The Cape Hotel Monrovia

... room for the kitchen. We also passed out a snack and water to the caregivers. We brought 10 bags of rice and passed out school supplies to all of the children. There are local children in villages that come for school each day, so we gave each child a baggie of rice (about 2 1/4 cups) to take home and share with their family. We did not distrubute the clothes we brought because we thought it would become too chaotic. Johnny gave us ...

... traveling to Buchanan and Ganta - taking those potholes at such a speed certainly shook one's bones about. It was something to see the rubber plantations with the white liquid still being collected in the age-old manner. But it was sad not to see much in the way of native forest - either slashed and burned for local habitation and farming or one was looking at old, neglected rubber plantations with the scars of indigenous tapping for ...

... to sing a beautiful song and a group of tiny girls (ages 3-6) danced while singing for us. It was joyful and precious! We handed out the items we brought the children and words can't express how thrilled they were to receive them. The look on their faces made the trip worth it. We bought two large bundles of clothes they sell here in Africa, which are hand ...

... half finished for 30 years. The war halted construction. Bishop Cox was proud of their newly built football (soccer) stadium and we stoped by a new gas station built by the French. There are several countries present here as part of the rebuilding process. We are told that Liberians welcome this because they are tired of war. Ruth boasted of the country's beauty and the friendliness of the people ...

I'm going to keep this short and quick because the internet is not reliable here in Monrovia. It was a little adventure to get here, but we (my travel companion and fellow intern Buddy and I) made it just fine with all of our luggage. Accomodations are adequate and everyone here is busy busy busy ...

first wknd in monrovia - it was great! saturday morning the energy program contractors took me out to see some of the project sites from the Emergency Power Program (EPP). was pretty neat to see the generator that had been put up last year, as well as the old power plant in the city that was no longer functioning and would soon become scrap metal... anyway ...

you know its going to be a long day when your roommate knocks on your door to wake you after you snoozed through 3 alarms... yup, tack on a tummy ache and headache and the 8am-7pm day seems even longer! anyway... i got a lot done though. but still more to go! can't stop until its done (actually i had to take a break tonight - no more ...

... on some health surveys throughout liberia, focused on reproductive health for women. pretty interesting work... the road from the airport to the city is about an hour long drive without much on either side. saw some "business centers" (for some reason people in liberia like to call shops "business centers" even though they're not like the computer / fax / phone setups we have in our hotels)... we passed through a stretch of road with streetlights ...

... P** capita GDP (2005): $119.4 (this is ~30 cents/day!) Education: Lit**acy (2003) - 20%. Health: Life expectancy (2003) - 47 years. Work force: Agriculture--70%; industry--15%; s**vices--2%. Unemployment is 80% in the formal sector. now, what am i doing h**e? as you probably know, i work for the U.S. Agency for Int**national Development (USAID) - the foreign assistance branch of the fed**al gov**nment. (www.usaid.gov) Our new ...

... dice. The gameboard was broken and they were using rocks for the pieces that were missing. I asked Grandma as many questions as I dared and learned that she once had a house where the cooking area stood now. It had been burned to the ground during the war. Now, fourteen of her family members lived in this mud hut that was built a couple of years ago. Her husband is still alive, but he doesn't come ...