Christmas Eve

I am feeling a bit nostalgic as I sit here listening to Christmas music at 11:20pm on Christmas Eve. Overall I have not really felt like it is Christmas. I can think of all kinds of reasons why- the 90+ degree weather, hearing the ocean through my window at night, no Christmas tree or Christmas lights, but I think the main reason is being away from my family and friends. I am realizing how much of what makes Christmas for me is the familiar memories and fun times with those whom I love. I was looking at some pictures of my friend Holly's kids playing out in the snow and almost wanted to cry knowing that I am missing out on those memories with them.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love being in Liberia. I have been honored and blessed with new and wonderful friends and "family." I will definitely never forget this Christmas, my first in Africa. Tonight I went to a Christmas Eve church service with some friends. It was in an old building with beautiful, vibrant stained glass windows and pews and candles. We sang wonderfully familiar Christmas carols and walked around the block in a candle light procession. Somewhere during the amazing rendition of the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah I felt it- Christmas.

I hope that wherever you find yourself this season, you will be surrounded by friends and family (new or old) and that you will feel it too.

An ORR Christmas.

Merry Christmas from Liberia! Enjoy!

Christmas is Coming.

There are just 10 shopping days left...

Today, Emmanuel, one of our guards brought these Christmas decorations for us to proudly display in our home. These are the only Christmas decorations that we have so now that they are up we are feeling pretty festive. I spent several hours today organizing and sorting through clothes and making a shopping list for the Christmas bundles we are making for some of our orphanage homes. If you have not already checked out our ORR website regarding the Christmas giving campaign please check it out soon. There are several ways you can give a child a happier Christmas this year- personalized Christmas letter, bunk beds, chickens and rabbits, a bag of rice and more.

Visit www.orphanreliefandrescue.org/christmas today.

Driving

Driving in Liberia is a daily life and death experience.
(Mom, you might not want to read this one.) :-)

You know the line from Pirates of the Caribbean that says something like "the code is more like guidelines anyway?" That is how it is driving here. There are very few paved roads. Those that are paved have no lane markings or speed limits. There is road "construction" (more like de-construction) everywhere. They do not seem to have much of a plan for rerouting traffic, so often you end up in a four lane wide head on situation playing turkey down the middle of the road while being yelled at by construction workers, other drivers and random people walking along the road. The Liberian drivers seem to feel that the more cars you can squeeze into a small space travelling as fast as possible is the only way to go. Then there are the pedestrians. It is like Frogger. You never know when someone is going to jump out in front of you to race across the road. Oh, and the horns. You have to have an extra hand available at all times to announce your presence on the road. There are taxi's everywhere and they will stop anywhere, without warning or brake lights, to drop off or pick up a passenger. There are huge trucks filled to the brim with sand or construction equipment or coal or people. And the motorcycles are running the obstacle course around it all.

Add all of that to the fact that I have not driven a manual transmission in like 8 years (and all of our vehicles have one) and you might not be surprised to hear that I put off driving as long as possible. But this week I decided to give it a try. Well, Andrew made me. And. . .it really was not so bad. I mean yes, I get stares and "white woman driving" comments everywhere I go and a guy on a motorcycle ran into my side mirror the other day and I don't know how it is possible that I have not hit a person yet (I really hope that does not happen). Overall, I have a new found freedom. I went to a meeting the other day by myself, without a taxi. I can drive badly and no one knows. Who needs rules? It is liberating. I love it. Let me drive!

Watch out Liberia, here I come. . .in a car.

Gifty is going home!

I am happy to announce that tonight Gifty is on a plane heading towards America!


It has been a hard fight against recurring infections, prolonged hospital stays, jumping through hoops for both the Liberian and American governments and piles of paperwork. But all praise to God, Gifty is heading home with her new Mom, Heidi. Gifty was discharged from the hospital last week and was able to stay with Heidi almost the entire time she was here. She has stayed healthy, infection- and fever-free the entire time. Heidi and Gifty bonded instantly, like two pieces of a puzzle - a perfect fit! Gifty will be the baby (and princess) of the family. She is joining 4 older siblings including a 10 year-old brother from Liberia.

(Gifty and her new Ma, Heidi)

Even though she has left Liberia and my care, Gifty has not left my heart. I am going to miss that girl! Her precious smile, squeeky laugh, spunky spirit, kissing her little ears and getting the sideways "do it again" look. I thank God for the opportunity to have been a part of her life even for this short time.

As amazing as all this is (and it is amazing!), it is not the end of the fight for Gifty. Now starts a long and unknown path, hopefully towards the liver transplant that she needs to save her life. Please continue to join in prayer for her and her new family as they adjust to each other and what lies ahead.

Thank you.

Gifty is still in Liberia.

Gifty was not able to leave today.

She is still infection free!
She is now officially Heidi's daughter according to the Liberian Government!

The US Embassy still has some concerns that we are trying to work out.

Please keep praying that this will work out soon!

This is a picture of Gifty in the car after she was discharged from the hospital last Monday. We spent A LOT of time in the car this week and she was a trooper.

A Great Day!

Today was a great Gifty day!

After spending almost 2 months straight in the hospital tonight she is at home sleeping with her new ma.

Let me explain-

It was a month ago today that I had bring Gifty back to the emergency room to be admitted again for a respiratory infection. During that time she has had at least 3 runs of different IV antibiotics trying to get it under control. Last Wednesday she was transferred to another hospital for more tests and x-rays.

