New Year, New Life

While enjoying the Christmas holidays, a local church asked if I would be willing to help them baptize some new Christians New Years Eve morning. Of course I was honored to join them at this joyful event. Baptism is a lovely and inspiring act of submission, and a powerful symbol of death and rebirth.



Renita and I joined the dozen new converts at sun up, and a couple pastors from local congregations were there to assist. We stood in the water, faced the rising sun, and rejoiced at the promise that we are buried and risen with Christ. It was holy fun.

I keep telling everybody that we are not missionaries or a pastors, just Christians trying to live out our faith in meaningful ways. I guess I've figured out by now that "just living out our faith means more that what we thought.

As of January 8, the Reeds are all back to work. The kids are in school, Renita is branching out, taking LEAD on the road, and the MPCHS social work staff is hammering out the details of its new social work program, plus preparing for a visit next year from Calvin College students. The cool Harmattan winds are still with us, but we know that the weather, like the work, is going to heat up soon.

Its Like Harmattan on a Hot African Day

Three days ago, we woke up our typical 81 degree morning, but something we do not see much here: fog. Fog, as you know, develops when the temperature reaches what is called the “dew point.” Dew point is also related to humidity, especially to how uncomfortable the air feels. Back home in Michigan, when the dew point reaches the upper 60s, it begins to feel what we call “muggy.” By the time it reaches 72, the air is thick and we are sweating heavily. In Michigan, the dew point rarely reaches 74, but when it does, it is almost unbearable. Everybody complains and runs for the AC. I do not believe I ever saw a dew point of 75 in Michigan. So imagine a dew point of 81. The sweat, unable to evaporate, drips off your face and body.

Yesterday morning, I woke up to what looked initially like an overcast day. I headed outside on my morning routine (feeding chickens, weavers, deer, monkey and dogs) and saw the sun cutting through a haze. I realized I was not looking at clouds, but dust. Within minutes, I began to feel a most heavenly breeze. It was something I had not felt in 17 months: cool and dry. The humidity dropped 30 points within minutes. I stood in my yard, arms outstretched, and received the grace with a smile.

Harmattan had come. Harmattan is the name of the winds that come from the Sahara in the north. They usually occur sometime between December and February, although last year they did not come at all. This was our first experience, and after 17 months of daily working in some of the highest dew points on earth, I cannot convey the relief we felt. This morning, the dew points were in the 50s and temperature was 65F degrees for a few hours. That is the lowest temp we have felt here by at least seven degrees. I was almost cold. I even turned my bedside fan off for a few minutes. Then the mosquitoes showed up and back on it went.

But we are loving the gift of cool, fresh feeling air during this holiday break. Enjoy a few relaxing photos of the creatures in our lives. One of these days, we'll get back to work.

Dog meets Deer. Notice the delicate paw/hoof dance.

Dear meets Deer. Renita has two new kids. We spend every night with the monkey on our lap and the deer at our feet. Now we get a cool breeze to boot.

Kids in the trees, monkey on the ground. Deer supervising. Seems about right.

Happy New Year!

So our first year is “fini.” True, we have been here a year and a half, but the first few months were all about getting accustomed to life on the West African coast. 2006 saw adjustment, and we began in earnest what we came here to do. For those of you who wonder what we do here besides hang around the porch and collect animals, here is a list of activities that kept us feeling useful in 2006. For those of you who support us in any way, from the US, Canada, or Liberia, include yourself in the “we.” Some of you may have seen a similar list in our Christmas letter. If so, feel free to feel good all over again. Working together, "we..."

* helped facilitate a budding partner relationship between Calvin and Kuyper Colleges with Mother Patern College of Health Sciences working to develop Liberia’s first professional social work program.

* trained through LEAD 90 businesses in three twelve week courses, distributed business loans and saw new jobs created.

* developed and taught 3 new college courses for the upcoming Mother Patern BSW curriculum.

