Liberians Helping Liberians - Eric Wowoh

What breaks your heart? For Eric Wowoh it is seeing vulnerable children unknowingly headed towards exploitation, victimization, and destruction. As we continue looking at Liberians making a difference in Liberia (see Mary Beh), I'm happy to share with you about my Liberian brother, Eric Willise Wowoh. He is a man determined to stop Liberia's future generations from heading down a path similar to the one that recently destroyed his nation, village, and family; one that almost took his very own life as a child. I'm referring to the Liberian Civil Wars.

The Civil Wars in Liberia led to many near death experiences for most everyone that survived them. Eric's story is no different. Being separated from his parents as a young child while looking for food, he was kidnapped and tortured by soldiers when he refused to fight. He was thrown in the jungle to die by militants after his injuries were so severe he was no longer seen as useful to them. Left to wander as an unaccompanied child from one West African nation to the next, he found himself sleeping under bridges, begging for food, being thrown in jail in a foreign land, getting sick and hungry in refugee camps, being beaten and almost killed by a mob of Nigerian vigilantes, and the list goes on and on.

These surreal and traumatizing events all put Eric to within a breath of losing his life many times over. However, he has chosen not to be overcome or overwhelmed by the memories of his numerous encounters with near death. Instead, Eric has chosen to turn the tables and face "head-on" the culture and environment that created this horrific time period in Liberian history.

Eric sharing his story with US HS students in MO.

Today as Eric engages Liberia he knows that if some basic things like education, employment opportunities, medical care, and clean drinking water are not dealt with properly that the same horrific outcomes he experienced as a child could result again Liberia. It is a thought that most Liberians who experienced the atrocities shudder to consider. However, instead of denying the possibility of such renewed civil unrest, it is a possibility that Eric is willing to address; and with action. Now is the time to stop future unrest. Now, before it gets too late.

Eric speaking with Liberian volunteers

Eric, Ambassador Jeremiah C. Sulunteh,
myself, and the ambassador's wife.
Eric continues raising awareness of
Liberian needs in the US.

In talking with Eric it becomes evident that his heart is broken whenever he sees other children having to face the same bleak prospects he faced as a child. Liberia's education system is in shambles. Overcrowded and unequipped classrooms often leave teachers yelling prompts for rote recitation as their main option of education. There are few textbooks; to say nothing of the lack of electricity, air conditioning, cafeterias, nurse stations, etc.

CAN schools are an exception among Liberian schools. They have libraries!

...and computers!

Testing at higher levels has also become a vulnerable area for students as reports of fee scamming and requests for sexual favors for grades are widely reported. But the biggest impact is a vulnerable society unaware of its own rights and subject to foreign land grabs, local oppression and corruption, and internal skill vacuums for needed work projects currently being outsourced to other nations.

Heart of Grace school in Montserrado County

This lack of quality education leaves Liberia vulnerable to a reoccurrence of the same sort of violence and destruction Eric experienced as a young child. As a new generation that did not experience the wars is growing up in a Liberia, many are not aware of their own history or the reasons behind the events that destroyed their nation. This lack of education in Liberia leaves so many in extreme poverty and unequipped with the needed skilled labor force to deal with any major challenge without outside aid; as the recent ebola crisis clearly showed. 

Loading supplies for Liberia during the recent Ebola Crisis

The people of Liberia remain vulnerable. As a child Eric found himself vulnerable and victimized by a war he didn't start or understand. It almost cost him his life. He can't stand the thought of other children having that same experience. This is one of the main reasons why he is so passionate about education in Liberia. He sees himself in the eyes of the Liberian child.

Eradicating Liberian poverty one child at a time.

...It adds up!