Meanwhile, at home in Wisconsin, a family has been preparing to welcome Gifty. Last Friday Heidi arrived with a hopeful heart that she would be able to return home with Gifty when she has to leave, this Friday, December 5th.

Today we got the good news. Gifty was discharged into Heidi's care! This is a victory day. It is precious to see the two of them together. While we were driving home to where Heidi is staying you could feel the excitement in the air. It felt like we were bringing a new baby home from the hospital for the first time, but then I realized we were doing exactly that.

I have to admit that I am struggling a bit with the fact that Gifty will be leaving me soon. It is both wonderful and heartbreaking to think about. It is also odd to watch her bonding so quickly with her new ma. I mean, it is amazing, but also difficult to not feel replaced. I know that I have been here for Gifty for this time and am thankful for it. I am just not sure what to do with all these emotions I am feeling.

There are still a lot of things that have to happen this week for Gifty to be able to leave. She needs to stay healthy, the medical visa needs to be confirmed, and all the government/adoption paperwork needs to be finalized.

But right now, today, I am basking in the joy I saw reflected in Heidi's face as she bathed and dressed her daughter for the first time this evening. It was priceless.

Thanksgiving Golf

If you are wondering how we celebrated Thanksgiving here in Liberia, I can sum it up with one word.

GOLF!

There is a golf course on the Firestone Plantation about an hour drive from our team house. Besides playing Putt-Putt Golf this was a first for me. Most of us were pretty new to the game so we played teams - best ball, which means whoever hit the best ball is the one we played. It still took us 5 hours to play 9 holes! We had a blast but were exhausted after playing out in the heat all day.

Our Liberian caddy, Jesse, has played golf for 11 years. He was very patient with us and tried to give us helpful tips. Which usually resulted in him saying a defeated "No" after each attempt. At one point I told him- "You don't have to tell me no, I know I didn't hit it." I did get a few good drives and a great putt which won me an "I loved that!" from Jesse.

Team "Dark Meat"- Ashley, Andrew and I

After the game we had cheeseburgers at the golf course restaurant and then went home to play dominoes and eat brownies and shortbread which a friend from Mercy Ships had made for us. We even had Christmas napkins to enjoy our goodies with. You need not worry though, I did get a "real" Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday at a friends house- mashed potatoes, stuffing, even pumpkin pie!

What a Week!

This week has flown by! This was our 1 week break between guests. Last Friday a 6 person short term team (including the ORR president and VP) left and tonight a girl is arriving who will be staying with us and observing our work here for the next 2 weeks.

Of course the work of serving the orphans does not stop and this has been quite the week...

Gifty continues to keep me busy. She is still in the hospital (I feel like I keep saying that, ah!) and now on a 3rd round of antibiotics to treat this stubborn respiratory infection. I was allowed to carry her from the hospital to the feeding clinic on Wednesday and she now weighs a whopping 5.6kg (up from 5.2 a month ago). Her adoptive mom from the States is arriving next week! We are still working on getting her a passport and medical VISA, but God willing Gifty will be returning home with her and meeting the rest of the family in a few weeks. The doctors at a hospital nearby are also awaiting her arrival.

I have been visiting some local clinics to try and find the best care for a couple of our orphanages. I don't understand why, but the Liberian medical answer to everything is an injection. No matter what the diagnosis an injection is prescribed for it. Usually it is not just one but the child has to return for 5 days of injections. And they are not always clear about what exactly the injection is. In the last week 5 different children from 2 orphanages have had to go to the local clinic and they all have received injections. Part of me wants to fight the system and the other part acknowledges that this is the normal way they do things here. I just don't know what to do!

We have had a malaria outbreak at one orphanage. 5 children have tested positive for it in the last week. When I was talking with the caregiver I discovered that they have not been using mosquito nets for the last 2 weeks due to some renovations they were doing. These are the hardest working orphanage directors that I have met here. They are actively trying to make their home a better place. In the last month they have built a new latrine, showers, well and nursery/garden. It breaks my heart that the kids are sick because of a simple thing that was overlooked as they were trying so hard to make things better for them. Oh, yes- the nets are back up now!

We got a new car! We also got our jeep fixed, but in true Liberian fashion, it broke again a day later. And the truck is back at the garage to get the brakes fixed for the 3rd time. So, we have 1 out of 3 vehicles running right now, but we have one running! It is great to get around in a car that is not a taxi!

Thursday's are food delivery days. We delivered food to 3 orphanages this Thursday. It is always so good to see the faces of the children and care givers when they see us. The last few weeks we have brought oranges in addition to the normal, rice, beans, oil and milk. The kids are devouring them like candy! One orphanage director literally jumped up and down and hugged us as we arrived with her food this week. She told us we were an answer to her prayer. She had decided to go and beg a neighbor for some oil so she could cook a meal for her children but since we brought her a whole tin of oil now she would not have to beg for some!

In addition to the busy days this week the nights have been interesting as well. Our "friendly" next door nightclub has hired a new security company who scrape their cutlasses, bang on the metal doors and occasionally yell out to try and deter criminals from breaking in. It has also worked to deter us from getting any sleep!

I am definitely ready for the weekend.

A Day at Benson Hospital

A self portrait with Gifty.

This was taken on the day I ended up waiting 3 hours for the Social Worker from the Liberian government to come. It was the third day that week I had waited there for her. She did finally come and I can not complain too much about undisturbed Gifty time.

