Thursday, March 30, 2017
What a day! We went out into the jungle looking for villages that are too far out that
no NGO has ever gone there. We were within 5 miles of the Liberian border.
Thankfully, someone with a bulldozer just the day before broke a rugged path out to
the far reaches of the jungle. The path was so rough we we bouncing all over the place
inside the truck. One of our guides said,"we are dancing with the road". We crossed 3
make-believe bridges made of trees and that was so scary. I walked across and Don
drove the truck across. We found several villages that were either abandoned or had
one man living in it. When Ebola hit Liberia and spread into Sierra Leone, the people up
and left their villages and moved inland and have not returned. We did find one village
close to the Liberian Border that only has a small stream they use for everything and
they have no clean drinking water and no sanitation. They defecate on the ground and
don't even bother to bury it or dig a hole or anything. Their living conditions are
terrible. The people were timid. White people. Not something they have ever seen in
their village. Some of the younger people have never seen a white man. There was a
naked child about 2 years old that was covered in white cream. He looked like they
were trying to camouflage him. He has chicken pox. We had with us two natives that
were able to speak the language and translate for us. Don really wants to do well for
these people. This will be a real challenge. We will see where it goes.
(I have seen too many Tarzan movies. I actually worried that we might run into
cannibals or be bound and taken before the paramount chief and who knows what else
may happen. Oh, silly me!).
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Saturday, March 25, 2017
I am so tired today. I stayed home and Don went out to the work sites plus he is going
Down-the-Hole.
Bob came over half a dozen times this afternoon but I sent him away because I am so
tired. I told him to come back when grandpa came home. Don got home about 3:00
and Bob came with him. Bob asked me "what are WE having for dinner?". I told him I
was going to make groundnut soup and asked if he wanted noodles (which he loves) or
rice. He chose rice. At 5:00 I began dinner and at 6:30 we ate. Bob ate like he had not
eaten all day. I asked him what he had to eat today and he said "bread with jam and
honey for breakfast." He had nothing else to eat and the boy moves all the time. He
dances, runs, twists, and turns everywhere he goes. He uses a lot of energy. I felt
terrible. He was probably coming over to get something to eat those half a dozen
times he showed up at the door. I wish I had taken a few minutes to talk to him instead
of shooing him away.
I am so tired today. I stayed home and Don went out to the work sites plus he is going
Down-the-Hole.
Bob came over half a dozen times this afternoon but I sent him away because I am so
tired. I told him to come back when grandpa came home. Don got home about 3:00
and Bob came with him. Bob asked me "what are WE having for dinner?". I told him I
was going to make groundnut soup and asked if he wanted noodles (which he loves) or
rice. He chose rice. At 5:00 I began dinner and at 6:30 we ate. Bob ate like he had not
eaten all day. I asked him what he had to eat today and he said "bread with jam and
honey for breakfast." He had nothing else to eat and the boy moves all the time. He
dances, runs, twists, and turns everywhere he goes. He uses a lot of energy. I felt
terrible. He was probably coming over to get something to eat those half a dozen
times he showed up at the door. I wish I had taken a few minutes to talk to him instead
of shooing him away.
Thursday, March 23, 2017
We bought 40 more donuts from a woman selling them on the side of the road and
headed out to the work sites. Back down those same two mountains and back up
again. The work is going well. Today they are still breaking rock in some areas but they
are also staking out the project. On the way down Hill top mountain, just as I stuck my
hand into the strap of Don's fanny pack, his feet slid out from under him and down he
was going (fast and hard). My feet were stable and I was able to pull him up and keep
him from falling. He said he felt like the hulk had reached out and grabbed him and
pulled him up. Several times he said, "you saved me".
We bought 40 more donuts from a woman selling them on the side of the road and
headed out to the work sites. Back down those same two mountains and back up
again. The work is going well. Today they are still breaking rock in some areas but they
are also staking out the project. On the way down Hill top mountain, just as I stuck my
hand into the strap of Don's fanny pack, his feet slid out from under him and down he
was going (fast and hard). My feet were stable and I was able to pull him up and keep
him from falling. He said he felt like the hulk had reached out and grabbed him and
pulled him up. Several times he said, "you saved me".
