Well, here it is, my last post from Liberia. I might be able to get one out before I leave but I am not counting on it. I have been in Ganta for a week and have enjoyed being with friends and got some time for R&R.
Note: Pictures to follow. The internet is just too slow right now :(
I did not do as much with the clinic as I had hoped. Monday I went to see what I could do- they told me to come back tomorrow when the Boss-Lady was there. I came back Tuesday and I was supposed to do a nutrition education session later in the day, but when I got there all the mothers had already left for the farm. So, I helped with a children’s worship/ arts and crafts event that was going on through Hope for the Nations. Wednesday, I didn’t bother to go back to the clinic because they told me I would not be able to do anything with nutrition. FINALLY, Thursday I was able to do a nutrition education session with the mothers of the malnourished children staying at the center and some volunteers. We talked about the food groups, the types of malnutrition, breastfeeding and some other topics that came up during the Q&A portion. I was able to use the nutrition cards I made for the PD Hearth sessions and I think it went well. I also was able to finally give out the clothes that Valley View sent as a donation, along with some of my clothes that I was donating. They were very grateful, thanks Valley View! I posted a picture before of the bracelets that Carla’s children made for me to send before I left. Here is another group of children who received the prayer bracelets! They were so excited to get them!
The woman I was working with, Mary Ann Newah, is a wonderful woman that works with the Child’s Recovery Center. She grows Moringa trees in her yard to use to supplement the children’s meals. Moringa is an extremely nutrient dense tree that “happens” to grow in areas of the world with the highest malnutrition rates and extreme poverty. More information on the Moringa tree can be found here through an organization called Trees for Life International.
http://www.treesforlife.org/our-work/our-initiatives/moringa/introduction/the-moringa-tree
The center is not adequately funded and they have no proper supplementary feeding products for severely malnourished children. Moringa is a great substitute for the pre-packaged foods and formulas often used in feeding centers, but it is only really supposed to be used for mild to moderate malnutrition, not severe malnutrition. The leaves are mixed with prepared foods such as porridge or a rice dish. These dishes are not appropriate for severe acute malnutrition. Anyway, this woman is doing the best she can to care for the children at the center. I gave her a small personal donation but I would love to do more. If anyone is interested in donating to her cause, I have her contact information. Please let me know if this is something you would like to join me in supporting. I would like to be able to buy a couple of more trees for her to grow in her yard or help with funds for harvesting the trees. I wish I got involved in this earlier, but….C’est la vie!
Tomorrow, I head back to Monrovia for the weekend. I will get some time to be with Danielle and Caitlin (the new one) and enjoy a weekend of running water, the beach and get to go out to eat at least once. I fly out on Monday morning (really Sunday night) at 3:30 am. I then fly to Casablanca, Morocco where I have a five hour layover. They have a barber there and I am really hoping that I can get my hair cut! This summer has wrecked havoc on my hair, body, spirit, you name it. At least I can feel better about my hair for my Italia vaca! After Casablanca I fly to Brussels where I have an 11 hour layover. I am grateful for my parents- they got me a hotel for the night at the airport so that I didn’t have to sleep on benches. I can’t wait to have a nice hot bath when I get there and sleep in a real bed!!! I am really looking forward to a nice salad and a glass of wine also J. After that, I finally fly to Rome. I leave at 6:30 am and finally arrive in Roma 2 short hours later! Bill’s flight gets in about 20 minutes after mine! I can’t wait to see him! It will have been 77 days (11 weeks) since we saw each other last. VERY excited!
As this may be my last entry from Liberia, I would like to say thanks to everyone for reading this and supporting me over the summer! I know not everyone comments on the entries and that no everyone who reads this is a “follower,” so I would love to know who has been following along. If you get the chance, please send me a brief message at Nicolecbrewer@hotmail.com and let me know who you are! Thanks for everything again! Love you all
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Wrapping things up
So, it is my birthday and here I am in Liberia. Good people around but desperately missing home. I am very much looking forward to celebrating it Rome in 10 days!
