Today has been a lovely little day. This morning we went to New Georgia Baptist Church - Olu's home church - in a small village of Monrovia. Historically, my drives to church have not been too eventful, but that was certainly not the case this morning! After turning off the main highway to Monrovia, we drove through some smaller markets, and made our way into a little community off the beaten path... and by off the beaten path, I mean you have to go down the path that beats you around a little bit! The roads in Monrovia are hit or miss - either they've been redone since the war and are therefore smooth sailing, or they haven't been and they have pot holes that could swallow a VW bug! The road leading to the church was a little winding dirt road that took us through a community of homes. Because it's rainy season - and it has RAINED for almost 3 days straight! - there were some pretty awesome puddles along the way. Basically, it felt like we were on a roller coaster... up and down, side to side, splashing here, almost getting stuck there... it really was quite the adventure!!
We did eventually make it to the church, where our attention during the service was pretty split between the actual service and Olu and his wife Otolee's children, Mia (2 yrs) and Q (2 months). They are absolutely adorable, and were undeniably distracting (but in a good way of course). The service we thing began at 10:30, but we arrive a little past 11... it was filled with songs, including one of my favorite hymns, "Take My Life," announcements, choir selections, preaching, and readings. Overall, a great introduction to Liberia church. I don't imagine we will go there every Sunday, as there is a service on campus, and we hope to try out many other places while we're here!
After church, we were invited back to the Menjay's house on campus for lunch. It was delicious! White rice with a mix of potato greens (somewhat like collard greens), fish, and chicken in a stew of sorts. It had an amazing flavor, but I won't lie, it was spicy too! My lips were burning, but I loved it. There were also some fried plantains to go with it - helped put the fire in my mouth our for sure :) So, so good.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in rambling conversation with Olu, hearing about anything from the visit some students had with president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf back in May to his vision for the future of Ricks. Olu is legit - he knows what he's doing, has a clear vision of where he wants Ricks to go, and does everything he can to get it there. I'm so lucky to get to know the Menjays throughout this year.
I am learning so much each day, and just trying to soak it all in right now. I heard it said today that Liberia is like a virus - it gets under your skin and you can never quite get rid of it. Although comparing Liberia to a virus seems a bit rough, it's a good comparison (in the sense that there's something about this place that will always stay with you). Ricks is so much the same. Anybody considering a trip to West Africa, let me know... maybe you can come catch the Ricks bug with me!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Preparing and Playing!
The last few days have been pretty low-key here. Mostly just spending our day in our house working on our school plans or up at the school building getting Ann Elizabeth's room set up for her second graders. (The junior high teachers don't have individual rooms, but instead the students stay in one place and the teachers rotate for each subject, so I don't have a classroom to set up).
We met the other day with our academic supervisor and got some more details about our school yet. I am teaching two sections each of 3 classes: 7th grade math, 8th grade math, and 9th grade Bible. I have about 35 students in each class for a grand schedule of a little over 200 students. TWO HUNDRED. That's a lot of names to learn!! Classes start next Tuesday, September 1st, so needless to say I am a little nervous about the task before me. For those who have been asking about specific ways you can pray for me (and Ann Elizabeth), this would certainly be one! Please pray that I will have confidence from day 1 as I teach, that I would have a clear assessment of the needs of each student, and most importantly, that I would be able to teach them in a way that will help them enjoy each subject and be successful in school. A great deal of trust has been given to us, and I just want to honor that trust.
On a lighter note, we've had the chance to get to know a few more people a little better over the last few days. Marcus, a 9th grade student who we talk with almost daily, showed us his farm on campus, and ended up telling us his story of coming to Ricks. Suffice it to say, it is an extremely powerful story and one I will not soon forget. And also one that makes me both happy and intimidated to have him in my Bible class!!
We also have a group of kids - children of one of the teachers on campus - who visit us daily when we're up at the school. Usually they just watch us working, but today we had some FUN time together. We made sure to bring our cameras (they love looking at pictures on our computers), and had a blast taking and letting them take pictures. They also taught us several clapping games, most that involved saying the alphabet. We must have played for over an hour. My hands were stinging and almost numb by the end! They're great kids, with such lively spirits, beautiful smiles, and hilarious for sure. I've posted some more pictures (http://picasaweb.google.com/holly.wegman/LifeInLiberiaPart102), including some of our play session, so be sure to check those out (I posted one of my favorites here for you)!
