Russell “Russ” McCahan grew up in the small Quaker town of Haddonfield, NJ which still boasts cobblestone streets and brick sidewalks.  He moved to Colorado to attend college, earning a degree in Finance with a minor in Real Estate from Colorado State University in 1975.
 
His first job after college was as a commercial mortgage lender.  Since then, he has worked in real estate development and become experienced in construction management.  Russ confesses that he is not a detail-oriented person unless it comes to architecture. 
 
He became involved with Dignity:Liberia because it is part of his faith.  He believes in doing what he is called to do and that God puts opportunities in front of us all at different times.  In speaking with Russ, it is obvious that he has a passion for social justice.  I asked what took him to West Africa.  He first went to Jos, Nigeria during the AIDS pandemic, volunteering with the group Faith Alive.  While in Nigeria, he became impressed with the Mennonites.  It seemed to him that many faith-based groups arrived in Nigeria with a pre-existing plan, whereas the Mennonites asked what needed to be accomplished and worked with their Nigerian counterparts in reaching a solution.  He often went to their compound to relax and pray before retiring for the night. 
 
Sometime after he returned to the United States, his church built a modular building on the church lawn, generating lots of interest and funding for a feeding program.  Eventually the building was taken apart and shipped to Liberia.  Russ went to Liberia with the construction crew.  They built the Peanut Butter House for malnourished children near ELWA. 
 
He stayed on the ELWA campus where he met Rusty Laired, then-construction manager of ELWA hospital.  Rusty asked Russ to return as a volunteer construction manager.  While ELWA Hospital benefited from his expertise as a construction manager, Russ learned about construction techniques in Liberia: what materials work in Liberia’s climate, and where to purchase quality items.  He learned passive cooling techniques such as adding roof vents, painting roofs white, and planting bamboo in order to cool buildings without air conditioners. 
 
While in Liberia, he took on other jobs to support himself financially, working for SIM, Samaritan’s Purse, and as a freelancer for a German non-profit, GIZ (pronounced G.I. Zed),  teaching classes on passive solar design.  In Liberia, GIZ put solar panels on all maternity wards.  In addition, they provided personal computers, motorcycles, and training to keep the solar panels running. 
 
Russ remained in Liberia for four years.  While there, he met his wife, Priscilla.  She had attended nursing school and volunteered at ELWA Hospital.  On the day they met, she was helping her sister at her restaurant.  Russ loves children and was impressed with the care she showed her niece and nephew.  After they were married, they moved off the ELWA compound, which gave Russ an opportunity to learn much about Liberian culture.  He and Priscilla now live in Fort Collins, Colorado. 

Dignity:Liberia’s maternity waiting home, House of Hope and Dignity, has been imagined by architect Alvin Wesley Miamen.  Born in Buutuo, Nimba County (which is also where Liberia’s 14-year-long civil war began), he grew up in Clara Town, Monrovia where he attended school.
 
In 7th grade, he was exposed to architecture through a training program at Wilmot Blyden Presbyterian School, Monrovia and continued to seek learning opportunities in that field.  He was mentored by Adolphus McCritty, an architect who has worked in the U.S. and Liberia.

When Dignity:Liberia sought out an architect, Mr. McCritty recommended a "talented student."  That student, Alvin Miamen, met with Dignity:Liberia’s founder and president, Kathi Gutierrez, and asked about our purpose and history.  He believes in giving back and the waiting home project, in his words, “benefits Mama Liberia,” so it fits with what he stands for.
 
Alvin is married to Satta and is the proud father of 3 girls, Hannah, Alvina and Salvina.

Alvin Miamen, House of Hope and Dignity's architect, standing inside the maternity waiting home during its construction.  Alvin is donating his time and professional expertise to Dignity:Liberia.

Many thanks to Alvin for agreeing to share his story with our readers.  He is a busy man, and we appreciate his sitting down with Anne-Marie Mueller for the interview.

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from Dignity:Liberia’s president, Kathi Gutierrez, informing me that a discarded cigarette caused a fire at the site of House of Hope and Dignity, Dignity:Liberia’s maternity waiting home.  It sparked a blaze that scorched much of the grounds.
 
No lives were lost, and the home, as well as the separate kitchen, were not damaged.  However, the entire nursery burned up.  This hit me hard.  When I served with the building team in October, my job was to help Friday gather cuttings from Varney Goyah Town and a couple of sites in Monrovia and plant them in recently dug soil.  Susie and I dug the dirt, filled plastic bags, and added the cuttings following Friday’s direction.  They’ve been watered regularly since then and have grown.  I feel as if a part of me is gone. 
 
