The Reeds in Liberia

Its Ghana!

2009-01-15T04:19:00.010Z

The Reeds in West Africa

After a year of waiting patiently for some word from us on next steps, we are thrilled to be able to give you the big news. Today Renita and I accepted positions with Partners Worldwide and Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, respectively. We will be returning to West Africa.

These are both regional positions supporting efforts in Senegal, Sierra Leone, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and Liberia. That's right-- Liberia! The plan is to live near Accra, Ghana-- which is only 700 miles from Monrovia-- about two hours by air. Accra is perfectly situated for the work we will be doing. It is centrally located to the entire region. Check out the map and reference the other countries where CRWRC and/or PW does its work.

There is a lot more we need to tell you, when we start, who will leave when, the details of our work, the kids' schooling, and the whole process of setting up an effort in a country where neither organization currently operates. So, we all get to be pioneers of sorts again. Which is ok with us. You're good company. But today, we just wanted to give you the good news.

I'll be digging up more for you soon, so stay tuned to the Reeds in the Wind blog.

http://www.reedsinthewind.blogspot.com/

The Reeds in the Wind

2009-01-05T18:59:00.005Z

Hi folks! I'm very happy to announce the creation of our new blog--

The Reeds in the Wind at http://www.reedsinthewind.blogspot.com/

Our new email address reedsinthewind@gmail.com

(You can still use any of the ones you have though.)

Since this is not "goodbye," but simply "HEY! We're usually over THERE now!" I'll spare us all the tear-jerking.

And we're are not finished with our Liberia activity, but I'll most likely post it in Reeds in the Wind. So please hop over there.

Thanks so much for your interest in The Reeds in Liberia.

"A bruised Reed He will not break." I hope. Yers Trooly just finishing up the new blog this afternoon.

The quiet

2008-12-30T17:15:00.008Z

Hi folks. I missed you, so I thought I'd mosey on over here. 'Tis that time of year, that post holiday season when in Michigan the cold is almost unrelenting and its cloudy and the days are short. Everything seems to be in hibernation. I call this time the Dead of Winter.

A number of you have told me that we have become a part of your lives during the past four years. That is so kind, it's hard for me to believe it. It's an honor.

Around our new digs in Grand Rapids, our days have morphed from jumbled into a nice routine. Our adjustment to Michigan weather and culture has been quick. Hannah and Noah are doing great in school. Renita and I continue to visit with friends and family, and meet with folks about future vocational configurations. We remain uncertain about next steps, but we are seeing signs emerging from the fog. We are eager to pass any news on to you.

Thank you for paying attention to this blog these past 42 months. Thanks for sticking with us as we make our way through this time of transition.

Our quiet back yard in the Dead of Winter. Too cold to have coffee together on the deck.

Our trip to my parents' house Sunday. 100 miles in two hours, even with the storm. In Liberia, it might take three or four hours on a good day. The reason I show pictures like this is because some of you are not Michiganders, and don't see this much.

Back home, part of the routine is shovelin'. Hannah is a chip off her ol' dad, who's a chip off his ol' mom. We love the task. No humidity!

Inside, the Reeds are a bit subdued. Noah online.

Hannah, back inside, reads in our cozy living room.

My lovely betrothed at work completing today's emails from the bedroom.

And from a puffy but getting-it-together Yers Trooly... thanks for meeting me here.

Preparing for The Blog Sleep

2008-12-16T13:52:00.013Z

Weather: Moderate snowfall the past few days with temperatures in the mid 20'sF. Steady winds bring wind chills down to 7F. About four inches of snow currently on the ground. Wet roads turn to ice, making driving hazardous.

For the twelve of you who follow this blog regularly, it looks like our post day is becoming moree irregular. In Liberia, because there is a 4-5 hour time difference, I could get up on Monday, figure out what to write, put it together, and still post it by the time it was Monday morning in the US. Here, by the time I'm ready, the morning has passed and so I figure, "aw I'll let it go until tomorrow." I know a couple of our readers are in other countries, and the post time is different anyway, but I alwways thought of Monday morning EST as my posting deadline.
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To be honest, I'm thinking it will be soon time to put this blog to rest. Its reason for existence was to invite you to join us on our journey to Liberia, to explore what happens when people of these two different cultures work together-- or not-- on following Christ. We certainly remain affected by Liberia, by the effects of our presence there. We are changed forever because of it-- but those changes are on the inside of us, and not all that apparent. I could continue writing regularly during this transition, but it seems I would be writing mostly about the activities of the Reed family: "We went to the store. We bought a TV. We got a Christmas tree. We went to school. We came home."
m
Or even worse, I could write about me: "My feet are cold. I programmed the new TV. I've gained 12 pounds in three weeks. I'd like to get a bird feeder. I'm a little depressed. I'm waiting on God. I cry occasionally when I think about some people I left behind. I cry occasionally when I think of the people who continue to support us. I win most inner battles with the temptation to be petty, childish, gluttonous, withdrawn-- but the battles I lose are the ones that do the damage." I say I could do that, but then I'd have to title it something else.
m
I do not believe this part of our journey, or my journey, is served well by the medium of a blog. This "limbo time" drives me inward for a time, not outward. As I figure out what I'm doing here, and pause in this waiting place, my day to day is spent internally, in places not accessable by camera. And words seem to trivialize the holiness of the trip, to make it about me, when it is actually about Him. Better not to write at all than to mislead anyone into thinking "The Reeds in Liberia" was actually about the Reeds.
m
And yet, the twelve of you who follow this blog regularly do so for a reason. I know you are there. I don't want to communicate to you that this part of our dance with Him-- the in-between time, the limbo time, the waiting time-- is less important or less valuable than other times. The fact is, this time is maybe the most important of all. The fact is it feels too raw, too vulnerable to display on schedule every week. Its not done yet. Its not ready for posting yet.

So, dear and loyal friends, we are not quite finished posting here, but we just may be a bit more irregular. When it is time, we'll let "The Reeds in Liberia" sleep. God willing, there will be another blog-- when invites us to the next dance hall.

When Change is Status Quo

2008-12-08T23:31:00.010Z

Sorry this post is kinda late. Fact is, I'm still in a highly introspective condition these days. So introspective, in fact, I forgot what day it is. The Reeds are living a through paradoxical period with accompanying natural tension. We are in transition, yet in a holding pattern. We are waiting to move, yet we are moving while we wait. We are looking forward for the show to begin, fully aware that the show must go on. It is like rounding a gigantic corner with no definable corner; we just keep turning hoping our destination will emerge while in the meantime needing a sense of normalcy. Sometimes that paradox and tension and introspection gets me down.

And I'm really missing two thirteen year old boys who live a long way away. I can't even get in touch with 'em.

So let me just free associate and ramble.

The kids started school on Thursday. A great, urban, Christian, college prep school called The Potter's House. We're apparently eligible for the Free Lunch program. (Don't know if that is good or bad.)

We will be moving out of our friend's guest cottage soon, into a duplex which we'll be in until April.

After three and a half years, the dry air is reintroducing me to two old foes: cracked feet and boogers. ('Tis true: there are no boogers in Liberia.)

The night we left Liberia, armed rogues broke into the houses of two FACT members and stole the market money. About $200, all of which would have gone back into the market for improvements.

We got hold of Vera by cell phone a couple days ago. She sounded great. She says Niki is doing well, and adjusting to her new diet: less food, less protein, and plenty of Bulgar.

We are more used to the enormous wealth and privilege this nation, city and state enjoy. I know that compared to other times, people here are struggling. I understand that, like adjusting to the climate, "bad" or "good," "rich" or "poor" is determined by our point of reference. So relative to my Liberian friends, Michigan is more healthy than they can imagine. Relative to past glories, Michigan is in crisis. We are more able to sympathize with fellow Michiganders who are frightened about the future.

I'm thankful for Diet Mountain Dew, but I've still gained about ten pounds in the last two weeks.

Shoveling snow is still invigorating. Especially when your kids do it.

Noah, digging through a few inches of white stuff on a very cold evening.

Hannah says Hey!

The Reeds in Limbo

2008-12-01T12:03:00.015Z

So Now What?

Ok, Renita told me it wasn't a dream after all. Maybe not, but this doesn't feel quite real either. Like "don't get too settled."

We've already adjusted to the cold and snow. It is not so bad and beats the hoo-ha out of the humidity of Liberia. Last week, I wore the same tee shirt for two days. That would have been two hours in West Africa.

The Reeds are in transition. We left Liberia and people we love because we are looking for a place where our kids can go to a good school and Renita and I can devote more daytime energy working with the people in a developing country. We do not know as of yet where that will be.

We want to keep those of you who are interested informed about what's happening in our lives as we follow this God of ours around His world. A blog is a good way to do that. But this blog is called "The Reeds in Liberia." The transition is out of Liberia, through Michigan USA, and into Someplace Else.

So regarding the blog, here's the deal. We'll use this blog as home base for the transition. There are still a lot of pieces of the Reeds in Liberia anyway. I'll still post regularly, because frankly, we are doing a lot of reflecting these days. So visit us here. When we know where we are going, a new blog will be born, and we'll get together over there. Ok? Ok.

Oh, and this PS: Some of you are suspicious that, because we did not mentioned what happened to the deer, that perhaps, well, er-- maybe we ate it. Not so! The deer found a nice fenced home, thanks to our LEAD friend, Allen Gweh. However, there seems to be a monkey in that yard, and judging by what happened last time the deer met our monk (the monkey tore the deer's tail half off), the deer will need some time to figure out friend from foe. But she's safe from the coal pots of men. Now a few pics.

This morning. Hangin' out at our lil' guest home away from wherever. Nate and Kris Vander Stelt are putting us up-- or putting up with us-- until the end of December.

Outside, it just ain't the same as what we've been used to...

...but its pretty... ...just the same.
Hannah and Noah tossing loosely packed frozen crystals of water.

Meanwhile, 5150 miles away, boys on the beach of Buchanan watch the fishermen...

...while FACT holds a community meeting, complete with a role play...

... and LEAD's James Hillary teaches another business class...

...and MPCHS's Grace Boiwu sits with a group of women in Johnson Town...

... and somewhere in Foster Town, Trokon, Enoch and Eastman are together, missing us maybe as much as we miss them.

Last Night I had the Strangest Dream

2008-11-24T17:59:00.006Z

Hey you--

Gotta tell ya about this one. It was one of those real long dreams-- you know, that come from a deep sleep. In it, I was in Africa-- in Liberia I think-- I was part of a family and we were doing all sorts of things there. Strange images kept coming. There was this one part where this African kid just stared at us and sang to us from up a plum tree. And another part where I was doing some teaching or something to Africans and my clothes were soaking wet... and another part where it was dark and there were these three evil smelling dudes with machetes trying to rob me and this family I was with... the robbers kept "shushing" me....

I remember this family I was with even had a monkey and some sort of armadillo or something. And my wife was named Wanita or something, and she was like this super woman and I remember feeling guilty because I was just some middle aged fat bald guy who sweated all the time. I remember being by the ocean and some kid drowned... it was weird. They seemed to keep drowning at regular intervals right through the dream.

There was no TV or running water or Internet at our house. We had a generator or something we ran every night for lights. We lived behind this cement block wall with glass shards and razor wire on it. We ate this really strong tasting food with snails and some kind of raccoon meat. No Burger Kings, KFCs or even 7-11s in the neighborhood either. I couldn't even find Diet Mt Dew, even though I kept looking and looking... and this all white family I started off with kept getting bigger and bigger because now these Africans-- Liberians I think-- were joining the family. And then there were these babies named Wanita and Bob, just like me and this lady I was married to. That was creepy. But it was so honkin' real.

Ah but then I woke up, opened the shades and saw this:

... and I knew it was just a dream.

So I went back to bed. Write more later.

Yer Pal,

Bob

Leaving Liberia, Part Six

2008-11-21T16:11:00.004Z

Our Last Day

Friday the 21st was our last day in Liberia. None of the four of us could really grasp the idea as we went through the parting activities. We did not know what leaving meant. Now, as I write from 40,000 feet in the air, we still don't. But we all feel different from when we visited North America a year and a half ago. This time we are leaving and, unless He does something completely unforeseen and miraculous, we are not returning anytime soon. All of us feel sad about saying goodbye-- especially to a handful of young people with whom we have bonded as family.

I'll have more to write soon about leaving Liberia, what it is meaning, how we will maintain our connection with you who read this faithfully, and what life is now like for us in this transition period. Look for another post in a few days. Right now, a few captured moments of a day filled with emotion-- our last day in Liberia.

The day started with final organizing details. We ended up carrying away 12-50lb suitcases. That was it. Everything else ways sold or given away or reserved in case CRCNA sends paid staff here.

By 9:00am we were checking in at the downtown Air Brussels office. Our flight would not leave until 9:30 pm GMT, but we wanted to dump those 12 suitcases ASAP.

For the rest of the day, we said goodbye as folks came and went.

Our next door neighbor children taking care of theirs and other people's kids. Sisters Odelle (left) and Patience Reeves, with Success "Bobby" Reeves in Odelle's arms and Patience holding her little Renita. Standing in front are more children dumped on the sisters, Kopo and Vera.

During the day, we said farewell to our stuff. I only felt sad when the fans went. I would not have been able to be in Liberia without those solar powered DC fans.

A quiet moment for Noah. One of many.

Hannah, being a bit pensive in the late afternoon with only a few hows left.

A few happy-sad moments. Vera, with her new adopted pet. Yes, she took Niki.

The night before Noah said goodbye to Max, who will live in a huge fenced yard with a great family of four kids and two dogs.

There goes the DC fridge.

The kids played and talked and sat with each other, visibly conscious that this was it.

Renita with Renita. Vera in background.

And so, the night came. We formed a circle, sang, prayed...

...and said our last goodbyes. Patience says a tearful goodbye to Renita. Note little Renita's fingers around big Renita's leg.

There are others who could join us, but this for sure is the new Reed family. We are so sad to leave Renita, Eastman, and Trokon.

As I write Saturday morning, the coast of England reminds me the parting is real.

Leaving Liberia, Part Five

2008-11-19T12:16:00.011Z

We'll Miss You, We'll Miss You Not...

We'll Miss You

Today is Wednesday-- our last in Liberia. The goodbyes are frequent, and with a few, we are just not going there. Apparently, we will be getting an escort to the airport by many of our friends, and I'm sure that will be quite a scene. I know I'm going to lose it. Hannah and Noah too. Renita says she won't-- "she just doesn't cry at things like this." We'll see.

Leaving our people will be the hardest part of course. But there are some things-- Liberia things-- that we also will miss. And some, of course, that we won't. Let's examine a small list:

We Will Not Miss Daily Water Duty. About thirty gallons a day, pumped and lugged from next door.
"I can do it" I a professiona' mechanah!" Every guy that worked on our car was self taught, and more often than not we had to bring it back to somebody to fix what was fixed. A common practice is to remove good parts for sale, then when the bad part fails, work to fix that too, using whatever creative method could be rigged.

Jiggers. Dug out of many toes and other parts, including each of ours several times during three and a half years. Here Odelle assists Renita.

Monrovia Traffic. It is not that unusual from other African cities, but without traffic lights and so many "self taught" taxi drivers, it gets stupid. For thirty six years, I loved to drive. Now, I give the keys to Renita when I can.

The Humidity. The Sweating. This in Rivercess. Why do the other guys look so cool?

Being reminded everywhere we go that there was no "sanctuary" during the war. No place was safe. Most buildings were left in ruins. A church near Baye's Town.

Being daily reminded that those all around us, even our dearest friends, lived lives of hardship and deep poverty. Vera's home.

We Will Miss

The humidity-produced morning mists. This in Gbarnga.

Hanging out with jes' folks in the villages. Johnson Town.

"German Plums." (Small Liberian Mangoes. So good, it must be descended from the Forbidden Fruit.)

The Liberian Coast. Treacherous, non-negotiating, and inspiring.

Just hanging out in the yard in the late afternoon. This can be done anywhere, of course, but the contrast between the humidity of the day and the relative cool of the breezy late afternoon cannot be experienced in very many places.

Cooking huts. I love 'em. In every village. No two are alike, and every one is a place of communion, comfort, food and family.
"Dancin' with the ones He brung us to... "

Leaving Liberia, Part Four

2008-11-17T12:21:00.007Z

When Goodbye Becomes Hello

In this, our last week in a country that defies simple characterization, we are keenly aware of every “last” thing we do, every “last” activity, and now we are saying goodbye to each day of the week. Yesterday was our last Sunday here. We said goodbye to eight churches—one was Providence Baptist Church in Monrovia, led by our friend of eleven years Pastor Sam Reeves. PBC honored Renita and thanked her for her work with LEAD. The other church goodbye was back in our own Foster Town, where seven churches and our Foster Town Association for Community Transformation(FACT) invited us to a beautiful and moving farewell ceremony. In our time here, none of us have been more stirred or impressed. For three years we’ve worked to find ways to bring neighborhood churches together with FACT. There has been progress, but working with pastors is kinda like herding cats. Yesterday on that cement dais in that reed and wood structure, there were seven pastors together with their leaders and the FACT board. Community members from seven congregations and more joined them. And while we were deeply honored and humbled that they came ostensibly to say goodbye to us, I was far more inspired by the fact that they had come together, period.

After a service that made us laugh and cry, Renita and I were asked to say a few words. After she spoke, the only thing I could think of to say was that the farewell service was not really an ending—it was a wonderful beginning. I observed that while our Liberian friends were there to thank the Reeds for “being so instrumental in transforming the community,” that this kind of gathering was the real source of future change in Foster Town. I think they saw it. After the meeting, another pastor joined them and the eight pastors connected with the FACT board to talk about how to take advantage of this non-accidental moment. They made plans.

A couple of North American Christians living in the neighborhood for three plus years, doing what they can to lend a hand is a good thing, and it may even make a small difference. But all Renita and I could do pales in comparison to what these seven congregations and FACT will do if they pull together. Yesterday, seven key community leaders—its pastors—and over a hundred other leaders and faithful church-goers got an eyeball vision of their future. Their future is them, talking and working together. Say hello!

Today, Monday, we get to say goodbye again. Already Vera is crying.

Our Sunday group of pastors and community leaders. The most encouraging moment for Foster Town in a long time. Hello to hope...

...and farwell to us. Renita, deciding which books stay and which go.

All of us, with Trokon and Eastman, working through Noah's Legos.

Farewell to my friend Sarah. She showed once a month for some rice, bulgar, and oil. I got to know her and looked forward to hearing about her life, hard as it is.

Farewell to porch time-- here with Patience, her daughter Renita and Noah-- with Max keeping watch.

Yers Trooly with Odelle's son Success, who they are now calling Bob.

Weather: Incredibly humid and hot, with dew points in the 80s and temps in the 90s. Bedroom temp at 10:00pm-- 84F. Try sleeping in that! Hazy days, with no measurable rain in a week. Light breezes that pick up around sunset, making for nice evenings for an hour or two.

Leaving Liberia: Part Three

2008-11-10T11:26:00.008Z

The Kids
.
Its beginning to hurt a bit. As we count down the days to our departure, we are wondering about the inevitable goodbyes just down the road. We are missing our friends already. We are missing the children most of all. There are so many kids we have laughed and argued with, sat with, conked, hugged, teased, taught and bandaged. Some saw us first as curiosities, then as potential sources of goodies, but now there is something more, something much deeper. Renita and I see a handful of them almost as if they are ours. We know several of them see us more often than either of their parents, and depend on us for guidance and a sense of stability. We did not seek these bonds intentionally, and we hope that bonding will be worth more than the pain we will all feel upon parting.

Here are just a few of them-- "The Kids in Liberia." Some are forever a part of us, some we met in passing. We have hundreds of images of Liberia's children—we could have selected many more. Look closely. Each face is a brushstroke in the Liberian Portrait. Each is different, and each reveals something of the Face of God.

The Children of Gbaye's Town...

Ambush Corner
Koon's Town
Toto Town

West Point, Monrovia

Foster Town Market

Buchanan

Congo Town

Disco Hill

St. Theresa Elementary School

Christ's Friend Children Academy

The Reed House

Some who have planted themselves in our hearts. Of course Trokon, Eastman. (With Enoch on the right.)

Apple, Cecelia...

...and Faith.

Rachel (aka Chinese Girl)

Obadiah

Enoch

Thinkers Village Beach. Taken on Morning One of our time here. Still our favorite image.

The U.S. Presidential Elections

2008-11-05T09:58:00.007Z

"Congratulashu', Misteh Reese!"

I want to take a break from my normally scheduled blog post to tell you a bit of what is happening around us this US Election day + one.

