Sightseeing, church, and travel

Liberia day 3, 4  July 21/22 Monrovia to Balama

downtown Monrovia, Liberia

along the road in Monrovia

T.I.A. (This is Africa).  Plans change.  Instead of going to the village on Saturday it was decided that we needed to confirm our flights home before we left town just to be sure that was taken care of.  After doing this we toured Monrovia a bit before heading back to Jessy's for lunch and dinner from the Coal Pot Queens.  We saw the government buildings, US Embassy, Waterside Market all while touring downtown.

We went to worship on Sunday morning at Sister Sarah's (coal pot queen) church Tubman Memorial UMC.  I was asked to come forward after the service to with the congregation what we would be doing while we were in Liberia.  I shared with them our plans to lead teacher training and VBS, work with the woman and business leaders, and love on the children of Balama.

After lunch we loaded up to make the trek to Balama.  We took a 4.5 hour drive over pot-marked (read scattered, smothered, and covered in potholes) roads from Monrovia to Balama.

 one of many signs of "progress" in and around Balama

The women could carry just about anything (head and/or back) and rarely anything in their hands.

We went first to the orphanage and met the children.  The children gave us a great welcome by performing a short program for us.  They sang songs and quoted scripture from the oldest to the very young.  Then, we were able to hang out with them and talk to the children.  From that very moment each team member had several buddies for the week.  Any time we would be back at the orphanage our "crew" would come to hold our hands and just be near us.

Children at the orphanage

more of the 120 at the orphanage

After eating supper we went down to the school to lay eyes on where we would be conducting VBS, teacher training, and Woman to Woman. When this was completed we went to Gbarnga (BAHN-ga) to the Crystal Palace Guest House.  The Crystal Palace is a small hotel that is run by a childhood friend of Jessy's.  During our team debriefing we decided we would buy snacks and lunch for the children.  We purchased biscuits (cookies) for the VBS snack and rice, chicken, and topping for lunch.  

 Team shot: In Movrovia Sun PM ready to hit the ground running!