Today, as founder and director of Change Agent Network (CAN), Eric is passionate and energetic about the various programs this organization is operating throughout Liberia. The "Network" part of his NGO name is a key component to the organization. It is what makes this Liberian NGO unique. In a nation plagued with corruption and power posturing, CAN is different in that it actively seeks to network with and serve other organizations. While most of CAN's efforts are focused on education, their network of partnerships has helped facilitate access to clean drinking water wells, small business development, orphanage care, and overall community development.

CAN in Liberia today has three working campuses with approximately 3000 students and 9 schools in Lofa, Bong, and Montserrado Counties. They have also partnered with 2 other school campuses in the construction phase and have connected with numerous others for mutual edification. With connections made in Bassa, Grand Cape Mount, and Margibi counties, CAN is also considering a new school with their connections in Nimba. The hope is to one day have a working school campus and community development center in each of the 15 counties of Liberia. Another important part of the vision is a University to send all of these High School grads to, which is to be developed on their campus in Lofa.

Proposed University design for Lofa County - CANU

School Choir at one of the CAN schools:

This pile of rocks was broken up by sledgehammer in order to build a school. 
Now THAT is dedication!

Eric would be the first to admit that it is not he alone that is making a difference in Liberia. He would point to the network of partners and volunteers (both Liberian and international) that are making a difference. I agree with that, but I also think that Eric is a special person. He is on the front lines, trying to prevent Liberia from facing the chaos it faced in his youth. His heart was broken by that chaos, but the way he seems to see it: a broken heart only means he has more pieces of his heart to share. Thanks brother and keep it up!

My Liberian brother Eric and I in Liberia 2011

For more info:

Click here to hear part of a 2013 radio interview with Eric in Liberia on ELBC.

Newspaper archives that track a history of involvement in Liberia and for Liberians for over 10 years.

History of CAN

Change Agent Network Overview (taken from the website):

OUR MISSION: To Partner with Impoverished African Communities to Fight Poverty Through Education

OUR VISION: An African Continent Free of physical and Mental Poverty as well as intellectual slavery

Ebola Treatment Center: A First Hand Account

Here is a powerful first hand account of what it is like working in an Ebola Treatment Center in Liberia. Dr. Kwan Kew Lai's blog is entitled Ebola in Liberia. This link opens in a new page and takes you to her first entry; the day before she left for Liberia on October 13th, 2014. Some very emotional stories about trying to bring healing to those you can't touch.

Education and Ebola

Ebola wanes in West Africa and I pray it continues to do so, however I continue to hear reports (just last week) of new cases in Monrovia. What will the future hold? I don't know, but I do know that education plays a key role in future containment. (Think of how ebola was not able to spread in the US as compared to West Africa and you begin to see the benefits of having both educated specialists and an educated public).

However, here is the situation: Schools still can't open because parents haven't been able to find work to cover basic educational expenses (a problem before the ebola crisis) and children have been out of school for over a year. (The opening date was recently pushed back from February 2, 2015 to March). This only delays the problem of affordable education for a future generation that can more effectively combat a repeat of this sort of crisis, not to mention the impact on the economy, food security, infrastructure development, and other health related issues like ebola. 

Meanwhile, this account by Dr. Lai is worth the read, if for nothing else than to reinforce the need for future development in Liberia.

Blessings.

First Ebola Came For the Guinean

So much sadness, anger, and frustration as we grieve with our Liberian family during this time of crisis. I've not wanted to post much as of late, because everything I read about Liberia has been so upsetting. 

Recent reports continue to show that ebola is a mutating virus that could be multiplying vectors. The forecasts look grim and West Africa may not be the only place affected when all is said and done. 

I understand there is a fine line between informing the public and crying 'fire' in a theater if there is only a 'potential' fire. However, it has always been the case that one mutation could put the entire civilized world into chaos as plagues lead to civil unrest, etc., ad nauseam.  I pray that those on the front lines of the current ebola crisis can obtain the tools and resources they need to protect Liberia, and potentially all of us before it becomes too late.