We were among the last to know in our neighborhood. By the time we woke up at 6:00am GMT, not only had the polls closed on the US West Coast, but apparently everyone saw it coming as polls closed across the States. Many of our neigbhors stayed awake all night, clustered together in the few homes and video shops that have TV. Across Africa, and around the world, BBC reported an explosion of excitment over the election of Barack Obama.

In Liberia, its the same, and its remarkable. When I made a visit at 9:00am to a local market and this internet cafe', I was greeted with congratulations-- thats right, congratulations-- when I got out of the car. A guy standing with his smiling buddies yelled at me from across the street, "Congratulashu, Misteh Reese!"-- and I knew instantly what he was talking about. In the internet cafe, I was greeted with the sound of Obama's victory speech the owner was replaying on UTube. A guy was walking around with a huge Obama face on his t-shirt. Another shook my hand. It seems like everyone is listening to BBC Africa, and BBC Africa is telling the story of parties and positive demonstrations in many places.

As for me, being 5000 miles away, I was not able to particpate the way I normally do in an election season. I felt a bit left out by that. But it was tremendously moving to see the process unfold from this West African persective, and to see how much this country-- this continent--looks to the US as a source of hope. Africa and Liberia have not given up on us yet. I think that's a good thing, even though there remains a cynical side to me when it comes to trusting in nations.

What I will most remember about today, is that although I lamented the fact that I could not participate in the American Experiment in the way I would like, my Liberian friends made me feel proud to be a US citizen. It was fun to join in as their nation celebrated our national moment.

Imagining the Possibilities

2008-11-03T09:27:00.007Z

A Meeting of Co-Laborers

Our third-to-last week in Liberia was spent with Joel and Jeannie Huyser, CRWM missionaries from Nicaragua, as they joined us on the invitation of the CRWRC West Africa Ministry Team. As I mentioned last time, part of leaving Liberia for us is doing what we can to ensure that work started is supported, and that we have heard from our Liberian colleagues as we consider future work. Joel was here to listen to reps from five organizations as he outlined a model for community transformation. He spent Tuesday and Wednesday visiting these organizations, learning about their work, listening, swapping perspectives, and then on Thursday, we held the all-day workshop.

Our Liberians colleagues were generous in giving us their work day—we know very well that they have been invited to meetings like this with international organizations many times. We take their time, seek their opinion, glean from their expertise, and in doing so offer the hope of support for their heroic efforts. And they know full well that sometimes the support comes, and sometimes it doesn’t.

It’s a mixed blessing, these partnerships between relatively wealthy western NGO “haves” and relatively impoverished NGO “have nots” in developing countries. Invariably, the “haves” influence the agenda-- not always for the best-- and test the integrity of the “have nots.” Invariably, most international “haves” maintain a position of gatekeeper, while the national “have nots” submissively seek to please their supporting partners. The challenge for INGOs and national NGOs that understand the dangers of this dynamic is to consciously, intentionally work hard toward just and evenhanded relationships. Just doing peacebuilding activity with a partner is not enough. Actively co-monitoring and co-maintaining a healthy relationship is necessary for the partners. Indeed, actively co-maintaining the health of the relationship is integral to the work of peacebuilding.

So, our gracious Liberian colleagues shared their ideas and expertise, and they politely listened to us and offered feedback. In the end, they asked CRWRC/CRWM to return and work with them again. If it happens, returning will be the easy part. The real challenge will be in working as true and co-equal partners.

Our guest, Joel Huyser, meets with Ellen Williams, General Sevretary of the Christian Health Association of Liberia (CHAL). Karen Bulhuis from LEAD joins us.

Renita and LEAD National Director Allen Gweh are next on Joel's list.

The LEAD staff took Joel on a tour of several LEAD businesses.

After visiting the Association of Evangelicals inLiberia (AEL), the exec board of the Foster Town Association for Community Transformation (FACT) gives the Huysers a tour of the FACT market.

Fact Exec Board and guests. From the left, Standing: Joel Huyser, Alex Maye, Jeannie Huyser, Magdelin Brown, Rev. Odashi Shelton, Cecilia Yekeson, Solomon Monway, Yers Trooly.

Kneeling: Renita Reed, Rev. Augustine Zar, Karen Bulthuis. If you look closely, yes, that's Enoch in the tree directly above Odashi's head.

The workshop last Thurday begins. Joel Huyser facilitating and enlightening and enjoyable day.

With a very humble assist from Yers.

Joel in action-- engaging the participants.

Ellen Williams of CHAL makes a point.

Rev. Peter Kollie, Director of Advocacy and Good Government at AEL. A passionate and articulate spokesperson for genuine empowerment.

Alex O. Maye, Chairperson of FACT offers toothy insights.

Allen Gweh of LEAD making himself clear.

Coming later this week:

Leaving Liberia, Part Three: Beginning to Hurt

Leaving Liberia, Part Two

2008-10-27T09:10:00.004Z

The Importance of Leaving Well

Tis the end of October, we leave in three weeks plus, and still Renita and I are fully ensconced in Liberia. We like that. We wish we did not need to leave. The work here is so energizing-- and in a world so big that it is easy to wonder if one can make a difference, Liberia is a place that invites people to do just that.

We are not spending any time on thinking about leaving—we will begin that process next week, although some folks are already thanking us for our time here. No goodbyes yet, and I’m dreading those coming moments.

Mostly, we want to make sure we leave in the wisest, most healthy way possible. On that personal level of course, that means actually saying farewell to all the people who have touched us and allowed us into their world. But professionally, leaving well also means that we do our part to ensure that the work we helped start has the best chance for continuing. So we just do not have time for thinking about leaving. Here is what we are working on:

Regarding Renita’s work with LEAD
Lead is going strong as Renita continues to work with National Director Allen Gweh. We are thrilled that Karen Bulthuis, a volunteer from Partners Worldwide, has arrived to provide business and technical training as well as monitor LEAD's actual impact. This will provide continuity between Renita's work and the hoped for coming permanent staff in 2009.

Regarding my work with the Mother Patern BSW Program
The program is in its second year, running without a hitch and growing. There are now over 50 students in the program. In January, the professors from Calvin College with teach two courses in an "Interim" session. I hope to be able to fly back from the US to join them. Later in the year, Dr. Judi Meerman of Kuyper College will join the staff to help them prepare for their internship program, and perhaps lend a hand in the classroom.

Regarding Our “Together Work” with the Foster Town community
The community development organization in our area, FACT, is alive and working on more ways to improve this neighborhood. Currently, they are active in trying to establish a much needed adult education program as well as offering more workshops for their neighbors. They will be attending the upcoming multi agency conference below, and they are hoping to broaden their network.

Regarding the future of CRWRC/CRWM/PartnersWorldwide in Liberia
The Christian Reformed Church in North America is interested in discussing with potential partners the feasibility of initiating holistic collaborative efforts to empower Liberians. Working with Liberians in the field, CRCNA hopes to be able to offer support to Liberians across a broad spectrum of theme areas-- community, health, spiritual, economic, justice, governance, and in mental health. On Thursday, October 30, CRWRC-CRWM will be conducting a mini conference with selected potential partners to discuss the feasibility of various models of collaborative work in Liberia. Joel and Jeannie Huyser, long-time veterans of the Christian Reformed World Missions, will be joining us for five days, starting today. They are bringing a model of collaborative ministry and development work from Nicaragua. We've invited two large, very well known Liberian development NGO's-- the Christian Health Association of Liberia (CHAL), and the Association of Evangelicals in Liberia (AEL), as well as LEAD, Providence Baptist Church, and our own little Foster Town Association for Community Transformation (FACT).

Thus our current doings. We’ve got a few pictures of life around here taken within the last day or two, buthonestly, in all the hub-bub, we keep forgetting the camera.

Joel and Jeannie Huyser, just off the plane from Nicaragua via some time in Nigeria. This picture taken about two hours ago (2:00pm GMT Monday.)

Ok, this picture was not taken in the last couple days, but we wanted to get one of Renita and Karen Bulthuis, LEAD's new impact monitoring consultant. If we tried to get you a current shot of these two, it would be a blur.

As I said, some groups are already toasting our mutual friendship. Here is our local church saying "We love you" Sunday.

Both Renita and I got clothes out of the deal-- dress for her, shirt for me. A Liberian tradition.

Here's Yers Trooly delivering his last workshop in Liberia for at least a while. Here last week with ladies from various parishes on helping skills.

Sigh. how are we going to part with little Renita?

...and what are we gonna do with these three? Stay tuned...

Weather: Hot, mostly clear and bright in the day, with some late morning cloudiness as the sun heats up the Atlantic. The clouds clear and we are getting nice sunsets. Rains usually come late, around 1-2 in the morning for an hour or so. Day time temps in the lower 90s, evening lows in the upper 70s.

Eastman Kodak

2008-10-20T14:06:00.005Z

Weather: We are enjoying an abrupt transition from a very wet five weeks. Some scattered thunderstorms, but mostly sunny and hot. About an inch of rain has fallen in the last week. Day time temps in the upper 80s, night time in the mid 70s.

Even though we are theoretically preparing to leave in a month, we are still fully engaged in Liberia work. Renita and I are in reality preparing for a visit next week from Joel Huyser, representing the Christian Reformed Church in conversations with potential partners about future work in Liberia. More on that later. I just came back from my last (I think) workshop for Mother Patern. It was nice facilitating a great learning process with this group of Catholic women. But there is not enough time to tell you about it right now because Renita needs the car to go to a LEAD Board meeting. So, I thought I'd provide you with a photo exposition from 13 year old Eastman Morris. I gave him our camera and told him to go take pictures-- that was it. Here are some revealing images-- I call it "Eastman's World." Enjoy. More news next time.

Our next door neighbor girl Kopo-- a possible crush?
Boys and trucks.
A couple of friends.
I guess Eastman was hungry. Liberian "oranges." This is as orange as they get. They are peeled for the customer, who sucks out the juice and tosses the pulp.
A lovely shot of a mother's hands. This is Odelle, with her son, Success.

A wonderful and somewhat sobering picture of Eastman's sister Dbow inside their home.
An Eastman self-potrait with little Vera.

Liberian Cuisine Part Four: Palm Oil

2008-10-13T10:44:00.010Z

Weather: Partly cloudy and humid, with scattered thunderstorms and evening showers. Daytime temps in the 80s, night time lows in the upper 70s. Light breezes from the East.

Throughout Africa, and all over the world, palm oil is extremely popular. The oil comes from palm nuts, is then refined to remove the deep red color and distinctive taste, and sold to virtually every market on Earth. In the United States, you can find it in just about every store in prepackaged baked good, and it is often used to make the “crème filling “ in products like Twinkies or Oreos.

In places where palm trees actually grow—and of course we are not talking about coconut palms, but palm nut palms—you can also find unrefined palm oil, or "red oil," as it is called here and elsewhere. Red oil has a strong, musky flavor, much stronger, for instance, than olive oil. It is used frequently and liberally in most Liberian dishes.

For the first two and a half years of our time here, we used red oil sparingly, in part because we only liked it in certain dishes. We preferred purchasing “vegetable oil” from the city stores. We’d buy vegetable oil in five gallon containers and go through them surprisingly fast.

After a while we learned two things that caused a change in our eating behavior. The first was our Monday-Friday cook, Vera used between a cup and a cup and two cups of oil in every dish she cooked for us. The second tidbit was that the copious amounts of oil we were consuming was not merely vegetable oil, it was in fact refined palm oil. This caused us to conduct some research, and the results surprised us.

While there remains some controversy around palm oil, both the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association have suggested it is a fairly unhealthy oil as oils go and ought to be avoided when possible. The problem is its saturated fat content. Saturated fats are associated with heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke, and when it comes to saturated fats, palm oil and red oil are leaders of the pack. Note the following chart from a nutrition and diet book. The red line indicated Saturated Fat, the gray section indicates more healthy Monounsaturated Fat, and the yellow and green sections healthy Omega 6 and Omega 3 oils, respectively. There is a key at the top of the chart. Note the "palm oil" column.

And if you really want to go crazy, consider "palm Kernel oil" This comes from inside the palm nut. This is what palm kernel oil would look like on that chart.
Incredibly, palm oil-- red or refined--contains more saturated fat (51%) than lard. Palm kernel oil contains even more- 82%- more in fact than pure beef fat or butter.

In this age of claims and counter claims regarding foods, we know we do not know everything regarding palm oil. But we think we know it is ok if we follow the advice of the WHO and the AHA and avoid it. Soybean and other oils are available in Liberia, but they are very expensive (One liter costs around $10.00) . Yet this has additional advantages, as we use even less now because of the costs. We wonder, however, about our Liberian friends. The average life span is 48. We do not know a lot of old Liberians. How much of this is due to a lifetime of consuming red oil? Yet really, what choice do my Liberia neighbors have? What does a calorie-deprived people do when the choice is an affordable, calorie and flavor rich oil, or no oils at all because of some unforseen danger called "saturated fat?" So while it is easy for us to pass on palm oil, it is really impossible-- unthinkable-- for our friends.

Palm bunches, freshly cut from the tree.

Sold everywhere on the street.

Pounded into palm butter-- Vera will rinse out the pulp in the blue bowl, then boil it down.

Red Palm oil sold at the Foster Town Market. Note several tables are selling it. About $2.00 a 1.5 liter bottle.

Trokon displaying the beloved saturated liquid.

A Long Two Weeks

2008-10-06T11:40:00.005Z

Weather: The month of September was again the wettest month of the year with about an average of just under 20 inches a week for the four weeks. One week saw 30 inches. It rained almost every night, less in the day, but whenever the sun peeked through the overcast, it was steamy. October shows some sign of drying up, although this morning we’ve received over two inches and it’s still raining. Hi temps mostly in the upper 70sF to low 80s, except when the sun shines, then mid 80s. Light and variable breezes.

Renita is in the US attending a conference and talking about LEAD to churches and relief agencies. During these two weeks I’ve been a complete domestic with home schooling, shopping, and trying to keep the house at least organized enough so we will be able to make it presentable when the lady of the house returns. It is not easy to be the only adult here; Renita and I share the duties, and she handles the stuff that tries my patience like the frequent banging at our gate. But the people on the other side of that gate are the reason we came, so it’s good for me to be tested this way.

I also need Renita with me as we finalize our exit strategy from Liberia. Our plan is to leave by November 20, go to North America for six weeks, and then continue on to our next home by January 20. Moving is hassle enough, moving to another country requires an organizer like Renita. Fortunately, we travel light.

The two weeks sans wife and mother have given the three of us who remain a chance to draw closer and feel like a unique unit. I’ve had more time to listen to Hannah and Noah, get to know them better, and see in more detail how they’ve changed from the little kids I knew. My parenting theory is that unless parents are willing to change as their children do, they will begin to drift apart. Kids are like anyone else—they want to be known and understood. As they grow, they change, they develop. As the years go by, they become different than they were in many ways (although they maintain core elements.) If parents don’t “re-get to know” their kids periodically, they will lose touch with them, and their children will rightfully feel less and less understood and appreciated. The kids will drift, complain of being misunderstood, and parents often respond to this by either trying to apply more controls or by trying to reason with their children. But neither of these tactics work if the parents are still dealing with the “children that were,” not the “children that are.” Nobody like to “be reasoned with” by somebody who thinks she knows you, but doesn’t.

But enough of my theories. We continue to await Renita, much beloved and needed wife and mother. The house is messier, we can smell a dead lizard that the cat brought in but require her nose to find it, the school routine is probably too relaxed, I keep forgetting to take my doxy (anti malaria medicine), the floor is a bit sandier than usual, but we are hanging in there.

Daily kid activities while mom's away: pilfering our palm nuts...
Pummeling the neighbors...

Hitting the bottle-- here Eastman drools over palm oil...
Opening boxes packed for our move...

Noah ready for night time rogue activity whilst Hannah prepares for partying... (ok, ok, it might have just been a Halloween dress up thing, but it adds to the drama)
... And all the while, Mom from her hotel balcony in Michigan observes all with yet another of her top-secret resources...

A Land of Dying Young

2008-09-29T11:39:00.009Z

The average life span of a Liberian is 48 years. In part, this is due to a high infant mortality rate, but in reality, we see relatively few old Liberians. Of course they are here, but when a man or woman reaches sixty, it is an accomplishment. Recently in our neighborhood, and also among the LEAD family, a number of friends, aged 30 to 50, have died. One was killed by her husband. Most died of unknown illnesses. The recent deaths got us to thinking: in our time here, how many have died young, or if older, unnecessarily? The list that follows includes only people we knew, or people that lived in our community. It is also only the list that Renita and I could recall.

Drowning: 12
Bacterial meningitis: 2
Undiagnosed illness: 4
HIV- related illness: 2
Gunshot 3
Domestic Violence 1
Pedestrian hit by car 3
Snake bite 2
Carbon monoxide poisoning 2
Update October 15: Add two more deaths. Last week, a young boy drowned on Thinkers Village Beach, and the wife of a pastor friend died of cerebral malaria.

The average age of the above list is around 30. Some, of course, are beyond the scope of even the most modern medicine to treat. Yet most could have been prevented.

Medical facilities here are still operating without proper equipment and enough trained staff. Our medical friends are real heroes, working with enormous pressures. But still, too many times patients are routinely diagnosed with malaria without looking further, given antibiotics, and sent home. In the two cases of meningitis, the symptoms were missed, so the patient was sent home and died. Liberians often go to Chinese herbalist hacks that have sprung up around Monrovia. Theses parasites charge high fees for simple teas and over-the-counter remedies that do nothing for the truly sick. In addition, Liberians often seek traditional “bush” healers who often hasten death with unsanitary procedures or unsound practices. Good friends of mine have died in this country when they shouldn’t have. Or at least, they probably wouldn’t have, if only they had access to the kind of heath care so many in the West do.
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When I was having suspicious symptoms in Nigeria, after being given the best care anyone could expect there, I was flown out in a private jet to Europe and given a battery of the most sophisticated tests the world offers to determine I was suffering from headaches. When my Liberian friends have been sick, I have watched them suffer, get misdiagnosed at the local hospital, released with a standard “placebo pack” of vitamins and antibiotics, get worse, desperately turn to charlatans who take their money in return for false hope, get sicker and too often die as family and loved ones look on helplessly. There is something terribly wrong with this picture. But the pictures are everywhere. Here are a few of them-- friends gone.

My dear friend, Samuel Reeves Sr. Died from bacterial meningitis-- treatable if caught. It wasn't. Deacon Reeves is the oldest of all we knew who died-- mid sixties.

One of LEAD's businessmen. Saye died suddenly in his early fifties.

Henry and his wife Mary. They ran an poor orphanage until we helped them find homes and better facilities for their orphans. He died in April 2006 after a short bout with a mysterious, undiagnosed illness. She died three months later of some sort of liver disease, in the hospital. They left four children behind-- suddenly orphans themselves.

A little boy, Otiera, who lived next door to us. He drowned in a lagoon just off the ocean.

2008-09-22T10:13:00.004Z

Leaving Liberia
Part One: Why?

The Reeds have known these days would come since we arrived thirty eight months ago, but we didn’t know the details. We didn't know when they would come. But they are upon us. For those of you who have faithfully joined us thus far, some of you may be surprised at the news. True, when we came we said we’d be here at least three years, so in a way there was advance notice. But there are a lot of good reasons to continue; why change scenery now? We agree with the spirit of the question. There is so much to do in Liberia. This country will be digging itself out of its post-war abyss for decades to come. It needs all the support it can get. The skills that Renita and I offer--psychosocial, educational, organizational, administrative-- have proven of value in a country where so much is being rebuilt from the ground up. In addition, we have adjusted to life here. We know how to be in this country and it has become familiar and often comfortable to us. To leave and go somewhere else would mean another possibly long and difficult period of adjustment.

We understand these facts very well, and while the thought of going leaves us emotionally ambivalent, we are convinced beyond doubt that it is the time to go. There are two reasons either of which alone would be enough to cause this move, and neither are reasons that look to change anytime soon.

Reason #1 Hannah and Noah need a healthier socio-educational environment. That sounds a little psycho-babble-ish, but what it means is our kids need to go to a good school where they can be seen as part of the crowd and make friends. Let’s parse that sentence out a bit. “Our kids need to go to a good school…” For three years, first Renita and then both of us have provided Hannah and Noah with the best home schooling we could. And we think we’ve done a good job. But home schooling is not an ideal choice for us or our kids any more. It keeps Renita and I away from other important work, and it locks Hannah and Noah into a very limited educational environment. “… where they can be seen as part of the crowd and make friends.” Those Liberian children who we think of as friends are atypical. Friendship requires a certain level of unspoken understanding, a connection that does not need explaining. That kind of connection is extraordinary even in a shared culture, how much more in two very different cultures? The most obvious solution of course, is to send our kids to a good school with kids from many cultures—including their own—here in Liberia. But none exist. There are no quality international high schools in Liberia. If we want our kids to enjoy a healthier “socio-educational environment,” we need to go where that environment is.