So much else I want to write about, but I keep telling myself, "I've got 10 months, I don't have to say it all now!".
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monrovia
Ann Elizabeth and I feel a bit more established after some accomplishments today... we got internet for our house and cell phones! In order to get these, we had to go into Monrovia for the afternoon. Olu Menjay, principle of Ricks, took us into town (Monrovia is about 30 miles or so away from Ricks) and not only took us to the places we needed to go to accomplish our to-do list, but gave us a tour of some parts of the city.
Let me start by saying that Liberia is truly a beautiful country, physically but also in its history and the spirit of the people. If we had come to Liberia 30 years ago, the place would have looked very different. Monrovia sits right on the Atlantic Ocean, the city cresting to a hill with a view all around, Providence Island resting near the port entry to the city. Throughout Monrovia and surrounding areas we can see evidence of beautiful buildings, technological advances, and modern improvements that made Monrovia a fairly modern West African nation. The heartbreaking part of all of this, however, is that these traces of progress are now shells of buildings, hollowed out first class hotels, power lines that remain idle, light posts that cast nothing but shadows, and water systems rendered useless. War lasting for decades has the capacity to devastate a nation, but even moreso the city that was often at the center of conflict.
Monrovia today is a fascinating city. It's very much at the beginning of a long road to recovery... but there is evidence of progress being made. Goverment buildings are being slowly rebuilt, and the focus of all rebuilding projects is rehabilitation - build from the foundation that's already been laid instead of demolishing and starting from scratch. Monrovia is a lively city, to say the least. The streets are crowded with people, much like in the Duala market, selling anything and everything they can to try to provide for themselves and their families.
The reality of what poverty looked like here has begun... although really just begun... to hit me today. The people do seem to have hope, they do seem to have a drive and a will to make it, and a belief that they can... that's my perception at least. Perhaps that's because the people I'm seeing are the ones who are out on the street, trying to sell what they can, make what they can, cook what they can... use whatever skills they have to earn a living. But at the same time, life is clearly difficult. There are no luxuries and no easy ways to earn an honest living.
I look forward to continuing to learn more about Liberia and her people.
Despite my ramblings, it's abundantly clear to me that I will never say here all that is swirling in my head... I'll do my best to write the things that seem most important, and most interesting for you to read. That said, if there's anything I'm not talking about that you want to know, please post a comment letting me know and I'll be happy to address anything!
Let me start by saying that Liberia is truly a beautiful country, physically but also in its history and the spirit of the people. If we had come to Liberia 30 years ago, the place would have looked very different. Monrovia sits right on the Atlantic Ocean, the city cresting to a hill with a view all around, Providence Island resting near the port entry to the city. Throughout Monrovia and surrounding areas we can see evidence of beautiful buildings, technological advances, and modern improvements that made Monrovia a fairly modern West African nation. The heartbreaking part of all of this, however, is that these traces of progress are now shells of buildings, hollowed out first class hotels, power lines that remain idle, light posts that cast nothing but shadows, and water systems rendered useless. War lasting for decades has the capacity to devastate a nation, but even moreso the city that was often at the center of conflict.
Monrovia today is a fascinating city. It's very much at the beginning of a long road to recovery... but there is evidence of progress being made. Goverment buildings are being slowly rebuilt, and the focus of all rebuilding projects is rehabilitation - build from the foundation that's already been laid instead of demolishing and starting from scratch. Monrovia is a lively city, to say the least. The streets are crowded with people, much like in the Duala market, selling anything and everything they can to try to provide for themselves and their families.
The reality of what poverty looked like here has begun... although really just begun... to hit me today. The people do seem to have hope, they do seem to have a drive and a will to make it, and a belief that they can... that's my perception at least. Perhaps that's because the people I'm seeing are the ones who are out on the street, trying to sell what they can, make what they can, cook what they can... use whatever skills they have to earn a living. But at the same time, life is clearly difficult. There are no luxuries and no easy ways to earn an honest living.
