PASSPORTLiberia 2010

We officially kicked off PASSPORTLiberia on Friday, January 8^th with a busy day of training with the Liberian staff. Friday evening Holly and I went to the airport and picked up the four guys who arrived from the US. Josh Brooks, Mike Young, Josh Speight, and Walt Windley, along with all of the luggage, got into Monrovia around 7:00pm. We had dinner at the Royal Hotel and then headed back to campus to sort through camp supplies and make plans for the next day. Saturday was a long, intense day of training with the entire staff. From the moment we all sat down for breakfast there was an amazing staff dynamic. We laugh, sing, play, dance, and work together in a very unique and special way. Sunday morning was spent rehearsing celebrations and worship in the chapel, and setting up bible study rooms. After lunch camp officially started with registration!!

Students were to arrive between 2:00 and 5:00, but in Liberia that means most of them came between 5:00 and 7:00 (or later that night or the next morning). We had the sound system set up on the front steps of the school building and the staff danced and sang as the campers arrived. We assigned each student a bible study group and a dorm room. We put them in a dorm room with people from their bible study group, and encouraged them to spend time getting to know people they wouldn’t normally hang out with at school. The staff agreed this was a great way to help them build and form community.

Campers all gathered in the chapel on Sunday evening for Opening Celebration, a time that is led by the staff to introduce the theme and activities for the week, go over the rules, and get the students excited about camp! We ended the night with Vespers, the first worship service of the week. Josh Brooks led the music and did a fabulous job. Music is a big part of the Liberian culture, and the songs are really engaging and allow the students to express themselves. There are no words to describe the singing that is taking place in Washington Chapel this week. The students sing so loud and have this freedom in their voices that is unexplainable. The voices echo all around campus every time we sing together. Josh Speight gave the sermon about how we are free to be free, and did a fantastic job. We closed the night by singing Amazing Grace. There is no doubt that the presence of God was felt in this moment.

Each day the campers are participating in bible study, missions, and recreation. They stay in their bible study groups for each of these activities. Our mission project is building three incinerators around campus. We have groups building at both the girls and boys dorms, and at the school building. The goal is that the Ricks community will use the incinerators to burn trash. Right now the trash is just thrown in the bushes or put in a pile on the grass. So far the foundation is completed and groups are building up to form the door. It has been exciting to watch the students do something they have never done before. Very few of them have had experience laying bricks. They are learning something new and giving something back to their community.

For recreation the students are learning how to build trust and teamwork. Bible study groups are doing part of a low ropes course each day. It has been a learning experience for the campers to work through frustration and cooperate with their peers. They are beginning to understand that good communication is necessary to complete the tasks before them.

We are at the end of Day 3 and getting ready for worship. Holly is preaching tonight on freeing others from false fences. For the party tonight we will learn the Grand March, which is a traditional Liberian dance done at celebrations. We are all very excited!!

The joy of watching children receive gifts!

Friday, December 18th, was the last day of school and the event that screamed CHRISTMAS! All the students came to school on Friday to receive their box of gifts. This is a special tradition that was started by First Baptist Church Columbus, GA. On the last official day of school every student at Ricks Institute receives a small plastic tub (about the size of a shoe box) full of gifts. It is a day that so many students look forward to from the first day of school.

Elementary students did not technically have school today, but they all came at 7:30am to receive their boxes. It took about 30 minutes for the teachers to get all the boxes sorted and ready for distribution. The children were filled with excitement and anticipation as they watched us pile the boxes outside. When the boxes were ready the students waited patiently for their name to be called.

We began with kindergarten. Each student came to receive their box that was prepared special just for them. Once they received their box they had to wait again. After every elementary student got a box they were given the OK to open them. It was a long wait for those little ones that couldn't wait to see what cool things they had inside. Francis and Ben were trying to sneak peaks of all of their goodies! How cute are they?!?!!

There were lots of fun and useful things in the boxes. There were small toys, t-shirts, toothbrushes and toothpaste, flashlights, umbrellas, band-aids, candy, school supplies, etc. It brought me so much joy to watch these children receive their gifts. They felt so special and loved by people on the other side of the world. Merry Christmas!

