Interview from Africa, Part 2

8. What surprised you (about the country, the people, your travels, etc)?

They view our presence as a symbol of hope and reassurance that their country is safe again and

growing stronger . During the wars all the “white people” left. I thought that might make them resent

us—like “Where were you when we needed you?”—but we were told that the people realized the government made them leave. We were always welcomed.

I was also, on the other hand, surprised at the trash, burned buildings, rusted autos everywhere—just hadn’t thought about all those remnants of war still being so visible. And the crowds of people and “flea market” type atmosphere in the cities—such crowding and trash.

Cell phones—nearly everyone has a cell phone which has made it possible for them to stay connected. Since the most important thing to these people is relationships (they have little else) this has made a huge impact in their lives. And if your cell phone rings, you answer it—pastor, teacher, student. The difficulty is in charging them. They have to find a place with the generator running. One missionary told me that is why church services run so long—they sing until everyone’s phone is charged if the church has a generator. Otherwise there are “booths” around the towns that sell “charging”. It did seem strange to hear the announcement made in the first little mud brick church we attended to turn cell phones to vibrate during service!

9. What were the Liberian people like?

Most were very open and friendly. They continually told us “welcome” and “thanks for coming”. We were able to hear many stories of survival and fleeing the country during the wars, but then they return home to do what they can for their country. Physically they are fairly thin, in good shape from walking etc. The women especially have such perfect posture from carrying loads on their heads and babies on their backs. We rarely heard a baby cry even though to us some of them looked so hot and confined wrapped around their mothers’ backs. The young children especially liked to be around us and everyone loved to have their pictures taken. They speak English, but it is like pidgen or something—accents and pronunciations are enough different that sometimes it is really hard to understand—very fast, too.

10. What is Liberia like?

The country is beautiful if you can look past the trash. There is ocean front, then the land rises to gentle mountains and trees—palm trees and lots of scrub type trees. Also lots of rubber trees. The dirt is most places is very red and since this was the dry season, there was red dust everywhere. Most of the roads are still dirt although there are a few newly paved ones. The ones paved before the war are full of potholes—probably from shelling.

10. What did you enjoy most about traveling?

Just seeing new things—things I’d only read about or seen in pictures.

10. What was the hardest part about traveling?

Not sleeping well, just feeling tired and homesick. It was also very hot. I had a digital travel clock with a thermometer. On the day we traveled back to Monrovia, the temp said 135. We then traveled 5 hours in a van without air conditioning—4 of us across the back seat. I knew there were people praying for me that day!

10. What were you most concerned about before you went? Were those things issues once you arrived?

Believe it or not, my biggest worries had to do with eating, going to the bathroom and sleeping. I slept pretty well actually. Eating was ok—I never really got sick, though a couple of my team did. I often just did not feel hungry. And because it was a “guest house”, the cooks put food on the table and then left so we weren’t really obligated to eat anything. There was rice, oatmeal, bread, peanut butter and fruit at nearly every meal. Then there were sauces to put on the rice. I tried many, but I couldn’t do the whole fried fish staring at me and we shied away from the things they fixed with mayonnaise (we knew the electricity was only on 4 hours a day, so the refrigeration was iffy at best.) But I didn’t feel as though I was offending anyone if I didn’t eat and I could take very small portions. As to the bathroom, suffice it to say I did NOT have travelers’ diarrhea. There were toilets—the seats were broken and we had to dump in water to flush—but they were toilets. That was a good thing!

10. Did you see any “wildlife”? Native customs? Other interesting experiences?

We saw no wildlife unless you count geckos and roaches. There were lots of chickens, goats and a few pigs running around in the villages and we saw only 2 or 3 cows. Most of the customs we saw reminded me of National Geographic pictures—mud brick homes painted with handprints, other homes made from reed mats with thatched roofs; babies on backs and loads on heads; driving everywhere on the road—motorbikes and pedestrians beware!. There was a special handshake which I never quite mastered—it ended with snapping fingers. I did get to “try on a baby”. One of the ladies we talked to after church showed me how to carry her baby. (Afterwards she asked me for money for the baby—I don’t think she wanted to sell her, she just wanted a donation and I felt bad because I had nothing to give her)

We also went to the Leprosy/TB clinic. That was amazing too. The fellow who took us around was so proud of the care they gave their patients. And there was a little man who was making shoes. He showed us how he fashioned them to fit feet without toes and use very thick rubber for the soles since they have no feeling. Then he raised up his pant leg and said “I made my own leg” as he showed us his prosthesis.

We also took a trip to a village back in the bush that was celebrating the opening of a midwife clinic—that was so neat to see. It took a long time—all the chiefs and the hospital people had to speak but they were so happy and proud to have the clinic. There was even entertainment—one older lady pretended to be pregnant and kept wanting to get to the clinic. The others kept shooing her away and laughing. Each of the pastors from our team took part and I made a money presentation from our team to help with the running of the clinic. But by that time people were getting tired—it was about 3 hours—so they weren’t paying much attention. I couldn’t help thinking as I was trying to get their attention that it gave new meaning to the saying “The natives are getting restless!”. That was also the one time we had to “go” in the woods—looking for snakes and spiders all the way.

10. What will you remember most about the trip?

I’m not sure I know the answer to that one yet. I think it will be the resiliency of the people and especially the commitment to their nation of those who could certainly have an easier life somewhere else but returned.

10. Would you go on another missions trip? To Africa (or someplace that far) or somewhere closer to home?

I don’t know the answer to that one yet either. When I finally got home after the 24 hour delay in Brussels I said I was never leaving home again. It was hard and I felt old at times, but it was also very satisfying. Some day I might want to see how Liberia is faring and what has changed. Maybe a shorter mission trip might be good. God knows.