Friday the kids here at the Mercy Ships Academy had a chance to go accross the city to the American International School of Monrovia for a field day with the children there. The kids had a great time! It was very kind of the folks at AISM to invite us and it was quite a treat for the kids on the ship to play there. Besides having lots of other kids to play with, they had a chance to play on monkey bars and play field games like soccer and ultimate frisbee. I went along with my camera to document the event. It was easy enough for me to do since all of my kids were participating and I didn't have to be back to pick them up from school. Usually I am pretty limited in what work I can do off the ship since I have only about 3 1/2 hours in the morning before I have to pick the kids up from school and take them to lunch and then only a couple of hours in the afternoon before they get home and need help with homework, etc. For that matter, my work is limited on the ship too since my schedule with the children allows me little flexibility. I'm doing my best to work through the frustration that comes with the constraints I have. I want to do more photography and more of a variety, but I have to be satisfied with what fits into my schedule. Working within my limitations is not a new thing at all, it just requires rethinking and adjusting to the shape it takes in this environment. Nonetheless, it is a challenge.
Jenny has been content this weekend to hang around on the ship, but I have been dying to get out. Finally, after failing all weekend to find someone to walk with, I ventured out on Sunday afternoon alone on foot. I decided not to go far away from the ship, so I walked down nearby Jamaica Road. There was Jamaican music playing too at one point as I walked. I stopped to speak with a group of men, probably in their 30's, at one of the cell phone charging shops where you can pay to have your cell phone charged via generator power. The man who ran the shop, a stocky fellow in a Mickey Mouse T-shirt, was also named John so we immediately had something to talk about. The guys there inivited me to have a seat with them so I did. We sat under the overhang of the tin roof of the shop as it was beginning to rain a bit. We talked about the gold mining work that a couple of the men do and about their struggles finding buyers who will pay them a fair price and getting the equipment they need to do the work more efficiently. They showed me a sample of the gold dust they had recently found. They told me about how they need people to invest in Liberia and about the frustrations they have about how difficult it is to have something to show for all their labor. "Work, work, work and nothing - no money", they would say. We talked about sports a little and about American politics a lot. All of the 6 or so guys there knew which U.S. presidential candidate they were pulling for and the conversation was just as heated as any you would expect to find in the U.S.! For a moment I felt like I was back home. We talked about the connection that many of the Liberians feel to the United States. They told me that some of them have dreamed about enlisting in the U.S. Armed Forces. And one said he would like to join the Marines, go to Iraq, and let everyone know that "war is no good". I'm sure he knows all about that first hand. If only it were that simple. I had a great time talking (mostly listening) to those guys and I hope to visit them again soon.
John
Jenny has been content this weekend to hang around on the ship, but I have been dying to get out. Finally, after failing all weekend to find someone to walk with, I ventured out on Sunday afternoon alone on foot. I decided not to go far away from the ship, so I walked down nearby Jamaica Road. There was Jamaican music playing too at one point as I walked. I stopped to speak with a group of men, probably in their 30's, at one of the cell phone charging shops where you can pay to have your cell phone charged via generator power. The man who ran the shop, a stocky fellow in a Mickey Mouse T-shirt, was also named John so we immediately had something to talk about. The guys there inivited me to have a seat with them so I did. We sat under the overhang of the tin roof of the shop as it was beginning to rain a bit. We talked about the gold mining work that a couple of the men do and about their struggles finding buyers who will pay them a fair price and getting the equipment they need to do the work more efficiently. They showed me a sample of the gold dust they had recently found. They told me about how they need people to invest in Liberia and about the frustrations they have about how difficult it is to have something to show for all their labor. "Work, work, work and nothing - no money", they would say. We talked about sports a little and about American politics a lot. All of the 6 or so guys there knew which U.S. presidential candidate they were pulling for and the conversation was just as heated as any you would expect to find in the U.S.! For a moment I felt like I was back home. We talked about the connection that many of the Liberians feel to the United States. They told me that some of them have dreamed about enlisting in the U.S. Armed Forces. And one said he would like to join the Marines, go to Iraq, and let everyone know that "war is no good". I'm sure he knows all about that first hand. If only it were that simple. I had a great time talking (mostly listening) to those guys and I hope to visit them again soon.
John
2 comments:
Hello, I like this blog.
Sorry not write more, but my English is not good.
A hug from Portugal
Just wanted to let you know I am keeping up with your adventures and pray for you. I was in W-S last weekend for my 40th year high school reunion. Saw Susan, Jim, Nancy, Tim, Wilma, JE and Norris in addition to Richard and family. Saw David and Jan at the reunion since Jan was a HS classmate. All are well. Richard will be leaving his job at Reynolds in another year, so he gets an opportunity to think about what else he might like to be when he grows up! If you have any time to check news on the web, you're probably glad you're NOT stateside. Crazy politics and even more bewildering economy. Hope you'll do a blog on absentee ballots and who would win the election if Liberians were the electorate.
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