On March 8th we welcomed the team to Liberia.  Our mission was to instruct women and girls in the making of their own Menstrual Hygiene Kits.
 
The hustle and bustle of the airport is an experience in itself, especially after traveling for 24 hours plus.

On Saturday, March 9th, there was some orientation to the guesthouse where we were staying, unloading suitcases, sorting crafts, and planning our weeks ahead.  And of course, preparing food and eating together.

The “quilt ladies” also stopped by with some beautiful quilts that were too hard to resist.  Maude told us the story of the Coffee Tree quilt.   Look it up at this website https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40500884

On Sunday, the 10th, we went to church with Rev. Emile Sam-Peal, our host at the guesthouse and leader of the Dignity:Liberia NGO in Liberia.

Then we spent the rest of the day preparing for our first teaching session.

Monday, the 11th  and Tuesday, the 12th, it was at Lott Carey Baptist Mission School that we started the journey of teaching and learning how to make personal hygiene kits in Liberia. But it wasn’t all serious work, we had some great fun with jump ropes and necklaces. 

Also, Kay had the wonderful opportunity to share music with the Music Instructor at Lott Carey through Recorders.  The students really enjoyed and the teacher was very enthusiastic about being able to teach a wind instrument.  We had a few but we will collect more to send to them

    
     On Wednesday, March 12th , it was Decoration Day where family graves were
     cleaned up and decorated and loved ones remembered.  We took the time
     to visit the grave of a missionary that had died while working at Ricks Institute,
     Jenny Mills.

     Then we continued preparations to head up country to Phebe to visit the
     Rehabilitation Center and a trek to Coopertown.

Thursday, March 14th was mostly driving.  We passed a parade that was in celebration of J.J. Roberts Day, a holiday in honor of the first Liberian President.  We checked in at the Passion Hotel.  A pleasant stay where there is a restaurant, comfortable rooms with running water and even air-conditioners.  Keep in mind the current (electricity) was only on from 5:30 pm until 8:30 am.  We found out that the owner, Tormorlah Varpilah, is on the board at Phebe Hospital.  He runs a Children’s Center in Gbargna providing extra education and food for the community children. While we were there, they had a party for all the children. What a great way to celebrate life!

On Friday, March 15th, we spent the day at the Rehabilitation Center.  Unfortunately, most of the staff had been let go because of funding cuts, but they came to visit with us.  We pulled out the materials and taught how to make the hygiene kits, necklaces and jump ropes.  They fed us a wonderful lunch of Palm Butter and dry rice. Sao led us in singing about the blessings of the Lord and affirmed that we shall meet again.  With the financial uncertainty of the Rehab Center, Sao and Lemu will be the only ones left that can help out the girls.

On Saturday, March 16th, a group of five, Linda, Kathi, Kay, Susie, and Vicki, set out for Coopertown.  The others went back to Rehab and taught how to write their name on chalkboards we gave them, origami, clear stones with words of encouragement and braided necklaces.  A few years back, a group of women from Kansas City had gotten together money to have a well built in the village (see Verna’s Well).  Now they were coming to visit and see the village and meet the people.

On Sunday, the 17th, we headed back to Monrovia where we took the afternoon off and went to the beach.

On Monday, the 18th, we were ready for our
last teaching session at Effort Baptist Church. 
But first on Monday morning was our
shopping on Benson street for fabric and
clothing!

 At Effort, women from the community were invited to come and learn about making hygiene kits as well as other crafts such as ribbons.  They were excited about the ribbons for practical reasons, “We can make ribbons for the ushers!” There were two sessions, Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. 

In September, I was part of the Dignity:Liberia team that traveled to Liberia.  For me, the most memorable experiences from our trip were delivering supplies and donations to the Phebe Rehabilitation Center and interviewing fistula survivors. 