A Long Time Gone

Four months seems so long ago and then sometimes it feels like yesterday. So much has happened since we have been here. The back to school jam, UN Day, student body president elections, trip to Bomi County, the Super Cup, senator elections, Ricks Inauguration, Thanksgiving, and exams have all come and gone. Individuals and groups have come to visit Ricks and some have done short-term mission projects around campus and in the community. I have met more people in the last four months than I can count. So much has happened!!

Four months ago the food was too spicy and I thought I was going to have to live on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Now when I eat the “special food” that is prepared for guests that come to Ricks, I miss the peppers. Some would say, “You know you are a Liberian when you prefer your food with peppers.”

Four months ago I couldn’t tell you which of the 15 counties Monrovia was in. Now when Sheik Kamara gives Holly and I a pop quiz on our way into town, there are very few questions that we do not know the answer to. We are definitely not experts, but we have learned so much. For example… If you turned left out of campus you would drive on a nice paved road for several miles. You would pass VOA Junction and Iron Gate. VOA (Voice of America) is a radio station that is broadcasted from this community. Iron Gate was a major checkpoint during the war. This road (Bomi Hills Highway) is he only road that leads to Sierra Leone. The checkpoint is now run by the national police. You will then go under an overpass that is often referred to as the Hotel Africa Junction. The road leads to Hotel Africa, which was one of the few five star hotels before the war. All that is left is the shell of the building. Once you go under the overpass, you will cross is the St. Paul Bridge, which goes over the St. Paul River. That will put you on Bushrod Island. You are now off the paved road. Now it is uneven clay/dirt roads that make for a bumpy drive. You will drive through the St. Paul Community before you reach Duala. The Duala Market is one of the largest markets in Monsarado County. Holly and I do most of our shopping in Duala. Caldwell junction is one of the first major intersections that you will come to in Duala. If you turn left on Caldwell it will take you to New Georgia where we attend church sometimes. The end of Bushrod Island is called Vai Town. Once you go through Vai Town you will come to another bridge. This is called the Gabriel Tucker Bridge (also referred to as the New Bridge) and crosses over Providence Island. Then you are officially in Monrovia! This drive takes about 1 hour because of the road condition and traffic.

Four months ago I had no idea that I was going to love Liberia as much as I do now. I was a little nervous and thought that homesickness would come and go a lot more than it has. Yes, there are still times when I miss little things about home, but in so many ways this place has become home. We are now referred to as the “white Liberians” instead of guests. Four months is a long time gone, but I have a feeling the next six will be over before we know it.

Thanksgiving and Advent!

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone (twice for us). This is the first time that I have been away from home on Thanksgiving, and it was a little weird. November 26^th was just a normal school day here in Liberia. Holly and I had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for our big Thanksgiving meal. I definitely missed turkey and dressing! Although the day was not full of good food and family, it was still a time when I was reminded of how thankful I am.

I called my family on Thursday afternoon and talked to everyone as they passed the phone around. After nine conversations and being on the phone for over an hour, I was exhausted. However, I loved that I was able to catch up with each of them and it made being away a little easier. I am so thankful for my entire family and their constant love and encouragement,

I also received several emails from friends last week. I even talked to some of them on the phone! I got a wedding update from Brooke, and heard all about her big day. I talked to Holly and heard her engagement story and the beginning stages of wedding plans. These conversations helped me feel connected to some of the things I am missing. I received countless emails from friends just thinking of me on the other side of the ocean. This was so encouraging! I am very thankful for my friends, who have continued to support me throughout this experience.

I have something new to be thankful for this year… my new friends and students here at Ricks Institute! On Monday we went to dinner with the girls on the basketball team. It was so nice to fellowship with the girls outside of practice. The night just added to the bond that our team already has. Check out the pictures! I wish you could all meet my new friends and see how wonderful this place is. I am constantly inspired by their stories, challenged by their perseverance, and motivated by their willingness to learn. These relationships are changing my life. I am so thankful for these people and what they are teaching me. I feel blessed to call them friends!