* Worked with the Liberian Ministries of Health and Education, to forward key progress toward improving national mental health standards and service for the future.

* assisted in the creation of community development association in our area— The Foster Town Community Development Association. (FoCDA). Three community workshops were offered by FoCDA, with attendance over a hundred at each. More coming.

* are lending our heads and hands as the community establishes a market. Currently people travel miles to get daily food; donations from Madison members have been used to secure land and start building a structure and tables-- allowing many to shop near home.

* taught and trained in a dozens of workshops, ranging from two hours to two weeks long, offered to hundreds of people in settings throughout Liberia—topics: counseling skills, psychosocial skills, classroom management, phonics, teacher/student and teacher/parent relationships, Reformed theology, alleviating poverty, starting a business, church leadership.

* participated in establishing neighborhood watch groups, in partnership with the local police station.

* are helping facilitate partnerships between 2 local schools and Millbrook Christian and Beaver Dam Christian in Michigan. Letters exchanged, money raised for school improvements.

* providing ongoing monthly support of local orphanage: school scholarships and uniforms plus food money for 37 children.

* raised funds for two new roofs—one on a local church, the other on a local home, and a new pump-head for a neighborhood well.

* established a new community library (our living room) – at least 30 books and games loaned weekly to neighborhood kids.

* are sponsoring and lending our enormous athletic talent to the Eleven Dangerous Dwarves – the local boy’s soccer team.

* have placed hundreds of band-aids placed on cuts, given out thousands of pinches and administered countless “conks” to dozens of little heads.

* distributed scads of clothing, Bibles, books, toys, educational materials, loans, school scholarships, gifts to families for various needs (funerals, sickness, housing, etc.).

We have said it before many times. The Reeds are in Liberia as servants, mostly doing what we can to help others—from the US, Canada, and Liberia—as they work to rebuild this nation. I think of us all as builders and farmers, creating structures for the future, planting crops that produce for many years to come. We are in this together, and we are humbled to be a part of the effort.

May 2007 see more building, more planting, and more fruit.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Blogger is finally up again after a week of not letting us in, so here we are. We try to give you news at least once a week, so if it has been longer than that, it's almost always a technical glitch. Here is our Christmas entry, which has been updated a bit.

We are in a quieting down mode these last few days. LEAD and Mother Patern College are taking a break, school is out for a few weeks, and even though rogue activity is up again, we are responding with a night time neighborhood watch. It seems much quieter than last year. It feels like Liberia is healing.

Monrovia is a crazy town as shoppers flood the street side markets looking for gifts for family and friends. Here, as in America, Christmas is too much about buying and getting. It is tough to watch the pressure Liberians put on each other to “give me my Christmas,” especially with such extreme poverty and unemployment. So the Reeds are avoiding the city at all costs, and happy to live far enough away not to feel the chaos.

Back home, we are taking things in stride. Our struggling generator, a very generous gift from our friends Mary and Ron Van Valkenberg, finally gave up the ghost after fourteen months of suffering the effects of Liberia’s salty humidity and terrible gasoline. Yet even living without electricity for many days during the last month was ok. The evenings were quiet, and the candlelight was nice. The new, much smaller and simpler generator we bought Monday is humming along beautifully. All’s well that ends well.

The living room is decorated with cut-out snowflakes and birthday wishes for Jesus, and we even have a two foot high plastic tree adorning one of our end tables. Christmas day, we’ll have our traditional birthday party for Jesus and enjoy a meal of chicken thighs and legs (we never see chicken breasts here)m mashed potatoes, gravy, cornbread dressing, canned green beans and homemade apple and chocolate cream pie.

As we enjoy the breather, enjoy these cheery Christmastime images.

Noah and Trokon building a palm leaf hut. Planning a camp out soon. Getting help from Christmas elves. Why are they white?

Trokon up the plam tree cutting down a ripe bunch of palm nuts. Palm butter and dried fish! Yum! A holiday treat!