With all of that in mind, and in an obvious homage to Martin Niemöller (1892 – 1984), I submit the following for your consideration:


First ebola came for the Guinean country farmers, and I did not send help—Because we have enough troubles in our own backyard and how does helping a Guinean lower prices at Walmart or the gas pump?


Then ebola came for the Liberian cities, and I did not send help— Because their government is too corrupt, there are more there dying from malaria and unclean drinking water anyway, and bottom line: there is no real profit margin for selling medicine to penniless Liberians.


Then ebola came for the healthcare providers, and I did not offer help but rather I tweeted that they should stay in Africa to suffer and die— Because anyone stupid enough to help those people has disqualified themselves from getting proper healthcare and I wanted this virus out of country, out of sight, and out of mind. 


Then ebola came for me, and I wailed and moaned and pointed fingers as I bled from my eyes and held my dying child —But there was no one left to care for me or listen to my wailing; for those that cared had all been taken away, ill-equipped, and un-aided on the front lines.

I pray the above does not come to pass, rather God's mercies on Liberia and on us all.

The late Ms. Evelyn Beyan was our very first volunteer teacher in central Liberia, who joined us in 2012 and worked for several months without pay because the school buildings in Gbarnga were still being build. She died from ebola still in her 20's on the 26th of August. RIP.

Liberians Helping Liberia - Mary Beh

Honored to be sitting next to one of my heroes: Mary Beh

One can grow weary of reading about all the corruption, violence, ebola, and Boko Haram when it comes to West African news. I'm not saying we shouldn't be aware and against things like bribed judges, heart men, mass kidnappings, and preventable disease, but I'm just wanting to make sure my focus isn't constantly stuck in negative mode. I've found it makes it harder to deal with these problems in a positive way when I'm stuck in a negative mindset. I have learned this lesson from my Liberian brothers and sisters who have remained joyful, happy, hopeful, and full of song and dance even in the midst of atrocity. Certain Liberians are role models to me of how to deal with a constant and pervasive outward attack by my witnessing their inward resilience against all odds. I'd like to showcase of few of these people on my blog because they demonstrate to the whole world how these problems can be overcome: Not by ignoring the problems, but neither by giving these problems too much power over their outlook either. There are better things to set our minds upon and these individuals are just the sort that I set my minds on when I feel discouraged. These are the beautiful people that make Liberia beautiful.

Ma Beh with some of her children. June 2013

The first person I'd like you to know about is Ma Beh. Mary Beh has been a friend of our family for over 30 years. Before the wars she was a high school principal in Buchanan and demonstrated outstanding leadership and organizational skills. She has that certain something that causes people to want to do what she asks them to do. I think it has to do with the fact that she doesn't want you to do stuff for her self interests. She wants you to do things for yourself. Whatever the case I could go on and on about her 'intangibles" and she really is just simply an amazing person. I'd like to share a few 'tangibles' with you though...

L to R: Ma Mary Beh, Bob Sheffler, Bishop Foster, Ken Vogel, Wilmot Kadyu, Wayne Meece, Abba Karnga, Ron Ayers, James Morgan in Liberia app. 1978

First, she stayed in Liberia throughout the wars. I don't say this to induce guilt on anyone. I know that I have struggled with feelings of shame having known my friends were living in hell while I was in the States in relative peace. I understand how many in the Liberian diaspora also struggle with these feelings knowing they had loved ones in danger in Liberia while they were safe. Call it 'survivor's guilt' or whatever, but Ma Beh and others like her can actually help cure us of this guilt. There is nothing more healing than to have someone who lived through that hell accept you and tell you that 'you are welcome' here. She doesn't wear this as a badge of honor or 'lord it over' anyone, but I think the fact that she stayed during the wars deserves respect. She is one who could have possibly made it out of the country. She chose to stay and Liberia is better because she did. She has seen evil face to face and she has stood her ground. She has prayed the devil back to hell so to speak.