As hard as this news is for me, new plantings can easily be collected and restarted.  The plantings, which will be used to keep the building cool and decorate the grounds, will be a bit delayed, but that’s all.

Yes, the nursery was destroyed, but it will thrive.  Not all women who develop a fistula during prolonged labor can have the damage repaired.  More often than not, they end up losing their baby and having hysterectomies.  A part of them is gone.  Their nurseries are empty.  Unlike our plant nursery, they cannot restart their pregnancies.  The goal of our maternity waiting home is to prevent such sad outcomes.

In 2020, I was with a volunteer team in Liberia.  I had to leave ahead of the rest of the team to return to my job.  As I said goodbye on that March 1st, we parted with the words, “See you in a couple of weeks,” because we had a board meeting scheduled.  Two weeks later, the United States and much of the world was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  I retired from that job last week, and we are still in the midst of a global pandemic. 
 
Yet, life goes on.  People have gotten married, had children, and celebrated milestone birthdays.  At the university where I worked, new employees were hired, others resigned, and others, like me, have retired.
 
During these two years, Dignity:Liberia’s plans for a maternity waiting home have moved from the dream stage to architectural drawings to construction.  People have asked us about the sustainability of our plans.  Their inquiry is about our finances.  Not being a “numbers” person, my personal response is this: 
 
The university where I worked made some major cuts to its athletics program and to staffing in order to survive.  Many powerful corporations have crashed or received bailouts to survive.  Multiple NGOs pulled out of Liberia and some have not yet returned, in response to COVID.
 
Dignity:Liberia, on the other hand, continued to take teams to Liberia and has continued to visit the Phebe Rehab Center, giving hope to young ladies who often feel outcast and forgotten.  We have sent medical teams to work with local hospitals.  We are now in the midst of constructing House of Hope and Dignity, the first phase of our compound, thus providing jobs and pouring money into the local economy. 
 
If that’s not a sustaining presence, I don’t know what is. 

I love little children.  They are born without prejudice and, until they learn otherwise, are innocent and trusting.  They are curious and love to imitate others.  They want to learn about everyone and everything.  They have energy to burn and are eager to please.  They are friendly and love to laugh.  They also bring out the child in adults.     
 
The children we met in Liberia were fascinated when the team showed up at the construction site.  They were captivated by Becky’s drone and looked on in awe when she put it into action.  When we went to nearby Varney Goyah Town to conduct community assessment interviews, they gathered around us.  They were highly amused by my taking pictures of chickens and coconuts.  Lizzy took my hand and skipped along beside me as we walked.  When we left to return to the construction site, they ran there on foot, taking a shortcut and showing up about the same time as our vehicle.  Rick had a bagful of candy that he gave them.  They gathered around him laughing joyfully as he passed out the sweets. 
 
At some point, someone decided to use a hose as a makeshift jump rope.  The children had fun jumping as the adults turned the “rope.”  They laughed in delight when the men jumped rope as well.  As I recalled all this the other day, I thought, what if they had never been born?  All those beautiful smiles never lighting up my heart or those of their parents. 
 
Sadly, not only do many women develop a fistula due to their prolonged labor, but their babies are stillborn.  Most of the fistula survivors I have spoken to lost their babies.  They didn’t just suffer a problem that causes shame and isolation, but they lost their precious baby - a baby that could have grown up with bubbly laughter and dreams.  Dignity:Liberia’s dream is to build a maternity waiting home that will provide a safe place to stay for a woman in the final days of her pregnancy. 
 
The construction of House of Hope and Dignity is well under way.  But we need your help in order to complete it and make it operational.  By donating now, you can make that happen.  Click here to make your gift.  Thank you.

“While they were there, the time came for her Child to be born. And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”    --Luke 2:6-7
 
The inn referenced in the quoted verse may have been a general lodging place or it may have been a spare room in a private residence.  Whatever it was, it was unavailable.  Because no room was available, Mary gave birth in less-than-ideal conditions.
 
This year, Dignity:Liberia began building its maternity waiting home, House of Hope and Dignity.  It is taking shape!  This would not have happened without your support, and we are so grateful to each of you for your past gifts.
 
However, building materials and labor costs add up.  Funds that are being spent need to be replaced.  Imagine if there were no room for an expectant mom to come for the last week of her pregnancy because the home was never built.  Imagine if she had to give birth in less-than-ideal conditions due to lack of funding.
 