Some pictures from my birthday...
My Cake made from layers of homemade crepes, bananas, pineapples, coconut, Nutella, and jam. So creative and so nice of Nathan, Danielle and Caitlin to make it for me!
Carefully cutting into the creation
Danielle in process of making the cake
An update: I am in Ganta right now and I have completely moved out of my Gbarnga house. I will be here until Friday at the latest and then I will head down to Monrovia to spend the weekend at Amy’s beach house before getting on a plane at 3:25 am Monday (next Monday). I will be observing at the “Child’s Recovery Center” this week. It is a step down clinic from the hospital before the children go home. Malnutrition is one of the reasons the children are there, among other reasons. Audrey, one of the program directors has noticed that there have been some unexplained deaths at this clinic and so I am going to observe for the week to see if I have any suggestions for improving care. This clinic has not professional staff and is purely women who volunteer their time. So, we’ll see how that goes. I can’t do much in 4 days.
So, since my time here is wrapping up I thought I would make a little list of things that I have gotten used to, things I will never get used to, things I have missed from home and things I am looking forward to doing at home.
Things I have gotten used to:
Cold bucket showers- I would still prefer a nice hot shower or bath, but it wasn’t too bad
Feeling like I am constantly in a parade- people yelling “white woman!” and me having to wave and shake hands when I walk anywhere
Only having electricity for part of the day and having to work around the generator schedule
Being forced to be creative with meals
Sleeping with a bed net
Nothing running as planned or on schedule
Lighting burners with a match
Filtering all my water
Things I will never get used to:
Feeling bloated all the time from the heat and dehydration- seriously I feel about 50 pounds heavier than I am from the bloating. I have also totally gained weight in Liberia. Not happy about that since I gained weight before I left because I assumed that I would loose weight here. My meals are heavily carbohydrate based. I don’t like the food here, but the bread is fresh baked and good. Therefore, I eat a lot of bread. And a lot of canned foods. I have been eating eggs although I do not prefer to because it creeps me out a bit. They are shipped from other countries, despite there being lots of chickens around, and are not refrigerated. I have had a couple of bad ones, but they have been pretty much ok for the most part. As the rainy season, the “hungry season” has been picking up, the food availability in the market has decreased substantially and there are almost no fresh foods available. The things that are available include pineapples, bananas, plantains, tomatoes sometimes (not in Ganta), cucumbers, potatoes, rice, peanuts.… not too much else. SO the fruit I do get is high sugar, starchy fruits, and the vegetables are starchy veggies. A standard meal that we make when the items are available is a pasta salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, and chickpeas with garlic and onion and a dressing made of oil and vinegar. Sounds incredibly simple, but it is one of the only things that tastes fresh here. I can’t wait for a nice crisp, cold salad!!! So, back to the start of this little rant- I can’t believe I gained weight. Lots of yoga when I get back and lots of fresh food. Mom, for the short time I am home after Italy, lets keep the refrigerator stocked with all fresh ingredients, K? I can’t wait to go grocery shopping and have options!!
On the topic of food- the stages of eating food with bugs in it. Specifically ants. There are stages of acceptance. 1- throw out the food if you see ants. 2- Pick out the ants/ eat around the ants. 3- eat the food, ants and all. I don't think I will ever get to 3, but I do consider myself at stage 2 1/2- I will pick out the ants, but I will also eat food without even looking for them because I assume that they are in there. Ignorance is bliss!!
Spiders- I have been protected from really massive ones, but there are still some sort of spiders everywhere. I am not as “scared” of the little ones, but I definitely still don’t like them.
Toilets- or lack there of.
Feeling dirty all the time
Things I really miss from home:
Being able to curl up on the couch
Being able to call people easily
My comfy bed
Being able to walk around without flip flops or some sort of foot protection at all times
Going out to a restaurant
Being able to go for a walk without being harassed for money or being shouted at
Yoga studio- I have been able to do it on my own, but so not the same
Being able to work out the way I do at home
An oven
Grocery stores
Running water to wash your hands
Hot baths
My family and friends
William
Things on the agenda to do when I get home/ Europe:
My parents got me a hotel for my overnight layover in Brussels. Thanks mom and dad!!! Things I will do there include a hot bath, nice shower, have a salad for dinner at the restaurant, watch TV in bed, have a cup of tea without sweating.
