The Final Product

The finished product!  I hope you guys enjoy it as much as Tim and I do!

Unfortunately people will steal anything and everything so bars are necessary over the windows.

A sample classroom.  We learned rather quickly that you NEED a white flag while working on the roof.  If you don't, when they finish building, someone will die.  We bought a flag...  They found it hard to believe that this same ritual wasn't found in America.

Future student?  Hopefully.

We threw a party to celebrate the completion of the building.  We let Harrison pretty much run and plan the party.  I described it to my Mom as a mix between a church service followed by a junior high dance. Great to see so many community members come show their support.  The DJ played from 12 to 12 and I can say that kids were definitely dancing the entire time.  

Many of the finishing crew.  Everyone in this picture contributed a significant amount the project.

Different group picture during the party. 

Harrison MC'ed the event.  The event started small but gained some serious steam as it went along.  The DJ was on the microphone before the event saying, "Please people, these are white people so you have to respect time." Haha.

Emmanuel doing what he does best.

Famous being, well, Famous.  He has grown into one of my favorite people I have met in Africa.

Fitted.

Our bar, or at least what we think.  Mark and Matthew are the two guys who work there.

Future President of Liberia.  Mato's son.

A stand off: me versus Winnie.  Winnie escaped again.  Though we aren't going to kill and eat Winnie, he still got the last laugh.  Every morning at about 6:15 he starts crowing away (I believe that's what you call it).  Personally, I'm not a fan, I think it's selfish.

The cooks making preparations for the party.  

Benson displaying ninja like balance, painting away.

Bo-bo was a recent addition to the workforce.  I am not sure where he came from, but one day he just showed up and started working away.  We quickly learned he's deaf.  I have really enjoyed getting to know him and he's generally the first to laugh at anything and everything.

Tim also displaying his balance in getting some shots of the school.  I courageously documented him, and then stole his pictures.

We had our last visit at the prison this past weekend.  We have become pretty good friends with the warden, so he allowed us to take some pictures.  This is you typical cell, what you can't see is the other 15+ people in the background.    

A fun story.  One of the prisoners had written us a note explaining why he was in jail.  He had a dispute with his boss at the diamond mines.  The boss was angry at him for a separate issue, and lied to say that he owed him $20.  So he was sent to jail (you can be arrested for debt here, if that could happen in America 2007-09 would've been a rough stretch).  He needed $20 to set him free, but he has no family he can go to.  I was busy handing out some pens that I had, and I heard some commotion behind me.  I learned Tim had just told the man that he was going to grant him his wish and set him free.  That's the type of person Tim is.

Tim with the Warden.  He is displaying the Liberian no smile.

As a parting gift, we had a nice meal prepared for the prisoners.  We figured they rarely get to eat well and so we wanted to spoil them.  It was some amazing potato greens!

Well, for now we are tying up some loose ends in Kakata and then we will go to Robertsport for a couple days to relax before flying home.  A little more to come... 

Life Through Tim's Lens

I recently scrolled through Tim's pictures and realized he's taken some sweet pictures, most of which I was jealous of.  So I did what anyone would, I stole them all.  Please note: I don't have the expressed written consent to share these.  I am willingly admitting he took them all though.

The 1947 dump truck we use to deliver crushed rock.  It breaks down or blows a tire 80% of the time, but if you own a dump truck you can make some serious money in Liberia.

Recent picture of the zinc roof on top of the school.

A different angle.

This is where our 24 foot rafters came from.  If you look in the top center of the picture you can see the roots of the tree they took down.  It's humongous.  Dear Mother Nature - I fully plan to plant at least 2 trees to square us up.  At least they are going to good use.

This is a picture that Tim tried to take while we were riding in one of the 20+ person overly squished vans (which you will see more pictures later).  He was trying to get a shot of the shadow so you could see the 3 or 4 dudes riding on the top.  I think the picture just turned out cool.

Meet Winnie; he's a character alright.  Yes, he is who we named our chicken after.  He teaches karate in the community and whenever we run into him I usually leave the conversation more confused than when it began.  I would say the picture says a thousand words.

A shot of one of the insides of a room as it comes along.  You can see a few of those 24 foot rafters.

A different classroom.  We just finished plastering and have begun painting.

You read the sign!  Although, it's totally normal to pee anywhere on the side of the road.  

We have befriended the workers at the construction store where we buy a large majority of our supplies (more likely we give them a majority of our business and it just feels like they like us).  They have had us over a few times for a cuisine change.  Their Indian food is incredible, and they even have a Liberian cook who makes their Indian food.  That blew my mind.

We have a cook who prepares our workers food everyday.  Tim and I used to bring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or some other safe and boring food for lunch.  Now, as you can see, we dig in with everyone else and it is probably my favorite meal of the day.  

The real family style.

This is potato greens;  it's my favorite Liberian dish.  When eating with a group on one bowl it's quite simple, take as big of bites as you can.  

In previous posts I have described the taxi experience.  Finally I can give you a bit of an idea of what it's like.  So you can see the four deep in the back, and if you look closely there is one guy laying out in the back.  The reason for the smug smile on my face is because of a couple of reasons:  1.  The two guys on my left are pretty small and 2. I was able to get some serious shoulder leverage going and am pretty much dominating this backseat.  