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Samuel Samba, our well contractor spoke with his building supplier and the building
supplier agreed to lower his prices so the project is going to begin today. We gave
Samuel 10,000,000 Leones out of our working fund for him to get started. He had his
supplier deliver a load of materials this morning and the 2 crews of 12 men each, began
work. Don and I wanted to be there at the beginning of this project. So we worked in
the office this morning and this afternoon we found a woman selling big donut balls for
500 Leones each. We bought 40 donuts and headed out to the sites. The first site we
visited was the hand-dug well at Boundary 1. They are not working on that yet. That
will be started next Monday. Don wanted to see how much water was coming out of
the mountain during the dry season. There was quite a bit and a hand-dug well will
work well in this area. This site is about 50 yards from the Boundary 1 Level 1 site. At
this site, 8 men were working on removing huge rocks and preparing the ground. At
Boundary 1 level 2 the other 4 men were working on breaking out an old spring box
which both Don and Samuel were appalled at how poorly it had been constructed.
Level 2 is about 30 yards from level 1 if you can go straight to it. The terrain from
where we had to park at the top of the mountain down to level 2 is only about 1/2 mile
but the last quarter mile is very steep and rocky. You don't get there very fast. And
the terrain from the well site to level 1 and from level 1 to level 2 is the same - steep
and rocky with many boulders. All the men were very hot and sweating bullets. They
thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the donuts. Food is something they don't get a lot
of.
On the way back up the mountain we stopped under a big shade tree to rest. We only
had about 100 yards left to go and there is a small ocata path for them to tote people
up and down the mountain but it is limited to how far they can go and the ride is
treacherous. I know! As we were resting, an ocata came by and Don hailed him. He
stopped and Don asked him to take me up to the truck. He gave the man 10,000
Leones and the man was more than overjoyed. He would have been lucky to have
gotten 200 leones. Don instructed him to "NOT" fall over with me. He guaranteed he
would stay upright. The grade was so steep and with my weight the ocata was
struggling to keep its front wheel on the ground. The path between the rocks and
boulders we had to go through was so narrow that the motorcycle tire barely fit. If you
didn't hit the opening just right, you were done. When we got about 60 yards up, the
path took a sweeping curve to the left. When we rounded the corner a howl and
laughter ascended into the air. There were about a dozen or so men breaking rock and
when they saw their friend with a white woman on the back of his bike they thought
that was just the best thing ever. They were speaking timni so I did not understand
them but they were all making happy remarks. As this was going on the driver was
trying desperately to not fall over and we came close a few times. He was
concentrating so hard on staying upright I could hear him saying "be careful" over and
over. After he dropped me off at the truck and I got off his bike, he laughed so hard. A
few minutes later, Don, Samuel and Brother Thomas (our site monitor) arrived at the
truck. As we were starting to pull away, a face appeared in my window and it was the
ocata driver. He was smiling from ear to ear and thanking me for a sweet experience.
From here we went to Hill Top where the second crew of 12 men are working. The
grade on this mountain is steeper than the one at boundary 1 and it has a lot of loose
gravel. Keeping from falling was a chore. Don always walks in front of me and I hold on
to the strap of his fanny pack to keep stable. At one point on the way down, my feet
slid out from under me and somehow I slid around Don and landed in front of him
facing him still upright and still holding on to his belt. It was so odd. We looked at each
other and began laughing. How did that happen!? We were almost to the site and
Don's feet slid out from under him and I tried to keep him from falling but the angle
was to odd and he did fall to the ground. This crew of men were working hard at
breaking rock out of the site. They too, enjoyed and appreciated the donuts.
Samuel Samba, our well contractor spoke with his building supplier and the building
supplier agreed to lower his prices so the project is going to begin today. We gave
Samuel 10,000,000 Leones out of our working fund for him to get started. He had his
supplier deliver a load of materials this morning and the 2 crews of 12 men each, began
work. Don and I wanted to be there at the beginning of this project. So we worked in
the office this morning and this afternoon we found a woman selling big donut balls for
500 Leones each. We bought 40 donuts and headed out to the sites. The first site we
visited was the hand-dug well at Boundary 1. They are not working on that yet. That
will be started next Monday. Don wanted to see how much water was coming out of
the mountain during the dry season. There was quite a bit and a hand-dug well will
work well in this area. This site is about 50 yards from the Boundary 1 Level 1 site. At
this site, 8 men were working on removing huge rocks and preparing the ground. At
Boundary 1 level 2 the other 4 men were working on breaking out an old spring box
which both Don and Samuel were appalled at how poorly it had been constructed.
Level 2 is about 30 yards from level 1 if you can go straight to it. The terrain from
where we had to park at the top of the mountain down to level 2 is only about 1/2 mile
but the last quarter mile is very steep and rocky. You don't get there very fast. And
the terrain from the well site to level 1 and from level 1 to level 2 is the same - steep
and rocky with many boulders. All the men were very hot and sweating bullets. They
thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the donuts. Food is something they don't get a lot
of.
