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Day’s Journal
Today is Unification Day, a National
holiday for Liberia. As best I
understand it, they are celebrating the formation of 5 counties (I could be
wrong). Anyway, the government,
banks, etc. are all off today.
After the torrential downpour
last night the coolness came in and sleep was quite comfortable. Sometime around 4 – 5 the roosters
started crowing and at 6am the church across the mangrove swap starts ringing its bell. It’s not light yet so there’s really not
much you can do since the generator doesn’t come on for a while yet. With it being a holiday things start even
slower than normal this morning. I
have Peter scheduled to pick me up at 8:45 so that we can get Elizabeth and
Paul downtown to the U.N. building by 9:30.
I don’t eat anything this
morning as breakfast is ready about the time we’re ready to leave. Paul and Elizabeth grab a biscuit and
water to take with them. Hawa, the
housekeeper, packs me a loaf of bread, a jar of jam and a bottle of water
to take care of me. We drive
downtown and drop them off at the U.N. to meet a friend of Elizabeth’s
mother that is in security there.
Weird how everyone seems connected no matter where you go.
Peter and I return to Robert’s
house and he needs to go check on a church member that has had a death in
the family. It’s in Harbel so I opt to get dropped off at the Royal Hotel
so that I can use their free internet and air conditioning. It’s about 10am. It’s a good thing I haven’t eaten because
I launch into an all day eating binge that culminates at the Chapman’s
house. Since I feel guilty sitting
there without ordering anything I order a donut, a Danish and a cup of
coffee. This I nurse through 2.5
hours of internet usage. Mainly I’m
checking email, downloading large online manuals for the Carrier
refrigeration unit on the ice container and reading the 150 page Word
document called Fire on Their Feet about the SIM missionaries in Liberia
during the overthrow of Samuel K. Doe’s regime. It is fantastic and there is a
culmination of at least 3 people that I know in this true account. I am preparing it for the website and as
a download. I hope to have it up by
tomorrow morning.
Soon it’s 1pm and I’m
starting to feel guilty again for taking up so much time in the
restaurant. So, even though I’m not
hungry, I order a bowl of French Onion soup and an order of hummus. The soup is about the mildest that I’ve
ever tasted. It’s okay but not
enough flavor for me. The hummus is
good and they have olive oil for the bread and hot sauce on the table so I
spice it up a little and work on it for the next 2 hours. So I figure I spent 5 ½ to 6 hours in
there today for $13 worth of food. I
think it’s a good value.
Peter comes and picks me up
around 3pm and we go to the Equip lot to check on things. They are, finally, making progress. The well is underway and has 3 of the 12
culverts in place. The way they did
these wells is interesting. They dig
out the first layer a little wider than the culvert, set it down in the
center and then begin digging inside the first ring with it sliding down
beside them as they dig underneath it.
When it’s level with the ground they add another culvert and dig
down again. With the total depth set
to be 24 feet, they will be diving down and digging underwater by the time
the last few culverts are in place.
Then they add crushed rock and sand to make a filter on the bottom
and the well fills up to the level of the saturation. Going this deep should ensure good, clean
water for the ice making.
The foundation for the container
to sit on is ready to receive the container. The generator pad footers are dug and it
turns out to be much larger than I would have expected. They have made it this way to ensure
enough cooling air is available around it.
I think it’s going to be expensive.
It’s taking much more money than I anticipated to get this business
started we have to spend whatever it takes to get it going. I’ve waited much too long to get this
done. We thought that we would have
property sooner than we did and I should have made the decision to move
forward with rented land 6 months ago.
Water over the dam so to speak but a lesson learned the hard
way. We have to do a better job of
planning these type operations and get a schedule in place that takes full
advantage of our assets.
As Peter and I are leaving a
truck goes by and Peter casually says, “that’s Jessy”. When I realize he means Jessy Togba-Doya
we take off after him. It turns out
he’s going almost directly across the street. So we have a good visit as I catch up on
his ministry and his work at the Baptist Seminary. Calandra, Jessy’s
wife, calls while we’re talking and I’m invited to their house for dinner
tomorrow night at 6:30. I’m looking
forward to it as I want to renew our friendship.
It’s time to head for the
Chapman’s so we drive to ELWA beach and pull into their current house. They are actually rebuilding a dilapidated
house down the beach having managed to save only the foundation and 3
walls. It’s going to be a while
before it’s ready. They invite Peter
to join us for dinner, which is very nice, and we sit for a while talking
about their adjustment to life in Liberia rather than on the ship. It’s been a little difficult for them as
life on the ship is structured and there are support people to fix anything
that goes wrong mechanically. As
they find out, lots of things go wrong on the ground in Liberia and there’s
no one there to fix it. So they are
adjusting but it’s a little slower than expected. A couple of friends come over and both
have shipped things with us before.
They keep saying how great I am (Chuck actually does all the work
but I am still taking all the credit).
When I tell them we have the container in port they get all excited
(I remind them that in port and out of the port are two entirely different
things but they are still happy).
Okay, so my conscience starts to bother me a little and I say that
Chuck has a little bit to do with the shipping. Shelia, who is eating with us, says, “Oh,
my mother called and talked with him and he was sooo
nice to her.” I asked her if it was
really Chuck Clark that her mother talked to but she said that it was. That must have been the day the solid
silver bars came in on a load of scrap at his business. The Chapman children (Taylor and Samuel I
remember but my mind refuses to recall the 2nd daughter’s name…
age kicking in?) have baked a tray of sugar cookies and decorated them in
all kind of shapes and colors. We
have Jollof rice which is rice with a seasoning
and lots of meat (at least this time).
Plus we have a couple of bowls of rice pudding, one with raisins and
brown sugar and the other with tropical fruit. We also have some orange and pineapple
drinks and, as a finale, Keith makes some coffee. After a really nice evening with the
Chapman’s, Peter takes me back to Christine’s and then heads home himself.
By the way, I learned a new Liberian
saying the other day. When you can’t
do without someone but you also can’t do with them you tell them, “You’re
porcupine meat to me”. When they ask
what that means you say, “you’re too oily to throw away but to bitter to
eat.” You might need some
clarification since Americans tend to have all the cooking oil they need
but in Liberia having oil to cook with, including porcupine oil, is a good
thing. But the meat is too bitter
tasting to eat. So there you go.
I have a 2:30pm meeting
scheduled with the Minister of Public Works (Alvina’s
boss) and a 4pm meeting with the Minister of Agriculture. I’m continuing efforts to put together a group
of heavy equipment folks from the U.S. to help Liberia meet its severe
shortage of road building and general construction equipment needs. With the slowdown in home building in the
U.S. I’m hoping the timing is right.
By serving people where their needs are we gain the right to tell
them about Christ. Pray for pure
motives and that we will serve well in this area.
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