Can we count on you to help us build this home?  If you have been waiting to make a year-end donation, wait no more!  Your gift will be multiplied in the form of lives changed and lives saved.  (And it’s tax-deductible!)  Just click on this link to make a donation.
 
Thank you.  Have a safe and Merry Christmas!

When I lived in Liberia in the 1970s, plenty of cars were in use as taxis.  This was the form of public transportation that I used as my parents forbade me to use the money bus (although I did board one once with some classmates).  Now the streets are overcrowded with kee kees (3-wheeled taxis) and pan pans (motorcycle taxis).  I admire anyone who is able to navigate the roads filled with potholes, people trying to sell their wares, and these ubiquitous vehicles. 
 
While driving through Kakata recently, we saw a pan pan start to wobble.  The passenger was carrying a bag of charcoal that apparently wasn’t balanced properly.  The pan pan started heading toward our vehicle but Becky, who was driving, managed to get out of its way.  A moment later, the pan pan overturned, scattering driver, passenger, and charcoal. 
 
Just a few days before, a friend of ours showed us her injuries from a pan pan accident.  She had a scar on her leg and her right arm was still swollen.  I expressed admiration that she had continued to work, as I probably would have been using sick leave had that happened to me.  She replied, “Well you see, in Liberia we have no choice.”  She also told me that in most circumstances when you call for an ambulance in Liberia, you pay up front for the service or you’re not transported to the hospital.
                                                                                                                                       
This made me think of woman who develop complications when the “pain grabs them” (when they are in labor).  Some of the fistula survivors I’ve spoken to have told me that the Traditional Tribal Midwife (TTM) did things such as bounce on their belly or cause them to gag in order to aid the delivery.  Eventually the TTM realizes that medical intervention is required. 
 
How will the expectant mother get to the hospital?  Will she have to walk?  Will she need to use public transportation?  What if her complications are serious enough to necessitate an ambulance?  Can her family afford to pay?
 
Dignity:Liberia’s maternity waiting home, House of Hope and Dignity will have a trained midwife who will be able to better assess the needs of a mother-to-be before her labor erodes into a crisis.  An ambulance will be available for transportation should the need arise, and payment will not be required up front before the expectant mother can be transported to a hospital. 
 
The construction of House of Hope and Dignity is going well.  We anticipate our home being operational in 2022.  We are thankful for the support all of you have given us but much is still needed.  If you are able, please make an additional donation to us by clicking on this link.
 
Thank you!

If you are a regular reader of our blog, you know that a team will be traveling to Liberia next week to lay the foundation of House of Hope and Dignity, a maternity waiting home.  We are partnering with volunteers from NGO Office Manager Matthew Walters’ church, First Baptist Church Oldest Congo Town. 
 
Typically, the blog before a trip includes an introduction to the team members.  I find it inspirational to hear what causes a person to invest time and money in a trip to Liberia.  This time, however, you will meet most of the team after the trip.  All except Susie. 
 
This is Susie’s third trip to Liberia.  I met her last year at the airport in Newark, when we served together on a team.  I’m looking forward to serving with her again, and I am pleased to introduce her to you in her own words.

Meet Susie:
I love doing missions, loving on people and helping others. I also love meeting new people and seeing and experiencing different places and things.

I feel we’ve been able to help some of the lovely ladies in Liberia with their personal needs. Being female myself, I identify with the importance of these needs.
  
After becoming involved with Dignity:Liberia, it occurred to me that my own mother was a victim of fistula at the age of 16. Like many of the young ladies in Liberia, she was living at home with her parents after she got married, and my father was drafted into the military.  She became pregnant, and attempted birth at home like her mother and many others did in those years.  The doctor was called, and present, but delivery of my 9 ½ lb. sister was so difficult that it left my mother with a fistula.  Thank the Lord she was later able to have surgery, to be repaired.
 
I am a retired corrections officer; I spent 24 years with the Missouri Department of Corrections.  I just celebrated my 75th birthday in southern Louisiana, doing Disaster Relief with the Southern Baptist Association.  I enjoy physical activity, and the Chainsaw and Flood Recovery Teams in particular, in Disaster Relief.
 
During the past 12 years I’ve been on a Project Hope mission team to Managua, Nicaragua.  Besides donating to help them afford many ministries, I especially enjoy physically helping construct the little houses in the villages we build.  
 
Helping to build the medical facility in Liberia, like the houses in Nicaragua, would be so rewarding, knowing I have had such an impact on these peoples’ lives for years to come.
 