Things in Italy. See Bill!!!! Have a cappuccino, have more salads, gelato, wine, walking around without people yelling at me, air conditioning, more running water, brushing my teeth without having to use bottled water, the clothes that William is bringing with him- I am sick of wearing the same stuff over and over and over- going swimming on a hot day, relaxing!!!
Home: going grocery shopping and having options for food, hopefully loosing some of this extra weight I packed on, sleeping in, hanging around in my pajamas and enjoying the mornings, seeing friends and family, getting back to a routine.
Things that were good about Liberia:
The people that were here to support me through the hard times
Every day being an adventure- good or bad
Being creative with things to do for fun
Lots of time to read
What I feel that I accomplished here:
Finishing the nutrition cards- visual aids to help with education
Developed good friendships
Brought severely malnourished children to the hospital and got to see some success stories
Learned a bit more about myself
Learned to be very flexible and adaptable
Strengthened relationships with people back home
Helped with some logistical issues in Gbarnga
So there ya go, some wrap up thoughts for Liberia. I will write from here probably one more time, but thanks again to everyone who supported me through this. I think that the first month here was the hardest month of my life, with little exaggeration. I could not have done it without your prayers, support, emails, phone calls, packages and well wishes. Thanks also to all of those who financially contributed to my work here. I was blessed to have to pay very little out of pocket. People from my church, friends, family, Renee and Jon, thank you so much for your contributions. I love you all very much and I can’t wait to see all of you. I will be back in America in 25 days! First though I have to make a stop over in Italy to spend 15 wonderful days with the greatest person in the world. We are planning on traveling all over Italy and I could not be more excited. 10 days until I am in Roma!!!
68 days down, 9 to go!
Some pictures from my birthday...
My Cake made from layers of homemade crepes, bananas, pineapples, coconut, Nutella, and jam. So creative and so nice of Nathan, Danielle and Caitlin to make it for me!
Carefully cutting into the creation
Danielle in process of making the cake
An update: I am in Ganta right now and I have completely moved out of my Gbarnga house. I will be here until Friday at the latest and then I will head down to Monrovia to spend the weekend at Amy’s beach house before getting on a plane at 3:25 am Monday (next Monday). I will be observing at the “Child’s Recovery Center” this week. It is a step down clinic from the hospital before the children go home. Malnutrition is one of the reasons the children are there, among other reasons. Audrey, one of the program directors has noticed that there have been some unexplained deaths at this clinic and so I am going to observe for the week to see if I have any suggestions for improving care. This clinic has not professional staff and is purely women who volunteer their time. So, we’ll see how that goes. I can’t do much in 4 days.
So, since my time here is wrapping up I thought I would make a little list of things that I have gotten used to, things I will never get used to, things I have missed from home and things I am looking forward to doing at home.