We drove onto the Rehab Center compound in two different vehicles on the morning of September 3rd.  I was in the lead vehicle and was overwhelmed with emotion at the joyous greeting we received.  Women and girls - fistula survivors - came running from their dorm rooms and greeted us with hugs and smiles.  Some of our team had been there in March, so were familiar faces, but all of us received an enthusiastic welcome.  Next, Sao, one of the teachers, joined us playing a saa saa (a musical gourd).  The girls began singing and dancing.  I was laughing with joy and soon clapping my hands to the music.
 
We then unloaded boxes of supplies and took them to the Palava Hut where Sao and an assistant meticulously inventoried every item received.  The boxes contained a number of items for the various trades taught at Rehab (pastry making, embroidering, tailoring, soap making, and cosmetology).  The trade each survivor learns will enable her to earn a living once she graduates and leaves the Rehabilitation Center.  We also provided toiletries and boxes of Depends that the matron, Leemue, had requested.  (Some of the girls are still leaking and will require additional surgery.  These lined panties allow them freedom to move about confidently.)  For months Dignity:Liberia had collected these supplies in anticipation of this trip.  Donors included friends, fellow church members, and even strangers – all answering a call to help.  It was gratifying to witness these supplies reach the intended recipients and to know they will improve the quality of their lives.
 
We spent two and a half days at Rehab.  Much time was spent engaging in various crafts with the fistula survivors and getting to know them.  They looked at pictures stored on our phones and enjoyed hearing about our lives in the United States.  One girl taught me how to say hello in Kpelle: “Ya-tuah!”   
 
On the second morning, I interviewed 12 fistula survivors, whose stories will be posted on our web site.  During the interviews, I finally fully grasped the depth of pain and despair these women and girls have experienced.  They all spoke of the shame they felt from being constantly wet.  They spoke of being shunned by friends and family.  They have lived in isolation for years, and could no longer go about in society.  No wonder they welcomed us with such joy!  We see them as the beautiful human beings that they are.  They are no longer untouchable.

            In June of 2017, I was fortunate to go on a trip and see many of the great things that Dignity Liberia is doing in Liberia. My friend Steve Hontz asked me if I wanted to go with him to check it out. My 2016 visit to a Global Orphan Project orphanage in Haiti gave me a new perspective on the poor, and the voiceless. My visit to the orphanage drove me to want to learn more, and experience more. I did not really know much about Dignity Liberia’s work before our trip in 2017. I knew my church was working very closely with Dignity, and I had served with the founder of Dignity, Kathy Gutierrez, at Lakeland Community Church. I knew what they were doing was good and necessary work, and I knew going into the trip, much like my trip to Haiti, I would be challenged and taken outside of my comfort zone. I knew that I would come back with a different perspective than the one I walked in with.
            After twenty hours of flying and layovers, Steve and I made it to Monrovia, Liberia. There we were greeted by Emile and Jackson. Emile is the Director of the Liberia NGO Office, and Emile coordinated what we would do every day. We would spend many hours with both of them as they helped us gain perspective and context on their mission, and our experiences while in Liberia. We were housed at the Dignity Liberia’s patient and guest house. Every evening we would break bread with Emile and his son Ethan, and spent time reflecting on what we experienced that day. We also got to partake in bucket showers, what a memory. Since there was no water pressure, we had to fill a 50 gallon barrel with water and treat it with bleach, then use buckets to bathe, a memory I will never forget. We also only had electricity for a couple hours in the evening and morning, a true luxury in Liberia.
            On our visit to the clinic we were able to see women who were suffering from fistula, but they were having their lives transformed by doctors and nurses working with Dignity Liberia and the clinic. I had very mixed feelings on what I saw at the clinic. I saw good work being done, and hope being given to women needing this life changing surgery, but they just simply needed more equipment and resources to keep up with the demand. Many of the rooms were empty because they need more beds and medical equipment. We met Dr. John Mulbah who is the main doctor at the clinic. It is easy to tell that Dr. Mulbah has a passion for helping and healing the women suffering from fistula. For these women to get healthy it is not only good news for them, it is good news for entire community. I was also very fortunate to visit the Lott Carey Baptist Mission School. Emile not only has his duties for Dignity Liberia, he is also the Superintendent/Principal of the school. Spending the day at the school was a very exciting and fun. We got to meet and play with the kids. The children would come up to me and ask questions about what it was like in the United States. One highlight of the trip was playing a big game of soccer on a field on the school grounds and just how small things like a game of soccer can bring the child out of all of us. Like the clinic, there are many more things that the school can’t do simply because they don’t have the money to make repairs and buy school supplies. According to Emile the American Christian organization that owns the school has cut back funding to the school. So many updates needed for the school cannot happen because of the lack of funding. However, that trip to the school helped me come to a decision about my future. For many years I was going back and forth on what I wanted to do as a career, and that trip to the school helped me come to the decision that I wanted to become a teacher.
            Overall what struck me the most in my time in Liberia is the power of community. In Liberia, you need to have a community to survive, so you have no other option than to love and care for one another. I will always remember driving around in Monrovia and just seeing everyone in community in its purest form. People buying things in markets, kids playing soccer, or groups just talking in front of a shop. I believe in the United States we don’t have the depth of community that the Liberians have, and personally, I envy that.

