Harvesting rocks

Thursday, April 20, 2017
Jo's 29th Birthday for the 39th time. Jo, that sounds really old. Are you sure I just can't
say you are 68 years old. 68 doesn't sound that bad. Jo's 68th birthday.
We had the most awesome meeting today with the SLRA that is the Sierra Leone Road
Authority. We met with the newly appointed Director General and she brought in 9 of
her top department heads including HR. Don made a presentation with the request
that we be allowed to make "rest stops" along the highways between major cities to
help with the sanitation problem. There is no sanitation in Sierra Leone. We have
designed a 14-stall toilet with handicap accessible capabilities and want to place it at
the one and only bus stop in Sierra leone which happens to be in Wellington (nearby).
All 10 of the SLRA leaders were excited about this whole idea. Several asked if they
could have sanitation put into their home. They were ecstatic to learn they can. Biofil
will put digesters anywhere and we have worked out a business plan with Biofil. A
sweet deal for the Church and for Biofil. The meeting itself was so fun. The new
Director General is a woman who is highly respected by her 9 male department heads
and she is comfortable in her role. At the end of the meeting, she stood and pointed
out to everyone that Don's tie matched my skirt. She thought that's was the cat's
meow. She told them they should consider doing the same thing. There were muslims
there and muslims can have as many wives as they want and can care for. One of the
men said, "but what if I have two wives?" I think you would have to be there to get the
joke of the statement. But it hit everyone funny and there was a lot of laughter. Then
she remarked on how kind and respectful Don is to me and they should all take notice.
There was more chatter and handshakes all around and as I was leaving the Director
General hugged me.
Don helped Saidu Conteh buy a motorcycle this evening. They are both giddy.

Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017
Happy Easter! We attended the rogboneh branch today and it was quite nice. The talks
were on talents, family responsibilities, temple recommends and one more and I can't
remember it.
We had the missionaries over again for supper and I made French Toast, lots of fruit,
tang (I just happen to run into a can in one of the Makeni stores - I snatched it up) and
the pudding I made last night was such a hit one of the Sisters asked for the recipe and
came over today and made 4 more batches. Then I taught the 4 sisters how to dye
easter eggs. They were tickled. When the eggs were dry, I hid the eggs all over the
apartment and they searched for them. As Don says, "these Sisters are so innocent
they are excited to find an egg". He was so right. Those sisters squealed and jumped
around every time they found an egg. Then they wanted me to hide them again. I did.
They were unsure about eating them though. One Sister peeled a small piece off the
white of the egg and gingerly put it on her tongue. She then declared it tasted normal.
After that, the 9 missionaries scarfed down 27 colored eggs. Boiled eggs are a staple
here. They are cheap and are a good source of protein. For some of the Africans, it is
the only protein they get. I don't understand why they don't eat more beans. But
hardly ever do. It was a great Easter evening.

Saturday, April 15, 2017
Don has spent the day scouring Makeni for plumbing parts. He has found most
everything but it was a piece in this store and a piece in that store. He asked every
store owner to refer him to someone who might have some parts. After MANY stores
he was able to get most everything - except washers. I spent the day cooking for our 9
Makeni Missionaries. The non-Africans are so tired of rice and African sauces. I
decided to make sloppy joes and potato salad, chicken-cheese soup, and raw
vegetables and chocolate pudding. Everyone, including the Africans loved it. However,
the Africans stuffed their bread with potato salad and ate the sloppy joe with a spoon.
They love getting together and have such a wonderful time. Don let them socialize for a
good hour after supper and then turned the discussion to Faith. They really got into it
and scriptures, stories and opinions were just flying. There was so much laughter. At
one point, someone brought up the 3 Nephites and John the Beloved still being on the
earth. This very quiet, studious young missionary said, "I have a confession". The room
went quiet. He then said, "I am one of the 3 Nephites". Oh! The laughter that went up
and all the funny comments. I sat there and watched the whole thing thinking "This is
probably the reaction the 4 men would get if they actually bore witness of themselves.
Who says this is not one of the 3 Nephites or John the beloved. How short-sighted we
can be. Why can't one of them be a young missionary in Sierra Leone." The young
missionary laughed and took the ribbing well. Then the discussion turned to Cain. Two
of the nine missionaries think Cain still walks the earth. They tried finding scriptures to
prove their point but couldn't. Don pointed out to them that when the earth was
flooded there were only 8 people on the ark and Cain was not on the passenger list.
They responded with, "God can make anything happen". It was an awesome evening.

