Liberia, again

Late Monday night, April 16, 2018

We are now in Liberia, trying to get used to a new hotel.  The last one we used was terribly expensive.  However, when we arrived we were really disappointed.  We went to dinner, came back and the air conditioner was no better than when we left, plus the bathroom had a tiny, round, old shower.  The room itself was quite large and roomy and they made use of it by putting in enough furniture to put our stuff in.  We decided we would complain about the air conditioner so they changed our room.  We went two floors down and had a similar room, except this one had a very nice, updated bathroom.  They even had a light over the sink that you could actually see yourself in, which is rare in most hotels no matter how much they cost.  They had no place to put anything in the bathroom, a pet peeve of mine, which also has nothing to do with how much the hotel room costs per night. 

We originally thought we might change hotels, but after we saw the new bathroom we changed our minds.  The air in this room at first felt no better than the last one but eventually it got cool.  We suspect none of the rooms will have anything but old, tired air conditioners.   Everywhere we went in this hotel it was a bit too warm.  Of course, it is hot and humid, no surprise there…

A nice, large room with lots of useful furniture and this one had a pretty remodeled bathroom, a nice light in the bathroom to see by, and lots of mirrors.  The air conditioners in this place need help though.

We left home on Saturday and arrived Sunday night about 10 PM in Accra and to the same hotel we always use.   As we stood in the long line at the airport to have our papers checked I spied Elder Nash!  He was the Area President when we served in Peru and is now serving in the Area Presidency in Accra.  I gave him a shout across the people and he looked and I reminded him about our name and where we last met. Then he remembered us and seemed to know something about our service over the years.  We planned on meeting up in the office on our return, but we might miss them by a day.  They were just returning from Nigeria.  Also in line was the Area President and his wife.  I think he is from New Zealand.  This was a fun meeting.  Elder Nash used to be Jim’s sister’s Stake President when they lived in Washington State and he knew her well.

I slept hard all night from midnight till 6:30 AM.  The next morning we had a cab take us to the airport instead of the shuttle because it didn’t meet up with the hotel schedule like it usually does.  Still, the cab only costs about $12, so it was a bargain and we got there at a convenient time.  We also got there early enough to get bulkhead seats when we asked—so, a short 1½ hour flight, and in comfort.

The line was long getting through the checkpoint at the Roberts Airport in Liberia, and still had a long wait for our luggage.  E/S Teerlink were there when we emerged and we went on our way, checking out some new wells that recently had been dug or drilled.  By the time we got to Monrovia it was dinnertime, so we dropped our luggage and went to dinner.

On this trip we’ve felt a bit like pack mules.  We brought some medical books to Teerlink’s along with the rest of the blind canes that didn’t fit last time.  The books were incredibly heavy even in my small carryon that we checked in.  We carried yet another bag with some of the canes, a gift for a former guard of E/S Burns’ when they served in Sierra Leone several years ago, and 3 boxes of 3,000 labels to the Mission President in Sierra Leone.  It was nice to drop off the first of the extra bags here because it was so heavy.  Everyone is thrilled with our doing this though, so it is always worth it.

Well, it is very late now that we are finally settled.  We have another full week ahead of us checking on the work that has been going on.  I took extra delight unpacking my bags.  We’ll be here long enough to do that—always a thrill!

Another late night…off to bed, on a fairly comfortable mattress, and better than the room they moved us from.

Tuesday:

We located the dining room to see what our breakfast was going to be.  We could order our eggs, which we did, and they had little cakes and juice on the counter to take.  Then they brought us a plate full of fresh fruit, so this was better than we thought it would be.  Teerlink’s picked us up at 9 AM.

Pictures from yesterday:

Elder Teerlink above showing us one of the drilled wells.  It was essentially dry and it was the second dry well in this area.  They are trying to find a place to drill another—it is apparently on a large rock that they drilled through, and still only finding minimal water.  The only well in the area has a long cue.  

Elder Greding below at well #2 that we saw, which has plenty of water, but we had some issues with the construction.  The apron already had divots in the concrete where the water comes down (not enough concrete in the cement).  Also, the water first hit the round pedestal, meaning it didn’t go straight into their buckets.  One of our stops tomorrow will be a visit with the contractor so he can fix it, and a talk with the site monitor for not making sure it was done properly.  The best thing was the wall built by the community—very well done!

We stopped by the blind center where they are now building chairs.  We talked to the head of the blind center, Steven.  He again expressed his delight about working instead of having to beg for his living.  I found out that he went blind from working as a diver.  In these water ways there is this little worm-like thing that gets in their eyes and makes them go blind.  He can only see shapes and there is nothing that can be done for him.  Sister Teerlink is working with a good Indian doctor and they have identified over 120 people that will qualify to have their sight restored.  Strangely, it is hard to get them in because (1) fear (2) they think it will cost them money even though it is free and (3) they might not have bus fare to get there.