I do not know this boys name, but I do know that he is humiliated by the amount of baby powder his ma has covered him in. I do not know why Liberian mothers feel the need to do this to their children. Of course his ma told me he was sad because he is sick and scared of the white woman. I think we all know better.

Oh Boy Omito!

This might very well be the cutest boy in Liberia. When I first met Omito he was very sick and sharing a room with Gifty. I could never understand what his mother told me he had, but I would guess he was severely malnourished. His entire body was swollen and the skin was peeling off his legs. He was lethargic and never smiled. After a week or so, as he was feeling better he came out of his shell. He would greet me with a high five and his contagious laugh every time. Even when he had been moved to another ward at the hospital he would find me to say hello with his silent head bob and eyebrow lift.

One day a hospital worker found me and told me about some triplets that has been born the day before. These 3 were a surprise to their mother, Mary who did not know she was pregnant with triplets! They are so tiny, I would guess 2-3 pounds each. In America they would definitely be in the NICU. They seemed to be doing OK, but in addition to their 4 year old sister they are going to be keeping Mary very busy! After a week of me visiting and asking for their names she finally told me (are you ready for this?) Rose, Roselyn, and Rosetta.

Eman is a 10 year old boy who was in the hospital with burns on his hand and back after falling into a cooking fire. He would always find me with his big smile and loved visiting Gifty. He reminds me a lot of my friend's son, Ethan. You might say Eman is a Liberian Ethan. :-)

This is the stair case that I have to climb every time I come to the hospital. Many might think, "so what?' But for those who know me and my fear of open grates you may understand how big a victory it is for me to now be able to climb these stairs and not get that nervous feeling in my stomach anymore.

Next I will tackle my fear of down escalators, but that will probably not be happening in Africa.

Rollercoaster Ride

In the rollercoaster of life there are up days and down days.

Today is a down day.

I went to the hospital this morning to pick up Gifty, she was supposed to be discharged today. Xavi (her doctor) greeted me in her room and told me the bad news. She is sick again. Her fever is high and her breathing too fast. The respiratory infection is back. It is so hard to see. Yesterday she looked SO good. She was happy and laughing and bright eyed. Today she is feverish and lethargic. It breaks my heart. The infection hits her so fast. Xavi has started her on a new antibiotic cocktail. She will be in the hospital at least another 10 days. Tomorrow we are going to another clinic in town for a chest x-ray.

It is getting harder for me each time. Each up day is euphoric. But the down days come crashing hard.

SuperGifty

I just had to share this little piece of heaven with you.

Ups and Downs

The last week and a half has been full of ups and downs for Gifty.

Last Monday I had to bring Gifty back to the emergency room due to a high fever, cough and very fast respiratory rate. She was diagnosed with another respiratory infection and readmitted to the hospital for a stronger run of IV antibiotics. On Friday the doctor told me she was not responding very well to the medications and continued to spike fevers at night. He was very concerned because her chronic health problems and inability to fight infections complicates everything. He already had her on the strongest antibiotic that is available here. He laid out a very poor prognosis (which we already know, but it is very hard to hear).

Due to Andrew's keen detective work, some information about Gifty's past was found, including a birth certificate. We now know her birthday, May 28, 2007, which means she is 17months old. I also met with a Social Worker from the Liberian government this week. Her report will hopefully go far in expediting the paperwork that needs to go through for Gifty to be able to leave the country and be adopted.

Despite the fight going on within her small body Gifty continues to grow. According to the hospital scale she is up to 5.8kg. She is a great eater, loves her milk and is trying new foods. She can not get enough of the special crackers that her care taker Tonia buys for her. And we discovered another love of Gifty's. . .Music! She can't get enough of it and starts kicking her legs and bobbing her head every time.

Today when I met with Gifty's doctor he was very happy with how she was doing. She has not had any fevers for 3 days and is breathing normally again. He wanted to discharge her today! I asked for a few more days to insure she is really infection free before we return her to the orphanage. Hopefully if everything goes as planned she will be discharged again on Wednesday.

This cycle of infections will continue until Gifty can receive the surgery she needs to fix her failing liver. Each time she gets sick it is harder on her body and they have to use stronger medicines which are not good for her liver, but are necessary to fight the infection. This is a truly urgent time to pray for a miracle in Gifty's body and for getting her the medical care she needs but is not available in Liberia.

Each time I hold Gifty, I pray for her. I pray that God will bless her and strengthen her from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. I whisper truths to her about God and how much he loves her. I remember the promise He gives us that He will complete the good work that He has started in her.

Please join me in these prayers.

Jessie

We spend many evenings after dinner walking to the beach. It is a good way to unwind, get some exercise and escape the crazy Menitama night club's nightly extravaganza. A few weeks ago on our way back to the house we met a new friend.

Jessie. . .

Last night we took a walk to visit Jessie and brought the camera this time. We all took turns posing, here's me. It did take me a while to warm up to the idea of holding her, but it turns out she is really sweet and loves to cuddle. The first time I held her she just put her head on my chest and closed her eyes and then when I tried to put her down she just held on tighter.


No doubts now, I really am in Africa. Holding a chimp? I can't believe it.

Workshop

Monday marked the first ever ORR workshop.

The "Raising Healthy Children" workshop was a huge success. About 25 directors and caregivers participated in the workshop.

( Registration table.)

I talked about a number of basic health care related topics- germs, hand washing, cleanliness, common diseases, and first aid. Other topics included nutrition, safety, the importance of raising children to be responsible members of society, and ORR's role in the orphanages we work with. It was great to see the directors "getting it." I saw the light bulbs going on with several of them.