I look forward to continuing to learn more about Liberia and her people.
Despite my ramblings, it's abundantly clear to me that I will never say here all that is swirling in my head... I'll do my best to write the things that seem most important, and most interesting for you to read. That said, if there's anything I'm not talking about that you want to know, please post a comment letting me know and I'll be happy to address anything!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Embassy, Convocation, and (more) Spiders, Oh My!
Let me start off my saying that I will probably update this more often than you all might want to read, so feel free to check in every now and then and skim where you see fit!
Today marks our third full day here at Ricks, and I feel like so much has already happened... it's hard to imagine what an entire year will bring for us! Saturday night we went to a farewell party for a friend of Olu's who works as a director of US Relations in Liberia at one of the US Embassy compounds in Monrovia. Most employees of the embassy live in one of these compounds or just outside one near the embassy in the city. The compound was very nice - the homes even had air conditioning (not central, just wall units... but still!). The party was filled with mostly Americans, a few Liberians, and a few from elsewhere (Lebanon, for example), but it was very interesting to suddenly find myself in a room full of Americans, talking about Liberian history and living in multiple places in Africa as if it were the norm. Overall it was a somewhat surreal experience, almost like a pause on our time at Ricks. It was nice to make some connections though and meet some people we might cross paths with again during our time here.
We got back to Ricks fairly late - around midnight - and slept until about 1pm the next day! I suppose we were still tired from our long days of travel! Sunday was a special day here at Ricks as they celebrated the closing convocation. Note: this is NOT a graduation!! This is a point that was emphasized so many times it was almost hilarious. Here's why. The ministry of education here requires all 12th graders to take a test in order to graduate. We have been told by many that the test is not a good measure of whether a person should graduate, nor a valid assessment of what they have learned in their time at school. The problem is that the ministry of education requires the students to pass this test before they can receive their diplomas and graduate, but the ministry is often quite slow in sendint the test scores back to the school. So a place like Ricks that has a set calendar and parents who plan to come for this graduation, some even from other countries, finds it very difficult to wait for these test results. So yesterday there was a closing convocation here at Ricks where all the traditional elements of a graduation took place... the only element missing was the actual diplomas. Instead, graduates were presented a gift - an empty diploma cover. This kind of peaceful protest shows that, although the government has come a long was here since the war ended about 4 years ago, there is still a long way to go.
Aside from the underlying protest of the event, it was a beautiful ceremony. Ann Elizabeth and I were asked to sit on the front row of seats up on the stage - a position of honor we were not expecting and that certainly felt undeserved. We were formally introduced to the people gathered there - several hundred at least. They definitely outdid us in their outfits for the event, however. Most of the people - especially the women - wore beautiful traditional African clothing, many with elaborate head wraps. Looking out over the audience it was beautiful to see all the color and vibrance represented throughout the crowd. All in all the ceremony lasted about 2.5 hours and featured a student speaker, a guest speaker (the woman who works for the Embassy whose farewell party we attended the night before), several songs by the choir, recognition of the 20 graduates, presentation of awards and scholarships, and several short(er) speached by parents and other guests at the ceremony. It was a special day, and we were grateful to be a part of it!
Last night we finally had the chance to unpack our room and find some kind of organization. We've hung some pictures on the wall and done little things to make our little house feel more like our little home. We're getting more comfortable there, getting used to flusing the toilet with a bucket, and have become fairly efficient bug killers. We (and by we, I mean mostly Ann Elizabeth) killed humungous spider #2 last night in only about 5 minutes... go us! haha. Baby steps my friends, baby steps!
At this point, we have a pause of sorts today as it is a national holiday... flag day! I don't know much about it, and we won't really see the celebrations, but it means we can't really get to our teacher work and meetings and such until tomorrow!
Last but certainly not least, I have some pictures to share! Facebook is being stubborn, so I think I will mostly be using Picasa for all my picture-sharing needs. Check out the first round of pictures (if you don't see them yet, they'll be up very soon... working on it at this moment!): http://picasaweb.google.com/holly.wegman/LifeInLiberiaPart1#
Hope all is well with each of you - thanks again for being a part of this adventure!
