Gumby string bean meets the US ambassador

Hello- sorry it has been a little while since I have written, but I have not had much Internet access for about a week and a half. Just an FYI, I will not have as much access as I did at the beginning of my trip for the rest of the time here in Liberia.

A quick note about the title of the blog... Every time we go into the field we get native names. Mine have meaning ranged from long neck, flexible, long, thin woman.... they might as well name me long string bean. And the second half of the title, I will have to write more about later, but I got to have brunch at the ambassador's house yesterday. She made blueberry pancakes and eggs! Sweet lady and very very interesting! I will write about it more and post pictures. I have about 5 minutes to post this message that I wrote a while ago. So here it is:

Since I last wrote… I had been working in the office finishing up work here from Monday-Thursday. On Thursday, a girl came to stay with me! Her name is Danielle and she is great. We get along wonderfully and we have become instant friends. She is 24 from Canada and she is in Chiropractic school. She has already given me several adjustments and done pressure point work for my rib! Yay! She will be here with me probably until the end of my stay. Which is 5 weeks as of Monday. We have been talking a lot and getting to know each other and she has already been here for me when I have gotten discouraged and down about my work here. Good to have some one to talk to and I am sure that the work will go by so much quicker with her here. Very grateful for the addition to the Gbarnga house.

On Saturday, we got picked up by Dave, and Daniel, stopped by Ganta to get Caitlin and Christopher, and headed to do some hiking on Mount Nimba. This mountain range connects Liberia to Guinea and The Ivory Coast. So technically, I went to 3 countries that weekend. We hiked on Saturday and stayed in a wonderful house at night. The president of ABC (African Bible College) allowed us to stay at his house for the night. Luxury! They had a refrigerator, couches, fans, and even cereal with cold milk! I can’t believe I think these things are luxuries, by the way. But we did get to watch a movie on an actual TV. That was the first TV that I saw since I have been here. We went to a good service on Sunday and headed back to Ganta for a senior staff meeting. After that we had dinner, made from ingredients in the market. We have been able to get pretty creative. The menu: Potato greens (very bitter) sauteed in Garlic and onions and curried squash, and bread.

Monday was a brutally long, all county, end of the month staff meeting. And it was only day 1 out of 2. Everyone there had problems to be resolved and nothing was being done to actually resolve them. It was a frustrating meeting to sit in on. Plus, it turns out that I might not be able to do the clinical work I had hoped to do in Ganta at the end of my stay. I might be here in Gbarnga for the rest of my time. I am saddened by this, but Danielle and I are going to figure out a way that we can volunteer at the local hospital on our own time; just so we can get some more experience. But anyway, by the end of the day I was seriously thinking that I would like to get on a plane and head back to the US because I was so frustrated, but I overcame that and brushed it off. Some of us left a bit early and headed to the market to get more things for dinner. I will be so happy to go to a grocery store when I get back. Seriously, there are only 4-5 ingredients available at the market on any given day. We wanted to make sweet potato fries and a cucumber salad and some lentils, but guess what? No lentils, sweet potatoes or cucumber that day, despite the fact that it was there the previous day. So, again with potato greens and this time we just cubed the squash and cooked it with the greens. Not too exciting. But Ganta does have the best bread in Liberia, so we each had pretty much a Baguette to ourselves. Hey, it is delicious and filling. I thought the rest of the meal was fine, but other people thought it was gross. Vegetables are scarce in Liberia… sad vegetarian and RD.

Tuesday, Danielle and I worked on the pilot nutrition component of the PD hearth sessions that we will be implementing this week. A refresher: we are creating cards with food items pictured on them. Participants of the training sessions will be asked to identify which food are a protein “body building” food, a “protective food” aka fruits and veggies, and an energy food, aka starches and fat. Then, they will be asked to create a complete “mixed” food with the pictures. A complete food involves a protein, energy and protective food. We had taken pictures of foods at the market earlier and printed them on card stock, then laminated them. I am amazed about how much you can do in the middle of nowhere with the proper technology! Tomorrow we will be writing scripts for the back of the cards explaining the answers and at least one key fact of why that particular food is important to the diet (ex: greens à a protective food à high in vitamin A à good for the eyes). That is as complicated as we can get. So hopefully having a bit of activity in the sessions will be good for the learning process. But we’ll see in the next 2 weeks.

