With an average rainfall of 200", Liberia is a wet, swampy land.  The rainy season has barely begun and we have had a few really drenching tropical rainstorms.  Somehow, the Monrovia city planners failed to provide a way for the rainwater to drain off many of the city streets.  The first three photos are of an industrial street on Bushrod Island.  A two lane street with a parking strip has been reduced to one lane that has a few inches of standing water on it.

With some of the rainstorms, we have really spectacular lightning shows.  Monrovia is a coastal city so it gets considerably more rain than does the interior of Liberia.

 The rain reduces the number of motorcycles on the streets but doesn't eliminate them.  Some riders have attached umbrellas to their bikes and some of the umbrellas have been enlarged on the back so as to cover the passenger.  They ride slower so the umbrellas don't collapse.  Pretty clever really. 

The above three-way intersection is at the bottom of a hill, so the water from all three streets collects here and gets pretty deep.  There is probably a storm drain nearby but it is also probably filled with sand. 

Who needs a swimming  pool when you have a storm gutter in front of your parents store.  These kids were as excited and as happy as any we've seen here.  As you can see, clothing is optional in this game.  April wanted to join them and it took all my powers of persuasion to keep her in the car. 

This post is about food. Many of you have asked what we eat so here are pictures of some foods that we eat and some foods that are available that we don't eat. Rice is a staple here and they eat it with most every meal. They like to put Pepe on their rice but it is too hot for us (Elder Dever eats it in small amounts). We are right on the ocean so fresh fish is available. We can get most any kind of food in the grocery but it is very expensive (40 ounce jar of peanut butter $15.00) and they are brands we have never heard of so it is hit and miss as far as getting something we are familiar with. We buy fresh fruits (pineapples, mangoes, bananas, papayas, avocados, etc.) and vegetables at fruit markets. We miss lettuce but now eat cabbage instead. We have tried some new foods and are enjoying bread fruit, mangosteens, potato greens, soursop etc. Some foods that we see on the streets are unrecognizable. You can buy raw chicken feet and lots of different looking stuff with hair on it like bats, wild monkey meat, gophers, etc. We don't eat those. There are fresh doughnuts and popcorn balls in wheelbarrows or on someone's head everywhere. We make yummy fresh coconut milk by using the water and meat from the coconut, adding hot water and blending thoroughly. Then strain through a cloth and the liquid is wonderful coconut milk, much better than you can buy. We also eat the coconut meat and it is delicious! We miss hamburgers, lettuce,  good apples, Ritz crackers, sour cream and Adams old fashioned peanut butter but we are actually eating pretty healthy here.

Our favorite bakery

I don't know what this is.

Bread Fruit

Our favorite fruit stand

Fresh doughnuts

Ice cream truck

Pineapples are delicious here

Not so fresh fish



Fresh fish



Smoked fish

Apples

Coconuts

We don't eat this

Banana delivery service




We don't eat these

Very fresh chicken




Fresh coconut meat

Mangoes



Soursop




This week we had the privilege of visiting Africa Heartwood Project.  It is an orphanage in a rural area near Monrovia.  Rufus & Victoria, the managers, are Liberians who spent some time in Ghana during the war and have returned to Liberia with several orphaned children.  We were impressed by the cleanliness and orderliness of the compound.  It is obviously well managed.  Everyone has chores to perform and they all learn practical skills like cooking, baking, sewing and gardening.  They go to a nearby school through grade six and then they continue their education at a school that is about an hour's walk away.  The orphanage recently received their accreditation from the federal government and now can take in some more children.  We believe they have twelve residing there now. 

This is the library where they can study. They have a computer they can use when the generator is running.(which isn't often as fuel is very expensive)  There is no electricity in the area.  Two of the young people demonstrated their drumming skills on these Ghanean drums.  They are great sounding drums, by the way.

They have a dug well on their property which gives them clean water for drinking and washing.  There is no running water in the area.  As you can imagine, cleanliness is very important when many people are living in close quarters. 



The pantry inside the cookhouse.  The white containers on the right contain palm oil that is produced locally from palm nuts. 

This is the food preparation area

Fish cleaning party outside of the cookhouse.  Fish are readily available at the street markets but the purchaser has to clean them. 

Rufus displays the oven where they bake bread and cinnamon rolls.  I understand their baked goods are very tasty.  We hope to sample them one day.  They burn charcoal in the bottom of the oven to produce the heat for baking.

This is the open air dining hall.  The table appears to be large enough for everyone to be seated at the same time.

The gathering room outside of the library building.  It is used for meetings and evening devotionals.  The young people all participate in the devotionals.

The hygiene station or latrine/shower room.  Notice the space between the gutter sections.  This allows rain water to fill the water barrels which is then used for flushing the toilets

Victoria and Rufus are soft-spoken and kind.  They seemingly have the perfect temperament for managing the orphanage.  Their son Gordon, is five years old and is the youngest child at this time.  

 

 




 

 

 HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

TO MOTHERS AND MOTHERS HELPERS EVERYWHERE

 



         Motorcycles are used to transport anything the passenger can hold onto, like a new mattress.

Not exactly aerodynamic, but what the heck.  It gets the job done.  There is a passenger behind the door holding onto it.  You can see his hand on top of the door.

 A couple of times we have seen a parent with three children on one motorcycle taxi.  The smallest child was sitting on the gas tank.

       Some people like to see where they're going and some people like to see where they've been.