Adventures in Liberia

*this is a posting from Daniel as he is in Liberia with Tyler and Josh for the next month serving for Global Orphan Outreach and the Orphan Grain Project. Take time to follow their adventures in Liberia at http://tdandj.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

March 8th-

Today we got right down to business with the Clinic. After stopping
at the store to pick up shovels, diggers, string, and stakes, we were
able to start the work. We mapped out the lines for the foundation and
started digging.. which was a lot more complicated than it sounds. It
took quite a bit of convincing to have them start the process our way
(the right way). Although it wasn't a huge deal, it was just a lot of
little things and lower standards that add up to a bad building like a
lot of the ones that are here. So we met in a happy medium.. more like
the lower half of a happy medium.. and the plans were underway.

The final result before we left today was all the outer foundation
walls dug and leveled, ready to have cement and blocks laid tomorrow.
I think we started around 10:00 and left around 6:45.. which
apparently was a lot later than they would have liked. There was quite
a few comments about how the work day had ended.. which resulted in
Me, Tyler and Josh continuing to work while they watched. So if
anything they are convinced that Americans are some hard workers..
During working hours though everyone was working very hard.

We unveiled our whiteness today. About an hour or two into working
we ditched the shirts and started baking in the sun. It wasn't bad
until we got back to the house and felt the heat coming from the
sunburn. We attract quite a bit of attention as it is, in fact Pastor
Peter keeps saying "Come see my white people!", but having no shirts
and next to reflective skin I'm sure doubled the attention. We're
getting used to it though. But we're still getting used to the food..
We had chicken feet today. And then during dinner I kept chewing on
bones and finally realized I had the head and was chewing on teeth.
Teeth from a wood chuck. Or something very much like it. Surprisingly
it tasted fine, I just didn't have much of a desire to eat it after I
saw the jaw bones and also realized I was digging through an eye
socket for meat. Let's just say we are very much looking forward to
the arrival of the rest of our food.. mostly the Peanut Butter. Or at
least I am.

All in all everything is swell here in Liberia. Future hopes of the
week are to get foundations for the clinic laid, get our bag from the
airport, and get access to and empty the conex container. High hopes
from what we are gathering. More updates to come but for now we're all
crashing for the night.

Until I know I can update next, farewell.

-Daniel