My parents with Ma Beh in 2011

Second, she has saved countless lives. While staying in Buchanan during the war she began feeding children that had been orphaned from the violence and chaos of the destruction. She simply says that she fed them because that is what anyone would do. She is wrong about that, not everyone would share scarce food in the middle of a conflict not knowing from where the next meal would come. However, anyone who demonstrates Ma Beh's same spirit most assuredly would feed a hungry child. There is no hesitation, no second guessing. We can live and die together, but no one lives alone. Ma Beh is the kind of person who would stand beside you facing either life or death.

This dear man was a teacher before the war.
He lost his eyesight due to lack of medicine
and after his wife passed he had
no one to help him raise his 5 children.
Ma Beh took them in and he comes
over and visits them regularly
to touch their faces.

Third, she has cared for the basic needs of those under her protection. Whether it be founding a school to educate her orphans, providing them with food, shelter or water; her constant focus has been about giving those under her wing the best possible chance for health, safety, and success in life. For example, a few years ago she took in several orphans from a nearby orphanage that had been using their children for ritualistic murder in juju medicine practices. One girl she took had what might be called a 'hunch back'. This makes her a prime target of juju 'heartmen' (witchdoctor hitmen that harvest body parts for black magic ceremonies). On one day the orphanage was actually infiltrated by a heartman with a ski mask, rice bag, and machete in hand making a bee line for the girl. Her screams scared him off and since then Ma Beh made it a priority to wall up the orphanage and put 'razor wire' around the top to keep people from climbing over in the night. Never mind the enormous expense to her meager budget, she saw to it that the girl under her care was protected. That is her heart and she constantly stands in the gap between those who cannot protect themselves and those that would do them harm.

The area where a heartman had earlier jumped the orphanage fence to 'harvest' a young child. Ma Beh has since raised funds to place wire there to provide some protection for her children.

Lastly, (and I could go on and on), she is joyful. Besides being close to 70 taking care of a disabled grown son and chronically ill husband, she continues on in making her home the home of 42 young children (last time I counted). She continues cleaning, feeding, teaching, and hugging each and every one. She has seen many of her children finish high school and now even go on to college and obtain careers. Her children leave her care and go into the world knowing that though their country could not protect them, mother and father may have abandoned them or even tried to kill them in some cases; whatever that case may be, they know someone who showed them love. They know they have value at least in the eyes of Ma Beh. And Liberia, you should know, you have someone living among you that has immense value to you as well. Liberia, meet one of your heroes. There are many living among you, Ma Beh is definitely one of them.

Some of the many children that share Ma Beh's table. 2008.

I leave you with some of her children greeting us in a song she taught them...

Eternal Love and a Ham Radio

EL1F at his radio in Liberia.

EL is the letter code for all Liberian radio and communication stations. A well known example for those familiar with Liberia is the Christian broadcasting station ELWA, who used their letters as an acronym for the following: "Eternal Love Winning Africa". In pre-Internet Liberia we were dependent upon this kind of 'Eternal Love" or EL communications. Amateur Radio operators (Hammers or 'Hams') used these radios to patch through and actually call family back home. My dad was one of these operators and had his own call letters: EL1F (or 'Echo Lima One Foxtrot' as I think I heard him say on numerous occasions).

My dad's QSL card he would send to other 'hammers' trying to get a new country on their contact list. 

Dad's Amateur Radio License from the 70's

One of the things I remember about these patched calls back home was the fact that it was more like a CB than a phone call. You had to say 'over' after each statement and let off the button to wait for a response. The flow of communication was very jilted and didn't flow very well, but we were very happy to hear from our loved ones back in the States. We will be forever grateful to those Ham Radio Operators that willingly called our family on their dime and then patched our transmission through to them. Today I complain about the lag in cell phone calls or the distortion on a Skype call, but all in all it is loads better than 'back in the day'.

Old school Skype, cellphone, and internet
all rolled into one...