Reason #2 We need to free our family and friends from the burden of being our sole support. Some of you have been incredibly generous, giving thousands of dollars toward our efforts here. All of the support we have received for everything—food, housing, transportation, logistics, everything—has come from less than a hundred steadfast people who love us and love the people of Liberia. When we first told our family and friends about this work and asked them to join us, we promised them the financial sacrifice would be for a limited time. We need to honor that promise. If we could do that and stay in Liberia, we would (assuming Reason #1 was addressed). But the Liberian economy certainly cannot support us, and the organizations with which we work, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee and Partners Worldwide, have no paid positions here. If we want to continue the kind of work we are doing and not rely solely on loved ones to do it, we need to leave Liberia.

Some of you are already asking, "What next?" "What is for Liberia, what next for the Reeds?" We have some answers for you, but we are still working on the details. Stay tuned, and we'll get them to you as fast as we can. In the meantime, enjoy these random shots from a place we have grown to love.

The lush vegetation of Liberia-- always green, but during the rainy season so lush you almost get drenched looking at it. September 2006
Among my most favorite pictures of Renita. I've probably posted it before. This on our first morning in Liberia, July 2005.
What can I say? Kids, everyday.
The countryside-- this a farm house in Kakata. April 2007

The city. Monrovia. April 2008
Another favorite shot. This of Trokon, on the left. What will I do without this young man and his brother, Eastman, in my life? February 2007

Max, this morning.
Sunset off the porch, September 2008

ReedNews Update: September Edition

2008-09-15T11:12:00.004Z

Weather: Overcast most days, with moderate rains almost every night, averaging just under an inch a day. Light and variable winds from the south or west, with temps in the upper 60sF at night to upper 70s in the day. Much hotter and very humid when the sun makes an appearance.

As we round another rainy season, we are enjoying “Liberian Normal.” Even things that used to rattle us, like the car blowing a radiator out in the bush (last week), or the generator going on the fritz (this week) or getting the Pathfinder stuck in the mud (three days ago) are taken in stride. Stuff happens in Liberia, and you just work the problem ‘til its fixed. But that’s on a micro level. On a macro level, “fixing the problem” or “problems” in Liberia is not as simple. There are many mechanics in the garage, and not all agree on the diagnosis or the appropriate tools. But the country remains at peace and stable. Here are some news tidbits:

Item: Food prices have climbed to record levels. Almost everything has tripled in price. From potato greens in the market to apples in the grocery store, the prices are making life very difficult for the average Liberian. The cost of transportation, of course, has tripled as well, since it is the price of fuel which lies at the heart of the overall price hike. We find it merely frustrating; our neighbors find they must go hungry some days.

Item: The controversial Truth and Reconciliation Commission continues. Following the model of South Africa and Sierra Leone, the Liberian TRC is intended to provide a forum for victims of the civil war to tell their stories, and for perpetrators to confess their crimes in a safe environment leading to forgiveness, restitution, and restoration. This is how it is supposed to work. Lately though, the process has been somewhat politicized, with some grandstanding and finger pointing as some well known figures take the stand. The TRC proceedings are broadcast on the radio, so everybody hears the testimony.

Item: The Sirleaf-Johnson administration is cracking down on the rogues who plague this country, most often at night: the legislature has passed the death penalty for certain crimes related to armed robbery. Amnesty International and the UN have opposed the move, but Liberians are wholeheartedly behind it. Several rogues were burned alive in Red Light the other day, and we’ve heard rumors that three rogues were shot to death and secretly buried just down the road from here while we were in Nigeria.

Item: LEAD just graduated its 11th and 12th class, with its 13th starting tomorrow in Buchanan. Total in loans disbursed to date US$159,000. Repayment rate: above 90%.

Item: In Reed news, Renita and I are preparing for two October gatherings. She’s getting ready to leave us for the States to attend a Partners Worldwide conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while I am getting ready for an important one day meeting with several Liberian NGOs and Joel Huyser, who’ll be representing the Christian Reformed Church in North America to discuss the future of organizations like Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC), Christian Reformed World Missions (CRWM), and Partners Worldwide (PW) in Liberia.

Item: FACT marches on. The Fostertown Association for Community Transformation is looking to the future. Knowing the Reeds will not be around after November, and thus a key conduit of support will be gone, the board is developing partnerships with Liberians of means and government reps to join them in upcoming activities. In the meantime, the FACT market continues to provide for the community, although in the present economy, it has taken a hit like everyone else. There is room for a hundred market tables, currently only 40 are filled.

Here are a few pictures of contemporary LiL. (Life in Liberia)

Sometimes teaching a LEAD staffer how to drive has its consequences-- "Watch out for the porch-o!" This was the Buchanan office porch.
Now a few faces: Garmi, seller of red oil and other goods at the FACT market.
Hannah and Noah, performing Abbot and Costello's "Who's of First" for our Gambia friends last May.

Dene'. One of my alltime favorite liberian images. I think Hannah took it.
Apple mugging while Renita enjoys.
My Mom and Step-Dad back in Michigan-- celebrating her 80th birthday September 13 at a Detroit Tigers baseball game. Go lady! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Back Home to a New Routine

2008-09-08T11:18:00.005Z

Weather: Monday the 8th welcomed us with very dark skies and heavy rains for the first day of school. Unfortunately, with the generator failing us, we resorted to education by candle light. We got about an inch in the fist half hour, then another over the course of the day. Very light winds out of the West, with temps in the upper 70sF.

It felt great to be home together again-- for all of us: for Hannah after three months visiting a dozen homes and two summer camps in the US and Canada, for Noah visiting some but mostly overdosing on video games and his own imagination with the infamous Steenwyk Brothers, for Yers Trooly after bouncing around for a month from Nigeria to Italy to Belgium within the context of a medical emergency that literally became a big headache, and for Renita jetting around even more, from Liberia to Nigeria back to Liberia, then rushing to me in Milan, joining me in Brussels after a Liberian flight got canceled, then awaiting all of us on her lonesome back in Foster Town.

We began our last semester of home schooling today, as well as our normal Liberian life. The routines are similar, but there are important differences. My work with Mother Patern College is finished, at least my active duty with them. This leaves me free to share more home schooling duties. Renita continues her activities with LEAD, but as she hands off more and more to her Liberian colleagues, the nature of her day-to-day changes as well. With every activity, there is a sense that we are finishing something here. So its familiar, but its different.

For these are our last three months in Liberia.

This is the first we’ve told you, although some of you know. There are a couple reasons we are leaving this land, and we’ll spend a post discussing them soon. We have mixed feelings about moving on, mostly because there is so much more to be done, and we’ve grown fond of the people and the life here. It has become home to us and we will miss it. But we are confident that it is time to go. So sometime in November, we’ll fly out of West Africa. We’ll keep you with us during the whole crazy process of leaving Liberia. And of course, the process of making a new home in, er, ah, now where was it we said we are going?

We didn’t. That’s for another post too. So stay tuned, thanks for welcoming us back, and for keeping us company while we were away. Seeya with more news soon.

We're Baa-aack!
Back to the ol' routine too-- fillin' water, washin' dishes, making hot water on the stove.
Our generator was out Monday morning and it was very dark outside with the heavy overcast-- so its back to school by trusty candle light.

Then the skies opened up. Had a nice refreshing shower. Like I said, back to normal.

The Reeds on Three Continents

2008-09-01T14:59:00.024Z

A Tale of Three Cities

Monday morning finds our family as spread out as far as we ever hope to be, although our kids aren’t even grown yet and then who knows what they’ll do. By Wednesday, after being separated for three months, and after me being out of Liberia for four weeks, we’ll finally be altogether in our West African home.

Just where are we anyway? We are hanging out in very different places, different cities, and the contrasts are worth enjoying . Let’s do some comparing and contrasting of this triumvirate of metropoli.

Renita— Monrovia Liberia, founded in 1822
Population: about a million. Located on the west coast of Africa. The Capital of Liberia. City best known for: Humidity, getting along without running water, sanitation, or electricity for sixteen years. Contributions to world culture: the handshake w/ finger snap. Monrovia in History: First woman African head of state ever elected, 2005. Most famous landmark: The gutted Masonic Temple. Staple foods: rice, cassava. Favorite dishes: palm butter, cassava greens, fish, chicken, red oil-- really, anything.

The Masonic Temple. Former mecca of all the Liberian Presidents, now home for displaced squatters.

Liberian kids eating in the traditional group style. Looks like yellow peas. Where's the rice?

Bob-- Brussels Belgium founded 979
Population: about a million. Located in central Belgium. The Capital of Belgium. City best known as capital and economic hub of the European Union. Also HQ of NATO. Contribution to world culture: the French Fry, waffles, Brussel sprouts. Brussels in History: King Leopold II, father of the catastrophic African colonial movement. Most Famous Landmark: the “Manneken Pis” or “Little Man Pee Pee” Staple foods: Beer, potatoes and bread. Favorite Dishes: Rabbit in Geuze (A sour beer), Stoemp, (potatoes mashed w/ vegetables, served w/ sausage) Chocolate desserts, pralines.

Stoemp with sausage, a Brussels classic. You mean I don't have to share?

The lil' guy has been standing here, peeing, for four hundred years.

Sometimes they dress him. Now he looks a guy on the side of the road in Liberia. Small world.

Hannah and Noah-- Grand Rapid Michigan USA
Founded officially 1850
Population: About 200,000. Located in Western Michigan, Great Lakes region of USA. City best known for: its wealthy conservative Republican Christians, its liberal use of mulch, well maintained, clean curbs. Contribution to world culture: The furniture catalog, the Bissel carpet sweeper, Amway products. Grand Rapids in History: Long ago known world-wide for furniture—aka “the Paris of furniture design.” Most Famous Landmark: The Calder Sculpture. Staple Foods: Potatoes and spaghetti, ground beef. Favorite dishes: Kraft Mac and cheese (with ground beef), Spaghetti w/ Chunky Prego and Ground Beef, Chips n’ melted Velveeta cheese (w/ Ground Beef n’ Chi-Chi’s Salsa), pizza, hamburgers—really, anythin. Except Brussel sprouts.

The Famous Calder.The Original Famous Calder.

Oh Velveeta! Oh Chi-Chi's Salsa! And don't forget that ground beef! One of Grand Rapid's many special dishes.

2008-08-28T18:30:00.024Z

The Reeds in Italy

Part Three: Accidental Tourists

You know, this is a weird post for us. When we started this blog in 2005, we simply wanted to talk about what it was like to live according to the implications of the message of Jesus wherever those implications took us. We wanted nothing more than to "dance with the One what brung us" as we like to say. We certainly did not think we'd be posting travelogues or yapping about our lovely visit to some cultural Mecca. Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with that, but it's just not why we thought we came.

But here's where He brung us this week. And after Nigeria last week, and who knows where in the coming weeks, it only underscores what we have known for sometime: that the more one lays fear aside, lays aside excuses and justification for going partway-- the more one simply follows Him, the more abundant His promised abundant life becomes. Our journey has been nothing short of wildly unpredictable with every step. Sometimes we think we are walking on water.

So this week, He brought us to Milan, Italy. And for three days, we got to be His guests. So here's a bit of Milan.

These first three are of the famous Duomo Plaza, from three angles. Renita is on the far left of this shot.

This is from another angle, actually facing the other angle. The big arch is the entry to the shopping area-- the Duomo cathedral is on the extreme right.

There it is. The cathedral is huge-- the third largest in the country.

The back of the Duomo. Inspired and inspiring gothic architecture.

Inside the Duomo. Thousands of works of art, including over 3000 sculptures, and huge stained glass windows from the sixteenth century.

The stunning sculpture of St Bartholomew, one of the most moving I've ever seen. Tradition says he was flayed alive. So here he is, skinless, actually carrying his own skin as a reminder of his sacrifice. In the Duomo.

The Castello of Milan...

...A structure built in the 12th century. We couldn't stay long, but it was fascinating.

The Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie-- the home of Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper.

It was painted above the kitchen door in the monastery. It is a piece that struck us with its majesty and power. Even though much of it has been lost through age, it is gripping to behold.

A close up pf how it looks on the wall. As bad as it looks in this picture, it looks better on that wall like it is, than any doctored rendition I've ever seen.

Finally, on Thursday, we visited the canals. Milan used to be filled with canals, a bit like Venice, although not on the sea. But they filled most of them in now, except a few. This is a typically quaint restaurant just along side the canal off camera to the right.

He ya go. Actually, they are planning to bring more of the canals back, for tourist purposes. Milan is a world fashion capital, but lags behind several Italian cities in tourists. Thanks to a curve ball throwing God, they got two more this week.

2008-08-26T16:17:00.019Z

The Reeds in Italy

Part Two: Rounding Up the Unusual Suspects

On Monday the tests continued at Instituto Clinico Humanitas. More Doplers, another CT Scan, an MRI, an EEG, another EKG, a heart ultra sound, a urine test, more blood tests, yadda yadda. But the evidence was mounting. With every test, TIAs or “mini-strokes” were looking less and less likely causes of my difficulty speaking, vision problems, and partial numbness. My blood pressure was an acceptable 130/90, my veins and arteries in great shape and clear, my brain waves normal, my blood work all normal (a bit low on the “good cholesterol,” but otherwise a-ok.) There is almost no history of stroke or diabetes in my family. It was just impossible to rule any other way, and our neurologist predicted it on Saturday. These were not TIAs. They doctors told me they were all surprised. They said they took one look at me and assumed I was a stroke, heart attack or diabetes case just waiting to happen. “He’s fat, he must be unhealthy- “ which is a prejudice with a long and cherished history among the uninformed. But the Docs admitted their bias, and patted me on the back for fooling them. Of course, they said, “It would still be good to lose weight.” Thanks doc. Exercise too, right? Meanwhile, what’s going on with these episodes? It was a process of elimination, a process of “ruling out” as health professionals say. When the most obvious suspects are ruled out—vascular disease, evidence of stroke, hypertension, poor blood chemistry—you look for the unusual suspect. And again, the neurologist had her eye on the right bad guy.

They were migraines. And that came out of left field because I’d never had them before. Mine were the less common type called a migraine “with aura.” The speech, visual and sensory disruptions were all part of the profile, and the fact that a severe headache followed each episode was the key. So just like that, the mystery was over. And not the mystery only: my fear of impending doom was over. I was suddenly being informed that I am healthier than most really fat guys have any right to expect to be. It was a nice moment.

So there ya go. Our little adventure, taking us out of Africa to Italy is drawing to a close. Soon, its back to Liberia to solve yet another mystery, maybe even bigger than this one—how is this chapter in Liberia going to close, and what chapter will be waiting on the other side of the page. But, that can hold off a few days, can’t it? Yes it can, because, after all…

… Milano awaits!

Next Time-- The Reeds in Italy, Part Three: Accidental Tourists

Getting ready to climb into the CT scan earlier Monday morn. Philip getting ready to make me feel weird.

This is a CT cross scan of my bod. Not sure of all the organs we're lookin' at-- knowing its my guts is enough, no?

The MRI. I go in there. I come out a changed man.

Nurse Roberta takes my blood pressure, this for the 20th time in five days over a couple thousand miles.

The endocrinologists tells me he's not going to tell me to lose weight. Thanks.

The head of the department, left, and the Dr. who followed me through from the initial ambulance ride, Antonio Voza, tell me I can go home.

Before I leave, two more things. First lunch for two, an italian feast-- now that's hospiital food!

And Roberta gets to yank out the multi valved, tinker-toy like structure that's been stuck an inch into my arm for three days. I still feel that pull. Note she's smiling, the sadist.

Now, for Something Completely Different

2008-08-25T10:14:00.009Z

The Reeds in Italy
Part One: The Attack of the Transient Ischemics

Well folks, the last we chatted was two weeks ago, as Renita and I were just setting foot in Nigeria and planning for a time of learning and evaluation from our colleagues in the central plateau city of Jos. Then last week, Renita returned to Liberia and took up blog duty, and I planned on attending a conference on good governance sponsored by the Micah Network. However on Sunday afternoon (the 17th), I experienced something completely unlike anything I ever had before. It was one of the weirdest trips I’ve ever been on, and I’ve been on a few. While munching on some nuts and talking with a friend, I began to notice I was stuttering. Buy the time 30 seconds had passed, I not only could not pronounce certain words, but I could not even figure out what word was supposed to go where. Even if I could figure out the word, I could not say it. When I attempted to spell, I couldn’t imagine the letters. It was fascinating. I thought I’d eaten some bad peanuts. I also suddenly had a bad headache. I called Renita and after doing some research, she said what I had sounded like a TIA. (Transient Ischemic Attack)

Called “mini-strokes,” TIAs occur when blood in the neck or head is blocked from reaching a portion of the brain. A TIA can affect several different functions, and with me it started with my speech, but on Monday I had a severe headache and my vision was affected, on Tuesday I had another episode with inability speak, on Wednesday my left hand and left side of my face and even tongue (Now that’s weird!) went numb, and by this time the doctors in Jos were insisting on an “emergency evacuation” to a hi tech hospital before I blew a major gasket. Everyone was now certain these were TIAs, and the stroke clock was ticking. The trusty American Heart Association warns us to treat suspected TIAs like stokes and that many people who get TIAs go on to have a major stroke within a year. So I was more than willing to get to a hospital with the most modern facilities. But where? Where would our brand new insurance company send me?

Buongiorno! On Wednesday I was told I’d be Medivacced (sp?) out of Africa to the Istituto Clinico Humanitas in romantic Milan Italy the next morning. Of course I'd rather go to Michigan, but Milan would do. I was ready. But the next morning came, then the day came--and went, and I was told the emergency would have to wait another day. Friday morning came and went, and finally around 1:00pm we got off the ground in our personal-sized jet. We were supposed to be in Milan around 6:00pm, but due to two refueling delays, we did not arrive until midnight. I had a great time onboard with the Kenyan medical staff and English pilots. Real characters. I kept telling them that, with all the delays, “It’s a good thing nobody’s sick.”

And really, I wasn’t. My symptoms had subsided, and with my recent back pain gone after two months of killing me, I felt better that I had in months. As soon as I got to the hospital, they drew blood and put me into a CT scan. They immediately determined there was “no current emergency” and at 1:30am I was wheel-chaired to my room. After a few hours of sleep, the tests continued—more BP, EKG, Dopler/vein artery test, then I met the head of the department, watched the Olympics in Italian, and rejoiced at 2:00pm as my lovely wife appeared at my doorway. And joy of joys, the hospital staff said she could stay with me while I’m here. Conjugal visits! Finally, to top off our first day, a little later we met with my neurologist, and after a very nice and relieving chat, she ended our conversation by deepening the mystery of these strange episodes—she doubts they were TIAs at all.

Next Time-- The Reeds in Italy Part Two: Rounding Up the Unusual Suspects

In the medivac jet - here Larry our pilot self administers a sobriety test under the supervision of Joseph the doctor. He was too drunk to tell if he passed.

James, my Kenyan nurse, takes the stretcher while I support him from the chair.

The ambulance took us to the Instituto Clinco Humanitas, where I was met by this guy. No additional comment necessary.
And this lady. A little camera shy, but definitely not shy with needles. She wheeled me up to my room...

...where the next day Renita joined me, exhausted, after a long flight and a longer week.

One building (mine) of the huge Instituto Clinico Humanitas complex, a truly world-class teaching hospital. If they can't figure me out here, it ain't gonna happen anywhere.

Me Back in Liberia, Bob Still in Nigeria

2008-08-18T15:40:00.011Z

As you know we arrived in Jos, Nigeria on the 9th of August. Unfortunately, the internet did not allow us to upload photos, but we had a great week in a very pleasant city. Compared to Monrovia, which is slightly larger than Jos, life appears much more organized and the streets appear much cleaner. Because it sits on the Jos plateau, the temperatures are cool and even though it is in the rainy season, there are comfortably dry days.

Our primary purpose for being there was to learn about the work being done in Nigeria and share with our friends there what we are doing in Liberia, with a view toward considering whether Nigeria might figure into our next steps. We were treated exceptionally well by David Tyokighir and John & Esther Orkar.