I’m anxious to see what part of the building activities I can actually physically do.  Then stand back and see the accomplishments.

I have a bird feeder and a couple of squirrel feeders in my front yard.  I love watching the birds and hearing their chirping.  The squirrels are entertaining to watch, particularly as they try to climb up (and slide down) the pole to the bird feeder. 
 
Last year a raccoon figured out how to open the metal trash cans I used for storing bird seed and corn, so I started storing the bags in my laundry room till one of the bags had pantry moths that led to a pantry moth infestation. 
 
After the pantry moth experience, I decided to move things back to the outside storage, and bought a Sterilite footlocker for that purpose.  Less than a week after I bought it, I found the latches raised and a huge hole where an animal had chewed through the plastic.  Not to be thwarted, I bought a small Sterilite box that I placed inside a chicken-wire enclosure.  One day I left the door to the enclosure open, and something (I think a squirrel) chewed a hole in the lid. 
 
I next tried storing the damaged box inside the damaged footlocker.  Not smart!  When I went to retrieve a bag of birdseed, I found a hole in the side of the inner box!  Experiencing one setback after another has been very discouraging - enough that I’ve thought of abandoning my efforts to provide for the wildlife that visits my yard. 
 
After suffering from her own fistula, Dignity:Liberia’s founder, Kathi Gutierrez, felt the calling to help combat obstetric fistula in Liberia, where she had previously lived.  Knowing the emotional and physical pain she had suffered while having ready access to medical help, she knew that Liberian girls and women with fistula had it much worse. 
 
In the more than ten years that Dignity:Liberia has been working in Liberia, both the United States and Liberia have elected new presidents.  There has been the worldwide COVID pandemic, which is still ongoing.  Liberia also suffered through the Ebola pandemic which not only killed thousands, but temporarily led to some prejudices against the country.  Both during the Ebola virus and during COVID, funding earmarked for fistula campaigns was reallocated to combat the viruses.  More recently, many foundations in the U.S. have shifted their focus from maternal healthcare to COVID relief and other causes. 
 
Despite all this, Dignity:Liberia never considered abandoning its plans to build its maternity waiting home, House of Hope and Dignity.  In fact, a team is heading there in less than a month to lay the foundation for the home!  Some plans can’t be thwarted.   
 
To learn more about House of Hope and Dignity, click on this link or scan the QR code in the photo gallery above.
 
Thank you for your support!

​My husband and I have been watching the long-awaited 2020 Summer Olympics.  As I write this, they are more than half over.  Dreams have been realized and hopes dashed.  We watched tears roll down the cheeks of some competitors, as what was expected to be an easy win turned into defeat.  Some athletes felt shame for having let down the expectations of their nations.
 
This made me think of the fistula survivors I’ve met.  They went into labor, expecting an easy birth and a newborn baby to care for and love.  However, what was expected to be an easy delivery was instead a stillbirth, leaving the woman incontinent, in tears, and sometimes requiring a hysterectomy.  Some survivors have commented on seeing disappointment in their husband’s eyes.  They feel ashamed for letting down their families.
 
During the team sports, such as gymnastics, some team members did poorly while others excelled.  Even while nursing their own regrets at what might have been, the gymnasts still supported their teammates.  They took genuine pleasure when their friends did well.
                                                                                                                              
This made me think of the Rehab Center.  Some of the fistula survivors have had successful fistula repair surgeries.  Others have not.  While still suffering as they continue to leak, the survivors are sincere in their joy when a friend is healed.
 
For me, the defining moment of these Olympic games was witnessing the reaction to 46-year-old Oksana Chusovitina perform her vault.  Her first vault was stunning, but the second one did not score enough for her to advance from the qualifying rounds.  In appreciation for her inspirational effort, the arena erupted with applause and a standing ovation from the only audience in attendance - coaches, fellow competitors, journalists, and the judges.  The unifying spirit in that moment is what the Olympics are all about.
 
For Dignity:Liberia, the interest and support of friends around the globe has been inspiring.  Friends in Liberia, the United Sates, the U.K., Australia, Sweden, Spain, Mexico, Canada, and Norway are united in their support of Dignity:Liberia’s goal to eliminate obstetric fistula in Liberia.  Our first step toward that goal is to build a maternity waiting home in Todee District in rural Liberia.  Help us realize our dream.  Please make a donation today toward the construction of House of Hope and Dignity.  Your support means so much!  Together we can do it!  Thank you!