Wednesday, Danielle and I went out into the field to pick up some of the severely malnourished children to take them to the major hospital in Bong County, Phoebe Hospital. Oh, what an ordeal. There is a severe lack of communication in the field because cell phone coverage is horrible, plus people just don’t inform others the way they need to. We went about an hour into the field to pick up one child that ended up not being there. On our way back we had to cross a bridge that was just a couple of logs stuck next to each other- not tied together. So, we ended up not making it across this “bridge.” The tire slipped and went in between 2 of the logs. It was a bit scary because the jeep started to tip towards the side that I was on. We quickly jumped out of the car, but then it took an hour for us to get un-stuck. Another hour back. But we did end up bringing one child back.

She had Kwashiorkor and Marasmus. We took her and her mom to the hospital and we will be taking them back to their village in 3-4 weeks. Hopefully I will have a good “after” picture to post before I leave. The rest of the week was pretty much the same. Each day we went out and picked up another child and brought them to the hospital. 4 children in total. I am really praying for their recoveries.

Saturday was a good day. We went to Kristen and Tate’s for dinner and to celebrate the 4^th of July. We had fried plantains, wine, macaroni and cheese, and the largest papaya ever seen for dessert. I will post a pic when able.

Happy Birthday Mom and Michelle! Glad I got to talk to you both. I also got to talk to Renee, Nolan, Mia, my mom and dad and Mr. K. Nolan was so cute on Saturday. He said, “I am at Grammy’s, you are in Africa!” So sweet. I miss the nugget and squishy so much!

This week was pretty frustrating. Danielle and I were supposed to be out in the field Monday and Wednesday, but the vehicle for the Gbarnga office was is in Monrovia with Dr. George. We have the nutrition intervention designed, yet we cannot get out and implement it. So frustrating. Monday we had a meeting with some staff members to clear up some discrepancies and that was frustrating as well. I find the one man difficult to work with because he is right and everyone else is wrong. It is very difficult to get things done with that attitude, as you can surely imagine. We did get out to one community Wednesday and the test run was a success. Some kinks to work out, but overall, pretty good. Thursday is another office day. Danielle and I have become the people that everyone comes to complain to. So, we have become logistical people in the office and we are trying to resolve a lot of issues. Not what I expected to do here, but hopefully we can help prevent further issues for future workers and volunteers.

Other fun things this week- on Tuesday we went to dinner at some Peace Corps volunteers’ house. Here is a picture of all of us. Kristen and Maya are heading back to the States for a couple of months and I wont see them again here L Tate will be around still, so the rest of us expats need to keep him company while his girls are away.

The expats...

This weekend, Danielle, Caitlin and I are going to Monrovia. Amy, a director for equip, is having a house warming party at her place right on the beach. Should be a good time, plus we have to stop and get Pizza! Bruce, where was that good place again? We can also do some grocery shopping and stock up for the next month or so. There are no restaurants or stores out here, so we have been a bit depleted on food items. Living on canned and packaged food and whatever fresh things we can get our hands on like squash, cabbage, lentils, sometimes tomatoes, and bananas. Not to diverse of a diet and severely lacking in green leafy vegetables! Lack of infrastructure. As always though, it was good to hear from the peace corps volunteers that this was the hardest place they have ever been to and the most underdeveloped. It makes me feel better that I am not the only one that feels like the situation in the bush is rough.

So, that is kind of that. We are pretty bored here without Internet. Sorry if this entry is long and boring. Thanks for all the emails and support and prayers! Again, please accept my apology if I have not gotten back to you via email. I am now sharing 1 Internet “stick” with 4 people, and it doesn’t even work right now because EQUIP forgot to pay the bill. But I ill respond soon, I promise. I am over halfway done now! 5 weeks left! Still need the prayers to finish up this experience strong with a positive attitude…

I will post the pictures when I can.

Love you!

-Nicole