I needed to return to Liberia early in order to meet a guest from Grand Rapids, Robert Shane, who arrived to work with LEAD on its books. Bob remains in Nigeria for an additional week to attend a conference, eat pounded yams, and take more pictures.

Here are some of the pictures that we have so far.

Landing in Lagos, a small slice of a city of 16 million.
Driving was basically like driving in a giant city anywhere.

Landing in Jos - see any difference?
The road into Jos was lovely.

The area is like Michigan with mountains.
CRWRC Headquarters, Jos, Nigeria.

Bob and I had a week filled with meetings.

We visited the local highschool; here is Beadie preparing lunch for the kids. She is frying potatoes on the left and small donut-type morsels on the right.
A shot of the city.

A couple of views of the scenery on the outskirts of Jos. The entire area was very rocky...

...and moo-ey.

Now, for Something Completely Different:

2008-08-11T08:36:00.004Z

The Reeds in Nigeria

Weather: Some light rain during the day, but mostly partly clody. Light, varable breezes. Daytime highs in the low to mid 70'sF (Lo 20sC), nighttime lows in the mid to upper 60'sF (Upper teens C)

At least half of the Reeds, anyway. After a delay of eight hours, we left Monrovia last Friday, stayed overnight in Lagos Nigeria, and by Saturday morning found ourselves in Jos. Unfortunately, we are as yet unable to download pictures, but I must say, Jos is beautiful. Jos sets on the great Jos Plateau, so temperatures year round are comfortable and humidity is much lower than on the Liberian coast. We are involved in meetings here as Renita talks about what LEAD is doing in Liberia and I discuss other matters, do a bit of teaching, and prepare to attend a justice conference next week.

We'll do our best to get some images up, but for now, to see general touristy images of Jos, check out the web site at

http://www.plateaustategov.org/ Click on the photo links.

Liberian Cuisine, Part Three

2008-08-04T09:52:00.003Z

Weather: For the most part a dry and mostly sunny week until Friday. From Friday to Sunday, heavy overcast, windy and rainy. Temps in the low 70’sF all day, prompting us to dig out our sweats and socks and close the windows.

Renita and I are heading for Nigeria on Friday to meet up with some of my CRWRC friends there, so we’ll have some interesting images from Africa’s largest nation. However, we would not be good hosts if we didn’t leave you with a couple of dishes to try before we left. First though—some food related news:

Item—In Lofa County, to the Northeast, the cassava farmers are complaining about a new threat to their crops—elephants! The forest elephants are returning to Liberia, and as they find new stomping grounds, they are stomping all over some of the farmers’ livelihood. The elephants are protected, but as in other African countries, there is no love lost between the people and the pachyderms.

Item—The government of Liberia is cracking down on retailers of the nation’s most important commodity—rice. The price of rice is regulated, and is currently set at $31.00 USD for a 100 lb. bag. Many retailers have been raising the price in their shops, making life very difficult for the average citizen. This week, the Johnson-Sirleaf administration announced stiff penalties for price gouging and that inspectors would be out in force, closing down violators and auctioning off their goods on the spot. We’ll see.
Now on to the recipes:

Cassava Leaf with Cow Meat
Cassava is a staple throughout the region, both the potato-like tuber and the fibrous leaves. The leaves are not edible without pounding or grinding. Cassava leaf is prepared with a fair amount of oil, to soften its natural bitterness. The oil of choices for most people is red palm oil, which adds a musky flavor, but we’ve stopped using palm oil due to its high saturated fat content (more on palm oils in a future post). Regular vegetable oil works just fine.

To Prepare: Cassava leaf is easy to prepare. First select the meat you want. The most common is dried fish, or fresh fish, or both. However chicken, turkey, pig or cow meat work just fine. Today, we are going with the beef. Purchase a pound or two, depending on how many you’re feeding. Bones are ok. Sear the chunks of beef, then place beef in a pot of water with two chopped medium sized onions, hot peppers to taste, some seasoning (your choice) and beef stock or cubes. Boil until tender. Add three cups ground cassava leaf and one half cups of oil. (Liberians love oil and would likely add one and a half cups or more of palm oil) Bring to boil, then simmer for one hour. Serve over rice.

Bitter Ball Torpagee with Snails and Dried Fish
Torpagee (pronounced Tō’-pah-gee) gets its name from the oil that flavors it. Essentially, torpagee oil is “aged” – some say fermented—red palm oil. The taste took us some getting used to, but Hannah loves it with beans and hot dogs. (It’s called Beans Torpagee then.) You can use different vegetables or meat with torpagee (Dried meat is a favorite), but today we are going to stretch you a bit. First, the veggie of choice. Bitter balls are light green or yellowish berries about an inch in diameter. And as their name implies, they are bitter in taste. For the meat—and I’m using the term loosely--we’ve selected snails and dried fish. Dried fish you already know something about—we have some picture in our June archives of our Calvin/Kuyper College guests observing fish being dried. Snails are something else. They are large, about the size of a child’s fist. They are purchased alive from wheel barrows filled with hundreds of them. Escargot it ain’t. The texture is rubbery and the taste reminds me of, well, mud. But it’s Liberian Cuisine.

To Prepare: Select five or six large snails and three medium sized dried fish. Drop the live snails in a large pot of boiling water. Boil for a half hour- forty five minutes. After boiling, remove the snails from the shells and chop. Set aside. Chop the dried fish. Set aside. Wash and clean the bitter balls and boil for forty-five minutes, then remove and mash. Place in a fresh pot with two medium chopped onions, hot peppers to taste, one to one and a half cups of torpagee oil, the chopped snails and fish. Boil for an hour. Serve over rice.

Ganta

2008-07-28T11:42:00.008Z

Weather: We spent a week watching the water drain from our sandy yard after the floods of last Sunday-Monday. The weekend was lovely however, with almost cloudless skies and moderate temperatures. Nice breezes too. Monday the 28th dawned clear, but by mid morning is cloudy and still. Temps in the mid 70sF.

Last week, to celebrate the beginning of our fourth year in Liberia, Renita and I traveled northeast to Ganta, a town near the border with Guinea. We were joined by Allen Gweh, Acting National Director for LEAD. Allen invited us to visit his home church, Trumpet Baptist, in that clean border town, and we accepted the invitation. The roads were fairly bad the entire way, so the trip of 120 miles took us five and a half hours. But we got there and had a delightful time with these dedicated souls. The highlight for me as usual was lunch, where I ate gio boy, also called G.B. (with fingers of course) and soup, with some tasty jollof rice. G.B. is a courser, less gooey, more flavorful version of dumboy, the recipe of which we covered in an earlier post.

After lunch we toured a family cassava farm and some businesses, then headed back to reach home by nightfall. Thought you might like to see the sites, so here are some images.

Where we wuz...

To get there and back by dark, we left early.

On the way, a nice field of rice...

... and a lovely field of UN armored personnel carriers...

Ganta at last!
The trip to Trumpet Baptist was a bit jarring...

...but we made it. My back was killing me, thus the crooked pose.
In the church, they held a very nice welcome for the us by the leadership.

LUNCH! I'm dipping some G.B. into our soup as one of the deacons to the right eats the jollof rice sans spoon-- 'twas worth the back ache.
Allen Gweh, acting National Director of LEAD on the left, visits a potential LEAD-sponsored furniture business.

Yers Trooly joins the group for a walk through a family sized cassava field. The family in the lower right. Very nice family.

Time to head back home!

Three Years After

2008-07-21T09:56:00.003Z

Weather: The week began with a deluge. From 4:00am until 3:00pm Sunday, it rained hard and steady. I measured 14 inches in my trusty rain gauge. The rain returned for another couple inches last night, giving us a whopping 16 inches over the 24 hours. Some of our neighbors, including Vera, were flooded out of their homes. Winds from the SSW at 15 mph. Temps in the mid 70sF (mid 20sC) with very heavy overcast.

Thursday the 24th marks our third year in Liberia. Three years ago, we wondered if we’d made a colossal mistake coming here. The rain, the bugs, the lizards, the spiders—and that was just in our house. Outside we contended with rogues and corrupt cops competing for a piece of us. Everything was new and very different. And in this war ravage nation, much of it seemed ugly and repulsive to our overwhelmed eyes. Even the food was bad. We felt alone and isolated. I remember one day in September, 2005. Renita and I had let the tension and stress drive us into a quarrel. I had had it. After weeks that included rogues stealing our generator, police pulling us over to humiliate and extort money every week, incessant rain, mildew, oppressive humidity, being stared at, lied to, Renita enduring malaria and I dysentery, I remember breaking down. I sat on the bed and began sobbing. Through angry tears I blurted it out, “I hate Liberia! I hate this place!” Of course, that observation never made it to the blog. That inner struggle was reserved for Renita, God and me to share. So we carried on.

It took me ten months to turn that corner. Everyone else in the family was doing fine. They had adjusted months earlier. Gradually, I began to relax too. In time I opened my eyes and began to appreciate the simplicity within the complexity that is Liberia. I learned the rules of the game. I learned “Liberian Normal.” I killed the bugs and fed them to the lizards. I made friends with the beggars, the cops and others who saw me as only an object of money. I stopped seeing them as only objects of need. I figured the food out. I learned to enjoy the humidity when it dropped a few points, the temperatures when they eased off a few degrees. I felt the wind whenever it blew and reveled in it.

Three years after those first most miserable weeks, I have learned how to love Liberia. I don’t always like it; I get angry with how people can be here, and how far this country has to go, but that is no different from anyplace I have lived or will live. I have learned about the resilience and determination of the people here who have a task to do and are going about getting it done. There is a Beauty here. There is a Wisdom here. There is a Goodness here. Maybe not always on the surface, maybe hard to see amidst the mess. But, as my friends here say, “take time.” It will come.

Of course there are still inner struggles that only Renita, God and I share. But give me some time. I’ll let you know how they turn out too.

Just another rainy day in Liberia...
Meanwhile, back in the US, the kids enjoy pie with Grandma.

Repairing the Interior Roads

2008-07-14T10:27:00.003Z

Weather: Another five inches of rain last night brought our total this week to about 8 inches. Actually that's not too bad, just under the July weekly average of about 10 inches. Overcast skies most days, with variable breezes of about 10mph. Temps remain in the high 70sF, or in the mid 80s with the sun.

In Montserrado county, just a few dozen miles north of Monrovia, there is a little town of Johnsonville. Actually, there are a few towns up there. But the road, like most interior roads, are in very poor condition after years of neglect and annual rains. Roads mean commerce. Roads mean jobs. And for the people of Johnsonville, actually rebuilding their own road means jobs too.

The International Labour Organization has contracted with the people of this little village to do work that would wait a long time if it was left up to the big road building NGOs. The villagers are fixing the road themselves. You can imagine what the work is like-- no heavy machinery, just shovels and wheel barrows, and one small smoother. Every man and woman gets three dollars a day from ILO.

Another glimpse of life in Liberia. A people rebuilding their nation. With shovels and wheelbarrows.

I love this shot. In the foreground, the job is finished. Down the hill, they work. Up the other hill, the job that waits.
The hillside is shaved with shovels and the dirt is carried away. Men and women work together.

Down the road, Johnsonville men poor concrete into molds to make culverts.
Preparing the road as the laughably tiny smoothing machine does its work.
Meanwhile, back in Michigan, Hannah hugs while Noah mugs.

ReedNews Update: July Edition

2008-07-07T12:36:00.008Z

With our kids, Hannah and Noah, in Michigan USA, things are much quieter around the house. We miss them both a lot, while at the same time are taking advantage of the opportunity by enjoying the simple companionship of each other. We are getting work done at a less frantic pace. Here’s a bit of the news and weather:

Weather: Heavy rains yesterday and today have dumped nine inches on our area, with more coming. The downpour was steady from yesterday until this morning—about twelve hours worth of non-stop steady rain. However, the temps are much more comfortable than in the hot season. Daytime highs are only in the 70’s—unless the sun comes out, in which case the temps shoot up and we feel the humidity. We also enjoy steady breezes throughout most of the day. All in all, except for the rain, not bad. (By the way, the heavy rains are great for very refreshing showers. Considering the way our little shower bags dribble water, I’m more than happy to run outside in the buff and catch the pouring glory. When it’s coming down an inch every ten minutes, that’s more than enough water pressure!)

Item- Renita and I had the pleasure of returning to Cape Mount County last week. Our mission was to deliver about a thousand books to the Madina elementary and junior high school. The books were collected and shipped by Active Kids Canada, who also funded the library/reading room. Even though we were there on a Saturday, about a hundred kids showed up with parents and school officials to receive the books with thanks. They had a nice program for us and a ribbon cutting ceremony, followed by the book transfer.

Item—LEAD has reached a milestone: over $100,000 USD has been distributed to over 300 Liberians for business development. LEAD's 11th and 12th classes began last week for the summer in three counties bringing the total number of businesses receiving training to almost 700. News of LEAD's work has traveled to other Liberian counties, who are now requesting that Renita and LEAD staff go and offer its training and loans. LEAD continues to wait on God and His listening people to provide the funds needed to reach these areas for the important work of economic development, which we believe directly relates to peace building. LEAD has completed its contract with the World Food Programme, working with women with HIV/AIDS, and is working with the International Labour Organization to begin solid waste management businesses.

Item-- The organizations who supply us with administrative support and supervision, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) and Partners World Wide (PWW) are discussing ways to more formally collaborate with organizations on the ground in Liberia. Along with Christian Reformed World Missions (CRWM), they will be hosting a mini conference in October with interested Non Government Organizations (NGOs) to perhaps create a center for holistic collaborative efforts to empower Liberians. Working with Liberians in the field, we hope to be able to offer support to Liberians across a broad spectrum of theme areas-- community, health, spiritual, economic, justice, governance, and in mental health.

Item—I’ve already mentioned the fact that Liberia occasionally runs out of goods—tomatoes and eggs are recent examples. This time the missing item is propane, which is sold in tanks and used mostly by those of us who can afford it, to provide fuel for stoves and other appliances. So it looks like we’ll be rejoining the majority of Liberians who cook by coal pot for a bit. No big thing—it’s just a mess and baking options are limited.

Item—Speaking of fossil fuels, gas prices continue to hamstring Liberia’s recovery. The prices are about 50 cents higher than what we read in the news for the US, but of course the differences here is the average annual salary is between $1,000 and $1500US. With oil companies making record profits at the expense of the of everyone including the poorest of the poor, is this not a justice issue?

On to Grand Cape Mount County and Madina Elementary and Jr. High School-- Where getting there is half the fun.

Renita thanks the crowd for coming and reminds the students that the library is for them first and foremost.

Time to haul those books!

Aww, neither of us did much lifting, this is just a commercial for Active Kids Canada. Renita and the principal pose.

Students and Librarian cut the ribbon to the reading room.

A thousand books and with supplies. The new shelves are behind me and also on the left. Sorry I missed 'em, Art.

Meanwhile, Hannah and Noah in Michigan-- hanging out with Unca' Dave and Jeep. We miss you!!

John and Abe Return

2008-06-30T11:34:00.011Z

That’s John Calvin and Abraham Kuyper to y’all. The pros from Calvin College and Kuyper College—Drs. Cheryl Brandsen and Beryl Hugen from Calvin, and Dr. Judi Meerman from Kuyper—returned for a week of intensive work on the Bachelor of Social Work they are tweaking with Monrovia’s Mother Patern College of Health Sciences. From our viewpoint, the trip was extremely valuable. The team helped us clarify and better articulate our program offerings. We better know where we are going and what we will need to get there.

While here, the team visited various sites and places throughout the week. They met with schools, an AIDS treatment facility, an organization that works with young men, a hospital, and other sites where future social workers will be needed and where hopefully we will be able to place our practicum students.

Enjoy the following images—most taken by our visitors.

The team at work. We spent several full days working through and improving the BSW curriculum.

On Saturday, we visited an area called West Point-- concentrated population, high poverty. It is also the home of a very active fishing enterprise.

The fish are delivered from the boats here...

...where some get immediately purchased by the dried fish ladies. Note the load she works with.

Joseph, my Liberian counterpart at MPCHS made sure he grabbed a bunch on the smoker for a quick lunch.

Some of the fish, like these large yellow tail, get purchased to sell in area markets.

Tryin' to make a few Liberian dollars-- these boys are selling palm nuts-- five LD a bunch.

Back to the office: the team meets with the officers of the National Association of Liberian Social Workers.

On Sunday, the Reeds hosted the team at our house. Here Dr. Hugan plays grampa to little "Rae-Rae" Renita Reeves.

Afterwords, we all took a stroll 'round the neighborhood.

On the day before we left, we took a trip to visit another site where we work. On the way back, we stopped to take in some scenery. This is called Blue Lake.

One of the local papers, the Inquirer, gave us this write up.

Weather: The rain slacked off this past week, giving us only a couple inches and some very nice days. With the start of a new week, the rain has returned. It has been raining all day Monday, and we expect a few inches at least. Winds from the west with heavy overcast. Temps today in the upper 70sF.

Elizabeth and Naomi

2008-06-23T13:01:00.009Z

We first met 14 year old Elizabeth in our collaborative work with Active Kids Canada and a Liberia elementary school. AK Canada paid to have a library built and stocked with texts, and wanted to hear about some of the children who attended the school. The principal of the school told us about several children, all of whom have stories worth telling, but we wanted to make sure you met Elizabeth. She is a hard working student, gets good grades, and really loves her school. She lives with her mother Naomi about a mile and a half from the school. There is no father in the picture.

Elizabeth and her mother crush rocks for a living.

In Liberia, the need for crushed rock is high and constant. Almost any construction project in requires crushed rock to provide support in the sandy soil. Roads, cement houses, walls all use crushed rock. Elizabeth and Naomi live in a community of rock crushers near a quarry-- appropriately dubbed Rock Hill. The quarry cliff face is heated, then large rocks broken out by the rock breakers and sold to the rock crushers for $150.00LD ($2.50US) per load. The rock crushers break up the large rocks into small rocks and sell them by the pile for $500LD ($8.00US) to the rock retailers who in turn bag, sell and transport them for roughly $3,000LD (50.00US) for the bags coming from the pile. The method of crushing big rocks is simple. Using a ball peen or other small hammer, the crusher hits rocks into the required smaller size, and throws them onto a pile. When the pile is a few feet high and a few feet wide, the crusher calls the rock seller to come and haul it away.

Elizabeth has been crushing rocks since she was eleven. She starts work when she gets home from school at 2:00pm—Saturdays she works all day—and continues until around 5:00pm. Her early thirties-something mother has been crushing rocks daily for fifteen years. Elizabeth and Naomi sell about three piles every two days for a total average (subtracting the amount the pay to the cliff-side rock breakers) of about US$5.00 a day. The money is just enough to feed this family of two and send Naomi to school.

Most Liberians work very hard in difficult conditions for very little return, and for some like coal makers or rock crushers, the work is almost incredibly demanding or tedious. For Elizabeth and Naomi, and the rest of the residents of Rock Hill, the strain of everyday life shows on their strong and calloused hands, and on their tired faces. For mother Naomi, this is the only method of making a living she has known, and there are no real alternatives. She does not entertain dreams of a better life. For Elizabeth, it is different. You can see it in her eye and in her commitment to school: She wants out of Rock Hill. How long she can maintain that desire is anyone’s guess. At least until she graduates I'm sure. But her desire for a better life is challenged by tradition, inertia, the lack of friends outside Rock Hill, and the general Liberian economy. Eventually she will either use the rocks to help her escape, or the rocks will bury her. I imagine she knows she is in the race of her life.

The quarry from Elizabeth's house. The center of the Rock Hill community.

Elizabeth just getting home to mother Naomi.

Renita, the school principle and I chat with Elizabeth and Naomi about their world. Naomi did not speak English well, and Elizabeth was shy and quiet throughout.

They demonstrated how they spend their days for us.

The Rock Hill area-- piles of rock, everyone by hand-- are everywhere to be seen.

Elizabeth and Naomi, with their latest rock pile behind them.

Weather: The rains have come, as they always do, and as might be expected, not all day yet. During the last week, the rain came mostly at night, but at times heavily for a few hours. Total last week: Monday, 2 inches; Tuesday, 2 inches; Wednesday, 2.25 inches; Thursday 2.25 inches; Friday .25 inches; Saturday, Trace, Sunday, Trace, and by this Monday morning, 1 inch has already fallen. Total for the week: just under ten inches. Hi temps in the low 80’sF and very humid when the sun shines, low temps in the low 70sF.

NEXT WEEK: The Return of the Pros from Dover. We look in on the team from Calvin and Kuyper Colleges as they meet with the MPCHS staff, and tour Liberia with social workers' eyes.

