Macedonian call, personal contacts to Liberia

Alfred Joe today

I was very surprised when one of the students contacted me and I was very glad to hear the majority of the students at the school survived. Some of the parents including my main interpreter we're killed in the conflicts. They were civilians not warriors. 

The students were my oldest kids in the school and they went with me everywhere. They were my guides in the jungle, they help protect my daughter who was for the time for the jungle was all around us. Every day I played soccer with the boys at to school and I learned play in my bare feet. In the rainy season this was fun. In the school they were my smartest students. I owe them a lot more then I can never repay. They were just kids but they taught me a lot about living in the jungle. The parents of the students at school did much to help me have a good opportunity to help others.

Alfred Joe was the oldest of the boys. He was tall for a Liberian and was very fast. His English was very good and he was the one fellow I could depend when I was in the jungle. When we walk together he would often stop and identify a sound of an animal, warn me of a dangerous snake nearby, let me know if there're people around. His skills in the jungle came in very handy then and later in the Liberian Civil War.

One day, soldiers came into his village and began shooting. They killed about 30 people in his village including Alfred Joe's dad. (Alfred Joe’s dad work for me as a groundskeeper back in 1977.) Alfred Joe and is mentally challenged brother ran into the jungle to escape the gunfire. His brother wasn't able to keep up and took another direction and he was killed. Alfred Joe's speed and knowledge of the jungle saved his life.

Daniel and Moses Tarr like Alfred Joe were excellent students and a big help around the mission. I will tell some of their stories later. It was Moses who contacted me on Facebook and in we have been in communication since. Moses has some very practical ideas of how I can help now. One of the things I am working on right now is improving communication with the men. Alfred Joe lives in the jungle and maybe out of reach of the Internet. Daniel lives in Monrovia poverty prevents them from having a phone. Both of these situations I hope to improve. A personal level I would like to help the three who struggle with poverty. I can't change the world, but I can help a few people. They in turn have language skills which can be a tremendous asset.

Having a personal connection has brought me back to a long time I'll go commitment that I have made. Keep walking

“Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?”

Background of problems in Liberia

Moses giving me a shave, bad idea

Historically Liberia was somewhat developed along the coast by the 15 or so families I'll back slaves Of America settling in Liberia in 1822. Inland Liberia remained isolated from modern life following traditional tribal customs of 16 tribal groups. These tribal groups had fought one another and were somewhat put under control by Pres. Tugman in the 1940s to 1971. 

Most missions concentrated their efforts along the coast. Education in the interior was primarily promoted by a few companies and a few missionaries working in the interior. Governmental schools we're slow to develop in and very poor and the quality of education.

With over 20 years of conflict the situation had only grown worse. Liberian business has always been controlled buy foreign investors. Today the Chinese and Indochina operate many busuiness. 

West Africa has been in the news because of Ebola and the ISIS threat to innocents.

Following the health story one thing that is apparent to me is that Liberia lacks the technical training to improve their health system. There aren't enough teachers, doctors, nurses, engineers, tradesman and businessman trained to compete in the modern world. Illiteracy and the lack of a common language greatly impairs the progress in Liberia. There are too many places where there are no schools, clinics, Liberian owned businesses. The ebola crisis as been averted but there is no infrastructure of health or education in the country. So in the next crisis comes there will be too few of the Liberians able to deal with it.

Liberians who get educated make a greater effort to leave the country. It's hard to blame them in light of violence and hardship in a very hot climate. Their very desire to improve their personal situation leaves Liberia with even less human resources.

The present Liberian leadership has given the country a place in which to begin to grow again. In order to see progress there has to be security and safety. As this is taken place we have to realize that the reality is too few can read and write. There are too few who are able to go to college. Liberia has less than 3 million people, 16 tribes, and a growing urban slum that lacks the resources of their country cousins to live off the land. The first thing to do is to become aware of what is being done and not being done. 

For me,

in a practical sense, what can I do? Keep walking

Getting back into the game

I became Mr. Laundry man 1977

Liberia has recently come back to me in a personal way with the reintroduction of my three students back in 1977 who are now 48 to 50 years old. 

After my one year service in Liberia I decided to go into College for further training to go back too Liberia to serve as a missionary. In 1980, Liberia entered a period of the Civil War which dramatically change the country forever. In the mid 1980s Liberia entered the Civil War that lasted over 20 years. The wars directly affected the time of service that I could give Liberia as I had to establish a new career.

Liberia has already experience Long term problems with malaria and aids. In the last few years ebola ravage through parts of the country and Liberia hit International attention. 

Now I'm retired, I have an opportunity to get back to finding a way to serve the Lord helping Liberia either here or back overseas. In part it is part of the walk with a fat man as I find purpose in my aging to help others and by doing so benefit from the process is still living and being involved. Many baby boomers are reinventing themselves with education and new opportunities. Putting off the rocking chair for a few years has been shown to be good for our health. So on this blog, I hope to share my progress and service. Keep walking