Our radio antenna back in the 70's.

There was one very bad thing about having a ham radio though, which we found out in November 1985.  On November 12th Thomas Quiwonkpa attempted a coup-de-etat against his former co-conspirator Samuel K. Doe. This came one month after the rigged elections between Jackson Doe and Samuel Doe and there was a lot of tension in the air. What this meant for us is that Liberian soldiers stormed our property in a truck load (app. 15 - 20 soldiers in one truck!) of fully armed, camo-wearing, uzi toting, unpaid, AFL. They walked into our house (our parents were out at clinic that day) and proceeded to confiscate our ham radio and all the peripheral equipment from my parent's office. Nothing like that to leave a kid feeling unsettled. (As a side note: To our happy surprise all the equipment was returned once Doe felt he was back in control of the Republic.) 

A rig similar to the one Doe's AFL confiscated from our home.

Today's post is dedicated to all you "hams" out there, especially those involved with or who helped us with Liberian Amateur Radio. Many of you provided a great deal of services and help in times of need. It was and is more than just a hobby. Thanks for all your help! Feel free to QSL below and my best 73's (maybe there is a 'DX' in there also or something like that?) Peace out. Over.

My dad's commemorative QSL card with special prefix for Liberia Amateur Radio Week.

Some of my dad's QSL cards sent to him from other ham radio operators that had made contact with us while we were living in Liberia.

A fundraiser put on by the LRAA to help raise funds for the Leprosy Clinic in Ganta. (Putting some 'Love' in the EL)

A LRAA meeting invitation

QSL card for EL2AY - Kamal Hamzi, president of LRAA

Cover of an Echo Lima Newletter 1987

PS - For more information on Liberian communications (and some fairly graphic Liberian history to boot) you can read more in Samuel Watkin's book "Liberian Communication". (I have not read the whole thing and I'm not getting any affiliate monies from this link, just thought what I read of it was pretty interesting and passing it on).

'Bye y'all! Over.'

Snakes of Liberia

A Gabon Pit Viper. "Cassava Snake"
Public Domain

Indiana Jones would hate it in Liberia. It is assumed that Liberia is home to the greatest variety of snakes on the African continent. In Liberia one can find vipers, adders, pythons, cobras, mambas, and asps just to name a few. For a more in depth introduction, ArcelorMittal has posted a great guide to the snakes of Liberia on its corporate website here. Also, here is another interesting post on the venomous snakes in Liberia from TLCAfrica. 

For this post I just want to introduce a few of the snakes of Liberia and tell a few snake stories. Everyone who has lived in Liberia has a snake story or two or three...

MAMBAS

Dendroaspis polyepis, jamesoni, & viridis

Green Mamba
by Patrick Coin. 
cc-by-sa-2.5

There are black and green mambas in Liberia. We have several mamba stories. One particular story is about the time that mom looked down to see a green mamba wrapped around the leg of the chair she was sitting on! One isn't supposed to make any sudden movements, but before she knew what she had done she was standing on top of the table yelling! This particular green mamba met his fate on our kitchen floor after trying to hide behind our kerosene refrigerator. 

Black Mamba
Photo by Bill Love/Blue Chameleon
Ventures 2005.
CC BY SA 3.0

Another time my mom was helping a neighboring Peace Corps worker take her clothes off the line without realizing that a black mamba had entangled itself inside the clothes! After putting the basket in the bedroom the snake slithered out.  When my mom picked up a 'whipper' (a hand held grass cutting tool) to take care of this snake it lunged at her! Black mambas are very aggressive. Fortunately after she and the PC worker fled the house yelling, two Liberian men offered to help take care of the problem. They finished off the mamba and then told my mom that they were very fortunate because this was a bad snake. One bite and you die in 5 minutes.