Tienii

2008-06-16T10:35:00.007Z

Weather: Coming off of a dreary weekend, we are writing on a dreary Monday. We received only about two inches of rain over the past two days, but it fell light both days under a low overcast. There were bits and pieces of sun, but it was mostly cloudy with light and variable winds. Hi temps in the low 80sF, lows in the mid 70sF.

As I mentioned last week, Renita was out past Cape Mount, a few miles from the Sierra Leone border, conducting a two day workshop for a group interesting in better ways to run their micro businesses. While I was running my social worker students through final exam gauntlet in Monrovia, she was enlightening a group of very eager businessmen and women in the little roadtown of Tienii. Here are a few shots.

Next week: A mother and daughter work together—on a rock pile.

In case you were wondering.

Tienii-- just a little village on the way to Sierra Leone, which lies just a bit beyond the hills. The road is one of the best in the country.
The view from the little guest house where Renita overnighted it. You get the sense that the bamboo fence is just keeping the rainforest at bay temporarily. No mosquito nets-- it was a long night.

Renita Reed and James Hillary from LEAD at work inside.

See? She had a great time. The participants really wanted to learn.

The class poses Friday afternoon.

Villages

2008-06-09T10:36:00.007Z

Weather: After heavy rains last week, we enjoyed a weekend of no precipitation and clear air. Hot and partly cloudy in the daytime, evenings are clear with spectacular night time skies the last couple nights-- looks like night in upper Michigan with the band of the Milky Way clearly visible. This only happens a few nights of the year, so I'm taking it in.

Renita has left me again, this time gone to Cape Mount up near the border with Sierra Leone. She'll be conducting a two day small business management workshop. Me, I'm spending time visiting some local organizations as we continue to discuss future things, and preparing the final exam for the Conflict and Peacebuilding course I'm teaching. Mostly though, I'm missing Renita, and of course Hannah and Noah, who are whooping it up all over the Great Lakes region of North America. Sigh. Tonight, I'll enjoy some fish and rice with Trokon and Eastman, spray the yard for fire ants, and maybe watch "King Kong" with them on dvd. Feel free to drop in. In the meantime, enjoy these shots I took recently of life in various Liberia villages. Coupled with last week's post, it'll help round out a bit of life in much of Liberia-- and the entire region of West Africa.

More of the same-- bumpy and dusty in the dry season, bumpy and slippery-- or impassable-- in the wet season.

Ahh-- I see they fixed that bridge!

Koon Town-- a palaver hut. A community place to gather.

... and the ubiquitous cooking hut. My favorite place in the village.

Looking along the front step of a house-- another palaver hut in the back.

In Kainga Town, a house given some color. When I asked they lady who lives here what they were, she looked at me like I was from Mars and replied, "Dey flowers."

The Center of Gbaye's Town.

The quintessential shade tree.

Let's Play "Livin' Liberian"

2008-06-02T11:17:00.013Z

Some of you, intrepid souls that you are, have expressed an interest in experiencing life in Liberia, or Africa in general, but haven’t had the means or opportunity to do so. Some of you have said it would be good to have your family experience the reality of living in a developing country, in part to add perspective to life in North America.

After churning it over a bit in our minds, we think we may have come up with a way to create a Liberian experience in a non African context. We call it Livin’ Liberian. It is actually nothing more than applying the living conditions of most Liberians to a set of instructions for you to follow. For some of you, just reading about it may be all the “experience” you want to absorb. For others, you may want to try it with some modifications. But for those radical ones out there, you may want to do the whole thing.

The full version of Livin’ Liberian should take place in the hottest, most humid time of the year. It should last for a week to get a richer sense of it (although longer would be even better). However, even a day or two will work toward an understanding. Of course, there can really never be a full understanding, because we have the option of stopping-- of buying the food we want, of going to the bank, of driving a car, of having running water. Nevertheless, in place of the real thing, this could be meaningful.

You ready? Here we go. Remember, this is the full version. You may modify.

Money
Most statistics say that Liberians live on one US dollar per day per person. We’ll assume you live close to Monrovia. So, put aside $28 for the week to live on, assuming a family of four. If you need more, you will have to ask other people to loan you money, but not more than $1.00 at a time. (NOTE: In North America, some prices will be higher for some items than here. For instance, rice for a family of four may cost $.80 in Liberia, and perhaps $1.20 in NA. Go ahead and buy the food you need, but subtract the amounts listed below from your $1/day/person in your household. Remember, you will have to juggle and make tough choices if you want to eat and get to town and use a phone and use the internet and…)

Water
Turn off the running water in your house. If you don’t do this, you will use the tap or flush the toilet without even thinking. Place a large, clean barrel, cooler, clean garbage pail, or something that can hold 20 gallons of water in one bathroom in your house and a larger receptacle your kitchen. Make an arrangement with a neighbor about a half a block away to buy water from them by the bucket. You can use their hose outside their house instead of drawing or pumping the water. The cost should be about $.05 per bucket. Water is usually drawn twice a day, although we draw it once per day and just do more at that time. You’ll have to carry the buckets of water back to your house and fill the barrels in your bathroom and kitchen. Boil it before drinking. You can cook and wash with it as is. (For an authentic experience, mix a little dirt in the water; most Liberians and Africans do not have clean water and you never really feel clean even after a shower.)

Electricity
Unplug all your appliances, including refrigerator, lamps, stove (If gas, turn it off), fans, air conditioning (if central air, turn the thermostat off), clocks—anything that uses electricity. For light, use candles-- you can buy them for $.15 each. For cooking and food storage, see below. For relief from the heat, get used to it and pray for the rainy season.

Food
If you have read our blog, you have seen typical Liberian food and have found recipes for various dishes. As a temporary Liberian, you will eat rice every day-- and love it-- for the two meals you eat (breakfast and dinner; it is usually only cooked once in a day, so either the breakfast is leftover or the dinner is leftover, depending on the you). The rice is served with a “soup” of some sort on top, with fish or dried meat boiled into the soup. The soup is often cooked from collard greens, squash, cabbage, or other vegetables that can boiled. Remember that you only have $3 per day and you have other expenses as well, so buy your food carefully. Some people just have bread for breakfast so you can opt for that if you prefer. Remember that you have no refrigerator or stove, so people often do their buying on a daily basis (they buy rice one time for the month, if they can afford it, and then the items for their soup daily, otherwise the rice is about $.15 a cup). Pots of rice and the soup should be cooked over coal, so if you have a grill, buy some charcoal and use that (don’t use propane—subtract $00.15 for coal for each meal. If you don’t have a grill, buy a cheap one that can last you for the week from the money that you will be saving on groceriesJ).

Bed Time
Sleep on the floor on a sleeping bag or foam mattress. Remember—candles only!

Toilet Duty
If you are one of the few Liberians with indoor plumbing fixtures, you will flush the toilet, by using a small bucket in the bigger barrel-- fill it with water, and dump it in the toilet and it will flush. If you are like the vast majority of Liberians, you do not have plumbing. Dig a hole in your back yard and use that as a latrine, with leaves for wiping. Not a very hygienic solution, we know, and it wouldn’t go over well in your city, but that’s what people do here, hence the many health issues like cholera.

Shower
Place a cup in your bucket of water, stand in your shower and dump it over your head. You will naturally use less water (either because it’s too cold or because you don’t want to draw too much water); we use about a gallon per day per person for a shower.

Laundry
To wash your clothes, gather two big tubs and fill with water. Buy a bar of soap ($.10 here) and some bleach ($.10 – about two tablespoons). Wash by hand. Rinse. When you are done, spread on your lawn to dry (most people can’t afford to buy the rope or the clothespins to hang their clothes up.)

Transportation
As you see everywhere in the world, the price of gas and diesel are high here as well - $4.05/gallon for gas; $4.70/gallon for diesel. But you will not be driving anyway— very few Liberians own one or can drive. But the prices have increased for public transportation here as well. Since you are earning $1/day/person in your household, we must assume you have a fulltime job. So, pay $.80 for transportation each way ($1.60 per day). In addition, the time spent to get a bus or a taxi can be hours both in the morning and the night. If you go anywhere this week, walk or take public transportation. Go to the bus stop and wait for one or two hours before getting on the bus to really get a feel of what it is like to move around in the city. You could also walk or you could rent a bicycle for $1.00 for the day. (You’ll only need to subtract the Liberian cost from your $1/day/person in household allowance. We know transportation in your town is higher.)

Phone
Most people do not have their own cell phone (there are no land lines), although that seems to be rapidly changing. For the sake of this experience, you may use your own phone but each call will cost $00.10 and should only last a few minutes. The good news is that it does not cost to receive calls here. So keep phone calls very short or call someone and tell them to call you back.

Internet
The cost for the use of the internet is $1.00 for thirty minutes. In addition, you need to take transportation to get there, so add an additional $.30 cents for that.

Summary List of Costs per week-- Budget wisely!
Rice (3-4 cups ) – $0.60, soup ($0.50), meat ($0.70) = $1.80/day x 7 days $12.60
Coal - .15/day x 7 days=$1.05
Water – 0.40/day (8 buckets/day x 7 days)=$2.80
Laundry (1 time per week)=$0.20
Candles – 1 @ 0.15 – 5 used in a week=$0.75
Transportation - $1.60/day for five days=$8.00
Phone – 5 calls @ $0.10 =$0.50
Internet – 1 use per week =$1.30

Although this may be tough for you to get through, the point to keep in mind is that hundreds of millions—perhaps multiple billions—of your fellow human beings do it every day for their entire lives. It gives one pause, does it not?

Hauling water-- they do it every day. The containers, called "gallons", actually 2.5 gallons, bigger ones hold 6 gallons.

Preparing cassava together.

Laundry day-- a main challenge is to keep the kids from stepping on it.

If your rubber boots tear, you may not throw them out and buy new-- you can't afford it. Find broken, discarded flip-flops, tear off the straps, and create a patch by melting the strap onto the rubber.

Hope you don't have any building to do this week, if so, you must make your own blocks.
And if your hut needs a new coat of mud, you gotta do that yourself too-- you can't afford a mud contractor.Hey, just be thankful you don't live in the bush on the other side of a broken road...

... during the rainy season.

ReedNews Update: May Edition

2008-05-26T10:14:00.006Z

Weather: Partly cloudy and very humid of late, with evening thundershowers and some very heavy rain. Raining about four days out of seven, usually between sundown and sunup, but occasional rain in the day as well. Sunday it rained from 10:00pm until Monday at 3:00am, dropping about 5 inches on us, for a total this week of approximately 8 inches. It will get much wetter. Moderate breezes from the east, mostly in late afternoon, otherwise very light and variable winds providing little relief from the humidity. Daytime temps in the 80sF, low 70s at night.

The global economic downturn is hitting this nation especially hard, and comes at a time when the real gains we’ve seen these last three years are vulnerable. Rice prices have risen by 30% in six months, and the international oil crisis had caused shortages and impacted prices of all imported and transported commodities—which is just about everything. Gas is currently US$4.05 a gallon, and diesel is $4.70 a gallon. Prices of just about everything are up 25-50% since last year. The impact on the people of Liberia—already among the poorest in the world—is difficult to characterize. Liberians are used to living on almost nothing. Almost every Liberian lived on the run, in the bush somewhere as a displaced person more than once during the war. They understand being squeezed in ways most of us cannot imagine. So once again, they are suffering economic oppression, and once again they are at the mercy of forces beyond their control. Here’s more news:

Item-- Vera, our weekday dinner cook and laundry lady, was robbed for the third time since we’ve known her, again in the middle of the night by cowards armed with machetes. They broke her door, beat up a young man staying with the little family, stole the $30.00 or so she had (and that’s all she has), took her food, some clothes and even the mattress she lays on the floor to sleep on with her daughter. A terrifying experience for this single mother of four. Hannah had some money given to her by one of you to use "as she wanted," so she bought Vera a new foam mattress.

Item-- Sunday morning, rogues continued their work, this time at the local church many of you have helped build and supply. They broke in, stole the chairs and electrical wires for the generator.

Item—On a more positive note, last week LEAD graduated its 8th, 9th and 10th business classes, in Monrovia, Buchanan and Gbarnga, respectively. LEAD now runs two business empowerment programs, one for very small businesses that includes a two day workshop and loans of up to $300.00US per participant, the other for larger businesses includes loans of up to $1800.00US and a twelve week, 36 hour business course. It was this larger program that graduated the classes this time. In Gbarnga, the proud grads marched through the city in parade fashion, banging drums and singing in celebration.

Item—The Pros from Dover are returning! The Social Work team from Calvin and Kuyper Colleges will be in Monrovia in June to continue their assistance in the young Mother Patern College BSW (Bachelor of Social Work) program. They’ll be bringing textbooks, tweaking the curriculum, and preparing for their visit in January—they’ll be teaching two courses.

Item-- We are temporally losing our children. Hannah and Noah are traveling today from Liberia to North America for three months. This is by far the longest we’ve been without them, and we are mixed about seeing them gone for so long. But we believe they will have a great time. They will be traveling with a family we’ve come to know and trust, and will be picked up in Chicago by our friend Mary Vermeer.

Vera, on a happier morning. She's doing better today.

The 10th LEAD class marching down the Gbanga main road.

Hundreds of business men and women empowered by LEAD. These are the latest.

Around Monrovia

2008-05-19T10:18:00.012Z

Weather: Rain more frequently now, especially in the evenings, at least every third night. Last night we got about .75 inches in a couple hours. Day time is humid as ever with temps in the 80's. Night times are cooler now, and we are chilly with in house temps dipping to 79F.

Now that we are fully back into the Liberian soup, I thought a little tour of the streets of Monrovia might be in order. We live outside the city, and while some of our work is miles away, both Renita and I find our work centers in Monrovia.

Monrovia is really the only true "city" in the country, all the others amounting to villages of varying sizes, none much more than 20,000 in population. The civil war caused Monrovia’s population to double, as displaced people streamed into the relative security of the capital. Today, the city cannot support all of its residents, so many wander the streets, some begging, some stealing, everyone looking for any opportunity to get some cash. Estimates are Monrovia now holds over a million people, or over a third of the population of the country. It is not a pretty city, for over fifteen years of neglect has left it scarred and dirty. Not yet fully supplied with the electricity it enjoyed before the war, with a poor water supply and meager sanitation, with insufficient and roads constantly needing repair, the city struggles to clean its act up. In the four years since we first visited, we have seen real progress. The administration of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has worked hard against a tradition of corner-cutting, skimming off the top, extortion and every other type of corruption invented by man. She deserves a Nobel Prize.

Anyway, join Renita and I on a trip literally around this town, which like "Tobacco Road," may be despised because it’s filthy, but loved because its home. If you look close, you'll see signs of hope everywhere.

Not far from home, the Chinese have consructed an asphault and concrete-making factory as it supervises road repair throughout the country. Heading North.

Our first major intersection as we appoach the city-- this is ELWA junction. Turn (bend) to the left to head into the city.

One of the several new used buses for much needed public transportation. Monrovia needs a lot more!

As we head into the city, we pass UNMIL headquarters-- UNMIL stands for the United Nations Mission in Liberia. Still one of the largest in the world, with thousands Peacekeepers. They will be leaving a little at a time, begininng this fall.

The Capitol Building--being refurbished with the help of USAID-- the good people of the USA. And directly across the street-- the President's building, called the White House. Oddly, signs on the gate state "Photography Strictly Forbidden." Not sure what that means, but since I got this photo online, they can't bust me. I hope.

Downtown Monrovia-- this is Center Street.

Leaving downtown, nearing an area called Red Light-- thousands of little roadside shops. Heading East.

How you like the ride so far? No spitting out the windows!

After circling the city, this checkpoint is on the east side. This during the dusty dry season.

A very common sight-- not only grossly overloaded vehicles, but this one with bags of charcoal for cooking on coal pots. The coal is made in the interior and trucked in. Now heading Southwest.

On the way back, this is a side road to our friends' house-- we need to be in 4WD to make it.

Finally home, the journey 'round Monrovia over. Eastman waits by the big gate.

Liberian Cuisine, Part 2

2008-05-14T12:12:00.004Z

Weather: High humidity with evening thundershowers becoming more common. Daytime temps in the upper 80sF, nighttime lows in the low 70sF.

We arrived back in Liberia after just under two weeks in Gambia and we were instantly engulfed. Engulfed I say. First of course by the humidity, which smacked into us like a wall the second we exited the plane, but also by our Liberian life waiting for us. By the end of the day, we had 1) attended the graduation ceremonies of LEAD’s 8th business class, 2) hosted an impromptu version of our annual “plum party” for about 15 of our neighbor kids (The mangos are ripe and the kids have a riot trying to harvest the allotted amount before I kick ‘em out.), 3) walked Enoch over to his family’s house and had a long talk with them about the eleven year old’s out of control behavior of late, 4) discovered we had a second deer in our yard, given to us by our friends who are about to go to Canada for a few months, and 5) spent a frantic half hour with the neighborhood kids trying to catch the deer who got out our gate while we were hauling water, (Miraculously, we caught her.) Needless to say, we were dog tired by the end of the day. We are still getting back into it; as I write, Renita is home schooling, and I—well, you can see what I am doing.

So while we are getting up to Liberian speed, I thought I’d introduce you to three more Liberian dishes, all three of which we eat regularly.

Water Greens
Water greens look a little like potato greens when cooked, but have a different texture. To me they are like a slightly slimier (Slimy actually is called “slippery” here, and Liberians seem to like the texture) version of spinach—they definitely have that strong spinach flavor.

To prepare: For four adults Remove stems and wash 4 bunches of greens thoroughly. Cut or tear into fine shreds. Combine with two cups chopped onions, and hot pepper and fry in one half cup of oil for 7-10 minutes, stirring constantly. Place into a pot with water. Add chicken or beef cube, salt, black pepper, seasoning salt to taste. Add pre-cooked meat—we prefer cow meat—but anything (dried fish, fried fish, boiled pig’s feet, chicken turkey) you like is acceptable. Boil away most but not all of the water. Serve over rice.

Dum Boy (with Bene Seed)
Dum Boy is a milder version of its much more famous cousin, fu fu (or foo foo. You get the idea.) Dum boy is not nearly as complicated to make as fu fu, and we prefer it to the strong tang of the fermented fu fu. Every Liberian will tell you “do not chew dum boy, just swallow.” As for me, I gotta chew it a couple times before I can get it down. It is very sticky and gelatinous. Here is what it looks like before the soup goes on top:

To Prepare: You need a large mortar and pestle, and to grab a bunch of cassava—the root not the leaf, and grate it into a bowl. Take the grated cassava, place it into a plastic bag, and put the bag into a pot of boiling water. Boil for a half hour to an hour. When the cassava is cooked and tender, dump into a mortar and begin pounding with your trusty pestle. Pound until the cassava becomes a sticky paste. Form these into balls— and serve with soup.

Bene Seed Soup
You can eat dum boy with anything of course; it does not have much flavor and is very starchy. We prefer peanut soup or bene seed soup. Bene seed is sesame seed. You purchase little bags of bene seed in any market. Here is what it looks like on dum boy:

To prepare: Take about a cup of bene (sesame) seed and toast it in a pan over a coal pot or stove. Make sure all seeds get golden brown or more. Remove the toasted seeds and place them in your mortar and pound them into a pulp. In another pan, fry two chopped onions, peppers to taste, and chicken or beef seasonings, depending on the meat you will add. Add any pre-cooked meat you prefer—we like turkey—and fry a bit more. Put the cooked ingredients into a pot, add water to fill the pot and the bene seed. Boil the mixture for a half hour. Some people add a bit of flour to thicken, others toss in a couple of diced potatoes. Sometimes we add noodles. Serve over the dum boy (or rice).

Jollof Rice
Jollof rice is a favorite all over West Africa, and you can find dishes like this all over the world. Its easy to make, and easy to dress up. We eat it about once a week—usually on Fridays. We make a lot of it and feed a few friends. Trokon does not like it much—too much tomato.

To Prepare: Fry two onions, a minced clove of garlic, and peppers to taste in a half cup of oil. To this add five small tins—about a cup and a half—of tomato paste. Stir it all together and fry it up a bit. Remove and place in a large pot. Add enough water to cook six cups of rice (this depends on how you like your rice. Liberians like their rice soft, I like it “el dente.”) Boil the mixture together. Cook the meats you wish to add—anything but fish. Like many Liberian dishes, it is preferable to serve a dish with two (or more) kinds of meat in the dish. We prefer chicken wings with beef (called cow meat here), but when on a budget, we slice up some hot dogs (here called sausage.) By the way, true sausage would be delicious in jollof rice. We can’t get it here, or else its too expensive. Once cooked, set the meat aside. Add the rice to the boiling pot of tomato paste and seasonings. When the rice is done, add the meat and a can of mixed vegetables. We also chop up some fresh tomatoes and mix in just before serving.

