Jonathan's building a house

Jonathan standing in the living room of his new house, which  he thinks they can move into  in about a year.  It has four small bedrooms, two small bathrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen and small study.  He is learning a lot about good concrete so this will help him build a sturdy house.  This will be a wonderful blessing for their family.

Jonathan dug his own well, but has not lined it yet.  It will pump water to a  tank, which will be used  in the house he is building in Bo, Sierra Leone.  He is considering generators or solar panels or both to give them electricity--city power does not reach his property.

On the way to Jonathan's house we stopped by to see Schlehuber's and learned that she just got over typhoid!  They are having quite a time of it.  We also learned that Jonathan's construction company is doing all the repairs to their home so that it will become inhabitable.  Each time we visit we see how much better they are.  In a month they will be all set up.  They will have been the ones that put this house together for anyone else that follows them--real pioneers!

Back to Freetown, Sierra Leone

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

It is Saturday evening and we are back in Freetown, having finished our work in Kenema early and desiring to get out of the heat.  The only problem was getting into the Country Lodge because they have been so busy, mostly because of its location.  You would think people would rather stay at the many beach hotels which are all less expensive, but it seems we do most of our business up here on the hill, which is closer to the Mission Home, Mission Office, Turay’s house, and going over the Grafton Road onto Bo & Kenema.  Apparently it is more convenient for everyone else too, because there are some beautiful, less expensive hotels right on the beach—go figure…

The cool thing about our stay here tonight at the Country Lodge is that we told John Shallop (hotel manager) that he owed us a favor for kicking us out on our last stay.  We are in one of the suites because that was the only room left--one that we’d never seen before.  It is upstairs from the rooms in the wing we usually stay in.  It has a lovely living room with TV and small chandelier, a pretty bed and draperies.  The real deal is that we are staying here for the same price as a regular room.  This is what a ‘deal’ really is instead of the ‘deal’ the manager at the Capitol was going to give us.  Just for tonight we feel like the King and Queen of England.

Our good deal at the Country Lodge in Freetown, staying in one of the suites for one night for the same price as a regular room.  There’s a living room with pretty sofas, large bathroom, tables, chairs, TV, a real air conditioner, etc. 

Our bubble will burst tomorrow morning when we have to leave—no room available at all.  We will stay with the Randall’s at the mission house again and then return to the Country Lodge for our last night here (Monday) in a regular standard double room—packing, unpacking, packing, unpacking.... 

Saying goodbye to Amarachi & Jonathan Cobinah and their two daughters.  The girls are not smiling because they were so sad to see us go. 

Love, mom & dad, Jim & Karen, E/S Greding

:Pictures, Kenema District, Sierra Leone

This boy's name is Bubba.  He acted like his name.  He ran right up to  Jim like he knew him and  hugged his knees.

While driving around in Kenema we noticed three Tippy Taps or Squeezy  Bottles  being used as hand washing stations at this school.  The well is on the right out of view.  It was fun to see that hygiene training worked here and that they are using our method to wash their hands.

Remember the big rig stuck on the Grafton hill?  This is a picture of it.   When we returned to Freetown we saw that they finally were able to move it.  Still, it was a challenge getting up the steepest hill.  The dirt is so soft but luckily has pointy rocks sticking up that helped us lurch up the hill.  

One enterprising contractor made a concrete pad to mix his cement on.  We liked this so much we  asked Jonathan to have them all do this.  It keeps the dirt and grass out of the mix.

Each village is required to provide the bricks so that the contractor can  build a wall around their well.   Some instead built stick fences, which is fine also.  One NGO came into a village and donated a well, nothing required.  The village next to it where we were providing a well, became disgruntled to think they had to provide sand and stone and bricks for a wall.  Our hygiene facilitator told them that long after the other well breaks, theirs will keep working because they will take care of it, repair it, clean it, because it is theirs.  When the other one breaks, they will have to wait for another NGO to come along and do it for them, because they won't do it for themselves because they are not organized.  