Today marks our third full day here at Ricks, and I feel like so much has already happened... it's hard to imagine what an entire year will bring for us! Saturday night we went to a farewell party for a friend of Olu's who works as a director of US Relations in Liberia at one of the US Embassy compounds in Monrovia. Most employees of the embassy live in one of these compounds or just outside one near the embassy in the city. The compound was very nice - the homes even had air conditioning (not central, just wall units... but still!). The party was filled with mostly Americans, a few Liberians, and a few from elsewhere (Lebanon, for example), but it was very interesting to suddenly find myself in a room full of Americans, talking about Liberian history and living in multiple places in Africa as if it were the norm. Overall it was a somewhat surreal experience, almost like a pause on our time at Ricks. It was nice to make some connections though and meet some people we might cross paths with again during our time here.
We got back to Ricks fairly late - around midnight - and slept until about 1pm the next day! I suppose we were still tired from our long days of travel! Sunday was a special day here at Ricks as they celebrated the closing convocation. Note: this is NOT a graduation!! This is a point that was emphasized so many times it was almost hilarious. Here's why. The ministry of education here requires all 12th graders to take a test in order to graduate. We have been told by many that the test is not a good measure of whether a person should graduate, nor a valid assessment of what they have learned in their time at school. The problem is that the ministry of education requires the students to pass this test before they can receive their diplomas and graduate, but the ministry is often quite slow in sendint the test scores back to the school. So a place like Ricks that has a set calendar and parents who plan to come for this graduation, some even from other countries, finds it very difficult to wait for these test results. So yesterday there was a closing convocation here at Ricks where all the traditional elements of a graduation took place... the only element missing was the actual diplomas. Instead, graduates were presented a gift - an empty diploma cover. This kind of peaceful protest shows that, although the government has come a long was here since the war ended about 4 years ago, there is still a long way to go.
Aside from the underlying protest of the event, it was a beautiful ceremony. Ann Elizabeth and I were asked to sit on the front row of seats up on the stage - a position of honor we were not expecting and that certainly felt undeserved. We were formally introduced to the people gathered there - several hundred at least. They definitely outdid us in their outfits for the event, however. Most of the people - especially the women - wore beautiful traditional African clothing, many with elaborate head wraps. Looking out over the audience it was beautiful to see all the color and vibrance represented throughout the crowd. All in all the ceremony lasted about 2.5 hours and featured a student speaker, a guest speaker (the woman who works for the Embassy whose farewell party we attended the night before), several songs by the choir, recognition of the 20 graduates, presentation of awards and scholarships, and several short(er) speached by parents and other guests at the ceremony. It was a special day, and we were grateful to be a part of it!
Last night we finally had the chance to unpack our room and find some kind of organization. We've hung some pictures on the wall and done little things to make our little house feel more like our little home. We're getting more comfortable there, getting used to flusing the toilet with a bucket, and have become fairly efficient bug killers. We (and by we, I mean mostly Ann Elizabeth) killed humungous spider #2 last night in only about 5 minutes... go us! haha. Baby steps my friends, baby steps!
At this point, we have a pause of sorts today as it is a national holiday... flag day! I don't know much about it, and we won't really see the celebrations, but it means we can't really get to our teacher work and meetings and such until tomorrow!
Last but certainly not least, I have some pictures to share! Facebook is being stubborn, so I think I will mostly be using Picasa for all my picture-sharing needs. Check out the first round of pictures (if you don't see them yet, they'll be up very soon... working on it at this moment!): http://picasaweb.google.com/holly.wegman/LifeInLiberiaPart1#
Hope all is well with each of you - thanks again for being a part of this adventure!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
First Update from Liberia!
Hello friends and blog readers! I am very happy to say "Hello from Liberia!" We arrived safely here last night around 8pm, made it through customs without too much excitement, and were met at the airport by Olu, our principal, and his wife, Otolee. The airport was quite the bustling place, with people eager to help with our bags or give us a ride into the city... the airport was just a small one-story building, so I think it all felt busier than in may have in a bigger building!
