Our time is growing short (a couple more days) here, but we are still busy visiting different organizations with our pitch about early childhood educator trainings and meeting some interesting folks and hearing different stories of how many are here helping in post war Liberia…

 

Cusco-5307We took a little time off last Saturday and headed to Robertsport for an overnight stay at what is probably the only touristy spot in Liberia. It is about three hours west of Monrovia and 10 miles from Sierra Leone on the coast. It is well known evidently world wide for its world class surf for surfing and that it is. We saw some fabulous Liberian surfers who actually were offering their surfers to teach us as wonderful as the warm water is here on the Atlantic; I had no interest in surfing lessons or even swimming out in the ocean. The undertow is fierce and even standing in the waves as they broke around my legs, I could feel the strong pull and had to brace myself to not fall.

We had the good fortune to make arrangements with someone I knew from previous trips for a sturdy car and a driver. We got a chuckle out of the SUV with its GPS of the Washington, DC to Philadelphia map that switched from east to west and north to south and dark when the lights went on. At times it appeared that DC was on the west coast and Philly was south of DC. Many of these cars come from the US with those moving back and are used for a while and then for some reason get sold in not the best condition. He helped us secure a spot at Nana’s Lodge. We had a great cabin on the beach with our restroom 100 or so yards up the hill. Actually the shower there was one of the best I have experienced in Liberia with a great view of the ocean from atop the hill.

We watched the fishermen pull in their incredibly long lines after docking their dugout canoes and eat some of the catch of the day-very fresh fish for lunch and dinner. There are a variety of others who come to Nana’s Lodge, ex-pats and Liberians with a bit of money. We saw one RL license plate (government vehicle). The weather was not the best but compared to what we had to deal with on the drive back to the city on Sunday afternoon, it was quite tame. It started raining while we were still on the laterite road (an hour or so) and as we drove closer to Monrovia the skies opened up and dumped an incredible downpour of rain that made traveling on the road a challenge! Since there was no A/C in the car we had very steamy windows so while I sat in the front, I was furiously wiping the driver’s window so we could see to move ahead. Even when we were back at the hotel it was quite a sight while the rain continued to pound the roads and dirt. What is amazing that after such rain, the ground absorbs the rain and you would never know it had rained as it did. It is the cooler season now and many Liberians get “fresh colds” with the change of season and are more bundled up. For me it is a bit cooler when it rains, but not much after it stops.

 

Fishermen at Robertsport

Fishermen at Robertsport

The last several days we have been going around to several various organizations and pitching our early childhood teacher training program to warmer receptions. One of our stops was to visit a friend who runs one of the 40 odd newspapers that come out various times during the week. He wanted his Education Reporter to meet us and hear what FOL has been doing since 1999. We had a great chat and the story was in the paper (The Observer) on Tuesday, the day it publishes stories on education. We bought several copies to being home and share. It was a very positive report of FOL’s ECE work.

 

Monrovia is a crowded, busy and loud city with traffic that would rival any big city in the US at rush hour, but it is like this all the time! Tonight we had been invited to a Liberian’s family compound to enjoy some cassava leaf and rice but this meant returning to the city in the dark without street lights and way too many vehicles not paying attention to their side of the road, lanes or pedestrians. Thankfully we had a wonderful discussion with a Liberian friend who took our mind off the traffic jams and harrowing traffic. He was so nice to speak so well of the days when Peace Corps was here so many years ago and happy that PC is back in Liberia. We have found that the new PC Volunteers are very thankful for the legacy that we left between the years 1962-1989. It is nice to know that some of our youthful activities and bloopers are long forgotten, but instead we are remembered fondly by many who want to know the whereabouts of their PC volunteer.

 

Peter Ben, a student of mine in 1972-73 with Pat Reilly and me after lunch

Peter Ben, a student of mine in 1972-73 with Pat Reilly and me after lunch

It has been a busy and productive month full of activities and events. For all FOL’s efforts the last 14 years (and for me 12), I believe now that the ministry will seriously begin to train early childhood teachers this July, and I have great hope that some of the teachers we have trained will be included in the initial training group to become Trainer of Trainers. During our meeting with other NGOs the last several days we learned that there are others who realize the importance of training early childhood educators. I’d like to believe that this is a great trend that might sway the colleges and training institutes to jump on the bandwagon. The new NGO, LEAP, that we trained earlier this month appears set to seize training opportunities and work as a cohesive organization that will be available to train schools in rural Liberia.

So as I get ready to leave on Thursday evening, I say good-bye to mosquitoes and anti-malaria tablets, honking horns along side the abundance of racing motorcycles, the humidity, tropical heat and torrential thunder storms, Club Beer and wonderful Liberian meals and to our Liberian friends and the many children who are so happy to see us and more importantly to the schools and the teachers that are “trying.”
Thanks for your interest and support!
Stephanie