and stay at the residence ABC has there. Saturday will be relaxing day exploring Monrovia while we wait for a few others to arrive who will be going with us on Sunday to Yekepa.

Lord I pray for your safety and guidance for the team on our journey

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In the airport with the Liberia crew looking forward to an amazing time

Chronicle for 2010-07-08

In the airport with the Liberia crew, looking forward to an amazing experience.

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