This is a really great picture of Chokon. Hannah thinks it is gross, but I like it. It shows what this fellow is like all the time.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
On a Happier Note
Renita's folks-- Hannah and Noah's Opa and Oma-- are here and having the time of their lives. They are serving, playing, preaching, helping, and being great guests. They are drinking the place in. Here are a few pictures of their time thus far.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Gunfire in the Night
Renita’s folks are here and are experiencing all of Liberia. I’ll give a full report of their visit with images in a few days, and it has been going very well, but Sunday the 2nd we were all reminded of how bad things can go very quickly.
We were awakened at 1:30am Sunday with a series of perhaps seven or more gunshots in rapid succession, followed two or three more, followed by a single shot a few minutes later. The gunfire was coming from our neighbor’s house, a businessman with the largest house in the area. We have heard shooting coming from his house before, when rogues were attempting to enter his property, and he would fire a pistol a few times to scare them off. It worked in the past.
This time was different. Apparently nine men entered the property, one armed with a powerful assault-type weapon, and gained access into the house. Our neighbor’s wife was cut with a machete, and our neighbor went into action. He wrestled the gun away from the leader and began firing. In the space of ten seconds, two intruders were dead, another seriously wounded and later captured by police, and the rest vanished into the night.
Within a half hour, UNMIL and Liberian police were on the scene and secured the area. By 9:00am, there was a large crowd gathered around the property. They were waiting for information, and waiting to see the bodies of the rogues still inside the walled house. They wanted to know if these were men from the community or from elsewhere. At around 10:00am the police brought the bodies out in the bed of a pickup truck. They allowed every person in the crowd to look at the two dead men. As I watched our neighbors slowly make their way single file around the pickup, I had a viewpoint that allowed me to see our neighbor’s faces, each as they viewed the dead men. Many appeared initially excited about viewing the bodies, laughing and chatting, but as they rounded the bed of the truck, and looked at the two lifeless faces, their manner changed. Some looked visibly surprised, some looked repelled, some troubled, but everyone that looked was changed. For that moment, it was no longer a “We Gotcha” party.
After everyone had viewed the dead men, Deacon Reeves and I were still standing a few yards in from of the truck when a couple policemen invited me—actually urged me with a smile--to take my turn and view the bodies. I asked Deacon Reeves if he wanted to, and he said yes. So we did. It was as unsettling and sad as I thought it would be. I looked into the faces of these men, displayed like trophy objects on the bed of this pickup. Both had terrible wounds. I found, as everyone else had, that there was no joy, no victory in the bed of this truck. These were two men whose lives were forever over, violently, without dignity. I know these men were responsible for the events that led to their deaths. I know they preyed upon innocent people, and left fear and grief in their wake. I know my neighbors thought the rogues got what they deserved, and I can even appreciate the sentiment. Maybe they did. But it made me sick just the same.
I wonder about the meaninglessness of their deaths, and the legacy they leave. I wonder about the people of this community, what hearing automatic gunfire again in their neighborhood does to their souls. I wonder about my neighbor, how his life may be forever changed by this. It is ironic that he attended a community meeting we hosted just last week and he told us how he believed these rogues were just “youth from the neighborhood that just needed something to do.” Now he has killed two of them. In a conversation with Renita later Sunday, he said he felt completely fine about it, but that he might not sleep too well for a while. Really.
His wife was not seriously wounded, and will recover quickly from her wounds. Our community has a new hero. The neighborhood will likely not be bothered for a little while now. The wounded rogue is in a hospital, naming names and preparing to face the Liberian criminal justice system. The newspapers this morning featured grisly photos of the two dead men on their front pages. And for everyone else, life goes on.
UPDATE April 5: The third shot man, a man who actually worked for our neighbor, died of his wounds on Tuesday. This brings the total fatalities in the incident to three.
We were awakened at 1:30am Sunday with a series of perhaps seven or more gunshots in rapid succession, followed two or three more, followed by a single shot a few minutes later. The gunfire was coming from our neighbor’s house, a businessman with the largest house in the area. We have heard shooting coming from his house before, when rogues were attempting to enter his property, and he would fire a pistol a few times to scare them off. It worked in the past.
This time was different. Apparently nine men entered the property, one armed with a powerful assault-type weapon, and gained access into the house. Our neighbor’s wife was cut with a machete, and our neighbor went into action. He wrestled the gun away from the leader and began firing. In the space of ten seconds, two intruders were dead, another seriously wounded and later captured by police, and the rest vanished into the night.