A Few Obligatory Vacation Shots

2008-05-09T12:56:00.010Z

Weather: The glorious winds have really picked up at the beach, and I for one could not get enough if it knocked me over. Winds averaging a steady 35-40 mph last night, a steady 20mph during the day. Hot, dry daytime temps (around 30 C, 86F), and nightime temps much cooler (20C, 68F).

We are in our final weekend in the Gambia-- a lot has happened and in our meeting with other team members, we know a lot more about our next steps in Liberia and beyond.

But all of that can wait. Today, and through Monday, we are still embracing our time here. And of course, we are taking pictures. Here are a handful.

The wind blows all day-- our hangout at sunrise...

... at noon-- here you can see the palms bending with the breeze--...

... and in the evening. I know the shot is cliche' as can be, but it also happened to be the view out my front door last night.

The countryside of Gambia/Senegal is much drier than Liberia.

Noah took this shot of a red colobus while on a four hour walk with his sister and some friends.

He also got this view when a family of vervet monks showed up, possibly looking for a handout.

Our beach at mid day, facing North.

Late afternoon, looking toward Liberia, hundreds of miles to the south.

Getting Used To Paradise

2008-05-05T11:29:00.004Z

Weather: Relatively low humidities with warm days and cool nights. Daytime is sunny with temps in the upper 80's-low 90's, with nightime lows in the 60's. Winds are moderate in the day-- 5-15 mph in the mornings and pick up in the evenings, averaging 20-30mph.

Sorry, I'm still adjusting to life in the Gambia. I'm trying to work on the blog-- I want to write you, give you news and pics, but, well, we are having a such great time hanging out, relaxing, enjoying laughing with each other-- its hard getting around to doing a full post. And of course, the net is very fickle here.

But enough excuses, expect more very soon. For now, enjoy the view from our balcony...

We're having some fun-- Breezes, ice cream (almost unavailable in Liberia), laughter, and takin' it easy. Happy happy, joy joy!

The Reeds in the Wind

2008-05-02T14:32:00.003Z

We arrived in the Gambia Tuesday night-- all things are swell except the internet. We'd love to post some images of our delightful view, but for now you'll just have to take our word for it that it's just this side of paradise. The breeze remains just as healing as ever. Maybe that's what they mean when they say its "balmy?"

Feel free to read last year's blog post-- I think May or April and you'll get the idea of what's happenin' here. Anyway, until the 'net allows us to post photos, we'll be off having a great time.

Keep tuning in!

I Thought We Wuz Supposed to be in Bakau

2008-04-28T19:27:00.006Z

Well, of course we were. After one of the most crazy seasons of our marriage, we felt as if we just might make it to the prize at the finish line-- 16 days in the Gambia. Make that 15 days. Make that 14 days. Make that... you get the picture. We were supposed to leave Sunday, but just like our 2006 visit to Mali, we found out at the airport just a few minutes before boarding that the flight was cancelled. I dislike most things to do with flying as is, but African airports-- and especially Liberia's Robertsfield Airport-- are too often hot, humid, stress producing places. And while some airlines are alright, the carrier to the Gambia, Slok Air, is the worst we've flown since the permanently grounded Ghana Airways. So I'm not looking forward to running the boarding gauntlet whenever Slok calls us back to Robertsfield. Even so, it is worth it flying Slok just to get to Bakau, Gambia.

Anyway, Slok told us Sunday night that the plane was in need of some repairs and "hopefully Monday" we'd be able to begin our vacation. Tonight, Monday night, we are waiting for Tuesday. We are not holding our breath. Maybe by Friday.

We keep reminding ourselves that it could be worse, and that to be able to fly off to a great vacation is something most of our neighbors will never be able to experience. Meanwhile, we're all pretty tired and eager to get out of Limbo. Stay tuned for more Liberian Cuisine posts as well as a closer look into what life is like in a Liberian village. And of course, keep an eye peeled for shots from the Gambia-- assuming we make it.

Actually, the tag line ought to be "Your Gateway to Disappointment, Frustration, and Days of Waiting Until We Fix the Only Plane We've Got for this Route." I guess its better than crashing in one of these buckets.

ReedNews Update: April Edition

2008-04-21T09:32:00.010Z

Weather: Some late night/early morning thundershowers of late, followed by hot humid days. Monday begins cooler and less humid with temps in the 80's. Light easterly breezes. About an inch and a half of rain in the last week.
We are relieved to report that the dry season is behind us. Think of Liberian seasons this way: 1) A hot, humid season with virtually no rain, lasting four months, from mid December to mid April, 2) a four month cooler, humid wet season with about a hundred sixty inches of rain falling from Mid June to Mid October, and between these two very different seasons, there are two identical seasons of transition from mid April to mid June, and from Mid October to mid December. These two month seasons see about 20 inches of rain each, but it always seems nice in comparison to previous weather. The transition months are welcomed harbingers-- by the end of both seasons we are ready to be done with each.

Here’s the news from our neck of the rainforest.

-Item: On the national scene, President Sirleaf issued a stern warning regarding the armed robbery problem that plagues the country. She gave the current law enforcement authorities—UNMIL law enforcement and the Liberia National Police—one month to make headway against the rogues. After that, she promised “drastic, perhaps unpopular measures” to end the domestic terror.

-Item: In that same speech, Madam President also addressed the rapid increase of the cost of living over the last eight months. Food costs especially have gone up, and the nation’s staple, rice, has seen a 25% increase. Some food prices have doubled. Gas and diesel fuel are around $4.00 a gallon. This all in one of the poorest countries in the world.

-Item: I am getting out of town more of late with the MPCHS Women's Health and Development Program. So far, we’ve met with leaders from Johnson Town, Koon Town and Kaingai Town as prepare to expand our work to include the men of these villages. We spend a few hours with them in each of our several visits, trying to understand their daily lives, their strengths as a community and their hopes for the future. Later, we will offer workshops, skills training and micro loans to support them as they rebuilt villages destroyed by war.

-Item: Speaking of getting out of town, the Reeds are getting out of Liberia beginning Sunday. We are off on our much anticipated—and I might add much deserved—two week retreat/vacation on the windy beaches of The Gambia. We’ll keep in touch when we are not being caressed oblivious by those winds.

-Item: Speaking of getting out of Liberia, we are getting ready to lose our children for the months of June, July and August. Hannah and Noah are leaving the continent and heading to family and friends in Michigan USA and Ontario Canada. They leave our midst with a family heading West less than two weeks after we get back from the Gambia. I think it will be a good preview of how life will be all too soon when they leave the nest for good. I know I’ll miss them deeply—I think Renita even more—but the up side is the kids will probably have the time of their lives and Renita and I can really focus on our next steps.

-Item: Its plum season! Actually, you probably know them as mangoes, but here in Liberia, they are called plums. There are a number of varieties, and the trees grow everywhere. We grow three types in our very own yard. Our favorite is called the German plum, and it is exquisite. In some ways similar in taste, color and texture to a peach, with a tang of orange and in a really good plum, a hint of coconut. Plums are terrific eaten raw, and heavenly in pies and other desserts. For our neighborhood kids, every day is a plum party.

Behold a few semi random photos. One I added April 28.

This was taken this morning. A somewhat grumpy Noah being helped by his Teacher Mom. Oh, the challenge of dual relationships! Hannah in the background viewing a math lesson on DVD.

Remember that playground we all constructed in memory of Norm Katerberg? Here is another shot of the finished job...
...but we thought you ought to see it in daily use, with over 800 girls giving it a workout. We think Norm would have been delighted.

Hey, and while we're on the subject of "what it looks like now," this is what a container filled with books looks like now: four new school libraries and and kids who can't get enough of them. Added 4/28.

A couple shots of road repair, Liberian style. This is work in the city, which is going on in a number of places...
... and this is our crew last Friday, trying to get to Kaingai Town. We had to do some repair work on this bridge to get to our meeting with the men.

Plums (mangoes) on the vine. These are country plums, less prized than Kerosene or German plums, but still a valued commodity.
Trokon sucking the pit of a German plum, with another small one on deck.

Our Ten Most Valuable Little Things

2008-04-15T11:05:00.016Z

I think one of the most common themes I’ve hit on in this blog is that life is not nearly as easy in Liberia as it is in America. I’ve referenced more than once the climate, the cost of living, and the limited availability of stuff we think we need. But we have made a life here, and we have made it more than tolerable, thanks in part to what we brought with us and can find in Monrovia. So I’ve come up with a list—“The 10 Little Things that Have Made the Most Difference in Our Liberian Lives.” These are the small items that have turned out to be big deals in the struggle to maintain perspective in an often surreal and uncomfortable place.

10 The Inverters—Without these little guys, we would have no power during the day to run a few electronics, most especially our laptops, CD player and battery chargers. They invert the DC power from our solar panels into AC. We brought a bigger, more expensive unit when we came to power the whole house, but the corrosive climate put it out of commission in 10 months. Happily, we have been able to make do with these smaller, less expensive units in a couple rooms. We use them every day.

9 Our First Aid bag—We go through lots of band aids, bandages, ointments and even antibiotic medicine. Without it, some of the kids around here— the Reeds too- would need to go to the hospital to deal with cuts, infestations and sores that otherwise all too easy turn nasty. We use it almost every day.

8 Popcorn—We need it. We pop it four nights a week while we watch a DVD movie or show. Its cheap and easy to get in Monrovia compared to other snacks. (Potato chips, for instance, might cost $3.00 for a 5 oz. bag while we can feed all four of us popcorn for about fifty cents.) I think we might go crazy without being able to crunch regularly.

7 Epoxy—We’ve used this stuff to affix everything from razor wire to mirrors and to repair everything from our cracked solar batteries to our ceramic bowls. We use it as needed, every couple of weeks.

6 Shower bags—This would be even higher if we figured out a way to increase the flow pressure, but as is, being able to take even a dribbling shower is something we certainly took for granted in the States. Without shower bags, we’d have to use cups of water poured overhead, wash, then pour another cup or three to rinse. We would end up using far more water that way, and its just not the same as a shower. Multiple uses a day.

5 Flashlights—Once the sun goes down, we get three hours of electricity from the generator, then its lights out until morning. Flashlights are simply the only way to see. We have the new LED type, which draw far less energy and last longer. We also use a 3,000,000 candle flood to light up the whole yard and scare away potential bad guys. Used every night by all of us.

4 Batteries— We’ve become semi-experts in the world of DC power, amps, voltage and batteries. Without batteries, not much would work around here—we run our refrigerator, fans, some lights, our music and daytime electronics from our big solar batteries, but also we use small rechargeable nickel metal hydride and even disposable batteries. We are charging and using all day every day.

3 Giant Ziploc bags/Zorb it— Electronics are just at the mercy of Liberia’s humidity and ocean air. Nothing electronic survives long left in the air. So every night, everything electronic we use that can fit—laptops, inverters, camera—go into bags. In each bag we put a product called Zorb-it, which is a high tech desiccant that does not need to be replaced. These two products have saved us thousands of dollars. Used every day.

2 Our front porch/yard—We are on the porch throughout the day, but certainly every morning around 7:00 we sit together with our coffee and plan the day, and every evening around 5:30 take our plastic chairs into the yard and catch a sea breeze while the boys play around us and Enoch chats with us from his tree perch. It is a ritual that has sustained us and centered us through our stay.

1 The DC Fans—I would not be in Liberia without these fans. None of us would. Because they run off our solar batteries, the fans can run virtually 24 hours a day, and we absolutely would not be willing to swelter in 85F heat with high humidity every night in the dry season without some relief. This house is not built for air conditioning—levered windows cannot be closed tight—and we could not afford the cost of air conditioning anyway. We could not even afford running regular AC fans all night. But the DC fans on a hot dripping body are just enough—and because these little Amish made wonders have made our stay here possible, they earn the number one spot as “The Little Thing that Makes the Most Difference” to our life in Liberia. Used all day, every day and all night, every honkin' night.

The Container Arriveth

2008-04-07T12:02:00.010Z

Weather: Mostly hot and humid-- some rain at the end of last week as we begin to transition out of the dry season. Temps in the 90s and very humid. Not good container unloading/box carrying and sorting weather. Tuesday the 8th, we recieved heavy rain for the first time in four months. We got about two inches in the space of and hour. It is marks the begining of the end of this year's dry season.

This is going to be another week of "post-as-post-can" I'm sorry to report. The internet cafe we usually haunt-- which is the fastest commercial site in the country when running-- continues to limp along with generator problems. This puts us at the mercy of other places, most of which are much slower and cannot handle photo uploads. Actually, with all the error messages I'm getting, I'll be lucky if I get this note off.

After waiting ten weeks and multiple frustrating false starts, we finally got the container we've been waiting for out of the port. From the 40' foot long steel box, we extracted hundreds of cardboard boxes and bicycles bound for 1)the YMCA 2) Catholic schools around Monrovia 3) Five local school libraries we (Active Kids Canada, some of you, the schools and the Reeds) helped build, and 4)LEAD. Renita and her Liberian crew unpacked the container at the YMCA on Wednesday April 2, and then took the stuff for our five libraries and LEAD to our house. (We knew that if it came during the week, one of us would not be able to be there because of the alternating nature of our schedules. I felt bad-- it came on Wednesday-- because I had to teach at MPCHS. If it had come on Tuesday or Thursday, I would have had the unloading job.)

Our take was 300 boxes, mostly of books-- about 50lbs each--and a few bikes. We spent the next three exausting days sorting and organizing the haul into essentially six piles of boxes-- 5 to the schools, 1 to LEAD. Each pile has about 50 boxes, sorted according to subject and grade. It was brutal work for the kids and me, but nobody worked half as hard as Renita. We had to work in our yard because we could not fit half of it all in the house. Naturally, it rained Thursday and Friday, the first time its rained two consecutive days since November. So we used the big tarps Renita's mom had sent along and created a roof over our heads. We finished after a 12 hour marathon session Saturday, and Sunday, we sort of rested from our labors. Both Renita and I prompltly got sick Sunday, probably from the let down of being on container duty for the past few weeks.

Monday the 7th, Renita had the happy tasks of delivering the thousands of text books, library books and reference books to the libraries. Fortunately, she did no more heavy lifting-- the schools had crews unloading their prizes.

UPDATE Wednesday, April 9

I mentioned before that we were feeling a bit under the weatther after our ordeal with the container and boxes. It turns out Renita was much more under it that I. She has malaria. This is the second time she has contracted it and feels appropriately terrible. Vomiting, fever, aches, nausea, headaches, the typical symptoms. However, she is taking medicine and should be better soon.

Now for the pictures of our week with the boxes.

Gauntlet Week begins Wednesday the 2nd at the Port. This is our second trip in three days to get the container. First time we waited four hours only to find out a loading crane was busted. Second time, Renita waited in the heat four more hours, but finally after being in the port 10 weeks...

...here it comes! Forty feet of good wishes from Canada, all waiting to be unpacked, reorganized and delivered.

Opening the container and hauling out the 60 bikes first. Then the boxes. We got our three hundred-- it was exhausting working in the heat and humidity-- and headed home.

A literal ton of books and supplies waiting under the tarps to be organized, sorted, and divided.

Saturday morning, we head for the finish line. With Renita consulting her list, Eastman, Noah, Trokon, John and Alex shuffle boxes according to her commands.

All done and under the tarp by nightfall Saturday. Five piles of over fifty boxes each, waiting for delivery. We slept well.

Monday, the books were delivered-- the scene was the same at five schools-- kids and staff claiming hundreds of books and oodles of supplies-- thanks to Active Kids Canada, and many friends both in Canada and Liberia.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Women

2008-03-31T11:33:00.012Z

Weather: Continued very hot and somewhat humid. Right now, my fingers are wrinkled from wiping the sweat off my brow in this internet cafe. Temps in the upper 90's, sometimes reaching 100F by early afternoon. Nighttime lows in the low 80sF. Nice afternoon breezes help out a bit, especially late afternoon, when we get the shade of our mango trees. Total rain since December1: around 2 inches.

For ten years, the MPCHS Women’s Health and Development (WHDP) program has worked with the women of a number of communities in Liberia’s interior. Grace Boiwu and her staff have supported and empowered the women of these communities by offering workshops on many topics, providing skills training so the women can help support their families, and even micro loans so that their budding businesses can expand a bit. The relationships by now are deep and look very much like friendship. The goal of WHDP has always been to heal and strengthen post-war communities by empowering women. But a funny thing happened on the journey. The women’s program discovered men.

The trip to Koon Town. A jarring two hour trek.

What I mean is WHDP is realizing that in order to more fully do its job to strengthen women, it cannot focus only on women and ignore the men of the community. Even if it remains primarily a “Women Health and Development Program,” it needs to figure out how to include men. Men are simply too important to the health of the community and the women, especially in this patriarchal society. In a way, this was inevitable. Take Koon Town for instance. WHDP has been in this little village for a decade, working exclusively with women, building skills, enhancing capacity, empowering them, transforming them-- while the men of the village watched from the sidelines. Yet the men are key stakeholders and of course have enormous interest in how

Koon Town, viewed from the road in. The arrow indicates my location in the next pic, looking back toward this point.

their wives, mothers and daughters are affected by all this empowerment and capacity building. Grace Boiwu and WHDP have come to a point where it seems obvious that it is time to include the men in this process. They see the connection between women’s empowerment and helping men become better men. They see women and men living in community need each other to be strong and healthy, in order for the community to be strong and healthy. What a concept.
Something tells me this is laundry day.

So last week, WHDP sent my Liberian co-facilitator, John Dominic Moore, and Yers Trooly up to Koon Town to begin the process of engaging them with a view toward their empowerment and building their capacity as well. John and I had a great time. Here we were, gathered with 21 Koon Town men, in the Women Empowerment Center—“built by women for women,” and discussing ways to make Koon Town a better place.

The men posing in front of our meeting place-- the Women Empowerment Center.

It felt like we were breaking some invisible barrier, like the time had come to work in a new way—women and men together—on community development.

The men were proud of this-- a cleared field, being prepared for cassava. Its a big field, and it is cleared without anything but the most basic hand tools-- in the hottest months of the year for harvest in the wet season. I almost died just walking the mile uphill (in the 100F heat of the day) it takes to get there. My bald head makes a great brain oven.

There are challenges ahead. One of the reasons WHDP came to be was to support women, most of whom were victims of violence because they are women. Gender Based Violence is still a problem in Koon Town. Wife abuse is still an all too prevalent part of the culture in this male dominated corner of the world. The fact that WHDP has empowered so many women has also, in some cases, created more conflict. The men feel their masculinity is threatened, their way of relating under attack. How can we help men see themselves in a new way, help them redefine their masculinity in a way that preserves their sense of “being a man,” and at the same time uplifts empowers the women in their lives? How to we teach these men what it means to be a man without sending the message that they’ve not been good at being men up to now?

The trip home. Following a truck laden with raw latex from the rubber trees.

The good news is, the guys seem eager to participate in the process. They seemed open and willing to engage us. They’ve seen what WHDP has done for "their women," and even though it has sometimes created conflict and left the men feeling powerless and out of the loop, they see it has produced impressive results. The women have learned skills, are more capable, have provided for the family. “Yes,” we imagine the men thinking, “they seem to be more assertive, and talk back when in the past they would have kept quiet, but maybe that is a good thing. Maybe if we figure out a better way to be together, we can figure out a better way to work together. And maybe together, we can make Koon Town a better place to live.” What we imagine, we can work to make happen.

I tried to get a shot with the shadows to give an idea of how bumpy these roads are. It didn't work. The roads may look flat. They are not.

Back Online (knock on wood)

2008-03-28T11:17:00.005Z

Hey Folks,

Just a quick note. We are back online for the moment, so here are the shots of the playground. Hopefully, I'll be back on Monday with a story about Koon Town and "the women's program that discovered men."

Bob

Here is what the space looked like in early February.

Here is how it looks today.

Another view that gets the slides, jungle gym, merry-go-round, and swings.

Please forgive the lag!

2008-03-26T14:46:00.002Z

Hi folks, Renita here, filling in for Bob, who is doing some work in a village called Koons Town, a few hours northeast of Monrovia.