Hannah and Andrew. I'm watching him like a hawk.

Time for Christmas cookies-- hold the palm oil.

The next door neighbor pup and the monkey making out under the mistly tow. Look, I know its holly, but these guys use any excuse they can.

The monk and Renita enjoying an elf fly-by.



Christmas morn, sunrise in the Reed home. We caught the elves trying to rip us off.

They say there is a resemblance, but this picture proves otherwise.

Ground Breaking Stuff

I mentioned a while ago that FoCDA, our very own community development association, is hard at work to get our neighbors involved in making Foster Town/Thinkers Village a cohesive community. A few months ago they agreed that the neighborhood needed a market, where people could buy and sell food and other general store items. In Liberia, as it is throughout much of Africa, most people have no electricity, no way to refrigerate food. Someone must go to a local market every day for that day's meals. Currently the nearest market to us is miles away and means people with very little money must find it daily to pay for transportation for food.

Now, thanks to to some very active Liberian friends and neighbors at FoCDA, and a few American supporters, a Foster Town Market will soon be a reality. The ground breaking was Friday the 8th, and folks are busily clearing the land and preparing to build the structure.

Foster Town and Thinkers Village friends and neighbors gather for the ground breaking.

Rev Augustine Zar digs into the sand in front of the large field that will become a community market. If all goes as planned, this will make daily life easier for several thousand people living in the area.

What does the President of Liberia, Gender Based Violence, A New Book, HIV-AIDS and a Monkey Have in Common?

UPDATED 12/11/06
They were all a part of a very busy Reed week. On Thursday, the Reeds were invited to attend a Presidential launching of a new effort to combat the significant gender based violence problem in the country. In partnership with several UN agencies, this effort will hopefully be a major step toward bringing peace and justice to the country.

At the launching, the President also announced a new book put together by my dear friends, Grace Boiwu, head of the Mother Patern College Women's Program, and Barbara Brillant, Dean of MPC. Grace and Sr. Barbara both spoke at the event.

On Friday, we all joined MPCHS as it celebrated World AIDS Day. School children from ten or so Catholic schools put on a great show, and the day ended with sports and games. We brought a few neighborhood kids along with us. It was inspiring to see these kids speaking out on the subject. 9 out of 10 kids with AIDS are in sub-Saharan Africa.

And the Monkey? She was a major part of our week. On Tuesday, some neighborboys brought a monkey—specifically a “white eyelid” mangabey (Cercocebus fuliginosusto) to us after their uncle delivered her to them from the interior. I had mixed feelings about taking her, but she apparently has been with people for a while and the boys did not want her. She quickly endeared herself to all of us. She is affectionate, responsive and playful. You ought to see her torment Nikki and Pinky.

As I say, I’m feeling ambivalent. On the one hand, the kids and dogs are crazy about her. They love playing with her—although one gets the feeling that actually she is toying with them and they are just trying to keep up. She appears completely in control, happy and adjusted. On the other hand, I have not fully fleshed out my position on the “primates as pets” issue. I’ve done some research and we are figuring out the most resposible course of action for her. We are leaning toward releasing her up country.

So how was your week? Finally, we are able to upload some pics. The internet has been very slow for a week. Here goes:

First stop, the Gender Violence meeting with President Sirleaf. These are the women from the MPCHS women's program, with the staff behind.

The President, sitting next to a UN official and our own Sr. Barbara Brillant.

Two pretty great women trying to rebuild a nation. Present Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Grace Boiwu, head of the women's program and the catalyst behind the book, One Pain Touches All.

Sr. Barbara, ever the opportunist, gets the President to sign some of the books. She'll sell 'em to the highest bidder.

Next day, the Reeds observed World AIDS Day with children from the Catholic Schools. A brass band leads 300 school children through the streets of Matadi, a Monrovian suburb.

The Reeds seated behind the Sisters of Charity (Mother Theresa's order), and the other organizers as the program begins.

