He Will Carry My Load.

I have joined an exciting phenomena called ifast58. It is a group of people from all over the world who are joining together in prayer and fasting one day a week to lift up the worlds hurting and hungry and those who work with them. I am overwhelmed at the thought of the potential of such a group. It is exciting and humbling. This morning I woke up early praying for those who have so little and this song popped into my head- "He Will Carry My Load." A popular song in Liberia, appropriate too.

Today I am praying for Varba and the so many others like her.

Join me?

Trying Small

Small bare feet meet dirty ground.
Clubs on the end of stick legs kicking deflated football...future.
Hungry belly bloated, filled with rice.
Home to life sucking parasite.
Naked brown back bent under torn shirt, hot sun.
A heavy load- more than one so young should carry.
Strong fragile hands crushing, hitting.
Tender fingers touching, exploring.
Holding my Heart.
Lonely heart broken. Pounding.
Longing to be heard. To be held. To feel loved.
Tear stained cheeks, fever warmed.
Inside, a life fight against malarial blood.
Joyful song and laughter escape.
Music that heals despite the cage of fear and daily grind.
Dark sad eyes, mirror to the soul, reflect truth.
Beautiful bright eyes shine with hope of the unknown.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

Well, things here are finally starting to feel like home again.
The last month has been a blur.
Starting with a pity party for myself, not even wanting to leave Liberia in the first place.
Transitioning into an amazing time of rest and reflection.
And now I think I am finally ready to get to work!

I will be home all summer. At this point I have a return ticket from Brussels to Monrovia on September 2nd. In the meantime I am here to see people, spread the word about the work being done and needs in Liberia, work, fundraise and figure out some other miscellaneous things.

So...
if you would like to get together, please let me know. I would love to see you and catch up.

if you have a church, work or school group that would like to hear more about the orphans in Liberia, let me know so we can work something out before the whole summer fills up.

if you would like to help in other ways here are some ideas-
-Pray!
-I need to find someone to rent my house (available anytime).
-I need to find homes for my cats.

Please e-mail me any thoughts or questions @ debbie@orphanreliefandrescue.org

Kisses from Gifty

I just got back from spending a few days with Gifty and her family in Wisconsin. It was an amazing experience. I often found myself close to tears, overwhelmed at the miracle of her and thankful to be a part of it all. To see Gifty in the toy isle in Wal-mart or being seen by the best medical specialists in the region really contrasted with where we were a few months ago. She now weighs in at over 20 pounds, about twice as big as the last time I saw her in December! She is crawling and walking between furniture (very impressive considering she was in a full body cast 2 weeks ago). She communicates with sign language and some of her own made up communication tools, for example, spitting means no.

And Gifty loves to give kisses!

Big sis, Alicia

Cousin Evan

Auntie Deb

Gifty is 2!

Celebrate with me!

Today Gifty turned 2 years old.

Our miracle girl continues to improve.

She is up to 20 pounds!

I am heading to Wisconsin this weekend for a visit and SO looking forward to squeezing some fat cheeks and smothering her with kisses. :-)

Free Gifty!

Here is a picture of Gifty taken today...

As you can see she is cast free and enjoying the park. Yeah!

And I love that she is covered in sand- she is Liberian after all.

Ashley was right...

I miss Momo!


Before I left the ORR house Ashley told me that, believe it or not, in a few weeks I would miss Momo. Momo is our Chief of Security inside the fence. He is a twenty-something Liberian with one glass eye, his own Liberian-English dialect. a country medicine extraordinaire (dry skin? try 'bray fruah,' brake fluid) and constant source of entertainment to the ORR gang. Oh, and he keeps us protected from rogues and the like (when he is not sleeping).

I was doing some work in my yard this afternoon. As I was mowing my lawn I realized how thankful I was to not have to do it the Liberian way- with a cutlass and my own strength. Backbreaking work. As I was using the new blower my dad bought me to rid my deck of leaves, I realized how thankful I was not to have to use an old falling apart broom. These are just a few of the many things Momo and the other guards (Emmanuel and Foday) do for us around the house.

My garbage can was full of water from the last who knows how many months of Western Washington rain. I tipped it over to drain the water and out came a very dead and stinky RAT. As I picked up the garbage and squishy rodent carcass I was really wishing for one of the guards. (I washed my hands at least 5 times and I am pretty sure they still smell like dead rat!) I can't count the times Momo or one the guys would rescue me from a dangerous millipede in the bathroom or a not-quite dead yet mouse in a glue trap.

Other things I miss about the guards- constant hammocking about the yellow book (Monday was payday and I the financial minister), fashion choices (puffy pink coat, crop tanks, girl's striped shirt as leggings, boxers and only boxers, furry hats, t-shirts with hidden messages), 4 am wake-ups from laughter or yelling across the fence, cell phone ring tones, singing along with Menitama, reminders to get more generator fuel (still not sure how that became my responsibility), always (almost) willing to help out, carry my load- whatever the need.

Thanks guys!

Ashley just told me that Momo got a new pair of rollerblades (he calls them skapes). I can't wait to see that!