(Teacher Deb - note the awesome Liberian blackboard.)

We were also blessed to have Zeke, a Liberian man who just returned to Liberia after 17 years in America, share and encourage the attendees. His talk received the only spontaneous applause of the day and was very powerful.

(Ashley and I with some of the participants showing off their certificates.)

When it was all over the participants were presented with certificates of completion. This is of great importance in Liberia, they take pride in completing a workshop and will often display their certificate for all to see.

Fall Reflections

Fall is my favorite time of year at home.

I love the chill in the air.

Everything is crisp and fresh.

You smell cinnamon and nutmeg in the air as you sip your pumpkin spice latte and crunch falling leaves on the sidewalk.

It always makes me feel alive.

It is hard to believe it is the last day of October as I sit here in the muggy 80+ degree weather everyday.

I have been in Liberia for a month today.

4 weeks already!

Amazing.

I can't wait to see what lies ahead.

Gifty's Big Day!

Wednesday was a big day for Gifty!

Our precious girl was finally discharged from the hospital. She obviously has chronic issues that are not going away until she can get the surgery she needs (keep praying!), but the doctor decided that she is eating well, growing stronger and infection free so she can have a little freedom. We picked her up from the hospital and drove straight to the feeding program for a weigh-in. She actually weighed the same as last week, but her belly is smaller and her checks are fatter so that is a good sign.

Gifty loves the Plumpy'nut!

After getting another week's worth of the good stuff we headed to the orphanage home to get Gifty settled in. All the other children were happy to see her back. Now we start a new phase in Gifty's care, keeping her healthy and getting her stronger. I will be checking on her daily for a while to see how she is adjusting. When I stopped by the orphanage today for a visit she was happy and fever free.

Blackboard

Ashley and I have been planning a workshop for some of the orphanage directors that ORR works with. "Workshops" are big here in Liberia. Call a group together, talk to them for a few hours, give them a certificate and the job is done. Our workshop is scheduled for next Monday, November 3rd.

It has been an interesting process- finding a place to have it (an almost finished church building without electricity, chairs or a bathroom), how to invite people with no mail service (make 25 phone calls with the help of your In-Country director and repeat the information 15 times per phone call and then still have 7 people show up the week before it is supposed to happen and ask where you are), plan a curriculum for 50 people (who may or may not read and probably won't understand a word I am going to say).

And then there is the blackboard. We needed a way to present the information we will be talking about. Powerpoint, over-head projectors, even dry erase boards are not available in Liberia. So we move on to the good old fashioned blackboard. We do not have a school supply superstore or Office Max to run to, so what do we do?

The following are the steps to getting a blackboard in Liberia. . .
1) Ask Momo, your Chief of Security to fetch Buckeye, the neighborhood carpenter.
2)Have an animated conversation with Buckeye about having a blackboard built, wondering the whole time if he has any idea what you are saying.
3)Have Momo translate.
4)Draw a picture in the sand with a lollipop stick. (see below)
5)Send Buckeye off with money to the market hoping that he really knows what he is doing.
6)Wonder for hours why it is taking so long for Buckeye to return with the building supplies.
7)Scratch your head in confusion when he returns saying it cost too much to come back in a taxi so he hired a cart to bring the supplies the couple miles back in the heat of the day for 60 cents less.
8)Ask Buckeye if he got everything he needs.
9)Look confused when Buckeye says yes and then you realize he only got wood. No nails. No blackboard paint.
10)Have another animated conversation (with Momo translating and at least 2 phone calls from the other side of the fence) about how tall the blackboard should be.
11)Hope and pray that you are not wasting your time and money.
12)Go out to dinner with you friends and try and not worry about it.
13)Return home and find a blackboard that actually looks like the drawing in the sand. (see below)
14)Order a desk.

Hopefully the workshop will turn out as good as the blackboard did.

New Do

A few weeks ago we stopped by to see our friends at Frances Gaskin's and Ashley and I left with a new hairstyle. We were attacked by girls (and a few boys) who were anxious to get a feel of the white ladies hair. The treatment included quite the head massage, painful hair pulling into "plaits" (braids) and a lot of therapeutic laughing.

Where's Waldo?

Where's Waldo - Liberian Edition.

Gifty's Field Trip

Today we took Gifty on a field trip.

Gifty is getting stronger and more alert. The other day she was sitting up on her own, this was the first time I have seen this in the 3 weeks I have been here. She is playing more and even waved goodbye to me as I left her room.

Gifty is still fighting it out in the hospital. Even though Her lung infection is responding to the antibiotics and the cough is much less, the pediatrician is not ready to discharge her yet.

Today we received the OK to take her to the local "Action Against Hunger" clinic to have her evaluated for their feeding program. Piko (one of Gifty's wonderful caregivers) and I piled into a hospital truck with Gifty and 2 other children, their mothers, a Liberian nurse and the driver. After a bit of a hard time finding the place (neither the nurse or the driver knew exactly where it was) we piled into a room with at least 20 other mothers and children.

Gifty (now 15 months old) weighed in at 5.2kg and a whopping 63cm long.

She definitely qualified for the feeding program. This is what we wanted because now she will be supplied with Plumpy'nut nutrition supplement to aid in her healing, growth and malnutrition. Plumpy'nut is a peanut butter type food that has vital vitamins, minerals and other nutrients added. Now Gifty will get to chow down twice a day on the good stuff and hopefully we will see her gaining more weight and strength in the weeks to come.

