Blogs from Liberia, Africa - page 4

Today we went to Helena's sister's wedding. Helena is Pastor Moses' wife. This will be the first of two weddings we will be attending during our stay here . It was absolutely incredible. Gave me some ideas for mine. Mostly ideas that Jeff won't like much. The wedding started 3 hours late due to the rain, and people were still trickling in during the service. It was vibrant, loud and extravagant in every positive sense of the word. The church was whitewashed cement with a tin roof, wooden pews, and decorated in white balloons, ribbons and maroon crepe. We sat towards the middle feeling slightly awkward. Loud pulsing music, kettle drums, regular drums, a gourd instrument with beads like a maracca (sp?) along with a singer got the crowd going (dancing in the aisles/clapping and singing). ... read more

Dienstag, 7. 7.09 Hier nun nach fast zwei wochen nochmal eine meldung von mir! Es lief zwar nicht immer alles wie geplant, aber im grossen und ganzen hat es geklappt: ich bin seit gestern morgen in Monrovia! Es ist unglaublich, ich konnte in ganz Guinea ausserhalb von Conakry kein funktionierendes internet finden: entweder es gab kein internet-café, oder es gab keinen strom, oder keine verbindung oder sonst irgendwas. Mit meinem liberianischen Visum in Conakry hat alles geklappt, Freitag nachmittag konnte ich den Pass abholen. Der Botschafts-angestellte war freundlich und hilfsbereit, und hatte mir wie versprochen ein zweimonatiges Visum ausgestellt. An der Grenze habe ich trotzdem nur eines fuer 15 tage bekommen, d.h. ich muss die naechsten tage zum immigration office laufen, um das Visum verlaengern zu lassen! Conakry war ansonsten eher ereignislos, ich war nur einmal ... read more

From January 15-27, 2008; I visited Liberia with my friends and colleagues The Rev. Twila Schock and The Rev. Rodger Prois of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I am grateful for their leadership and commitment to God’s mission in the world. I am equally thankful for the opportunity that I had to meet, share and walk with the Lutheran Church in Liberia. Through the LCL ministries of health, education, HIV/AIDS, trauma healing, urban ministries, peace and reconciliation, and word and sacrament ministries, I had a glimpse of the joy and challenges of the church leadership in ministry. Liberia, West African country located in the golf of Guinea, struggles to recover from the civil war which lasted for more than a decade. Liberia has an area of 111,370 sq km and a population estimated at 3 ... read more

Well... it's finally here... the Africa Mercy has arrived... after waiting and waiting and dates being pushed back and back further. But she has finally come and it was an amazing day of celebrating and fun! We had everyone out there with flags, and waiting on every corner of the Anastasis watching as the Africa Mercy slowly came through port and docked beside us! it was a really neat experience and I am so glad that I was able to experience that. It was like being a part of history watching it come in and people come down the gangway for the first time. I have walked around the ship and explored it a bit. It is HUGE and it is really nice inside... it really does look like a hospital ship! It is fairly ... read more

Well, we have been in "transition" for a week now and I have found myself really missing the patients and working with the translators. It is an odd feeling so far to be here but not working as a nurse. I have volunteered myself and my services to te Operations Director, Graeme Walls, who is in charge of the whole transition. I am his personal assistant! And you guessed it, he's a bit stressed out and all over the place, going to meetings, talking to everyone, constantly answering emails... cause it's not like we have done this before... moved onto another ship. But I have yet again, volunteered for something I had NO idea what I was getting myself into. So now I work at a desk all day, in front of a computer, compling ... read more