It has not been easy getting online this week. Our goal is to post a blog entry at least once a week, and we aim for Monday, so for those of you who check in weekly, you may have wondered where we were. It turns out Monday was “Easter Monday” around here, a non official holiday where half the population plays hooky from work. The internet café we usually go to was closed. Then Tuesday the café was closed again, this time due to generator problems.

Just as a reminder, the internet situation in Liberia is that except for Monrovia, there really is no internet. In the city, one can get wireless receiver set up in home, but we live outside the wireless area. This means a three mile drive three times a week to the internet café where we send pre-composed emails, get email, and do any internet work we need to. The limited availability of the internet means are not on for more than a couple hours a week, and the kids are almost never on.

Anyway, Bob is gone today, and he’s the guy who’s in charge of the blog. So you’ll have to wait for the entry he was planning to post, but he asked me to at least write and tell you what’s going on with the lag.

I was planning on posting some before and after pictures of the playground that has recently been completed in Norm Katerberg's memory, but after going to three internet cafes and finding them all closed, and finally finding a fourth, I have tried to upload the pictures for the past 90 minutes only to have it fail again, and so I am going to stop trying. I am so thankful to Bob not only for his creativity and commitment to writing this blog every week, but also for the patience he has in working with the Internet in Liberia!

Liberian Cuisine, Part One

2008-03-17T13:19:00.005Z

Let's talk about food. What we eat and how we eat it help define our culture, and I would be remiss if I did not explore with you Liberia's contribution to the culinary arts. Most of you know that the four Reeds spent much of our lives in the Great Lakes region of North America. Renita is Canadian, living most of her growing years in Ontario, while the rest of us are Michiganders through and through. We all grew up on foods very different from what we have encountered in West Africa. Compared with my midwestern culinary orientation, the food in Liberia is blunt, unrestrained, and powerful. Three years ago our uninitiated taste buds found many of the dishes overwhelming, and at times repulsive in flavor and texture. I remember thinking critically that there was no subtlety to Liberian cuisine, no "hinting" at this taste or "suggesting" that flavor - this was rude food. Little did I know that my perspective was based on a simple misunderstanding.

One of my pet theories about food is that when we reject a new dish or initially find it unpalatable, it is at least in part because we do not “understand” it. We don’t get what the dish is “trying to be,” so we don’t know how to orient ourselves to it. A similar phenomenon occurs when one is given a tuna sandwich when expecting an ice cream cone or when one is offered New York Cheddar on sourdough when one has his palate set for French Brie on a cream cracker. The offered food is rejected as unpalatable because the mouth was expecting something else. So it was for us with the cuisine of Liberia. Palm butter, bonies, foofoo, cassava leaf, red oil, fermented fish, bitterball, kitili, torpogee, fish heads, okra—many of the foods came with unfamiliar tastes and heretofore unacceptable textures. Some we found frankly disgusting. How could Liberians love this stuff? But that rhetorical question became the key to understanding. Liberians DO love it. Maybe we were missing something. So we kept eating, kept tasting. Gradually we began to figure these foods out, and as we did, we learned how to eat them,how to enjoy them and even look forward to them. We now have our favorites, and of course some tastes we still avoid, but mostly I think we can say that we finally understand Liberian food.

So beginning this week, I thought I’d present to you some of the foods we have figured out and learned to love—and maybe a couple that we still find confusing to the brain and disagreeable to the palate. Look for these every few weeks or months.

Before we get to the dishes, there are a few things you ought to know about Liberian cuisine. 1.) Rice is the staple of Liberia, with no close second. Rice is eaten with almost every meal. Most dishes are called “soup” and served over steamed rice. 2.) Most foods are boiled, roasted or fried over coals or a wood fire. You may use a stove top. 3.) Liberians use a lot of oil. Until we figured this out and redirected our Liberian cook, we were using a cup or more of oil a meal, mixed into the soup. Unfortunately, both the raw red oil and refined oil is palm oil, which is not generally considered to be very healthy. 4) Liberia being located where it is, fish is readily available, and is the most common animal flesh found in Liberian dishes. Dried fish is very popular here, in part because it requires no refrigeration. It has a very powerful flavor, which we tend to avoid. 5.) Hot Peppers are used in many dishes. Based on all of this, if you think of Liberian foods as spicy, fishy and oily over rice, you are getting the picture for much of it. Let us begin. Actually, because I’ve used so much space on this intro, we’ll only look at two dishes today.

Palm Butter
This could be called the national dish of Liberia. It is only recently that I figured this dish out, and now it is my favorite. Renita is learning to like it, but the kids still don’t understand it. Made from the flesh of palm nuts, it has a strong musky flavor.

To prepare: Wash palm nuts and boil until the skin becomes loose. Remove and place the nuts in a large mortar and pound until skin becomes separated from the kernels. Remove the kernels and continue beating skin, fibers and flesh into a pulp. Transfer pulp into a pan and add water, enough to cover. Wash pulp thoroughly, then squeeze liquid out of fibers and chaff. Pass liquid through a sieve to remove all fibers or traces of kernels. (Palm butter may be purchased already prepared.) Pour the liquid into a pot and continue to boil. Add a combination of preroasted fried or boiled meat, including chicken, crabs, dried fish, or dried meat - we prefer a combination of fresh beef (called cow meat) and fresh fish - along with 2 chopped onions, hot pepper to taste, seasoning salt to taste, etc. Let mixture cook until it becomes thick. Serve over rice, foofoo, or cassava.

Potato Greens

This spinach-like green also produces a sweet potato if allowed to grow but like the cassava both the leaves and the tuber is prized. The greens are also prized by Hannah who considers it one of her favorite dishes. We eat it every Thursday without fail. To prepare: Remove stems and wash 4 bunches of greens thoroughly. Cut—we prefer tear—into fine shreds. Combine with two cups chopped onions, and hot pepper and fry about 7-10 minutes, stirring constantly. Place into a pot with water. Add chicken or beef cube, salt, black pepper, seasoning salt to taste. Add pre-cooked meat—we prefer turkey—but anything (dried fish, fried fish, boiled pig’s feet, cooked cow meat) you like is acceptable. Boil away most but not all of the water. Serve over rice.

Around Foster Town

2008-03-10T12:13:00.005Z

More overcast of late, but still little or no rain. Monday the 10th is began cloudy with a light westerly breeze. Overcast becomes hot, hazy and humid by afternoon, with highs in the low 90s and nighttime lows in the upper 70s.

The thing about containers—those large steel box-car sized crates shipped all over the world, stacked on top of giant freighters—is that they arrive when they arrive. And when they finally leave the port, you must be ready to cease all other activity in order to be there and unload what is yours. Receiving a container is like welcoming a dignitary or making a doctor’s appointment: whatever you were previously planning that day is instantly a lower priority; all other events are sacrificed for the sake of the stuff in the big steel box. Furthermore, when a container is late, as ours is now, each day is spent wondering, “is this the day we will need drop everything and rush into town to offload our things.”

Mostly the items on our particular container are books. Hundreds of boxes of books, collected and boxed mostly by Renita’s family working with Active Kids Canada, they are bound for five new school libraries around Monrovia. As with our other activities, we avoid simply handing out these books as if we are some scholastic Santa Claus. To receive these books, the schools had to actually build reading rooms, make reading tables and book shelves, and otherwise show investment in the effort. In addition, the library personnel must attend a two day workshop, sponsored by Active Kids, on setting up and running a library. We ran the workshops in our neighborhood Friday and Saturday, with a library person from the States doing her best to translate her very western style and manner to 40 very Liberian school teachers and librarians. It was a learning experience for everybody. To top it off, we of course had no books to distribute as we had planned. So we will need yet another day with the schools to give them their books when the container becomes available.

Also around Foster Town, the FACT board continues to meet and plan activities as well as run the Foster Town Market. With the new market superintendent, FACT is actually making some money for itself. The board is trying to figure out what to do with some members who are not pulling their weight. Laying down the law seems to come tough in this culture, which avoids conflict and is somewhat indirect in communication style.

We do have some tragic Foster Town news to report. Sunday, at the main road a couple hundred yards from our house, three men were killed when a taxi lost control while passing and ran them over as they waited by the side of the road. To add to the tragic circumstances, the car was filled with very young children—unaccompanied by any adult. The children were not hurt, but the taxi driver ran off, leaving the children at the scene. As of today no one seems to know whose children these are, or why they were alone in the taxi with this reckless young man. This makes about twelve people who have suffered accidental or violent death within a half mile of our house these past 30 months. Three have been shot, three killed yesterday, and the rest have drowned.

Somewhere in this stack of boxcar-size containers, our books await.

Our two day library training workshop-- Renita in the back with Renita on her lap.

The next day, we split the group. This is what the CFCA library looks like-- where o' where are the books?!?

ReedNews Update: March Edition

2008-03-03T12:32:00.004Z

Weather: Monday the 3rd of March began with a cool westerly breeze, and drier air. The skies clouded up a bit by mid morning as the humidity rose, giving way to a hot haze by mid afternoon. We’ve seen a little rain during the past few weeks, but still averaging less than an inch a month since December. This morning the temperature was in the mid 70sF, and today’s highs will likely reach the low 90’s.

It is hard to believe February is behind us, but here we are three days into the third month. The LEAD conference is over, our guests are gone, and I'm back from my travels. Both Renita and I are catching our breath as well as lost sleep while finding full “to do” lists in front of us each day. At least its not crazy around here. LEAD is running three business/small loan classes as well as three micro credit programs in three counties. Total participants: 245. This keeps Renita traveling to and fro, and on those days she’s in Buchanan or Gbarnga, it’s a 12 hour day of travel, meetings and teaching. As for me, I have three projects running: teaching my class at MPCHS, designing a curriculum for a men’s program in Koon’s Town, and visiting Liberian national NGOs discussing possible future collaboration opportunities.

In other news:

Item- We can report significant improvement in road conditions to both Buchanan and Gbarnga, and not simply due to the dry season, which usually makes the impassable passable. The roads are patched and allow for less jolting rides for both human and vehicular suspension systems. The improved roads have also made travel time shorter, so we get back home faster.

Item- President Sirleaf has promised to visit the Foster Town Market, so everyone around our little corner of the world is anticipating the event. We’ll keep you posted.

Item- A container we have been waiting for has arrived and we’ll be sorting through its contents soon. Among the items are hundreds of boxes of books designated for five area schools. Working with a Canadian NGO called Active Kids, Renita has been liaising with the schools as they’ve each built (with help) a library-reading room in their respective facilities and soon those libraries will be filled with books. We will be conducting library science workshop next week to help the schools organize and run their new additions.

Item- The St Theresa School- Norm Katerberg playground is still under construction, but we hope to see a finished product by next week. We’ve had some snags along the way, and had to push the construction crews not to cut corners, but that is part of the norm here. I have no doubt the kids will appreciate the effort when done. We are putting in two slides, three swing sets, two merry-go-rounds, a jungle gym, and three teeter totters.

Item- Monrovia is out of eggs. As with tomatoes last fall, the city has run out of eggs. Not being an egg guy myself, I can live with it, but it is weird, especially since I thought the eggs were produced locally.

The road to/from Bong Mines in the dry season. Much nicer, but still a bracing experience.

On the way, a common sight throughout the country and continent-- wash day along a local river or pond.

Back around home, a young lady pounds cassava at the Foster Town Market.

Another common sight during our guest's visit-- Todd working on the car. This evening, he replaced the U joint.

Some of you have been asking, so here she is-- Renita Reeves, enjoying her first taste of solid food. We get to take care of her several days a week while mom tries to earn some money. A very easy babe.

Jes' Drippin'

2008-02-25T10:37:00.004Z

Weather Hazy and hot, with very high humidity. Daytime temps in the low 90s, but nighttime lows no lower than the low 80s, making for very poor sleeping conditions, even with the fans. No breeze during the night, but it picks up in late morning and early afternoon. Rain since December 1: about 2 inches.

The air of late has been just about as sticky and heavy as any of us want to experience, but we proceed in the midst of dripping perspiration. The slightest physical exertion is all it takes to get a body drenched.

After a successful and encouraging trip to Senegal with my other CRWRC West Africa colleagues, I returned home to a broke Land Cruiser and a spouse with hands too full. Thanks to one of our visiting guests, Todd Flier, the Cruiser was repaired (U joint) that night in time for the big LEAD conference Saturday. The LEAD conference was successful, even though we hoped for about twice the 150 folks that showed. I think the people that showed got some great tips. The President had some very interesting things to say. She is a highly articulate and intelligent woman.

Today, the visiters are past the Bong Mines region, looking at an agricultural project. If the Bong County curse has been appeased, Renita will return home with tired guests in tow in about 12 hours.

The CRWRC meeting gave me a task, which I will write about later. Right now, I need to get back home and fill in on home schooling chores. Below are a few of the activities the guests have been enjoying. The playgound is coming along fine, but I'll wait until next week to give you that "After" picture.

Visitors Dick, Mary and Todd visit with Cecilia at the Foster Town Market. Examining peppers, okra and tiny eggplants.

A walk on the beach with Todd, Trokon (I think), a kid I don't know, Enoch, Dick and Knot.

The President of Liberia sharing nuggets of wisdom at the LEAD conference.

Sunday night, at the Samuel K. Doe Stadium-- a celebration marking the 150 birthday of Providence Baptist Church. From left, Lou Haveman of Partners Worlwide, Tokon, Enoch, Eastman, Todd Flier and Mary Dekker.

The stadium is as big and good as any in Africa. Severly damaged, it was one of the first things repaired (by the Chinese) after the 2003 war. It's a matter of priorities, you know.

ReedNews Update: Fat February Edition

2008-02-18T14:43:00.004Z

We are in the midst of one of our most active months, and to add crazy to hectic, US President Bush will drive by our house and be in Monrovia next Thursday. This is only the second time a US president has "officially" visited Liberia, the other time when Jimmy Carter paid a call in 1978. (FDR stopped over at Robertsfield Airport during WW2, but this was only to visit US troops.) President Bush appears to have a heart for Liberia, and he and President Johnson-Sirleaf seem to have a great relationship. The February 21 visit will completely disrupt normal life in the Capital; roads will be closed all day, and we are hearing even the cell phone network will be de-activated. This apparently is to thwart possible attack by cell phone operated bombs. I do not understand this. How many nations would allow its entire cellular communication system to be disabled due to a visit from US president? Oh well, in other news:

Item: LEAD conference, titled “The Way Forward: The Future of Small Business in Liberia,” hopes to host 300 business owners at the all day event February 23rd. Speakers include members of the legislature, the head of the Liberia Business Association, the Minister of Commerce and President Johnson-Sirleaf. Pray that the turn out matches the quality of the event.

Item: The Nehemiah Liberia Group— the US partner to LEAD birthed out of our home church—Madison Square Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan—will have representatives visiting us, as well as other Madison Square folks this week. They arrive mid-week, will visit businesses and attend the conference, and do some other hands-on kind of activities, the leave next Wednesday.

Item: I get to miss the Bush visit—I’m in Dakar Senegal from Sunday the 17th until Friday the 22nd attending meetings with the CRWRC West Africa Ministry Team. There, other members of the team from Nigeria, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone will be getting together. A big part of our agenda will be a day-long discussion of the future of CRWRC’s role in Liberia. That discussion is scheduled for Wednesday, the 20th.

Item: We are any day expecting a very late container to come, loaded with books donated by many loving Canadians—including Renita’s family and packed and shipped by Active Kids Canada. We now are hoping it will be even later, until after I return from Senegal to help with the hundreds of boxes of books.

Item: So we got books coming, but what do we do with them? No problem, we identified five schools with the capacity to maintain libraries, and Active Kids funded the actual construction of library rooms. The books will have homes, and five schools will have hundreds of books that had none before. Please God, let the container come after this week!

Item: Thanks to gifts that came to us in memory of Norm Katerberg, we have been able to sponsor a project we think would have delighted our dear friend. In Monrovia, there is a girl’s school with 851 girls, but no playground. Inspired by Norm’s boundless love of children, we decided—in consultation with the Katerberg family, to use the money for a playground. It will have two slides, three swing sets, two marry-go-rounds, three teeter totters, and a jungle gym. That gets built this week as well. Norm’s son, Todd Flier, will be out with the Nehemiah group to aid in the construction.

Item: My Conflict Analysis and Peacebuilding class started last week. It is a class made up of the last twelve students in the “Associates” program in Social Work. We are working to smoothly integrate them into the BSW program.

Item: The Land cruiser may be fixed, but it has cost several thousand dollars to do it. First the crankshaft was mistakenly “repaired,” then the fuel filter pump (very expensive item on this vehicle), then we needed rotors and brake pads. But we can now drive to Gbarnga without it breaking down, so maybe the sacrifice of US dollars appeased the Bong County powers.

Item: Nikki is not pregnant.

Here are a few pics-- sorry about the small captions. Its a long story. The bottom two are of Monrovia, one looking from the north at the city, the other, same location, looking to the north at an area called West Point and the port beyond. The arrow identifies the Mercy Ship.

The Continuing Saga of Enoch the Indomitable

2008-02-11T14:01:00.000Z

He’s now ten, and not much taller than when we introduced you to him twenty months ago. (See May 2006 Archives). Enoch continues to be part of our lives, although the boundaries of our relationship have changed—literally.

About a year ago or so ago, just as Noah’s friendship with Trokon and Eastman blossomed, we began to have problems with Enoch. It seemed whenever Enoch and Trokon were in the same area with Noah, the two Liberian boys were at it, picking fights, harassing and generally “causing palaver” with each other. Because Noah was not actually friendly with Enoch, we began to invite the young lad into our yard less. This did not quiet Enoch down much, in fact I think it just revved him up. He continued to harass and tease Trokon, Noah and Hannah whenever they ventured out of the yard. Sometimes I needed to get involved, and sometimes Enoch actually listened to me. It has always been the case that I have held a special fondness for him, in spite of (or maybe in part because of) his incredible ability to read people so well and instinctively drive them up a wall. His uncommonly quick wit (and tongue), his resilience in the face of adversity, and his non-stop mischievousness are for some reason irresistible to me.

In time, Enoch alienated enough of us to the point where he was almost never invited into the yard, although I continued to maintain a relationship with him, occasionally taking him with me on errands, leaving food for him, buying him footwear, and giving first aid. About six months ago, Enoch, who never met a temptation he could resist, began stealing Legos and other toys from Noah on those rare forays into our yard. Eventually, after trying short term banishments, I told Enoch he was simply not going to be allowed in our yard at all unless I was there to personally monitor him. So for a couple months, we did not see him. I missed him, but at least it was more peaceful around the neighborhood.

About a month ago, in an ironic turn of events, Enoch and his old nemesis Trokon started to hang out together. Because we see Trokon daily, he brought Enoch back into our world—only this time, when Trokon came over for his after-school-til-dark visit, Enoch could only come as far as our gate. Undeterred, he promptly climbed a mango tree just on the other side of our wall and perched himself there. Then he got active—relentlessly calling out to the boys playing on the porch, calling out to me, or Renita, or Hannah-- hoping for any response. I knew I couldn’t stop him, so I began chatting with him up there from the yard. It seemed to give him something he needed. His visits are now almost daily. Somedays, he is up in that tree for hours, entertaining himself with singing, carrying on conversations—sometimes just with himself-- and laughing.

In the evenings, when we go out and sit in the yard, he takes part in the conversation from his mango tree perch. At dinner, Trokon takes some food out beyond the gate to share with him. When he has first aid needs, he comes into the yard for treatment—not as far as the porch though—and then goes back out. I still pick him up on the way to do errands, and I drop him off at the tree when we return. Little rogue that he sometimes is, I still find it impossible not to admire him. He has adapted to the boundaries—a nine foot cement block wall and razor wired steel gate—as casually as if it was a decorative white picket fence. I guess adapting is what he does best. As always, he gets as close as he can, and with that wit and humor and voice, still gets us all going from his perch on the other side of the barrier. And at the end of the day, when darkness falls and the boys go home and we head into the house, I sometimes pause and find myself looking over the yard. I know it is good that we have the wall. But lately, I'm thanking God for that mango tree.

Outside our wall, Enoch (back to us) hassles the boys whipping the grass, so Eastman goes toe to toe with him.
On another afternoon, Noah and Trokon escort the lad from harm's way.
At days end, with Renita in hammock, and I in the chair, the boy in the tree never lets us feel lonely.
Some days, we engage in heated debates regarding the dietary value of palm butter.
For medical treatment, he is allowed in the yard. Here Trokon prepares to remove what Liberians call "Jiggers" from the lad's toes. The animal burrow into the skin and lay eggs which grow and do damage. Trokon is and experienced Jigger remover...