Who and Where

I had a request for some pictures of where I live and who I work with. . .

The Sunset from my front yard this evening.

The team ORR house.

Our new outside shower.

Laundry day.

The ORR team.

Jennifer, Ashley, Cramer, Andrew, Deb.

A new kind of popular.

I have never been what I would call "in the popular crowd." So having everyone notice me here in Liberia is a bit out of my comfort zone. Every where we go we hear whistles, Liberian grunts, and marriage proposals. Most of the time children wave or point as we are driving by, other times their jaws drop and we can read their lips "a white woman, a white woman." My personal favorite is when a child sees me and then bursts into tears and runs away screaming.
You can imagine the attention we have received this week with the 3 ORR women riding in the back of our Tata. One day Jen, Ash and I were in the back as we toured 5 orphanages. We felt like beauty queens in a parade waving to our adoring fans. One time Andrew had to make a "quick" stop so we waited in the truck. Instantly we were surrounded by dozens of children, standing and staring and laughing at us. It was particularly scandalous because Willemina (a Liberian woman) was in the front seat and the white women were in the back. As we drove away the children ran after us, laughing, as far as their legs would take them.
Friday we were taking a load of food to an orphanage about an hour away. (Another story about how the brakes went out in the truck again can be inserted here.) Cramer and Mary (our Liberian Ma) in the front and Ash and I in the back again. This time we were sitting on top of about 600 pounds of rice, beans and other food. This lifted us higher in the back and so increased our beauty queen status- more waving, smiling and pointing.
Ash, Cramer and I were walking to the beach the other day (another attention getting exercise) and talking about all the attention. Just walking down the road we get all kinds of greetings and kids run up to us to shake our hand or run away and cling to their mother or older sister and stare as we go by.
I never thought I would be popular, but if I was going to be I did not think it would be because of my skin color or because I am bringing food or medicine to orphans.
I guess this is a new kind of popular.

Baby Girl Gifty

Baby girl Gifty continues to fight for her life in the hospital. As I mentioned before, she has been back in the hospital since last Thursday. Her lung infection progressed into pneumonia and she is now on her second round of antibiotics covering a wide range of possibilities, including pertusis (whooping cough). She has also been getting breathing treatments as needed. I have been visiting her every few days. Despite her lung issues she is looking better and getting stonger. Yesterday was the first time I saw her sitting up on her own. She is eating well and gaining weight. Each time I see her I fall more in love, she is wrapping me up!


Gifty last Thursday, just before we had to get her readmitted to the hospital.


Gifty on Wednesday (with Uncle Andrew), looking better.

We continue to pray for a miracle for this precious girl. There are a couple families that have come forward, willing to adopt her. At this time it is just waiting for red tape and paper work to go through. (ORR is not personally involved with the adoption process. We are, however, supporting Gifty in everyway we can until that happens.)

Pics from the big clean-up.

Some proof that I really am working over here...


Boys sporting their new briefs, after the clean-up.


Slathering!


If you look close, this pic has a lot going on. Talk about action shot!


Checking for ringworm. . .my new expertise!

Clean, Scrub and Slather

Today we had an all out clean em, scrub em, slather em in goop day at one of our more needy orphanages. Ashley and I scrubbed about 30 children from head to toe and then applied medicine for either scabies or ringworm. There had been an outbreak of both. After the scrubbing and slathering all the kiddos were fitted with a brand new, clean pair of underwear. We also assisted in ridding them of their old worn and filthy mattresses from the floor with brand new ones that they had stacked up in the store room. Now with them clean and sleeping in a clean area I hope they will be more healthy and happy. I know I am. It was a very rewarding day.

Randomness

Tonight we fixed tacos for dinner, beef, beans, guacamole carrots and all. Veggies are the tricky thing around here and all we could find were red peppers and carrots so that is what we used and you know what? They were AWESOME!!! Yum. :-)

Yesterday our team mate Jen, was in a car accident. The brakes went out on our truck. The truck hit a van filled with 15 people and 2 of our guards were in the truck with Jen. The good news- no one was hurt. yeah! The bad news- that brings our vehicle total to ZERO. This will be an interesting week with 5 team members, 5 different projects and agendas and no vehicles.

The night club next door, Menitama, is hosting the Miss ELWA pageant practices. What does that mean for me? 7 nights a week of hearing the same 6 songs played at different volumes, incomplete and with a fuzzy sound system and dozens of cheering Liberians trying to climb our wall to watch. We all climbed up on the well to peak over the wall the other day and watched for a bit as 8 pageant princesses walked back and forth in front of a full length mirror. . .over and over and over. The rumor is the pageant finals are not until November 29th. That means 6 more weeks of Love is Wicked.

You have heard the line "Lions and Tigers and Bears oh my!" The ORR house version of that is "Mice and Spiders and Ants... oh fun!" There has been an ongoing mouse problem at the house for a while. That has lead to multiple creative ways to rid the house of them. I will save the details and just say "Mice hockey anyone?" The fire ants out in the yard have been becoming quite annoying. This has led to "Ants Death 1, 2, and 3." (I will refer you to Cramers blog for the play by play videos, the link to his blog is on mine as "Ave of the Cramericas.") I will leave you with the following picture of a spider in our house. It is on the living room wall and that is my size 8 foot in the pic for scale. (I think I should get some props for overcoming my fear and sacrificing my foot for the photo op.)

Until next time. . .

Keep praying for Gifty.