From the airport we were taken to dinner at to dinner at a restaurant connected to a hotel where many UN officials stay. Ann Elizabeth and I both had "chicken Liberian style", which was a half chicken cooked in a red somewhat spicy sauce with lots of onions and peppers. I felt brave for trying the spicy dish, and actually didn't find it too spicy! It was delicious though, and definitely gave us a good impression of Liberian cuisine... although we're told it's not totally representative :)
From there we came back to the school... about 30 miles outside of Monrovia... and were taken to our new home. It's a small "guest house" used for groups who visit campus. It has 2 bedrooms with 2 beds each, but Ann Elizabeth and I decided we would much rather share a room! haha. So, we made up our beds, and before long were sound asleep. Our house is an interesting place to sleep.... no air conditioning, so the windown are all open (although we do have screens, which is a definite plus!), but it means you can hear all the sounds from outside. From people talking to roosters crowing, we could hear it all...
This morning we had some new adventures to tackle. First, HUGE spider. Those who know me well know I am completely arachnophobic, so you can imagine my delight at this little adventure. After about 20 minutes of fervent prayer, ridiculous scheming, and wimpy swats with a fly swatter, we finally defeated the beast. Don't worry, I have a picture I'll upload ASAP! (note that was spider 1 of 3 we have killed so far today, and it is only 5:00 pm - we are 4 hours ahead of eastern time)
Next was our task to wash our hair... the water isn't working in our house at the moment (water runs off solar power, and it's rainy season, so there isn't enough sun to supply the pressure). So we had a big bucket and we just did the pour method. No big deal, but just a different part of our routine!
Olu then came by to take us for a tour of campus. Ricks, and Liberia in general, is truly beautiful. It's a very lush green environment, surrounded by palm trees and a jungle-esque landscape. The school is on over a thousand acres of property owned by Ricks, but buildings are only on a very small portion of that land. We were able to see the school buildings, the library, and even a small farm on campus (cows, goats, pigs, bunnies, ducks, and chickens). We have begun to meet the many people of Ricks - some of the over 100 employees, and some of the students. Everyone we met has been extremely friendly and welcoming, and have made us feel so welcome to be here. I think it is going to be a wonderful place to spend the year :)
After our tour, we were taken to the supermarket in the Duall market. What a busy place! It's hard to describe for you all a picture of the market... the streets are absolutely bustling with people selling everything you could want to buy - clothes, rice, produce, bread, fish, shoes, tubs, blankets, fabric... pretty much anything you can think of! We didn't shop the street vendors this time and instead went into a little indoor market, filled with many more American food items than I expected! We bought enough food to hopefully last us a week or so (noodles, tomato sauce, rice, beans, bread, PB, Jelly... basically a college diet! haha). I did feel like an American tourist shopping in the store filled with all the American foods, but I think for now that is OK... hopefully we'll learn how to shop the market in the next few weeks!
After coming back, we took an amazing nap and are now up at the school building using the internet!
Now that I have given you entirely too much detail about our first 24 hours or so, I will wrap this up by saying that we are genuinely excited to be here... it still feels surreal that we are actually here in this place we have been thinking about for so very long. What an amazing year it is going to be...
From the airport we were taken to dinner at to dinner at a restaurant connected to a hotel where many UN officials stay. Ann Elizabeth and I both had "chicken Liberian style", which was a half chicken cooked in a red somewhat spicy sauce with lots of onions and peppers. I felt brave for trying the spicy dish, and actually didn't find it too spicy! It was delicious though, and definitely gave us a good impression of Liberian cuisine... although we're told it's not totally representative :)
From there we came back to the school... about 30 miles outside of Monrovia... and were taken to our new home. It's a small "guest house" used for groups who visit campus. It has 2 bedrooms with 2 beds each, but Ann Elizabeth and I decided we would much rather share a room! haha. So, we made up our beds, and before long were sound asleep. Our house is an interesting place to sleep.... no air conditioning, so the windown are all open (although we do have screens, which is a definite plus!), but it means you can hear all the sounds from outside. From people talking to roosters crowing, we could hear it all...