I learned something about myself in the last few weeks. I realized that sometimes I get so caught up in what is next and lose sight of what is right in front of me. There are already things about coming home that I am very excited about. I am looking forward to seeing my friends and family that I miss so much. I am pumped about going to the beach for vacation this summer. I can’t wait to move back to Birmingham, and hopefully get a job teaching again. I am looking forward to going back to school and pursuing what God is calling me to next. With all of this said, you can tell that there is a lot of planning and details involved. If you know me well, you know that I am a huge planner and tend to be very detail oriented. Sometimes I like this about myself and other times I do not. Although there are things about returning home that I am very excited about and have begun planning, there are things here that are just as exciting. Holly and I have been in Liberia for 105 days. In the blink of an eye 1/3 of our time here is gone. This has given me some perspective, and made me realize how much I will miss this place and these people when we leave. So much is happening here and it is passing by so quickly. I am making a point this Advent season to take advantage of today, even with the plans of tomorrow in my head. I am trying to focus on the here and now by being still and resting in the presence of God.

The other day I caught myself saying, “it sure doesn’t feel like it’s almost Christmas.” The more that I thought about this, the more it frustrated me. What is Christmas supposed to feel like? During this time of the year I imagine cold weather, lots of Christmas shopping, presents, Christmas movies, Christmas music, parades, parties, Christmas tress, decorated houses, family gatherings, and Santa Claus. Wow… that is a whole lot of stuff. I realized that I relate Christmas to all of these things, and that bothered me. For the first time I don’t have all of these things, and this time of the year seems different. I am SO thankful for this. I needed a wake up call, and a reminder of what Christmas is all about. This year I have decided to approach this Advent season in a whole new way. Yes, part of it is because I am forced to, but it is also because I want to. As I anticipate the coming of Christ, I will look for the presence of Christ in the world around me right now.

2nd period down, and 4 more to go!

TESTING TESTING TESTING... whew!

You may be thinking it is just a test, but for these students it is 50% of their period grade. It is a lot of pressure, especially for the little ones. It is hard to believe that 6 weeks out of the school year are spent taking tests. That can make you brain hurt!

My students did really well this period. However, this does not mean that everyone passed. They learned very quickly that things are going to start getting harder. First period was spent doing a lot of review, and I think most of them got their hopes up that the whole year would be that easy. Little did they know, things began to get harder, which meant they had to work harder. Some of them chose to do just that, while others developed the "I don't care" mindset. It has been a struggle motivate all of my students to work to their full potential. I wish that were something that was easy, but unfortunately that can be one of the biggest challenges as a teacher (even in the US). I am hoping that this period will serve as a wake-up call to some of them.

It became very evident to me this period that some of my students are having a hard time keeping up. I have really started to notice a big gap, and it is getting harder to meet the needs of each individual student. For example, I have 3 students who cannot read or write, and that puts them way behind the rest of the class. They have not mastered skills like letter-sound correspondence and blending, skills they should have learned in kindergarten. I have been trying to work with these students individually and outside of class, but it just is not enough. I know that the best thing for these students is to go back to first grade next semester and build their foundation, and then repeat second grade next year. Unfortunately, that is not as easy as it sounds. Repeating a grade here is looked down upon even more than in the US. It is hard to convince parents that it would be in the best interest of their child. I am in the process of talking with Olu about this situation, and will hopefully have the opportunity to talk with their parents in the next few weeks. Please pray for this situation, and that my actions and words will be seen and heard in a loving way.

As for the grade results... I had two students make straight A's this period, and I am looking forward to taking them into town for a treat next week! I also had about 10 students make all A's and B's!! Once again, I am a proud and happy teacher!! Even those that failed certain subject areas are still improving, and that is what is important!

As a teacher, one of my goals is to build confidence and self esteem in every child. I look for small ways to do this every day. I am really looking forward to the end of the semester when I will be able to take my entire class out for ice cream. Thanks to a good friend, Emily Holladay, for providing the money for us to be able to do this! This will be a wonderful and exciting way for us to close the semester.

As for Holly and I... we are doing well. As most of you know, we both got sick last weekend, but have recovered. Stomach virus + no running water = yuck! Yeah, that was probably too much information. Anyway... thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!

A little bit of the US, and time on our own in the city!

Yesterday Holly and I spent our first day in Monrovia by ourselves. We took advantage of the opportunity and made a whole day out of it. We left school at 9:30am and were dropped off at the US embassy, where we attended a town hall meeting for all Americans living in Liberia. The meeting was held in the Public Affairs building, inside the library. We took our seats in the room with about 40 other Americans. After about 10 minutes we were both freezing. Our hair was sticking up on our arms and we were covered in goosebumps. We tried to take advantage of the air conditioning, but we realized that we are starting to get used to not having it. The US ambassador and the consular spoke to us about the role of the US embassy, and how we would/could interact with them if necessary. Most of the information were things that we already knew, but it helped to put faces with names, and make some connections that would be helpful if we ever had some kind of emergency.