I was hoping that I would have a happy report about Gifty today. She was discharged from the hospital this afternoon. Her jaundice and abdominal swelling are better. But when we left the hospital she had begun a small cough. I spent a few hours at Fatu's orphanage with her caregivers going over her meds and watching her. She did not seem to have a fever so I decided to see how she did overnight and reassess her in the morning. About 3 hours later I got a call that she was not doing well. I went back over to check on her and she had definitely worsened in those few hours. Her cough was much worse, she was coughing so much she could not catch her breath , she was lethargic and burning up with fever. Back to the hospital we went. She was readmitted with bronchiolitis, which she probably caught from another child in the hospital while she was there. She is getting a different kind of IV antibiotics and is being monitored. Her little compromised immune system is having a hard time fighting off the bugs. I will go back and check on her tomorrow. Please keep watching here for updates and continue to pray with us for a miracle for Gifty.

The Road to Garmai's

Yesterday, I actually made it to an orphanage.
We went over to assess Garmai's orphanage. She has about 30 children in her home. Jen needed to check out the land for capacity building availability and I wanted to have a look at the kids. We are limited on vehicles right now and 5 of us were going so we, in typical ORR fashion, crammed into our little truck (affectionately called the Tata). Andrew, Jen and Willemina (our brand new team member working with Jen on CP stuff) were in front, Ashley and I were in the back under the cap sitting on buckets. It started to rain just as we were leaving, but we were not too worried about it because the orphanage is not too far from here. While we were bumping along on the way there, Ashley and I were minding our own business, in conversation on our buckets in the back when all of a sudden we were flying through the air. I honestly saw Ashley fly superman style across from me while I some how went from sitting on my bucket vertically to sitting on it horizontally. Apparently, Andrew was trying to find the best way across a drop off corner and at one point we were on 2 wheels. We survived however after a few screeches and a little bit more dirty but in one piece and arrived at the orphanage home a few minutes later.
Of course by the time we reached Garmai's there was a full Liberian style downpour going on. We were there a short time, many of the kids were still in school and with the rain Jen could not really get a look at the land.
So we headed off to our next orphanage, which I will tell you now, we never made it too. To spare Ashley and I (who had resumed our positions on the buckets) the excitement of another drop off experience, Andrew decided to go back a different way. (Not always a good idea on a rainy day in Liberia.) A few minutes into our journey we got stuck in a humongous puddle. It took Andrew and several helpful Liberians to get us unstuck while the rest of us stood by and watched in the rain (I am already thankful for that REI rain coat I bought on clearance before I left). After tipping the helpful Liberians we were back on the road. Ashley had her video camera and decided to document our rainy day Liberian road adventure.
(This is the point where I would like to show you the video, but we have been having problems uploading videos and so instead I will point you towards Ashley's blog, "Love in Liberia", to see it. The link is on my blog page. Please check it out we have watched it at least 20 times and laugh til we are crying every time.)
About 30 seconds after we were bouncing along road again we found ourselves flying through the air - again. This time Ashley had the video going. I laughed and screamed and found myself lying on the sandy truck bed while Ashley fought to keep control of the camera. This time we hit a rock while trying to maneuver another huge puddle and jammed it up underneath the bottom of the Tata. There were no helpful Liberians around this time. Andrew, with the help of a 2x4 he found and after fighting some dogs for his life, was able to use the jack to lift the truck off the rock and we were actually able to make it back to the main road and home.

Gifty Update

Last week I told you about Gifty, a baby girl from one of our orphanages who is very sick. Today I had the opportunity to meet her. She is currently at the MSF (Doctors Without Borders) hospital near by. This hospital only takes maternity and pediatric patients at this time. All the patients are required to have a care taker with them 24 hours a day to help with normal activities of daily living like bathing and feeding. We have 2 wonderful Liberian women who have been taking turns caring for Gifty in the Hospital. Gifty and her care giver share a small bunk in a room with 7-8 other patient/caregiver pairs with only enough room to walk between the beds. We went to visit her today hopeing to take her to her new orphanage home. After meeting with her doctor we learned that she continues to spike fevers and can not be discharged until she has been fever free for at least 48 hours. Gifty was diagnosed with Billiary Atresia, a congenital condition which in Gifty's case has resulted in a blocked billiary duct. Usually surgery is required to fix it within the first couple months of life. Gifty has not had this surgery. She has many other complications such as jaundice, an enlarged liver and spleen and increased risk of infection. After her discharge, our plan is to keep her healthy at her new orphanage home until an expedited adoption can happen and she can receive the medical care that she needs. According to research, Gifty's life expectancy is only about 3 years, without treatment. Gifty is a precious girl filled with spunk and a fighting spirit.

Please continue to fight and pray with us for a miracle for Gifty.

I made it!

Hello from Liberia!

I arrived friday night to the welcoming sticky wet air of Liberia. Except for an hour delay in Brussels due to a baggage handlers strike, all my flights went well. I breezed through customs and was anxious to see my team. I pushed through the crowd and out to the street looking around anxiously and saw no familiar faces. I paced the road as locals tried to convince me they could carry me to wherever I needed to go. No, I kept telling them, my friends are coming. But after 10minutes or so I started to doubt that myself so I found the MercyShips gang and asked to borrow a phone, very thankful that I had remembered to bring Cramer's phone number and praying that he would answer. He did. "Where are you he asked?" "uh- at the airport, where are you?" "At the airport." Ha! Somehow I had walked right passed him and Ashley as I broke through the crowd. They did not forget me!