Lots of traditional dancing...

...and songs about preventing HIV infection.

...along with some original poetry. All in all a great day.

Now on to the Mangabey. Say hi.

The lil' lady is a load o' laffs.

You haven't lived until you've been groomed by a monkey.

ReedNews Update

Due to deaths, ponderings, and general busy-ness, we have not given you a news update in a month or so. The hot, drier season is upon us which means it is time for some of the government-sponsored road work to begin. We have seen some of these plans, which include resurfacing and widening roads, as well as creating new paved roads in the interior. Have yet to see much around Monrovia, but watch for it daily. More power continues to be restored in Monrovia. Mother Patern College is powered 22 hours a day. Street lights are now extending out of town, inching their way toward us. Here is what else is happening.

Item- Renita has just ended her third twelve-week class on business development for LEAD. More businesses are requesting loans, and the next class is being planned. LEAD is getting to be quite the "Little NGO That Could."

Item- Mid terms are over for my class at MPCHS. Most folks are doing well, but a couple are really struggling. I hate the idea of anybody flunking.

Item- I've been asked to create an all day workshop on behalf of the ministry of health for a bunch of mental health organizations. This will be a report on the work our task force has been doing to establish mental health training standards for Liberia.

Item- The Foster Town Community Development Association is busy working on its next project, and its a big'un. They are working to establish a community market. This would be a huge boon to the Foster Town/Thinkers Village area. Currently people have to travel miles for daily food. This would put all they need within walking distance. The benefit would be to thousands. Thanks to a Madison Square family for the money to secure the land. The community meeting are a thrill to behold. Neighbors that hardly talked before working together to make the community healthier, happier, and more close-knit.

Item- On the Reed home front, our hands are full keeping our car and generator running. In the last month, we have replaced bushings, balljoints and shocks on the Pathfinder, and diodes, a capacitor, and other maintainance on the generator. As I write, the generator is still under repair and the Reeds have been without power for four nights. We are seriously considering buying a smaller backup, thanks to a gift from my big brother, Don and his wife Carolyn.

Item- Some of you read our update from Friday, November 4 of 2005 on the death of our next door neighbor's dog, Survivor. Survivor was hit by a car with ten barely weened pups. The Reeves' gave away all the dogs--including one to us we named Pinky-- except one, which they named Survivor. Six weeks ago, Survivor II gave birth to six pups, and two weeks later, in front of Hannah and Renita, was herself hit and killed buy a car. So now we are trying to give these pups a chance. One has already died. Needless to say, none are named Survivor.

Here are a few current "around the house" photos.

Each morning, after some individual quiet time, we start the day together over coffee. Rarely missed, it is an important time to connect and plan. Noah usually accompanies us. I look at my toes and dream of Michigan.

As we sip and talk, we also watch the birds-- egrets, doves, kingfishers-- and these little guys, weavers. The males are bright yellow with a red eye peering out of a black head. They move like a wall as they devour the rice we toss out for the chickens.

Extremely skiddish, the weavers take off at the slightest movement. We can feel the blast of air from their wings from our chairs on the porch.

Last Saturday, the boys asked us if our yard could be part of their "cleanup campaign." They were attempting to raise money for the new "younger kids" football team. There were about fifteen kids in all.

One of Survivor's pups, Blackie, became very sick because of a worm related problem. We brought him home for some intensive care, but it proved to be too late. Blackie died that night.

Next day, Eastman and the Reed kids buried Blackie. Blackie's owner Trokon was off playing football. As always, death is never far away, so it is taken in stride. As always, only Hannah and Noah shed tears.

On a lighter note, Noah and Yers T. are introducing an exciting new game to the neighborhood. Its called "softball." The kids are loving it. They dig the helmets too. A gift from the Ammons'.

Day is done, and the generator is acting up. Yers Trooly lowering the idle so we get the proper amount of watts. Nobody want to see anything blow up...