The man in the well takes the bucket of cement, pours it into a head pan and then pours the mix behind the  forms to cast the rings and tamps it down to make sure there is no gaps in the concrete.  They continue to cast rings till they reach the top.  The rings at the bottom should have 3 meters of water in the dry season to ensure water when the rains stop.  Jonathan said that each year the water table drops.

These ladies were dying to have me take their picture while they winnowed their  rice.

Note the forms that they use to form the rings for the interior of the well.  In  Liberia they cast the rings on the ground, and when they are cured they drop them into the well.  Here, they cast them while they are in the well.

They typically mix their cement on the ground.  The same bucket they are using to add water to the mix is the same bucket that they will lower the 'mud' into the well to cast the rings.

It's hot in Kenema, Sierra Leone

Wednesday, Thursday March 14-15, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

The air conditioning in our rental truck kept freezing up, so we debated whether to exchange it for another, knowing how desperately we’d want to be cool this time of year.  Sahr Doe offered to give us another car but the truck we have is still running, which is always a plus.  Besides, Sahr has his own problems.  His orange ‘toaster’ car hit a deer.  The driver was bringing back the lady we met from Ghana that was here to do some training in Bo.  Luckily the passengers were not hurt but the car had to be towed.

On our way to Kenema we saw that this red rig was still stuck there.  The backhoe in front was to dig out the hill so that traffic could pass, since it is on the steepest section on the Grafton Road.  The very large red rig is the one that is stuck, and had been for at least three days.  Someone tried to tow it out but failed.

We arrived in Kenema in the early afternoon and the manager said he would ‘give us a good deal’ on a bigger, nicer room.  After we got unpacked we discovered that the fridge didn’t work and hours later they found us another one that did.  There was another room attached, which we didn’t need, and that was not air conditioned.  There was a TV, and after much instruction I figured out how to use it—only three English speaking channels.  The air conditioner by the bed was as weak as in any other room.  There was no hot water, but then, it is so hot outside that it doesn’t matter—I shower after I swim and therefore there is no cringing.  Much later Jim finally inquired about the cost.  It wasn’t such a good deal, and the only advantage was the TV, so we switched back to our regular standard room. The only bother was the unpacking, packing, unpacking. He told us he’d give us a deal after Jim’s gas was siphoned in his parking lot during the last trip.  Some deal!

Jonathan and his family spent the afternoons with us as they usually do, starting with swimming, ending with dinner at the hotel.  We discuss business and problems.  I could write a book about all the problems.

Thursday: this time of year is living up to its name.   The heat feels oppressive and left me without energy the entire day.  Our room barely gets cooled enough for us to sleep at night.  Jim felt even worse than he did when he first got sick so we were only able to see eight wells.  The great news was that the concrete all looked good—that is a first…a happy first! 

Jim & Jonathan inspecting the cement work on the wells.

We were pretty happy with them for once.  The communities also provided homemade bricks for walls around their wells. One community was complaining that they had to donate some things when another NGO came in and just gave a neighboring community their well.  The hygiene facilitator told them that the other well would break too, except no one would fix it, and that they’d have water long after the other because they were organized to repair it.  Most people here think they should get everything for nothing.                                                                   

                               

In the dry season Kenema is without electricity for two or more months.  Their electricity is generated by water, which they run out of.  At our hotel we run out of water too, and they don’t leave on the power throughout the day like they used to.  Fuel costs have risen here also.             

Love, mom & dad

African hiccups...

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

Speaking of hiccups…  Last night Jim thought his cough was due to the weather conditions this time of year in West Africa.  They are called the Sahara winds, which leaves the sky full of dust, smudging the otherwise clear view from our hotel, atop a hill.  He thought his headache that wouldn’t go away was due to jetlag, and normally he has headaches, not a few. He had a very restless night and then realized that he was sick.  I am still coughing sometimes from the lingering flu/cold I had for the two weeks before we left.  He had to leave today anyway armed with a pill to mask his discomfort so he could finish looking at the refurbished wells in Waterloo.   As it turned out, Turay was sick too, and felt worse than Jim did.