On the way back up the mountain we stopped under a big shade tree to rest. We only
had about 100 yards left to go and there is a small ocata path for them to tote people
up and down the mountain but it is limited to how far they can go and the ride is
treacherous. I know! As we were resting, an ocata came by and Don hailed him. He
stopped and Don asked him to take me up to the truck. He gave the man 10,000
Leones and the man was more than overjoyed. He would have been lucky to have
gotten 200 leones. Don instructed him to "NOT" fall over with me. He guaranteed he
would stay upright. The grade was so steep and with my weight the ocata was
struggling to keep its front wheel on the ground. The path between the rocks and
boulders we had to go through was so narrow that the motorcycle tire barely fit. If you
didn't hit the opening just right, you were done. When we got about 60 yards up, the
path took a sweeping curve to the left. When we rounded the corner a howl and
laughter ascended into the air. There were about a dozen or so men breaking rock and
when they saw their friend with a white woman on the back of his bike they thought
that was just the best thing ever. They were speaking timni so I did not understand
them but they were all making happy remarks. As this was going on the driver was
trying desperately to not fall over and we came close a few times. He was
concentrating so hard on staying upright I could hear him saying "be careful" over and
over. After he dropped me off at the truck and I got off his bike, he laughed so hard. A
few minutes later, Don, Samuel and Brother Thomas (our site monitor) arrived at the
truck. As we were starting to pull away, a face appeared in my window and it was the
ocata driver. He was smiling from ear to ear and thanking me for a sweet experience.
From here we went to Hill Top where the second crew of 12 men are working. The
grade on this mountain is steeper than the one at boundary 1 and it has a lot of loose
gravel. Keeping from falling was a chore. Don always walks in front of me and I hold on
to the strap of his fanny pack to keep stable. At one point on the way down, my feet
slid out from under me and somehow I slid around Don and landed in front of him
facing him still upright and still holding on to his belt. It was so odd. We looked at each
other and began laughing. How did that happen!? We were almost to the site and
Don's feet slid out from under him and I tried to keep him from falling but the angle
was to odd and he did fall to the ground. This crew of men were working hard at
breaking rock out of the site. They too, enjoyed and appreciated the donuts.
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Don went next door to see the Elders this morning at 9:00 and one was still in bed.
Don rousted him out of bed and the Elder told Don he broke his glasses. Don brought
his glasses home. They were broken in half at the nose piece. Don got out some super
glue and some black thread and repaired the Elder's glasses. He did a really nice job.
He went to put the glasses down on the table and "lo & Behold". He had super glued
his long finger to the bridge of the Elder's glasses. We have nothing to help release the
glue so he had to pull his finger off leaving some skin. I told him to tell the Elder that if
his glasses begin to stink, he should tell him it is rotting flesh.
Don went next door to see the Elders this morning at 9:00 and one was still in bed.
Don rousted him out of bed and the Elder told Don he broke his glasses. Don brought
his glasses home. They were broken in half at the nose piece. Don got out some super
glue and some black thread and repaired the Elder's glasses. He did a really nice job.
He went to put the glasses down on the table and "lo & Behold". He had super glued
his long finger to the bridge of the Elder's glasses. We have nothing to help release the
glue so he had to pull his finger off leaving some skin. I told him to tell the Elder that if
his glasses begin to stink, he should tell him it is rotting flesh.
Friday, March 17, 2017
Happy St., Patricks day!
This has been a very tense week. We learned that we were suppose to have contracts
with all of our contractors, site monitors and anyone who has worked with us this
whole last year. We have been here for more than a year and we are just now finding
out about this. The reason for the contracts? - are you ready for this: Sierra Leone
charges all contractors not only the normal Value Added Tax (15%) but then they
charge an added 5% on all materials and they call it a withholding tax. The 5%
withholding tax. . . censored. Between . . Censored. . . tribes and bribes these people
will never get ahead. Our contractors did not know this and we were approved a
500,000,000 Leone project based on his quote. He knew about the GST tax (15%) but
not about the 5%. His tax on the 5% is 14,000,000 Leones. That comes right off of his
profit which leaves him nothing. He has not signed the contract and Don told him to
think about it over the weekend and come talk to us on Monday. He said he was going
to his supplier and see if he would come down in price. This whole thing stinks. Don
was so upset he and the Finance Department in Accra went head to head. Tempers
were in full force. When we were in Accra for financial training in January this tax was
never brought up. Probably because Sierra Leone is the only country that is doing this.