When we pulled into the driveway at the ORR team house I was greeted by our very enthusiastic guards, Momo and Emmanuel, Andrew, Jen and One Love (the dog). We ate jollof rice (Liberian version of fried rice, spicey and yummy) and chatted. I slept pretty good, woke up a few times by the rain and loud orchestra of outdoor noises in the night, primarily crickets, frogs, roosters and the ocean.

I spent today resting and trying to get settled in- unpacking, organizing my stuff etc... This evening we went grocery shopping at the UN market, a very interesting and crowded experience in Liberia. Then we had dinner at an Indian place called Taaj near the store.

One more day of rest and adjusting until the craziness begins on Monday.

The Benediction

I leave in 32 hours!

I am going to make this my last blog from home, from here on out it will truely be- Deb in Liberia.

Tonight my church had a prayer/send off shin-dig for me and it was amazing! I am so blessed and humbled to have such a wonderful church family. Thanks to everyone who came to see me off this evening. Your prayers, encouraging words and hugs will bring me through until we meet again.

I want to share the words to a song that keeps coming to mind...

"My friends may you grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.
My friends may you grow in grace and in the knowlege of Jesus Christ.

To God be the glory, now and forever, now and forever, amen.
To God be the glory, now and forever, now and forever, amen.

I pray tonight if we learned from one another, may we glorify Him.
And if the Lord should bring us back together, may we be in His arms til then."

"The Benediction" by Timothy James Meaney

Love you all. Good night.

Gifty needs a Miracle.

I leave in 3 days!

I am in eastern Washington spending a few days with my parents before I leave. This may have been God's way of making me take some time off for R&R in the midst of the craziness. I would say I am about 95% packed and my house is clean so besides the last minute stuff to do on wednesday I am ready to go!


I want to point you towards the ORR blog. Andrew has been writting about a precious little girl named Gifty who is very sick with liver disease. She is 14 months old and weighs only 11 pounds. She may need a liver trasplant and I have a feeling that in Liberia that is not a possibility. Gifty needs a miracle.

Packing fun.

I leave in 6 days!

The last few days have been a whirlwind for me. I finished up my last 2 days at work on Monday and Tuesday. Ever since then I have been going non-stop- shopping, packing, laminating, packing, visiting, packing, cleaning, laundry. . .did I mention packing?

Last night I did a "practice" pack to try and get an idea of where I was at with things. Forty-eight pounds over the baggage allowance! I then re-evaluated everything, got rid of some things and added some others (I realized I had not put in any shoes!) and then came to the resignation that I am going to be paying the overweight baggage fee.

I guess Oliver (my 20 lb cat) wanted to come too! Maybe that explains some of the excess weight! :-)

VISA VISA

Now I really can leave in 8 days!

I just got my VISA in the mail! yeah!

Don't let this throw you.

I leave in 8 days!

Yesterday we found out that one of my dad's coronary arteries is 90% blocked. Hopefully they can fix it with a stent next week (on Oct 2nd, the day I am flying to Africa!) but if not he will need bypass surgery. As my dad was telling me the details on the phone he punctuated his story with "but you are still going." Of course I am still going, but it is a little nerve racking, I did not even like being away in Tacoma while he was having his angiogram in Spokane.

I woke up this morning dwelling over the details of this as well as everything else I have to do before I leave. Yes, I was somewhat overwhelmed and having a little bit of a pity party. I picked up my mini Message Bible and turned to John. I was looking for a verse on peace thinking that is what I needed. I started reading John 14:1 which literally said:

"Don't let this throw you. You trust God, don't you?"
I laughed out loud.

The thing is I do trust God. I trust that me going to Liberia right now is the right thing. I trust that everything will work out with my house while I am gone. I trust that my dad will be ok. But I was letting it all throw me, getting me sidetraked and distracted. No more!

That being said, please continue to pray for me this next week. It is really going to be a challenge. I am now going to be fitting in a trip over to see my parents since my dad's doctor said he can not travel. And please pray for my dad (his name is Al) too. Thanks.

The count down begins.

I am leaving in 10 days!

Tomorrow is my last day at work before I go. I have been trying to pack smart (I spent quite a while putting lotion, shampoo etc... into smaller travel containers yesterday), hoping that my Liberian VISA really arrives with my passport before I leave (although I guess I can not really leave without it), and still not sure what is going to happen with my house.

I have also been scarfing down anything I think I may not get to eat/drink in the next 6 months. It is truely like I am getting ready to hibernate for winter. ha! Pumpkin Spice lattes from Starbucks have been a real weakness. Tonight I got take out from my favorite Teriaki place and really started to panic... what am I going to do without my teriaki? I survived it once before, when I was in nursing school in Spokane and got so desperate for teriaki that I spent hours calling and then driving around town looking for a place...to no avail. So, I guess I will leave you with this request- if you find yourself in Bonney Lake in the next few months stop by the Wok (Teriaki Wok 5 to be exact), get the teriaki chicken dinner and think of me. (and if you really want to be supportive you can wash it down with a pumpkin spice latte.) :-)

Garage Sale Success

Ever since I returned from Liberia last spring I have felt an overwhelming need to get rid of "stuff." I realized that for the last 5 years I have been bringing stuff into my house and not taking anything out. The desire to clean house almost felt spititual, like cleaning out my home of unneeded stuff was the outward expression of a cleansing that was taking place in my soul.