Today you could either say I was stuck again, or I escaped a hot, bumpy journey.  They told us last night that we could have a room (they weren’t kicking us out tonight after all), but that we had to change rooms and go one floor below.  We liked this room despite the double bed, which made us have to readjust our king size sleeping habits—but the mattress was comfortable, the pillows fluffy, and the shower was exceptional.  Even though these rooms all basically look alike, they are never really the same because, well, it is Africa.  These things cannot always be explained.  At any rate, I had to stay back so that they could get the other room clean for us so I could pack our bags and supervise the transfer (not that we don’t trust anybody).

The dozen wells Jim saw today he was pleased with.  Not only was the concrete work good, but some had fences.

But then another hiccup--around noon is when I discovered that they didn’t have a room for us after all and I had to leave.  I didn’t have a phone.  I didn’t know Jim’s number, and I was not sure what to do with myself.  I finally decided that the hotel did have some LDS phone number and they did—it was Sahr’s.  I had him call Jim, and Jim tried to get them to do something but nothing could be done.  They were kind enough to let me stay in the room but with my bags packed I had nothing I could do.  Jim had purchased a can of Coke and some chips.  That was my lunch—didn’t very feel good.  Luckily Jim showed up just after 4 PM, showered, and we finished packing and departed.  We were to have dinner with the Randall’s and they were kind enough to tell us we could stay in the apartment next to theirs.  So we had dinner and then we settled in for the night.  Tomorrow we leave for Kenema anyway.

It is late now and I find the pillows hard and the three inch foam mattress on a hard box spring a little uncomfortable.  I tried taking a shower and it came out like a spit, so I took a spit shower, not daring to wash my hair. 

Turay said that next week is typically the hottest week of the entire year.  Ghana is hotter than them all, and yet I didn’t think it was as hot as it usually is.  Maybe I’m getting used to it.  And in Freetown at the weather is always cooler.  Kenema will be very hot.

While visiting with Randall’s we caught up on the Schlehuber’s and I felt terribly sorry for them.  The entire house had to be rewired because it was not enough to take care of the daily electricity usage.  That means they have been living almost exclusively without air conditioning (how do they breathe at night), hot water (cold showers), washing clothes by hand, and using dirty water from their water tank on their roof that is open at the top and the birds use it.  How can I complain when these people are really having such a terrible time of it! [We visited them on the way to Kenema today (Wednesday) and they seemed surprisingly okay.] 

We love the people we work with.  Jim learned that Turay’s wife Dorien is expecting their third child.  They are very happy and have of late been feeling especially blessed. 

                                                                     Another good well, with a block fence.

Jim took this picture, which is really not allowed so I’m not sure how he got away with it.  This is a ‘female secret society’ place…rite of passage.  There are also huts for the young men. 

Love, mom & dad, Jim & Karen, E/S Greding

Waterloo rehabs, first day check

Elder & Sister Petersen, who used to serve in Sierra Leone and became good friends with Turay, gave him these tomato plants.  They were excited about how successful they were.

Turay and son Prince showing off their tomato plants

Princess and Prince, soon to be adding a third.  What do you name #3 when Prince and Princess are already taken?  I guess we will find out in the Fall.

Day one: looking at well rehabs in Waterloo.  This is a picture of a good  one.  Of the 12 wells Jim checked on, half looked like this one, half of them have to be redone.

These boys made a toboggan for their dusty ride!

This is a picture of what not to do.  They added their too-dry  mix  and added it to a sandy surface.    It was a very thin coat, also missing some cement.  No matter whether our site monitors are good ones (they show up on the job), or bad ones (that don't show up), they don't seem to understand that their job is to make sure this doesn't happen.  This, among others will be fixed to our liking.  Also, there is a 90 day check, which will tell us if they are going to last or not.

Back to Africa

Monday, March 12, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

We arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone last night, departing LA Friday afternoon.  This trip will almost be identical to our last three week trip except that we’ll be three days in Liberia instead of five.  Our purpose is to check on the work of the technicians who will be pouring concrete casings that line the inside of the wells, and  pouring the aprons.  Since concrete work is usually lacking (not enough cement and poured too dry) we thought this was the most important time to be here.  In Liberia we’ll be interviewing contractors and then writing up a proposal for latrines and wells.