But in January we were also told by the legal department they were working on
contracts for Ghana and Nigeria but have not done anything for Sierra Leone yet. When
they do they will send us a template. Which has not happened. So now here we are
with this huge project that has to be done in the dry season and we are running out of
time and Accra wants us to have contracts for the contractor and the site monitors but
they have no contract to help us with. Don has been writing contracts all week and
attachments, etc, etc, etc. Guidance from Accra has been like pulling teeth. He has
mentioned more than once never again will we do a huge project and involve SLC or
Accra. We will stick to the smaller ones that we can handle alone. He is willing to let
this project go just because of all the red tape and lack of cooperation. Our contractor
will decide if we go ahead with it. We had a meeting this morning with the community
leaders, chairmans, and chiefs from the 7 communities involved in this project. There is
a lot of excitement. An estimated 107,000+ people will have clean drinking water 12
months out of the year if this project comes to fruition. The water we will be capturing
is from springs that come out of the mountain and is not being captured by anyone. It
just runs out and is called "waste water" because it is being wasted. The local people
do not understand how to capture the water and . . . The rest of my thoughts are
censored. . . This is a very sad country.
The streams are dried up and there is only a trickle of water in the rivers with the
exception of some pools of water in the river. People are suffering for water. March is
the driest hottest month of the year. Rain does not come until late June or early July
with the exception of a spotty rain shower in April and May.
Happy St., Patricks day!
This has been a very tense week. We learned that we were suppose to have contracts
with all of our contractors, site monitors and anyone who has worked with us this
whole last year. We have been here for more than a year and we are just now finding
out about this. The reason for the contracts? - are you ready for this: Sierra Leone
charges all contractors not only the normal Value Added Tax (15%) but then they
charge an added 5% on all materials and they call it a withholding tax. The 5%
withholding tax. . . censored. Between . . Censored. . . tribes and bribes these people
will never get ahead. Our contractors did not know this and we were approved a
500,000,000 Leone project based on his quote. He knew about the GST tax (15%) but
not about the 5%. His tax on the 5% is 14,000,000 Leones. That comes right off of his
profit which leaves him nothing. He has not signed the contract and Don told him to
think about it over the weekend and come talk to us on Monday. He said he was going
to his supplier and see if he would come down in price. This whole thing stinks. Don
was so upset he and the Finance Department in Accra went head to head. Tempers
were in full force. When we were in Accra for financial training in January this tax was
never brought up. Probably because Sierra Leone is the only country that is doing this.
But in January we were also told by the legal department they were working on
contracts for Ghana and Nigeria but have not done anything for Sierra Leone yet. When
they do they will send us a template. Which has not happened. So now here we are
with this huge project that has to be done in the dry season and we are running out of
time and Accra wants us to have contracts for the contractor and the site monitors but
they have no contract to help us with. Don has been writing contracts all week and
attachments, etc, etc, etc. Guidance from Accra has been like pulling teeth. He has
mentioned more than once never again will we do a huge project and involve SLC or
Accra. We will stick to the smaller ones that we can handle alone. He is willing to let
this project go just because of all the red tape and lack of cooperation. Our contractor
will decide if we go ahead with it. We had a meeting this morning with the community
leaders, chairmans, and chiefs from the 7 communities involved in this project. There is
a lot of excitement. An estimated 107,000+ people will have clean drinking water 12
months out of the year if this project comes to fruition. The water we will be capturing
is from springs that come out of the mountain and is not being captured by anyone. It
just runs out and is called "waste water" because it is being wasted. The local people
do not understand how to capture the water and . . . The rest of my thoughts are
censored. . . This is a very sad country.
The streams are dried up and there is only a trickle of water in the rivers with the
exception of some pools of water in the river. People are suffering for water. March is
the driest hottest month of the year. Rain does not come until late June or early July
with the exception of a spotty rain shower in April and May.
Wednesday, march 22, 2017
Tonight we had dinner with Elder and Sister Finley and Elder and Sister Christenson.
They are the wheelchair specialist for West Africa. They live at home in America and
come here twice a year to do wheelchair projects. President and Sister Clawson had
dinner with us. We ate at the New Brookfield Inn where the Finley's and Christenson's
were staying. The hotel is very nice and pretty much westerned. Of course, the food is
african and was very good.
Tonight we had dinner with Elder and Sister Finley and Elder and Sister Christenson.
They are the wheelchair specialist for West Africa. They live at home in America and
come here twice a year to do wheelchair projects. President and Sister Clawson had
dinner with us. We ate at the New Brookfield Inn where the Finley's and Christenson's
were staying. The hotel is very nice and pretty much westerned. Of course, the food is
african and was very good.
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