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.

Sent from my iPad