This morning we had some new adventures to tackle. First, HUGE spider. Those who know me well know I am completely arachnophobic, so you can imagine my delight at this little adventure. After about 20 minutes of fervent prayer, ridiculous scheming, and wimpy swats with a fly swatter, we finally defeated the beast. Don't worry, I have a picture I'll upload ASAP! (note that was spider 1 of 3 we have killed so far today, and it is only 5:00 pm - we are 4 hours ahead of eastern time)
Next was our task to wash our hair... the water isn't working in our house at the moment (water runs off solar power, and it's rainy season, so there isn't enough sun to supply the pressure). So we had a big bucket and we just did the pour method. No big deal, but just a different part of our routine!
Olu then came by to take us for a tour of campus. Ricks, and Liberia in general, is truly beautiful. It's a very lush green environment, surrounded by palm trees and a jungle-esque landscape. The school is on over a thousand acres of property owned by Ricks, but buildings are only on a very small portion of that land. We were able to see the school buildings, the library, and even a small farm on campus (cows, goats, pigs, bunnies, ducks, and chickens). We have begun to meet the many people of Ricks - some of the over 100 employees, and some of the students. Everyone we met has been extremely friendly and welcoming, and have made us feel so welcome to be here. I think it is going to be a wonderful place to spend the year :)
After our tour, we were taken to the supermarket in the Duall market. What a busy place! It's hard to describe for you all a picture of the market... the streets are absolutely bustling with people selling everything you could want to buy - clothes, rice, produce, bread, fish, shoes, tubs, blankets, fabric... pretty much anything you can think of! We didn't shop the street vendors this time and instead went into a little indoor market, filled with many more American food items than I expected! We bought enough food to hopefully last us a week or so (noodles, tomato sauce, rice, beans, bread, PB, Jelly... basically a college diet! haha). I did feel like an American tourist shopping in the store filled with all the American foods, but I think for now that is OK... hopefully we'll learn how to shop the market in the next few weeks!
After coming back, we took an amazing nap and are now up at the school building using the internet!
Now that I have given you entirely too much detail about our first 24 hours or so, I will wrap this up by saying that we are genuinely excited to be here... it still feels surreal that we are actually here in this place we have been thinking about for so very long. What an amazing year it is going to be...
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Looking toward Liberia
I've been spending this weekend at the beach with my family, and as I look out over the water, I can't help but wonder what awaits me across another big body of water. Yes, I do realize Texas is what lies across the gulf... but work with me, I was trying to have big life thoughts.
It's hard to believe that in less than 2 weeks I will be in Liberia. I recently finished reading "A Long Way Gone", and Ishmael Beah (the author) tells many stories of all his walking through Sierra Leone, how many days journey lie between one village and the next, etc. So it seems to me that I should have some sort of arduous journey to get to Ricks. Yes, we do have about 25 hours of travel to get to Monrovia, but it's all on planes with in-flight movies and meals. It just seems somehow absurd that we can leave here one day and then the next find ourselves in Liberia. Africa. Just like that. It sounds silly, but think about it... it's pretty amazing.
I'm steadily working my way through Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's (Liberia's president) autobiography right now, and am learning so much about Liberia, its people, and its history by doing so. I've been intending to write a Liberian history blog entry for a while now, and finally feel like I have some of the tools with which I can do that at this point. But honestly, I'm pretty tired at the moment (hard work lying on the beach all day!), so that will have to be my next entry :)
It's hard to believe that in less than 2 weeks I will be in Liberia. I recently finished reading "A Long Way Gone", and Ishmael Beah (the author) tells many stories of all his walking through Sierra Leone, how many days journey lie between one village and the next, etc. So it seems to me that I should have some sort of arduous journey to get to Ricks. Yes, we do have about 25 hours of travel to get to Monrovia, but it's all on planes with in-flight movies and meals. It just seems somehow absurd that we can leave here one day and then the next find ourselves in Liberia. Africa. Just like that. It sounds silly, but think about it... it's pretty amazing.
I'm steadily working my way through Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's (Liberia's president) autobiography right now, and am learning so much about Liberia, its people, and its history by doing so. I've been intending to write a Liberian history blog entry for a while now, and finally feel like I have some of the tools with which I can do that at this point. But honestly, I'm pretty tired at the moment (hard work lying on the beach all day!), so that will have to be my next entry :)
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