Our travels were mostly uneventful, arriving in Accra late Saturday night.  We went to the airport to catch our flight the next morning to Freetown, but the pilot didn’t show up—perhaps he got sick.  By the time they found a pilot for the plane it departed about the time it was supposed to arrive.  We never know who is picking us up (we don’t always get those interesting details from our project manager) or if they had a clue about how late the plane would be. 

When we boarded the bus that takes us from the airport to the water taxi, an African woman asked us if we were the LDS couple that was coming to Freetown (she saw my badge).  She was from the Accra office and was traveling to Freetown and then Bo to participate in some welfare training.  We found out that Sahr Doe was meeting her with a chauffer who would drive her to her hotel and then to Bo the next day.  Sahr Doe was also renting a car for us and was meeting us at the wharf with another driver. 

Since we boarded our water taxi in the evening the seas were a bit more unruly.  The dock is fine, but then it goes down sharply with just 1x2 boards to hold you back.  It was so funny that Jim got annoyed when they wanted to hold his hand—he wouldn’t let them, but I did.  Then we navigate a floating dock that we walk across to get into the boat.  It looks like a sport court only the blocks are a foot deep, and somehow they all fit together and don’t break apart.  Because the seas were turbulent, the floating (rubber?) dock undulated more violently than usual.  We then have to dip into the opening of the boat as it also rocks in the water.  I was giggling but noticed another lady, a bit elderly, being escorted by two strong African men.  She looked a bit nervous, but for us, all great fun.

At the dock the boat driver couldn’t taxi into his usual spot to unload us because there was a cable from another dock or boat 50 feet on the other side and our water taxi wouldn’t fit under this cable.  They finally slowly taxied under it, a guy sitting on the bow, lifting up the cable so that we could make it under.  They are very insistent about putting life jackets on us, but the workers never wear them, even the guys hanging out the back by the two large outboard motors.  When we de-board the boat there is a rusted stairway that leads to the pavement above, and most of the handrail is missing and of course no stairways are to code, so the workers also have to hold our hands till the railing shows up towards the top of the stairs.  All great fun for us but for non-swimmers they do get a little freaked out.  Once when the seas were particularly choppy Jim watched as several African government people (with double life vests) insisted on being taken back to shore, even forfeiting their money just to get off the boat.  Of course, that same boat ride soaked Jim when a wave broke through the plastic windshield, ruining our camera and his cell phone and making him sick as a doggy the next day.

We met Sahr Doe’s driver immediately and found a 4x4 Ford truck with a king cab and short bed—cool!  He said our ‘toaster’ car, that was going to take the Accra lady to Bo, had been overheating.  I guess he figured it would be fine enough for her and her driver—he could just keep repairing the car as he drove her along—sort of an African tradition.

By this time it was night and dark and Jim couldn’t remember how to get from the wharf to the road so we followed Sahr Doe and his driver (in Sahr’s very nice truck) till Jim found the right road and we were on our way and were soon settled in our hotel, had our dinner, even if rather late.  Okay, now we can go to work.

Monday morning: one of Africa’s funniest expressions is to say, when things don’t go right, that there has been a ‘hiccup’.  You might say that this morning began as a hiccup.  I woke up with an infection and needed to stay here just for today till my medicine kicked in (don’t leave home without your pharmacy).  Jim was a little late getting out to the truck, only to discover that the battery was dead.  Sahr Doe quickly came to the rescue with a new battery--they attached it better than the last one, that just wasn’t quite fitting the clamps, which could have been part of the problem.  Tonight he will also bring a spare tire.  Jim looked at the ones on the truck and one was already a bit low and the others nearly bald…should be a fun day, bumping over the Grafton road.  He goes with a prayer that it holds together.  And, here I am, stuck at the hotel for the day, even though it is a good place to be stuck.  I sent Jim with my camera, but he doesn’t use it as much as I do but I told him to try….

Love, mom & dad, E/S Greding, Jim & Karen