I recently spoke with Brendan Mueller about his experience as a Dignity Advocate.  Brendan went on the trip primarily because his father, board member Dr. Charles Mueller, MD, FACS, had grown up in Liberia.  The highlight for him was seeing Rick’s Institute where his dad and aunt had grown up.  He saw their hand prints in concrete, a commemoration that had survived 40 years and two civil wars.  He saw the house where they had lived, and got to talk to its current residents.  Seeing and experiencing the tangible things that, up until this point had just been grainy pictures, made everything real.  
 
At the Rehabilitation Center in Phebe, he got a kick out of the children who were living there.  He showed them how to blow bubbles but because they couldn’t get the hang of getting the soap on the bubble ring, he dipped the wand into the solution and then held it up for the children.  One sassy little girl didn’t want to pause for the other children to blow their bubbles, so he had to make her wait her turn.
 
One day the group decided to take an afternoon off during one of the rare sunny days.  They went to a nearby beach to sun and swim where there was a group of fishermen with their boats gathered on the beach.  Dr. Joe Span, M.D., who had had previously volunteered to help combat the Ebola crisis in Liberia 2014 (chronicled in his book Letters from Liberia: The Adventures of an Ebola Medical Volunteer) was on this particular trip.   
 
“Dr. Joe” walked over and started talking to the fishermen about going out for a fishing trip one day.  A few were interested but then he learned that what they call fishing is just dragging nets around and not pole fishing.  A man came up to him and offered to sell him two large fish he had caught that morning.  At the same time, another fisherman approached with three fish that he offered to sell to him.  Dr. Joe ended up buying all of the fish that even included fish cleaning in the price.  He was able to grill a very delicious fish dinner that evening back at the guesthouse. 
 
As he was leaving with the fish, he noticed an usual looking boat amongst the others...it was a dugout canoe!  He had heard about them on his previous trip to Liberia during the Ebola epidemic but had never seen one up close. He asked if he could take a ride in the boat but the owner was gone for the day and told him to return the next day.
 
The following day, Brendan, Jake Dickinson, and Dr. Joe returned to the fishermen's camp.  They began their trek to the beach on foot, but ended up accepting a ride from a couple of Europeans.  Dr. Joe negotiated a price for a dugout canoe ride…$20 for half an hour.
 
It was overcast, very windy, and the ocean chop was rough but they went out with just a single man paddling. They went off shore probably a mile and it was, admittedly, scary at times with the ocean swells occasionally coming over the sides of the canoe, but they made it home safely.
 
Quite a crowd of villagers had assembled on shore when they returned to see the three crazy "white men" out in the canoe.  Dr. Joe passed out some toys to the children that his brother (who works for Mattel) had given him precipitating a near riot. 
 
I asked Brendan if he would go back.  He said he would, if he had the money.  While it is highly unlikely that you would take a canoe ride, going to Liberia is a life-changing experience.  Please get in touch if you are interested in going on our spring 2018 trip as a Dignity Advocate.