This is the 20+ person van/bus.  Again, not easy to see, but it's real steamy in there.  There are also about 2 rows of people in front of Tim.  

Emmanual (the amazing person I have written about in previous posts) invited us to his church in Monrovia last weekend.  He wanted to have a special session as a thank you for Tim and my efforts, and especially Tim (who went above and beyond the call of duty for an extremely heart-felt gesture for Emmanual and his family).  The experience was one that I will never forget.  There was singing, dancing, "hallelujahs," and a ton of other awesome things.

Emmanual bringing the heat (per usual).

David Stern handing me my certificate after being drafted fifth overall.

We were REAL popular!

So among extremely nice words and a certificate, the church also gave us these incredible African shirts. Now, as a way of further honoring and thanking us on top of that, there were flowers, ribbons, and candy pieces that the church members could purchase and pin on us.  We were quickly taken over and swallowed up by so many people I lost count.  Now, they may just be little small, inexpensive plastic flowers, but for people whose salaries are minimal to begin with, it was extremely thoughtful to do.  I have never been thanked or honored in any manner similar, and I was speechless afterwards.  Note: neither Tim nor I were stuck with a pin.  That was also a miracle.  

The guys plastering away.  

Let Me Introduce You to Taz

For those that don't know, I will be approaching 25 here in a few months, so it's only right that I am allowed a quarter life crisis.  I have no girl friend, my employment is going to run dry in about a month, so clearly I need some responsibility.  What is the most cliche way to dip your toe into responsibility without over doing it?  A pet chicken of course!  Meet Winnie or Winfird if you prefer his full name.  We mentioned that we wanted a chicken to Bandu (our cook) and sure enough the next day she brought Winnie, legs tied up in a plastic bag.

Winnie has an identity problem.  He thinks he is a person.  He sleeps inside.  He often walks in the guesthouse during the day and will take a seat on a chair.  Above: he strolled in to the kitchen and was grabbing some leftovers.  Note: for those that are wondering, I am not raising him to eat him.  That's just barbaric.  Unfortunately I don't think they are going to let us bring Winnie through customs and I don't think Liberians will see him as a pet and not dinner...  Sorry.

CMB (Cash Money Boy) don't a little anti-termite painting on the wood.

Complete finished look of the walls.

The roof is beginning to take shape.

The carpenter in action.  Bonus points for the Starbuck's barista look.

Most of our deliveries are done through Uncle Sam (the irony of the name was not lost on me) and his truck.  We roll around and even Liberians make fun of it for its beater qualities.  But, I like it; it has character.

I still can't figure out seasons here.  There are 2 seasons, a dry and a rainy.  It's dry season, but the leaves are following off the trees and it's still scorching during the day.

I know what you are thinking because I thought it too, "Ohhhhhh, what a cute kid."  Yes, I agree.  Until he gets going, then it's like Dennis the Menace mixed with Kevin McCallister and that redheaded kid from Problem Child all stirred up into one.  Never judge a book by its cover.  His name is Rash (pronounced Razz) but I quickly renamed him Taz.  They aren't familiar with the Tasmanian Devil over here, but it's a fitting nickname. His mom is helping around the house so he has been around for the last couple weeks. 

Taz finally collapses after receiving a ruthless spanking session (the spanking sessions in Liberia are no joke, it's called "making his butt hot").  He cried on the floor until he realized no one was listening, and then passed out.  Pretty epic if you watched it all unravel.  I promise I am not a cruel person.

Harrison's son Waka.  My favorite cry baby of all time.  

It's good to be scared and pushed from time to time, and I had my moment a few weeks back.  It was a Sunday afternoon and Tim came out of his room looking like he was ready for an adventure.  I asked him what he was doing and he loosely said, "I am going to go check out the jail," (it's down the street from us).  My deep fear of missing anything and just general curiosity thought I will go along too.  

What I didn't know and would soon find out, was that Tim didn't just want to go take some pictures of the outside of the building and head home.  He had a calling, and he wanted to go visit the actual prisoners.  So, as we walked up he knocked on the door and they open up and let us in.  Tim and brought some food along, so they made him test it to be sure it wasn't poisonous.  Then the guard told us to walk across the yard to "where the other guards were."  Now this is an open prison field with plenty of prisoners just walking around.  I have watched way to many crappy movies and shows to be comfortable with this situation.  I would love to say I didn't have any worries, but I almost soiled myself is much more accurate.  A third world prison is pretty much what you would expect.  The cells are packed (often 15-20 prisoners per cell) and the scent is piercing.  It's dark, depressing and dreary.  

Anyway, we ended up getting to meet pretty much all of the prisoners (there were about 70 there that day).  Some prisoners were arrested and have been waiting for trial for multiple years, and their families don't know where they are.  I didn't think it was possible to become more popular than I was with the little kids on the road, but I was wrong again.  Tim and I have since been back a couple different times (with food) and the "Tim and Justin are here" can be heard long and far away.  It's been a rewarding experience for me.  We have learned that for the most part, all the prisoners want is to know someone cares about them.  Oh, and there are a few of them that would like an iPod, my hat, and my shirt.