Friday, April 14, 2017
We came to Makeni for the weekend. We love it here. But Don gets so frustrated. He
works almost the entire time we are here doing handyman work on a duplex less than 9
months old. The Africans do not know how to do plumbing or electrical work. When
they built this duplex they put in a hand-dug well. They went so far down until they hit
rock and called it good. Needless to say, it is not very deep and the well is dry and has
been since the end of December. We installed two Milla tanks one for each side of the
duplex (one is 5,000 liters and the other is a 3,000 liter tank). We have been having
water brought in. It was decided that this compound needs one more additional tank.
So they put in another 5,000 liter tank. This one sits on the ground and the water is
pumped up to the two in the air. For some unknown reason, when they put the
basement (a concrete platform) in for the tank to sit on they put it smack in the middle
of the driveway. They did a very bad job. They built the outside of the platform out of
concrete and filled the center with rocks and then put a 1" slab of concrete on the top
with no supporting steel in it. Then they put the tank on the platform and filled it with
5,000 liters of water. The weight of the water crushed the 1" slab. Not only that, but
whoever did the plumbing did a crappy job. It leaked so bad, all 5,000 liters drained
out. Keep in mind, we are in the dry season and it has not rained since the beginnning
of December. The rivers are trickles and the streams are dry. People are suffering for
water and we had this huge waste. Don will spend the week end fixing this mess. He is
not happy.

Thursday, April 13, 2017
NOW WHAT!
Don visited all the work sites today and I worked in the office. I had a lot of backed up
paperwork to do. He came back saying the men at the hand-dug well were angry and
so were Samuel and Brother Thomas. Brother Thomas told Don he would call him
tonight and explain.
Later: Brother Thomas called and told us that Samuel had purchased a 50# bag of rice
and hired a woman to make a big meal for the 6 men working the well everyday. He
gave her enough money to buy all the ingredients to make a sauce as well. After 4
days, the woman told the men "finished". That bag of rice should have lasted passed
the length of time to construct the well. The woman "chopped" the money. (Meaning
she ate it or stoled it). The men were ready to beat her and Brother Thomas stepped in
and got rid of the woman and the men told her if they ever see her they will beat her.
April 14th - Don went down to the hand-dug well site and Samuel was there with the
men and Brother Thomas. Don gave Brother Thomas 300,000 Leones for another bag
of rice and ingredients to make a stew. On inspiration, when we submitted our budget
for this project, Don added 1,000,000 Leones for miscellaneous. This is a $93 thousand
USD project and adding an additional $135.00 as emergency money seemed right. We
are very happy for the inspiration. Brother Thomas is controlling the rice and the
money for the ingredients to make a sauce.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017
When we got home tonight, we drove into the compound and there was a dog lying on
its side and it could not get up. I told Don there was something wrong with that dog.
Don Pulled in and parked and we sat for several minutes watching that dog. I went into
the house and Don walked down to where the dog was. After a few minutes, I walked
out on the veranda and watched what was happening. Don was standing about 10 feet
from the Dog and the dog was trying really hard to get up but its back legs could not
work. He finally flopped himself up and forced himself onto its feet and tried walking
and staggered all over the place running into things. I went into the kitchen just in time
to see Don pick up a pipe just outside the kitchen door. I knew what he was about to
do. That dog was acting Rabid and Don put him down. There are 5 dogs in our
compound and they all belong to the Doe's. Don told Sister doe he put down one of her
dogs. He told her she needed to get rid of the dogs or kennel them for 2 months to see
if they are also rabid. She chose to kennel them. The Doe's are financially strapped and
have let go of all their staff except their driver and one security guard that is drunk most
of the time and pretty much useless. The dogs are our only other protection. Thievery
is so bad here that you have to have guards 24/7 and dogs. People are very clever on
how to break into a house even though there are bars on the doors and windows. Don
felt really bad about having to beat the dog to death. He wished he had his gun with
him.