Things I have gotten used to:
Cold bucket showers- I would still prefer a nice hot shower or bath, but it wasn’t too bad
Feeling like I am constantly in a parade- people yelling “white woman!” and me having to wave and shake hands when I walk anywhere
Only having electricity for part of the day and having to work around the generator schedule
Being forced to be creative with meals
Sleeping with a bed net
Nothing running as planned or on schedule
Lighting burners with a match
Filtering all my water
Things I will never get used to:
Feeling bloated all the time from the heat and dehydration- seriously I feel about 50 pounds heavier than I am from the bloating. I have also totally gained weight in Liberia. Not happy about that since I gained weight before I left because I assumed that I would loose weight here. My meals are heavily carbohydrate based. I don’t like the food here, but the bread is fresh baked and good. Therefore, I eat a lot of bread. And a lot of canned foods. I have been eating eggs although I do not prefer to because it creeps me out a bit. They are shipped from other countries, despite there being lots of chickens around, and are not refrigerated. I have had a couple of bad ones, but they have been pretty much ok for the most part. As the rainy season, the “hungry season” has been picking up, the food availability in the market has decreased substantially and there are almost no fresh foods available. The things that are available include pineapples, bananas, plantains, tomatoes sometimes (not in Ganta), cucumbers, potatoes, rice, peanuts.… not too much else. SO the fruit I do get is high sugar, starchy fruits, and the vegetables are starchy veggies. A standard meal that we make when the items are available is a pasta salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, and chickpeas with garlic and onion and a dressing made of oil and vinegar. Sounds incredibly simple, but it is one of the only things that tastes fresh here. I can’t wait for a nice crisp, cold salad!!! So, back to the start of this little rant- I can’t believe I gained weight. Lots of yoga when I get back and lots of fresh food. Mom, for the short time I am home after Italy, lets keep the refrigerator stocked with all fresh ingredients, K? I can’t wait to go grocery shopping and have options!!
On the topic of food- the stages of eating food with bugs in it. Specifically ants. There are stages of acceptance. 1- throw out the food if you see ants. 2- Pick out the ants/ eat around the ants. 3- eat the food, ants and all. I don't think I will ever get to 3, but I do consider myself at stage 2 1/2- I will pick out the ants, but I will also eat food without even looking for them because I assume that they are in there. Ignorance is bliss!!
Spiders- I have been protected from really massive ones, but there are still some sort of spiders everywhere. I am not as “scared” of the little ones, but I definitely still don’t like them.
Toilets- or lack there of.
Feeling dirty all the time
Things I really miss from home:
Being able to curl up on the couch
Being able to call people easily
My comfy bed
Being able to walk around without flip flops or some sort of foot protection at all times
Going out to a restaurant
Being able to go for a walk without being harassed for money or being shouted at
Yoga studio- I have been able to do it on my own, but so not the same
Being able to work out the way I do at home
An oven
Grocery stores
Running water to wash your hands
Hot baths
My family and friends
William
Things on the agenda to do when I get home/ Europe:
My parents got me a hotel for my overnight layover in Brussels. Thanks mom and dad!!! Things I will do there include a hot bath, nice shower, have a salad for dinner at the restaurant, watch TV in bed, have a cup of tea without sweating.
Things in Italy. See Bill!!!! Have a cappuccino, have more salads, gelato, wine, walking around without people yelling at me, air conditioning, more running water, brushing my teeth without having to use bottled water, the clothes that William is bringing with him- I am sick of wearing the same stuff over and over and over- going swimming on a hot day, relaxing!!!
Home: going grocery shopping and having options for food, hopefully loosing some of this extra weight I packed on, sleeping in, hanging around in my pajamas and enjoying the mornings, seeing friends and family, getting back to a routine.
Things that were good about Liberia:
The people that were here to support me through the hard times
Every day being an adventure- good or bad
Being creative with things to do for fun
Lots of time to read
What I feel that I accomplished here:
Finishing the nutrition cards- visual aids to help with education
Developed good friendships
Brought severely malnourished children to the hospital and got to see some success stories
Learned a bit more about myself
Learned to be very flexible and adaptable
Strengthened relationships with people back home
Helped with some logistical issues in Gbarnga
So there ya go, some wrap up thoughts for Liberia. I will write from here probably one more time, but thanks again to everyone who supported me through this. I think that the first month here was the hardest month of my life, with little exaggeration. I could not have done it without your prayers, support, emails, phone calls, packages and well wishes. Thanks also to all of those who financially contributed to my work here. I was blessed to have to pay very little out of pocket. People from my church, friends, family, Renee and Jon, thank you so much for your contributions. I love you all very much and I can’t wait to see all of you. I will be back in America in 25 days! First though I have to make a stop over in Italy to spend 15 wonderful days with the greatest person in the world. We are planning on traveling all over Italy and I could not be more excited. 10 days until I am in Roma!!!
68 days down, 9 to go!
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