The meeting was over around noon, and we decided to walk to Mamba Point, which was maybe a 1/2 mile away. On the way we stopped and looked at some African artwork that was beautiful. We are already starting to make a mental note of some things that we want to get before we go home. As we walked down the road, with the beach to our right, it occurred to us that we were on our own. It was a good feeling of independence! We went to the Mamba Point Hotel and enjoyed a delicious lunch! We had pita and humus, cheeseburgers and fries, and dessert. It was a lot of food, and we were completely full when we were done. After lunch we stayed at the hotel for the afternoon and enjoyed the air conditioning, comfortable couches, and the consistent internet. Mr. David, the driver at Ricks, picked us up at 4:30pm. We went home and enjoyed a restful evening, still too full to eat dinner.

We do not have days like this very often, but when we do it is a nice treat. We were even reminded what a flushing toilet sounds like, although it almost seemed foreign to us. It also took be a minute to realize what was different when I washed my hands in hot water, then it occurred to me that it was the hot water, haha. The ambassador said that it generally takes about 3 months to become adjusted to a new place, and as we are closely reaching our 3 month mark, I believe this to be true. Liberia is starting to feel like home in many ways. Sometimes I forget what air conditioning feels like, or I look for a bucket of water in a bathroom that doesn't need one. There are still days when I miss some of the luxuries at home, but those days are becoming fewer and farther between.

We are the Dragons, the Mighty, Mighty Dragons!

After the first round of the Super Cup Tournament on Tuesday, October 27th, the lady dragons knew it was time to kick things up a notch. We practiced hard every chance that we got. 5:00am conditioning and afternoon practices were longer and seemed to be filled with more intensity. The girls knew that winning the Super Cup would not be easy.

Last year, the girls made it to the finals, under the leadership of Coach James Blay, who is now in the US, studying at Mercer University. They were defeated by a Catholic school in Monrovia called Don Bosco. Many of Don Bosco's girls play for the national team, so needless to say, they are really good. After winning our first game of the tournament, we were told that we would be facing this team again for the finals. The girls were nervous, but very motivated and determined to win.

On Thursday night, we had a poster making party with the girls. We made paper hats, posters, wrist bands, and even confetti (we already had the confidence that we were going to win, and would need to throw confetti when we celebrated after the game). This was a really fun time, and a chance for us to just hang out with the girls. We even ended the night with a surprise skype session with their former coach, James Blay. The girls LOVED this, and so did James. It was great motivation and encouragement before their big game.

On Friday, the school day started with the inauguration of the newly elected student council president and his officials. The excitement only increased when the assembly was over, and the girls got dressed in their uniforms. It is amazing how much this game united the student body. It reminded me of my four years in high school, and being involved in competitive sports.

We loaded in the vans and headed for the sports commission in Monrovia, where we took on Don Bosco. We got started on a rough start, although we knew we were capable of winning this game. The girls seemed nervous, and it began to show on the court. Our offense seemed off, and we were not making simple lay-ups. We called a time-out pretty early in the first half and got re-focussed. The girls fought hard for two 15 min halves, and were constantly trailing Don bosco by a close margin. In the last 2 minutes of the game, the lady dragons took the lead, and the crowed stood to their feet. The cheering was so intense that I could barely hear myself as I was talking to the players. When the buzzer went off, the game was tied 36 to 36. The clock was set for a 5 minute over time. The girls were exhausted, but they knew the prize was worth 5 more minutes. The lady dragons led the over time, and won the game 43-39!! WE WON THE SUPER CUP!!! The fans rushed the court, and we cheered and hugged. This was a huge mile marker in Ricks history. The Ricks students, teachers, staff, administrators sang the school ode with so loud and with so much pride. I felt so proud to be a part of this school family!

The week could not have ended on a more positive note. We say that Ricks Institute is the best school in Liberia, and now the rumor is that the girls basketball team is the best the country! What a great feeling for the girls, their coaches, and the entire school!! I can't wait to take the girls to receive the trophy next week!!