Within a half hour, UNMIL and Liberian police were on the scene and secured the area. By 9:00am, there was a large crowd gathered around the property. They were waiting for information, and waiting to see the bodies of the rogues still inside the walled house. They wanted to know if these were men from the community or from elsewhere. At around 10:00am the police brought the bodies out in the bed of a pickup truck. They allowed every person in the crowd to look at the two dead men. As I watched our neighbors slowly make their way single file around the pickup, I had a viewpoint that allowed me to see our neighbor’s faces, each as they viewed the dead men. Many appeared initially excited about viewing the bodies, laughing and chatting, but as they rounded the bed of the truck, and looked at the two lifeless faces, their manner changed. Some looked visibly surprised, some looked repelled, some troubled, but everyone that looked was changed. For that moment, it was no longer a “We Gotcha” party.
After everyone had viewed the dead men, Deacon Reeves and I were still standing a few yards in from of the truck when a couple policemen invited me—actually urged me with a smile--to take my turn and view the bodies. I asked Deacon Reeves if he wanted to, and he said yes. So we did. It was as unsettling and sad as I thought it would be. I looked into the faces of these men, displayed like trophy objects on the bed of this pickup. Both had terrible wounds. I found, as everyone else had, that there was no joy, no victory in the bed of this truck. These were two men whose lives were forever over, violently, without dignity. I know these men were responsible for the events that led to their deaths. I know they preyed upon innocent people, and left fear and grief in their wake. I know my neighbors thought the rogues got what they deserved, and I can even appreciate the sentiment. Maybe they did. But it made me sick just the same.
I wonder about the meaninglessness of their deaths, and the legacy they leave. I wonder about the people of this community, what hearing automatic gunfire again in their neighborhood does to their souls. I wonder about my neighbor, how his life may be forever changed by this. It is ironic that he attended a community meeting we hosted just last week and he told us how he believed these rogues were just “youth from the neighborhood that just needed something to do.” Now he has killed two of them. In a conversation with Renita later Sunday, he said he felt completely fine about it, but that he might not sleep too well for a while. Really.
His wife was not seriously wounded, and will recover quickly from her wounds. Our community has a new hero. The neighborhood will likely not be bothered for a little while now. The wounded rogue is in a hospital, naming names and preparing to face the Liberian criminal justice system. The newspapers this morning featured grisly photos of the two dead men on their front pages. And for everyone else, life goes on.
UPDATE April 5: The third shot man, a man who actually worked for our neighbor, died of his wounds on Tuesday. This brings the total fatalities in the incident to three.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Wouldn't Ya Know It?
Yesterday, March 29 was quite a day for the Reeds and quite a day for Liberia. Charles Taylor, former president and charged by the UN for war crimes and crimes against humanity, was flown to Robertsfield Airport by the Nigerian government to touch down on Liberian soil, then be arrested by UN troops, and immediately coptered off to Sierra Leone (and later the Hague, it looks like) for trial. At the same time, Renita was on her way to the airport to pick up her mom and dad, flying in from Canada via Brussels. The airport was flooded with elite UN troops and international media. We were worried for a moment that the Brussels flight might not be allowed to land. Fortunately, Mr. Taylor was off the ground just before Renita's folks landed. Renita claimed her parents without a hitch and they are safely at our place.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Eight Month Update
We arrived at Robertsfield Airport July 24, 2005. It seems like another age ago. The adjustment continues for us, some have further to go than others—but the progress is now three steps forward, one back. Here’s some news:
Item: As you know and may have seen, President Sirleaf addressed a joint session of the US Congress. This rare honor was a tremendous boost to her already high standing in Liberia, and gives her much political leverage to accomplish the rebuilding of Liberia over the course of time the job will require. I think her international popularity helps Liberians be more patient with her. They may believe she is competent, so when she says, “the job will take years,” they are more likely to believe her.
Item: They say Monrovia will have limited electricity by this August. No, the Reeds will not benefit from this, although they say street lights will be operating within a 12 mile radius of the city, which could affect us depending on from where the twelve miles is measured.
Item: The well now has a pump. This is a great advancement and means two things: clean water coming out of the well, and much less toil in collecting our 30-50 gallons of water a day. Hannah or Noah do the pumping, Renita and I the hauling. The pump is a gift from a group of committed Madison Square Church folks who love this neighborhood from thousands of miles away. From about a hundred Liberians and four North Americans, thank you.
Item: Renita’s mother Marrie and father Peter will be here next week. The family is excited and eagerly anticipating their arrival. Not to mention the 150lbs of stuff they are bringing. Marrie will be active doing nurse things with dying AIDS patients, teaching nursing students at Mother Patern College, and assisting the medical team at ELWA hospital. Peter will be teaching for several of the area churches, and preaching on Sunday.
Item: Both Renita and I are teaching each week. Renita is teaching and coordinating the LEAD class of 20 business people, and I am teaching the Conflict, Trauma and Peacebuilding course to 19 college students at MPCHS.