My personal encounter with a mamba was when I was down by a swamp rice farm project and was busy walking about. I grew tired and decided to lean against a palm oil tree. As I was about to put my hand on the tree I felt a sudden 'inner warning' almost like an audible voice. I moved my hand back and right where I was about to place my hand was a green snake poking his head out from behind a pruned palm branch! It was sticking its tongue out at me. Whether it was a green mamba or just a tree snake I do not know, however mambas do like palm oil trees. Whatever it was I'm glad I didn't get any closer!

THE PYTHON

python sebae

Python constricting a pregnant goat in Zimbabwe.
Mango Atchar derivative work
CCASA 2.0

Called a 'boy ee stracker' (boa constrictor) in colloquial Liberian English this snake's scientific name is python sebae. These snakes can get huge! I've heard many interesting stories about these guys including a python worship site at a sacred waterfall visited by Graham Greene in 1930's. 


My own personal python story involves our Liberian friends who worked for LAMCO (now ArcelMittall) in Buchanan. They lived just outside of the LAMCO compounds in a fairly forested area. One day their dog went missing. For whatever reason, a 'boa constrictor' was suspected and the people searched the bush with their cutlasses until it was located. After cutting open the python the family dog was found inside! They estimated the length of this snake to be 22 feet! These snakes are becoming less common due to the fact that they are hunted for their meat, but are still present in the deep bush.

COBRAS

(Naja haje, melanoleuca & nigricollis; & the Psuedohaje nigra)

Black Spitting Cobra
by Luca Boldrini
CCA 2.0 Generic

My cobra encounter will be with me forever. I was trying out my new 'cutlass' (machete) and was at the trailhead of a trail that led to a swamp around Christian High School in Buchanan. As I walked toward the trail, with my brother behind me, I stepped on a pile of dried palm branches. Little did I know that a cobra was coiled beneath! My best guess is that it was a Black Spitting Cobra (Naja nigricollis). 

The cobra shot up and hooded right in front of me and swayed back and forth. I simply screamed like a little girl. Then it quickly darted past me to my right. Before I could turn around and warn my brother I heard him make the same yelping sound. The cobra coiled itself right in front of my brother and then using its body like a spring it actually jumped up into the tree right in front of us! 

So, 'yes' I believe in guardian angels and from then on one of favorite verses has been Psalms 91:13 "You shall tread on the lion and the cobra...", although I'm not interested in making this a habit! In 2011 I revisited the site where I had been spared a cobra attack and prayed a prayer of thanksgiving. 

VIPERS

Bitis gabonica, rhinocerus, & nasicornis

GabonViper fangs
by Brimac the 2nd
CCA 2.0 Generic

The bitis gabonica or Gabon Viper is known as a 'Cassava snake' in Liberia. They supposedly taste delicious, but one doesn't just go hunting for them as they are very toxic. 

In a sad story, my Liberian Ma Sarah lost one of her daughters in the bush while hiding from rebels during the Civil Wars. She lost her daughter to a 'cassava snake' bite :-(

Ma Sarah lost her daughter to a Gabon Viper while hiding in the jungle during
the Liberian Civil Wars. She was only 16.
RIP dear sister.

The bad thing about these snakes is that they are rather sluggish and not apt to skirt away when they hear something approach. They also camouflage themselves rather well. This all makes stepping on one a very real and possible threat.

Gabon Vipers can be very difficult to see!
by Tom Vickers
Public Domain

I could go on, but I think you get the idea... There are snakes in Liberia! 

Do you have any Liberian snake stories to share?

Wake Up Call - Why Liberia Still Needs Clinics

Current Clinic under construction in Johnsonville
near our Heart of Grace School

We've been working with clinic building since the mid 1980's in Liberia (Camphor Clinic), but since the devasting Civil Wars that ended in 2003 clinic development has been slow. Roads are coming and clinics are being built, including a new one in the village of Zondo of which I've previously written. We have also been blessed to help another organization build "True Life Clinic" in Grand Bassa and are currently working on another clinic in Johnsonville in the City View area of Monrovia on our school campus. 

