Resigned to Stay Onboard

The last day of a long 4 day holiday weekend I had signed up to go to the beach at one o'clock and unfortunately this is what you saw when you looked out of the window... The Rainy Season has begun.

Only in Africa

We had heard of this guesthouse on the beach that is Christian owned and short-term missionaries usually stay here while in Liberia. It was decided that this would be a fun place to stay for Tammy's last night before she leaves to go back home. So, Sunday evening a few of us walk to the end of the dock to hail a cab and to our surprise three cabs refused to drive us to the ELWA beach where the guesthouse is. Come to find out it's quite a long drive for one cab driver. Well, we were standing on the side of the road wondering if we should even go when this nice SUV with these young girls stop and offer us a ride. Even after we tell them that we're going to ELWA beach and that it's outside of the city they still enthusiastically agree to give us a lift. What fun, nice girls they were! And we ended up arriving to our destination without worries! They refused to take any money saying that this is the least they could do since we are helping the people of Liberia. Only in Africa...



I would love to come back to this place again. This was right outside our front door. We had also met a team from Kingdom Building Ministries that are here for a short-term trip working in Monrovia. It's interesting the random different people you meet here...

Hotel continued

Here's some of the view from the top of the hotel. I can just imagine what a beautiful place this once was.
Yep, that white ship in the background is the Africa Mercy. They say it's almost 2 football fields long (but maybe they mean soccor field?) - probably.

Ducor Hotel

Some of us went to look around this hotel that was once an oasis. It's situated on top of a hill over looking the ocean. It has 8 floors and is just a huge place. Unfortunately it did not survive the civil war that took place here in the 90's and the rebels took over the hotel and gutted it. Now it's a huge abandoned shell of a building. Walking through it you can see the potential that it holds. If only someone would come with some money and construction experience this place could be made into a housing complex that would hold many many families. There are a ton of people living nearby in shacks. The city itself is holding a million people when it was originally built to hold 700,000. So there's so much over crowding in the city and then you have this huge empty building....
Take a look.

Smiling Eyes

God just places individuals on your heart. You know, someone who continually comes to your mind and you feel this draw when you're near them. That's what He did with Anne.

When I first met her she was very withdrawn and didn't make eye contact. She had to have this plastic surgery to repair the hole that formed between her upper lip and nose. It's a series of surgeries that begin with flipping the bottom lip up to the top and then after the skin has taken and a blood supply is created the lip is released (very simply stated). Right now she is awaiting the surgery to release her lips, that's why her mouth appears to be twisted (because it is). She was going through a depression, not wanting to go home because she feared what others would think of her but also missing her 2 year old daughter terribly. My heart felt heavy for her and I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could. I'm overwhelmed with joy to see her smile now (did you know that you could smile without using your lips?) and the spark in her eye has returned. She will have her 2nd surgery June 12 and I can't wait to hear her story and have her tell me about the transformation that I witnessed.

I love being a nurse here.

African Mama

I think this is will be in my top favorite moments in Africa. I'm totally going to carry my children like this. All the African women do this. They especially wear an extra piece of cloth around their waist for this very reason, whether or not they have a child with them, but just in case the need arises.