The journey home

Sitting here at the ABC Guest house in Monrovia, the cool damp ocean breeze blowing in my face, and reflecting upon the amazing experience Liberia has been again. Each time I am here, I am more comfortable with my surroundings and each time I am here I meet new friends who are the encouragement and fuel for what I am doing.

I came here to serve in a capacity that was very far outside of my comfort zone. Leading the efforts to develop the ABCU business program and teaching courses are so far beyond anything I ever imagined doing. I stand affirmed that when we are called into action by God, He will not leave us alone but rather stand by our side to ensure we are successful in the plans He has laid before us. All we need when called is the faith, like Peter, to step out of the boat. So counter intuitive to our societal norm that tells us we must be in control, yet such and awe inspiring experience when we follow His word.

There are 8 students who have started the entrepreneurship program, each of them started on faith that we will get the program approved. I have faith that God will send us the full time faculty person to be onsite during the semester, in order to fulfill the last requirement to having an approved program.

These 8 student have amazing stories of how each of them overcame adversity of extreme poverty and war. Each of them has a tenacity to achieve and realize it is only by the grace of God they are able to attend college. I am confident they will put in all of their effort to the program and that each will be a success in their future entrepreneurial ventures.

I was unprepared for all those who wanted to sit with me and gather any information they could on how to manage their ministry or business more effectively. There is much work to do here before I return in november. I want to have contextual information prepared to help support the discussions and give them tools they can begin to act upon. Any desire to help here would be much appreciated.

Another exciting point was to see the long term effects of the training Loving Through Literacy did in July 2010. Teachers are using the literacy competencies they were taught to train students. Parent are seeing the benefits, and those schools who have maintained the program are becoming magnet schools. Next project is libraries.....we need to give these kids access to books so they can continue to fuel their passion for reading and learning. I made some progress on our library plans while I was here and I believe the LTL board will be enthusiastic about what I have to share. Stay tuned for more information here.

All in all success beyond my imagination. The true measure will be in the weeks and months to come.

-Adam

Sent from my iPad

Skype anyone?

I have been using Skype here to call home and make a number of calls for work. It has worked out ok and the price is right at $7 unlimited calls to US landlines. Today I did something very awesome. I was talking to Maritta when Peter Saye (the boy mention in the previous post) came to the door. I had told him to stop by so I could draw his feet and bring him some shoes next time I visit. So I got this idea......I should have Peter call Sheri Wang!
It was awesome here was this kid, who has never seen or used a computer, calling someone half way around the world using the Internet to thank her for the education her organization is providing him to attain....so that one day he can possibly even use a computer! It was perfect and I think Sheri got a kick out of it as well.
After our call Peter just sat with me in my room at my desk, watching me work...content just to hang out with an adult. I showed him google maps and we looked at the satellite shots of his home and my home and the distance in between. I asked him if he had homework, he said he needed a dictionary, so we used the internet to look up some words and he wrote them down on a tablet I gave him. Made me miss my own son so much, AJ and I do a lot of hanging out, and I am missing that a lot tonight.

Today was the last day of formal class with my students before I head home over the weekend. But they are not rid of me yet, we have a special session tomorrow and friday to work with the online classroom tool we will be using while I am away. I pray that the online part of the course works ok, bait nervous about it since computer skills are generally a bit marginal here.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to lead the chapel service. There is chapel here in the morning 4 days a week. This is the first time I have ever delivered a message for a service. My message was short, only about 10 minutes, but well received from all those who gave me feedback. Once again venturing out with new things here.

Sunday night a bridge washed out not far from here on the road that leads to Monrovia and the alternate route was cut off by stuck vehicles. Basically no way out of here for a few days, praying they have it repaired by Friday...it sounds like they will. I also heard the alternate road is now open...while it's a long way around, it would at least get me to the airport. Only one flight a week...need to make sure I am there to be on it.

There really is never a dull moment around here!

Missing my family tonight, if any of you see them, please give them hugs for me.

-Adam

Sent from my iPad

Just a single step....

Every journey starts with a single step.  Such a true statement and sometimes so difficult to take the first step, yet when we do we realize it was not bad, we take another and another and suddenly look back and see how far we have come.  I have been counting my steps while I am here with a pedometer…today I took more than 17 thousands steps…had I thought about that before I took the first one, I may have sat back down.

The same thought applies to Yekepa, if you look around and try to imagine how many steps need to be taken, its unimaginable….yet if you just start taking steps using the knowledge God has given you…suddenly you look around and see what has been accomplished and its amazing.

We had Summerville Bryant over for dinner tonight.  Summerville is a graduate of ABC prior to the devastating civil war.  He is now back here to teach bible courses here and share the fruits of his education with those who are aiming to follow a similar path.  As we sat around the table, He shared is story growing up on the streets of Monrovia, the hardship he endured during the war (father and two siblings were killed by soldiers and himself running to hide and preserve the little he had) and the steps of an old missionary woman who changed his life forever.    He thanked us over and over for our contributions of education to his country he loves so much.  It was humbling…what I am doing is just a single step.

I never knew a few sheets of paper could bring such joy until today when I had the opportunity to take the kids at the Betty Jonah orphanage some letter my children had written them.  They are going to write some letters back to the children for me to take home.  A single step toward helping these kids get some relationships outside the confines of their small community.  While I was there, they were working to pour a new concrete floor in a classroom.  The school is bursting at the seams and they need more space to hold class, so they are repairing some unused areas.  The picture is of the men getting ready mix the concrete, on a pile in the middle of the floor, no mixer, no truck to pull up and dump it, just some sand, concrete, water and a shovel.  I wonder if they had stopped to think how many steps it would take to get done or if they just decided to start.