So... for the last 6 months I have been putting stuff aside preparing myself to part with it. I figured a garage sale would be a good way to go about it. I might as well give others a chance to enjoy (or be burdened) by my stuff as much as I have right?

Earlier this week I invited my friend Heidi over to help me with the final go through. I thought Heidi would be helpful because she would help me to be strong and part with things I was struggling with. I was wrong. You see Heidi and I have been friends since high school. Every box or pile we came to held a memory. She was there for the camping trips with "that shirt" and when "that picture" was taken and remembers how much I loved "that bag." Overall I was strong and resisted her temptations, but I am grateful for the fond memories she brought back to me.

I took 2 car loads of stuff to another friends house where the garage sale was going to take place. Added to the multiple families from my church who also donated towards the sale, we filled the garage and the side yard. I was overwhelmed and wondered how we were going to get rid of it all and worried no one would want it. I was wrong again.

We made over $1000!

(All the money is going to go towards helping finance my time in Liberia.)

Now I am exhausted. It was a lot of work and a long weekend, but it was worth it. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped. Thanks David and Cathy for donating your garage, yard and time and for all the wonderful food. Thanks Susan for skipping church to run the sale and all your help with "organizing." Thanks to everyone who came out and supported me whether with a quarter or a smile it was not unnoticed.

Stats

Follow this link for some Unicef stats about Liberia.

Statistics http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/liberia_statistics.html

Smile!

What else can I say?

This is what it is all about.

My "Official" September Update.

I am really doing it! My airplane ticket says Seattle to Monrovia - October 2, 2008!

I have attempted to keep everyone up to date on what is going on, but I will review just in case.

Last spring, I spent 2 life changing weeks in Liberia. Liberia is a country in West Africa that has been torn apart by civil war and poverty. Thousands of children live in orphanage homes there.
Since my visit, I have found myself with a whole new perspective on life and what is important. I learned that electricity and running water are not requirements, they are luxuries. I fell in love with the country. The people as a whole were so gracious and the children, precious. Within 24 hours of being in the country I knew I would return.

When I made the choice to return I doubted why I could be of any help, my nursing experience is literally from a different world. As I continued to think and pray on it I realized the qualifier for me and all they really need is someone that is willing.

So, I am joining the ORR team and returning to Liberia for at least 6 months. ORR is currently contracted with about 20 orphanages that care for approximately 1000 children. Their goal is to meet the practical needs of these kids. ORR comes in to the poorest and worse off orphanages and works to ensure that they have a safe and sturdy home, a roof that does not leak in the worst of the rainy season, latrines, food and water.

As the Healthcare Coordinator with ORR, it will be my responsibility to oversee the overall health of the orphans. The most prevalent health problems are preventable; malnutrition, worms, skin infections, and malaria are some of the most common. There are also a lot of educational opportunities to teach the orphanage directors and children about things that will help them to remain healthy. I will be personally caring for many of the children as well as partnering with local clinics and pharmacies to help establish long term relationships for the care of these orphans.

Many people ask how they can help…
I will start by asking that you partner with me in prayer.
-Pray for me. I have a lot to get done “closing up shop” here while I prepare to leave the country for several months. Also pray for traveling safety and adjusting to the heat, food and culture, and for my back (it has been bothering me a lot lately).
-Pray for the ORR Field Team. As well as myself there will be 4 other team members in Liberia. We need strength, endurance, communication, protection and health (in fact, Matt Cramer who has been in Liberia for the last month has been feeling ill and may have malaria).
Andrew Tyler - In-Country Director and Administrator.
Matthew Cramer - Media Coordinator.
Ashley Stoll – Relief Programs Manager.
Jennifer Gerson – Capacity building manager.
-Pray for the kids. The orphans are who we are there to serve, they live in horrible conditions with little to eat or play with.

There is no mail service in Liberia. E-mail will be the best way to keep in touch with me. If you would like to send something, you can do so through an organization called Service to Servants. www.servicetoservants.com. They send a container via ship to Liberia several times a year. The next container is scheduled to leave sometime in November. The website will walk you through the steps you will need to take to use their services.
Ideas of what to send-
The kids always need clothes and underwear of all sizes.
The ORR team loves treats they can not get in Liberia. Non-perishables are best, cookies, blister pack gum, Sam’s Cajun trail mix (from wal-mart).

There are always financial needs. ORR is currently working on several projects at orphanages. See the ORR website for more information. www.orphanreliefandrescue.org.

Of course I am responsible for all my own funding while I am there. If you would like to help out financially contributions can be made through my church.

Send personal donations for me to-
Evergreen Foursquare church.
PO Box 1472, Auburn, WA 98071-1472.
Please write “Liberia” in the comment line.)

Send donations for ORR Projects to-
Orphan Relief and Rescue
17866 HWY 110 N
Garden Valley, TX 75771

Other ways to contact me-
debbie@orphanreliefandrescue.org
US ORR Office –903-963-3536

I would love to hear from you!
-debbie dezutter:-)

“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” Ephesians 6:19-20

Hello! A preview of what is to come...

Here is a greeting from the kids at Frances Gaskin's orphange in Monrovia. This was my favorite orphange when I was there last spring. The kids were very reserved at first but warmed up to us quickly.

My First Blog!

This is a first for me. My very first Blog entry. I am still trying to figure it all out. I am going to attempt to use this as a way to keep track of my comings and goings as I head to Liberia, West Africa to work with the orphans there. I am scheduled to leave Oct 2, 2008 - one month from today! So stay tuned. . .there is much to come. :-)