Item: Progress is being made on the US college- MPCHS connection toward creating a Bachelor of Social Work program here. Too early for an announcement, but keep yer eyeballs peeled.
Item: Unfortunately, the rogues are still active in our area. While they have not bothered us since we completed our wall and got a barking dog, the other night they broke into our dear friend Deacon Reeves shed and stole his generator. Now he is completely without power except for the three hours we run the generator from 7:00pm to 10:00pm. (We run a line from our house to his.)
Sorry, no pictures today—more soon. Thank you for your attention, and your support. You are the vessels through which good stuff is moving here. Thanks for LEAD, thanks for the BSW program, thanks for the well pump—thanks for everything.
Item: As you know and may have seen, President Sirleaf addressed a joint session of the US Congress. This rare honor was a tremendous boost to her already high standing in Liberia, and gives her much political leverage to accomplish the rebuilding of Liberia over the course of time the job will require. I think her international popularity helps Liberians be more patient with her. They may believe she is competent, so when she says, “the job will take years,” they are more likely to believe her.
Item: They say Monrovia will have limited electricity by this August. No, the Reeds will not benefit from this, although they say street lights will be operating within a 12 mile radius of the city, which could affect us depending on from where the twelve miles is measured.
Item: The well now has a pump. This is a great advancement and means two things: clean water coming out of the well, and much less toil in collecting our 30-50 gallons of water a day. Hannah or Noah do the pumping, Renita and I the hauling. The pump is a gift from a group of committed Madison Square Church folks who love this neighborhood from thousands of miles away. From about a hundred Liberians and four North Americans, thank you.
Item: Renita’s mother Marrie and father Peter will be here next week. The family is excited and eagerly anticipating their arrival. Not to mention the 150lbs of stuff they are bringing. Marrie will be active doing nurse things with dying AIDS patients, teaching nursing students at Mother Patern College, and assisting the medical team at ELWA hospital. Peter will be teaching for several of the area churches, and preaching on Sunday.
Item: Both Renita and I are teaching each week. Renita is teaching and coordinating the LEAD class of 20 business people, and I am teaching the Conflict, Trauma and Peacebuilding course to 19 college students at MPCHS.
Item: Progress is being made on the US college- MPCHS connection toward creating a Bachelor of Social Work program here. Too early for an announcement, but keep yer eyeballs peeled.
Item: Unfortunately, the rogues are still active in our area. While they have not bothered us since we completed our wall and got a barking dog, the other night they broke into our dear friend Deacon Reeves shed and stole his generator. Now he is completely without power except for the three hours we run the generator from 7:00pm to 10:00pm. (We run a line from our house to his.)
Sorry, no pictures today—more soon. Thank you for your attention, and your support. You are the vessels through which good stuff is moving here. Thanks for LEAD, thanks for the BSW program, thanks for the well pump—thanks for everything.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Just a Couple of Neighbor Kids
Ishmael and Sam live not too far from us. Their families are not able to send them to school. Instead, Ishmael and Sam work, most of the day, every day, selling food and snacks created by the ladies in charge of their house. They sell to make a few dollars the families need to eat, for just that day.
Ishmael and Sam are not alone. Every day, little children are everywhere around us missing school, selling homemade treats to other children and adults to provide for their families. They are as young as four or five. These two are nine and seven. They visit us almost every day.
Ishmael and Sam are not alone. Every day, little children are everywhere around us missing school, selling homemade treats to other children and adults to provide for their families. They are as young as four or five. These two are nine and seven. They visit us almost every day.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
The West Africa Team Meeting, Part 2
I was away from the family for seven days to meet the WAMT and participate it its regular meeting-- this time outside of Dakar, Senegal. I must say, the environment and climate we delightful. Sometimes, it felt like I was on a very nice vacation. Mostly though, it was a priviledge to meet the members of the team. They have been on the front lines for years fighting against hunger, poverty, and the systems of that perpetuate hunger and poverty.
Senegal was a very comfortable place for me. It was mostly dusty and arrid, but I will take the desert conditions over Liberia's humidity anytime. It was remarkable feeling the difference. In the evenings, the air was actually cool and dry-- a sensation I have not felt for eight months.
Enjoy the images. And thanks for paying attention. You would be surprised if you knew how much it matters.
Senegal was a very comfortable place for me. It was mostly dusty and arrid, but I will take the desert conditions over Liberia's humidity anytime. It was remarkable feeling the difference. In the evenings, the air was actually cool and dry-- a sensation I have not felt for eight months.
Enjoy the images. And thanks for paying attention. You would be surprised if you knew how much it matters.
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