...but its not pleasant. This day, Enoch had over ten jiggers in his feet. He screamed and cried as Trokon went to work, with Eastman observing.
Its probably good the foot is a bit blurry. Here is what it looks like post-op. I put some anti bacterial stuff on it and bandaged it, but by the next week, more jiggers had climbed into the wounds. With Enoch, self care is all about the next meal, never about avoiding jiggers. Maybe he'll remember the tears.

The other day, just outside our wall, he was playing in a brush fire. Not good, as they can get out of hand even with adult supervision...
... So I put him to work on a "Reed Road" project with Trokon as supervising contractor.
Farwell from up in a tree, over the wall, though the razor wire and across the waves.

LEADing the Market Women

2008-02-04T16:46:00.000Z

Weather: After a week of very nice conditions, the heat is back on. Harmattan returned for a week, and we saw cool morning temps—the coolest, actually, in the 30 months since we’ve been here. One morning it got down to a record 60F (15C). Once again, however, morning temps are in the low 80s with high humidity. My glasses actually fogged up this morning just sitting on the porch. Daytime highs in the 90sF. Steady, light ocean breeze, and not a drop o’ rain since early December.

February promises to be one of those months where we just hold our breath and rush to the end. Both Renita and I are juggling activities. I’m teaching a conflict transformation and peacebuilding class for the Mother Patern social work students beginning on the 11th, and on the 17th I’ll traveling to Dakar, Senegal for a week of meetings with the CRWRC West Africa Ministry Team. The agenda includes discussing the future of CRWRC’s work in Liberia, and also next steps for the Reeds. Renita has her hands full as LEAD prepares a business class in Monrovia, Buchanan and the new branch in Gbarnga while at the same times gets ready for a LEAD conference on the 23rd—which, I’m happy to report, will feature a keynote address by none other than Liberia’s President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Add to that an upcoming weeklong visit by representatives from our home church, and we find ourselves with overflowing plates.

If that wasn’t enough for her, today Renita is right here with the LEAD team in Foster Town. The women of the FACT Community Market are among the first to participate in LEADs brand new empowerment initiative for microbusinesses. Until now LEAD has been targeting midsized businesses that could conceivably grow and employ more people. LEAD will continue to serve midsized businesses with loans and business education, but this new initiative will assist very small businesses, like those run by the women at the market. So today and tomorrow (Monday and Tuesday) the women will receive a 15 hour business skills seminar, and after saving for two weeks will receive a US$100 microloan to invest into their efforts. If these loans are repaid, the women can apply for larger loans and perhaps eventually apply to be part of LEAD’s midsized business initiative.

It is not only exciting, but satisfying to see this LEAD/FACT partnership come about. We know these women—they are our neighbors. The market was built by members of this community through FACT, the new community development group working collaboratively with friends from North America. Likewise, LEAD is a product our efforts, along with our partners and friends. LEAD has “come home” to join FACT in serving our very own neighbors. It is as if two of our children, after going out and doing good things on their own, have for the first time found reason to join forces and for a time do their good work together. It makes a parent proud.

Next week: The Continuing Saga of Enoch the Indomitable.

First, proof of coolness in Liberia.

The women of the FACT market listening to James Hilary-- LEAD's veteran. He's been with LEAD almost from the beginning.

Renita, looking serene and contemplative at the same workshop, shares pearls of wisdom gleened from living with Yers Trooly lo' these many years.

And finally, who is this kid spending hours in the mango tree peering into our yard and singing day after day? Give ya a hint... tune in next week.

The Bong County Curse

2008-01-28T10:32:00.000Z

Weather: Hot and dusty during the day with highs in the mid 90s. Pleasant on the porch by morning, with temps in the low 70s—sometimes the high 60s. No rain.

Ok, maybe I overstate. But since we have had the Land Cruiser, every time it travels northeast to Bong County, something goes wrong. We've traveled south, to Buchanan in Bassa County several times over terrible roads, with no problem. Not so with Bong. The first time we took it to Bong Mines, it got stuck and sustained body damage. The second time, it lost a fan belt coming back from Ganta and it took three hours on the roadside to get it back running. (I know what you are thinking--Ganta is in Nimba County, so it can't be the Curse. But it wasn’t until we crossed the county line into Bong that we had the problem. Need I say more? But I shall.) The third time we were on the way back from the Bong County seat of Gbarnga when a timing belt went, but we limped home and fixed it next day. Thursday, Renita took it to Gbarnga and we thought she broke the curse by arriving home safely. We breathed easy when she pulled in the yard. Next morning, I got about two miles in toward town when it died on me. After getting it off the road and waiting six hours for the Mother Patern mechanic Mohammed to arrive, he gave us an ominous initial evaluation. It sounded like something in the engine block—perhaps a piston or something else. The Bong Curse had returned with a vengeance.

Anyway, that was three days ago. We still have no Cruiser and do not know when it will be fixed or how much it will cost. We still have the ’95 Pathfinder, although it is definitely showing its age in this climate. We believe the Pathfinder is also affected by the Bong Curse, even though it’s in no condition to get anywhere near Bong County. We used it to push the Cruiser off the road and it doing so, we broke the plastic hood wind screen thingy. We’ll keep ya’ll apprised.

Renita and Noah are both sick—Renita is coming off Pink Eye and now seems to have strep throat, while Noah has had a steady, spiking fever for four days along with diarrhea. They’re both miserable. I, on the other hand, remain chipper as ever.

If the hood is up, this must be Bong County.

Tid Bits

2008-01-22T14:22:00.000Z

Weather: A few days last week were very hot and humid, with temps nearing 100F (38C). The weekend saw moderate temps (highs in the low 90s, lows in the upper 70s) and steady 15mph sea breezes. Monday sunny, with temps in the mid nineties, very light breeze, and moderate humidity. No rain.

Big news from Grand Rapids comes to us from Cheryl Brandsen, chair of the Calvin College Social Work department. Our collaboration team from Calvin and Kuyper Colleges in Grand Rapids and Mother Patern College in Monrovia has been holding our breath for six months, waiting for word on a grant proposal to fund the BSW project. We can breathe now--The grant was approved for us to shift into high gear. The team, including faculty from both US colleges, hope to be on the ground this summer to continue prep work for their teaching visit next January. This also means textbooks!

Our brother-in-law Brian is back with us, here to do some work with LifeWater Canada. He’s gone most of the day, working in the sun on a new operations compound for LWC’s national counterpart LifeWater Liberia. It was LifeWater Liberia that provided the five new wells for Foster Town.

Noah Reed is now a teenager. On the 16th, we celebrated the lad’s 13th birthday with a medevial murder mystery. We invited the usual suspects in for a dinner party, in which everyone played a part. Not everybody quite got the concept, but it was great fun. Birthday boy Noah was the murdering jester, with Mom in a supporting role as the Hag, Uncle Brian as the guard (“Brioon of Lorna Doone”), and Yers Trooly got to dress in drag and play Nurse Roberta. We played host to Kings, Queens, a Princess, a prince and a Duke. In the end, the troop failed to discover “who done it,” so Brioon executed the wrong guy.

The Foster Town Market is doing well. The new market superintendant has submitted a budget, is cracking down on inefficiency and some in-house corruption, and for the first time the market is actually making money for its parent-- the Foster Town Association for Community Transformation (FACT).

The palm civet continues to enjoy human company. In addition to bananas, she loves roaches, crickets and all manner of bugs. I went to take a nap the other day and he was in my pillow. Almost squished that little lady before I realized where she was. We’ve been meaning to get a cat for a while to play host to our frequent mouse and rat guests, so last week we got a kitten to also provide company for Houdini. The cat is named Pebbles, after our long deceased Michigan puss named Rocky. After a couple days of wary adjustment, cat and civet are now playmates.

On Being Grease

2008-01-14T15:24:00.000Z

Weather: Harmattan visited us for less than a week, with morning temps as low as 64F, a relatively low humidities. We were caressed with perfect weather for about four heavenly days. Alas, all that is over. Temps and dew points are back up with highs in the mid 90s and humid, and outside morning lows are back in the 70s. Morning lows in our house, low 80s.

It is not unusual for Renita or me to get inquiries regarding our work in Liberia. Every week, a curious web surfer stumbles across our blog and contacts us with questions. It is familiar, and really, everybody gets these “So tell me more about your work” requests. Usually, after receiving the information, they say something nice about us and go on with their business. Every once and a while though, we get something like this, “What difference do you think you are making in people’s lives?”

It’s a good question.

To be perfectly candid, I wonder sometimes what difference we make. Not about everything, like I know helping build the Foster Town Market directly impacts a lot of people, but some things I wonder about. For instance, I wonder about the many workshops that Renita and I do. We average a couple hundred hours of workshops every year. We speak before Liberians in rural settings and in schools, in churches and in palaver huts. We discuss topics ranging from “how to manage your microbusiness,” to “resolving conflict in your village” to “Christian leadership.” Is it reasonable to think most of the participants—or even a few—will be changed by what we offer? After spending a few hours together, is it reasonable to expect what we say will even be remembered? Are we wasting our breath if few remember?

Last Friday I sat in the conference room at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. There were a few of us from various organizations and from the Ministry. We were discussing the fact that mental health is low on the government budget priorities. For the umpteenth time. It seems that as the country emerges from its devastation, focus remains on the most serious, most visible damage: roads, infrastructure, and in the health arena, on medical conditions like malaria and HIV. Mental health is difficult to address, or maybe to even think about. So for two and a half years, I’ve faithfully attended most of the Ministry’s “Mental Health Task Force” meetings. I may have attended more meetings than anyone. I’ve offered input, helped with studies, written reports, and conducted a national reporting workshop. And there I was Friday, after two and a half years, listening to some new Ministry guy telling us how important our voice is, that we must continue our advocacy of mental health programming, that the country cannot recover without it.

Blah blah blah.

I thought, “Who are we kidding? Nobody has listened to our advocacy yet, what makes us think anybody will start now? The country is not ready to address its huge mental health needs. We are not making any difference.” I decided I would speak up and say just that. So, in a lull in the conversation, I started to speak. The acting chair person’s phone rang (and in Liberia, phones are almost always allowed to interrupt whatever is going on.). I waited. After the call, we got diverted. Another lull came. I started to speak. The conference door opened, and a latecomer arrived and had to be brought up to speed. Then another diversion. Then another lull, and for the third time I started to speak, only to be interrupted again. I realized that maybe Somebody wanted me to keep my cynical mouth shut. I realized I was being told to take a step back.

I took a step back in my mind, and with a new inner perspective came a new thought. Maybe we are just one part of a process. Maybe we are supposed to be advocating regardless of who's listening, giving workshops that may be forgotten, supposed to be banging our heads against the wall. After all, if you bang your head long enough, the wall gives way. Maybe someday the country will be ready for prioritizing mental health, and then they just might listen to our advocacy, even if we are long gone.

Then in my mind I took another step back, and it hit me that whatever we do, whether we see immediate results—like building a market—or nothing at all, we are everywhere part of a process, like cogs in a giant machine. Or not like cogs, because we are not that important. Maybe we are like grease helping cogs run well. We do our part, get used up, get replaced, but in time our sacrifice, and the sacrifice of those before and after us, pays off. In the end, only the Master Machinist knows the how and where we changed things for the better. I guess in the end, it doesn’t necessarily matter that we see what difference our being used made. In the end, I think it matters mostly that we can say we were available for use and got used doing what we were made to do.

The difference comes in being available.

A couple available people in our lives. Trokon, here 2o feet up trimming the lower branches of one of our two coconut trees. The 12 year old climbs without a ladder and wields the cutlass like a pro. Insert shows him up close in the tree.

Sis' Vera-- available to us every weekday, making shopping, laundry and cooking much easier for the Reeds in Liberia.

ReedNews Update: January Edition

2008-01-07T11:24:00.000Z

Weather: Hot in the days, cooler at night, with daytime highs in the low 90Fs (33C) every day and lows as low as the upper 60Fs (19C) by dawn. Light ocean breeze throughout the day. Virtually no rain since December 1.

Harmattan is returning as I write and promises to give us a couple weeks of cool dry breezes, which makes this the most pleasant season of the year for me. We've been sweltering in hot temps and moderate humidity.

The most humid time is May but dew points have still been high enough to produce lots of sweat and tee shirt changes. I've been going through about four a day. This is a dusty time, with virtually no rain from December to April. We have had a couple cooler nights—got down to about 79F in the house. Very nice relief from the norm. We are just coming off Christmas break which means back to work for Hannah, Noah and Yers Trooly, and simply turning up the volume for Renita. Here’s more news.

Item: Former president Charles Taylor's trial in the Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity has begun after a six month delay. There are supposed to be many eyewitness to his actions. Keep up with the developments on the BBC.

Item: Road work is happening in lots of places, with resurfacing and patching being the primary activity. So far we’ve seen no signs of widening any roads. They really need to rebuild the shoulders at least, because it is not uncommon at all for there to be a foot or more drop on either side of the road. Traffic is fairly jammed during rush hours, but it clears up during the day and on weekends. The government just received a bunch of buses from Spain that they say they are going to use for public transportation.

Item: The cost of living is exploding with food and gas prices leading the increase. As the economy improves, merchants see an opportunity to boost profits. Everyone, from Lebanese building supply owner to Liberian microbusiness operator is asking more for their product. For us it has meant a 20% increase in operating costs this year, with most of that in the last quarter of ‘07. In addition, the value of the Liberian dollar is showing signs of weakening.

Item: Renita continues her LEAD collaboration with the World Food Programme while also interviewing candidates for the new LEAD office in Gbarnga. She is also preparing for a LEAD-sponsored conference on the future of small businesses in Liberia. More on this later.

Item: I’m working on a joint project with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the MPCHS Women’s development program on a series of workshops in the village of Koons Town. Ironically and appropriately, the women’s program is targeting the men of the village as it tries to reduce Gender Based Violence (GBV). More on this later. I’m also getting ready to teach a course in Conflict Analysis and Peacebuilding for the MPCHS social work students.

Item: Without getting graphic, Max and Niki are behaving rather “amorously” toward one another this week. Very touching. I don’t want to get anybody’s hopes up, but we will be listening for the patter of little paws sometime in early March.

Item: Trokon’s mother, who lives in the interior, brought us a creature from her neck of the rainforest. It is an African palm civet (Nandinia binotata). I actually ate one a couple years back in Cestus City with cassava leaf over rice. Kinda chewy. Most Liberians call it a “Tree Coon.” These creatures are not in the same family or genus as most civets, and are sometimes confused with another civet of the same name. Common creatures, they are not threatened, and do quite well in captivity. So we’ll keep her a while. Reminds me of a cross between a house cat, a raccoon and a teddy bear. Omnivorous, she loves bananas and crickets. Noah named her Houdini.

Look at this lil' lady! No, she's not getting squished, just held with authority. Note the pink feet.
She eats a banana a day. Finding a warm shoulder to rest upon.
A non-civet related shot of the kids. This was actually last Halloween. They banged on our bedroom door demanding candy.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

2007-12-31T11:05:00.000Z

Weather: Hot and Humid. Daytime temps in the mid 90s, lows in the mid 70s. Light variable breezes. No precipitation. Less than one tenth of an inch of rain since December 1.

So 2007 is history, and 2008 is upon us. The year promises to be eventful for this country in transition. Year end is the right time to look over our shoulders at what has been accomplished through the efforts of a few of us . We know what we’ve done is small for this nation of three million, but there are thousands joining in to rebuild Liberia. So we feel good about that small part we’ve played. For those who might wonder what we were up to on ’07, here is a partial list.

Helped develop and launch the first academic program to train professional social workers to support individuals, families and communities get back on track in a postwar environment through the Mother Patern College of Health Sciences. 25 first year students.
Saw LEAD Inc. expand to two more counties; Liberian staff increased from one to seven. Trained more LEAD businesses, bringing the total to 233 businesses with 71 business loans.
Working with the fledgling Foster Town Association for Community Transformation (FACT) we constructed a major community market place where a hundred women can come and sell food, clothing, and other products-- plus have a central place to simply connect.
Conducted many workshops, developed and taught another college course.
Made important recommendations to the Liberian Government and key players regarding mental health training standards; developed and presented a related national workshop.
Continued our partner relationship between Calvin College, Kuyper College and Mother Patern College of Health Sciences.
Provided 22 school children with full tuition scholarships for the entire year through your gifts to our community fund.
Underwrote eight Foster Town business start-ups (apart from LEAD) through your gifts to our community fund.
Facilitated new partnerships between
o LEAD and the World Food Program to work with women who are HIV/AIDS positive in creating self-sustainability through business.
o LEAD and the International Labour Organization for the creation of 40 new trash removal businesses, a much needed utility in Monrovia.
o Active Kids Canada and five Liberian schools for building libraries, and the shipment of thousands of textbooks and reading books—arriving January 2008.
o LifeWater and FACT for the construction of four new wells in the Foster Town area.

So it’s been a good year. What does 2008 look like? Well, we will continue our work with LEAD, Mother Patern College, and the Foster Town community. Our volunteer agreement with CRWRC ServiceLink ends June 2008, although we’d like to continue at least into the fall. We have not the first clue as to what follows our work in this country, but since our hands are full while we are here, I guess we’ll find out when we are supposed to about life after Liberia. When we know, you’ll know.

Until then, stay tuned, hang on, enjoy the ride—and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Note: internet is acting up, so no pictures. Next week, we’ll introduce you to another of Liberia’s indigenous creatures: the Two Spotted African Palm Civet! She’s a real sweetheart.

2007-12-24T11:50:00.000Z

MERRY CHRiSTMAS!!

In this season of Advent, anticipation, and delight

In this season of hurry, jostling, and anxiety

In this season of remembering--

With tears of sadness and joy

In this season of hope;

The Reeds wish you, our many friends,

* near and far away *

All the warmth and goodness of this most special day.

Bob, Renita, Hannah & Noah

A Working Birthday

2007-12-17T17:50:00.000Z

Weather: Hot and Hazy most days, with daytime his in the mid 90sF and nighttime lows in the upper 70sF. Light, variable breezes through the day. Moderate humidity. No rain in two weeks.

Renita sees another birthday today, and the love of my life is spending it in Monrovia starting another three-day business workshop with women in the WFP’s HIV program. In the midst of the workshop, she needs to run off and attend a meeting with a large US NGO on behalf of LEAD. Then back to the workshop, run a few errands, and maybe get home by six. (She left at 7:30am) Meantime, I’m taking the day off to take over teaching duties, and make sure the birthday cake gets baked.

Last week, in addition to preparing for the new Gbarnga office, Renita also attended two graduation ceremonies as LEAD completed its sixth and seventh classes, these in Monrovia and Buchanan. To date LEAD has trained 233 businesses, offered 7 twelve week courses which impacted 755 jobs. She reports that 59 new jobs have been created. LEAD has approved 71 business loans and over $40,000 US dollars have been distributed, with a 92% repayment rate.

It has always been the case that Renita works hard and smart. Where ever she goes, she makes things happen. Projects get completed, contacts get made, employees get trained and supported, proposals get written, all while at the same time providing support to the local community and managing things around home. She is in an African culture, yet even here, as in the States, people respond to her, look to her, follow her. She is respected because she delivers results. Renita remains focused, regardless of how slowly everybody else seems to moving around her. She never quits, rarely lets up. She is forever imagining, planning, preparing, or completing. I do not know anyone who applies so much energy to doing a job right.

And yet, she is almost completely unsupervised. She answers to almost no one. Nobody monitors her, and she remains fanatically scrupulous. No one watches her clock, yet she shows up early and leaves late. She is a volunteer, gets paid nothing, yet fights to make sure LEAD continues to grow, that the staff gets paid fairly, and that every dime is accounted for.

There really is only one reason that anyone would work this hard. People never put out this kind of energy or generate this level of productivity unless they care about something. Ambitious people are caring people, passionate people. For some, the passion is for recognition, for others it is status, or money or influence. And the level of energy is proportional to the amount of passion. Care-- or passion-- can exist for anything and can drive us anywhere. For Renita, it is simple and obvious: she loves God. She loves seeing righteousness and justice prevail, she cares about His people, and she is passionate about pleasing him. She works because she loves. She works for Him.

Today, her birthday, is like any other for her. She’s got stuff to do.

Happy Birthday, my love. See you soon. The cake is waiting.

Just last week, two graduations.

Today, the birthday girl is in Monrovia all day in meetings and leading the WFP-LEAD workshop.

Meanwhile, the kids bake a cake and decorate the house (their faces too).

With one of a dozen "MOM"s hanging, the family awaits her return, cake in hand.