Peter came by with his mother today.  Peter is a boy Sheri Wang met when we were here last summer.  Peter was running wild on the streets, his mother is mute, the father had deserted the family.  Peter was roaming around the campus in his underwear because that is all he had and sat at the steps of the library asking for work so he could help feed his family.

A few steps taken here and there and Peter is in school and doing well.  He has clothes to wear and attends church with the Mulbah family.  His mother could not hold back the emotion today as she relayed her thankfulness of all that people had done to help Peter.  I wonder if she will ever know the steps her son took that led up to it.

How many steps will you take today?

Then there were 8

The sun setting over Yekepa this evening ended yet another amazing day here at ABCU.  We have had internet trouble again for the past couple of days and it has been frustrating not being able to communicate.  Makes me miss my family so much more when I cannot speak with them or write to them.  Thanks to all who have been helping out Maritta and the kids.

I broke down and purchased a phone at the marketplace on Tuesday.  Malue, a student here went with me to help find a store and negotiate.  Hard to describe P-market....I suppose I should have taken my camera...there are probablt 40+ vendors in makeshift shacks and tables selling the basics needed...the cell phone shack was far from your neighborhood verizon store.  My skin makes it very obvious that I am not from around here, and generally that means if I would go alone, I would pay a significant premium.  I think Malue was mad at me because I gave in and paid $5 more than I should have.  To me it was just 5 bucks....I often forget to most around here, it is more than a hard days wages. 

Today I went with two students, Emmanuel and Peter, to New Yekepa to meet with a school principal named Yoh.  She runs the school and attended the literacy program put on by www.lovingthroughliteracy.com last summer.  Emmanuel meets weekly with the K-2 students there to teach them phonics.  He also takes a mobile library to check books out to the children.  New Yekepa is about 5+ miles outside of Yekepa through some tiny dirt roads in the bush and these children have very little access to much outside of their community.  Yoh and the children are very appreciative of Emmanuel and Peters efforts and look forward to him coming.  I also discussed the idea of putting a small library on the corner of the school campus.  We have been thinking about how to put together some small libraries out of containers.  Yoh loved the idea.  She has 250-300 kids in the school and an additioanl 100+ that attend night school.  There is no access to books and the library (shown in the picture) at the school is dismal.

Turns out one additional student enrolled late and now I have 8 in the entrepreneurial studies program.  Wow, what a blessing when I only expected 5.  I need to order another set of text books and figure out how to get them here soon.  Fortunately there is an instructor coming here in early Ocotber that can hopefully bring them.  So amazing the see the enthusiasm to learn about business and how each of them has an idea to help their community with what they plan to learn. 

About to hit the limit where they shut down power for the night.  More to come....

Chronicle for 2011-09-05

Monday is coming to a close here in Yekepa. Today starts the first full week of school. It also marks the day where a number of students had to be turned away due to lack of funds to pay for the semester. I know for most all who read this coming up with $400 - $800 to pay for the semester would see like nothing. For most here in this part of the world it is 2x the annual wage of most people. It is amazing though, most can pull it together from somewhere, and they manage to make it.

The entrepreneurial studies class is shaping up nicely. I believe after today we have 7 total that will be taking the courses. God truly answers prayers...on Friday I was asking God for help as we only had 3 students registered....by 2 pm, I had 7. Careful for what you ask for.

This weekend, I was able to take a walk up the hill above the campus. There has been quite a bit of overgrowth cleared in what they call Area F and it really shows the devastation that took place here. Ruins of houses that were once a small neighborhood like any we would find in suburban America. This used to be the second largest city in Liberia and now 95% of it looks like this. Unbelievable if I was not here to see it.

This is why I am here, to help enable people to create God centered business, that will create commerce, establish community, and rebuild what has been destroyed. The best part of it is, there is an overwhelming desire to learn, to move forward, and to grow.

Coming soon, I will introduce each of the entrepreneurial studies students for you here, so that you can get to know them and their story.

-adam

Amazing Week

Pineapple and Palm's with the pig house to the right

Have you ever been somewhere and just stood in awe of what you see?  Maybe you were at the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls standing in awe of what seems impossible.  This has been the feeling I have had much of the week.  Each day I have taken the time to walk the campus, through the recently reconstructed buildings, around the new communication building and gymnasium, and into the vast garden that provides a majority of the food for the campus. I am in awe to think that 4 years ago this was overgrown by jungle and in ruins.  Today there are more students than space and text books.  There are a dozen faculty serving this semester.  The freshmen class is 40 students alone with more than 130 students at the University now.  The faith and vision of all those who have helped rebuild this place is awe inspiring.


Pineapple in foreground with rice and vegatbles in background 



The entrepreneurial studies program is off to a good start and  looks like we will have 6-7 in the program.  My goal was 5 to start, so I am elated!  A quick poll of the freshmen class indicate we would have 10-15 next year.  We are off to an amazing start!  Thank you again to all those who have helped make this possible.





Rebuilt Chapel that was in ruins 3 years ago

It is humbling to walk around campus and be called "prof" as it is still a role I never imagined.  I have found myself the expert on all things business and everywhere I walk I am stopped by faculty and students and have the privilege of hearing ideas of how entrepreneurial skills can help stores, pharmacies, farms, churches, schools, widows, orphans and on and on.  I have started taking notes of each conversation so I can keep them straight and ensure we can address these questions over time.  I completely underestimated the need for what we are providing here.  The students in the program will eventually be the experts on entrepreneurship however there is so much we could do for the communities now.  I have already been requested to do some seminars when I come back in November, so I will need to put some thought into how to make it work.  Please let me know if you would be willing to assist....or maybe you even want to tag along in November and help out.

Looking forward to some time over the weekend to reflect and prepare.  More to come.....