last full day...

Today had some of the bustling back and forth that has been fairly normal for us here. Our cancelled meeting from yesterday with the Deputy Minister of Education, Mr. Zarzar was still on today for 11:00. We had a really helpful meeting with him and LOIC and IRD (our partner organizations), and he connected us with a Ms. Pratt who focuses on school feeding programs. It will likely be she who we work with as we determine which schools will get focus. After the meeting Mustafa and I waited in the colonnade outside the building for Abee and Gladys. It was HOT so Mustafa told me to hold the expression on my face while he took a picture!

We then took our final trip “upcountry” – this time to Cape Mount County to look at one of LOIC’s technical skills schools. Since we will probably be using trainees from the program for the renovations, it was a great opportunity to see some of what they do. The students were all done with class for the day when we got there, but they must have held them back so we could see them – a tad awkward! But it was great fun to see some of the stuff they’re learning – small engine repair, hair weaving, masonry, tailoring, baking, and carpentry. We also stopped by a day care that is provided by the school so the students can attend class. All of the programs are 9 months long, and students leave being pretty competent in their trade of choice. James, the guy who had picked us up from the airport, is the administrator of the Cape Mount school. So after the students left we peppered him with more questions about how the program is run. Well – actually Gladys and I did, while Mustafa and George hammered out more details of the agriculture proposal.

The teaching staff at the school make $150 a month, regardless of their skill or level of education (very frustrating if you have a high level of education!). Because many of the students come from far away, the instructors often pay rent for them out of their own pockets, just so the students can attend class. Often their pay is delayed for up to two months because of administrative run-around with the grant that funds the school. James talked about coming down to Monrovia on Friday – the next time he’d have internet access. As we asked how some of these details could possibly work, James would explain, “it’s sacrificial, it’s sacrificial”. He’s been doing this for five years, and we get the sense that he’s getting pretty burned out with the role. He has his master’s degree and probably feels qualified and ready for something different.

We ended the day with a stop by Gladys’s sister’s home, where she’s been staying while she hangs in Monrovia. We got to meet her mom and sister, brother-in-law and ADORABLE nephew “Win”. (They had tried for five years to have a baby and had given up when he came along – hence the name!). It was great to put faces to names and chat with them for a while.

My laptop thinks its still in Wisconsin. The clock reads 7:06 PM, which means it’s just after midnight here in Liberia. That means I fly out today. I should go to bed, but I’m afraid. Afraid of the last page of the booklet that has been my time here. Not sure whether it will conclude “The End” or “To Be Continued…” and quite honestly afraid of the answer either way. At various times throughout this trip I have figuratively “surfaced” – trying to step back, step out, and consider. In my head is a continually running refrain, “I’m really, truly, in Africa. I’m seeing things and talking to people that till now I have seen only in calendars, the news and promotional material for charities.” Every moment here has been a privilege. I’m perfectly serious about that; It’s been (mostly!) easy to be a good sport about this because of that – things that are difficult here for me are everyday life for folks who live here. And I get the privilege of stepping out of one life into another, very different one. Why wouldn’t one just soak that experience in for all it’s worth? I’m scared of the day ending because I’ll no longer be able to put off making a decision about whether this becomes my life, for real, in just a few months…