... like Noah's head for example. Just before bed, a bit of barbering. The great thing about Noah is his multi-tasking ability. Here, he gets his hair cut while at the same time plays "The Sims."

The all-important family septic tank shot. We're always looking for a nice backdrop.

Mother Patern Visits Foster Town

The newly created "Foster Town Community Development Association" is off and running.(Acronym FoCDA, which is also Bassa word meaning "rest." Most of our Foster Town/Thinkers Village neighbors are Bassa.) In three months, they have offered three fine workshops, with over a hundred community folks attending each. The first was on neighborhood security, and was presented by reps from UNMIL and the Liberian National Police. Out of it, a neighborhood watch is being formed. The second workshop was offered by some medical folks from our nearbye hospital, and it was on HIV/AIDS. From that, four community members are being trained to offer more HIV/AIDS support and teaching for Foster Town.

Last Saturday, my pals at Mother Patern came out here to give a three hour workshop on general hygiene and eye care. It was led by Mr. Beyan and some of his senior nursing students. We had a great time, and the jollof rice served after was "too fine." Some of the photos we took follow.

(Technical note: I recently switched to a beta version of Blogger, and it does not let me upload photos the way I used to. Which means I had to learn a new way of uploading and inserting captions again. I think I have it figured out, but for this group of shots, I inserted the captions in the photos. They are not easy to read, but the next group should be much better. Sorry about the snag, folks. Those of you who know me well know how much this kinda thing drives me up the wall.)

What Happens When Counter-Culture Goes Cross-Culture?

I have been struggling with a dilemma that has been increasing ever since I got here. It vexes me. The dilemma has to do with how involved I get in Liberian cultural issues—especially those I think are unhealthy.

On the one hand, as a Christian, I know I am supposed to critique and even challenge the surrounding culture. The great leaders of my faith from Abraham to Moses to the prophets, on to Paul, Augustine, the Desert Fathers, Francis of Assisi, all the way to modern leaders like Teresa of Calcutta or Martin Luther King spent their lives testing, confronting and even defying convention. They lived and died speaking out for culturally unpopular issues like justice, holiness, faith, and self sacrificing love. Jesus Himself blasted those involved with the worldly poisoning of the truth of God.

On the other hand, I am a visitor in a foreign land. Everything I have been taught, told, and believe says to be slow to speak regarding areas of Liberian culture that seem unjust or unloving or in some way wrong to me. Respecting the culture and avoiding ethnocentric reactions are at the core of effective international development work.

So now I have been in Liberia sixteen months. In the beginning, keeping my mouth shut was easy. When I saw something that seemed morally or spiritually suspect, I could avoid speaking up on the basis of “cultural sensitivity.” I liked the arrangement. It kept me from sticking my foot in my mouth and making a fool of myself. It also kept me from getting involved, which is always nice for an underachiever. Lately, I’m getting nudged from several sources—Liberian, American, from outside my head and inside—to speak up more, to get more involved, to “be more prophetic” in my work with Liberians. At Mother Patern College, from the folks of our new Foster Town Community Development Association, from my neighbors, I hear that I have shown the requisite respect for Liberian culture. Now it may be time to challenge certain aspects of it.

It makes me nervous. I enjoyed the honeymoon. What will being a prophetic American Christian in West Africa look like? I do not want to make the mistake of saying too much, of sounding like another American blabbing like he owns the place. But now I can no longer use that concern to justify silence. It is time to be willing to speak, and I am afraid of saying too much or the wrong thing.

Not that there is anything specific on my mind. It is not like I have a sense I am supposed to tell so-and-so that I think he’s being bad, or stand up at some meeting and rail against a particular injustice. I’m just supposed to be open to speak up more. I’m supposed to pay attention, and He will do the nudging at the right moment. And trusting anyone else’s nudging, even His, really makes me nervous.

Anyway, while I ponder my next steps, here a few shots around town.