Building the Camphor Clinic in Grand Bassa County circa 1985

Wall building Camphor Clinic
GBC, Liberia (c. 1985)

However, these can all just seem like projects when we're sitting over here Stateside where we have great hospitals and clinics with EMTs, first responders, and life flight helicopters all on standby. I just received an email from a friend that shook me. It brought things back into focus on the reality of the desparate needs in Liberia. Sometimes we just need to see one of our own US citizens in the situation that Liberians are in every day to bring home the Liberian's plight. One brave lady was chosen to be just such an example to us. I will share her story below in a moment. 

No, mom isn't smoking a cig - it is the syringe cap in her mouth!

Clinic sign ready to advertise
Compound 2 GBC, Liberia
(Funded through BFCC - NGO)

Before I do I just want to say that these clinics are not just projects or fundraising campaign goals that we can reach so we can pat ourselves on the back. Great things are happening in our organization (Change Agent Network), but there are living and breathing children of God in Liberia (and all around the world for that matter) who face life threatening situations like the following story everyday. With the author's permission I've re-posted her email below. It is quite the harrowing ordeal, and I am grateful this dear sister is still with us:

Making the journey home from Liberia is always difficult.  We are leaving "family" behind and the trip itself takes over 24 hours and 4 flights to complete.  However, my return trip this year included extra challenges.

The team left Sunday, November 3rd but I needed to conduct some Change Agent Network business so I stayed behind for 5 days.  When I boarded my flight alone on Friday, November 8th, everything went smoothly. As I flew the 1.5 hours from Liberia to Ghana, I was tired from the last two weeks and was hoping no one would occupy the seat next to me when we picked up passengers in Ghana.  The stop in Ghana is an on-plane layover during which some passengers disembark, the security/cleaning crew prepare the plane for the 11-hour flight to JFK and new America-bound passengers board; all while those of us in transit remain on the plane and visit.  The turn-around takes about 1.5 hours.

I was fine when we landed in Ghana at 8:30 pm.  I pulled my carry-on luggage out of the overhead, spoke to the flight attendants and visited with passengers.  As the new passengers boarded, my stomach didn't feel well so I went to the bathroom.  That was when the trouble began.

In a 20-minute window of time, I went from visiting with passengers to being so sick and weak after 3 trips to the bathroom that I could not get up off the floor of the airplane.  I could not sit up, I had to lie down.  Then I heard the captain's voice announcing that the flight would be delayed because they had to get a sick passenger off the plane.  It was surreal to know he was talking about me.  The America-based Delta crew surrounded me and told me the Ghana crew would take good care of me.  When the wheelchair arrived I could not get up off the floor, so a strong African crewman reached down and deadlifted me into the wheelchair.  The next thing I knew I was sitting on the tarmac with the giant plane looming over my head, and two Ghana crewmen were telling me they had my luggage.  Seriously???

Thankfully, children in Ghana learn to speak 3 languages including English; but I can assure you we don't speak the same language as the word "urgency" is not in their vocabulary.  The American in me was expecting some sort of "emergency vehicle" which never arrived.    I am not sure how long I sat on the tarmac but I could feel screaming and/or tears coming.  I resisted both because I knew neither would do any good.  Finally, a shuttle bus pulled up next to us.  Then, it simply took us to the back of the airport and the two men began to slowly push me through the most disjointed airport layout I've ever seen.  I still couldn't sit up in the wheel chair and had to ask twice for them to find me a bathroom. 

We finally got to the front of the airport and stopped on the sidewalk to wait for something.  I start saying "I have to lie down."  The next thing I knew I felt like my throat became 6 inches wide and the next phase of my sickness began. 

Another shuttle bus finally arrived and took me to a private clinic that was on airport property.  Once inside, the nurses tried to admit me but I became so weak that I started climbing out of the wheelchair to lie on the floor.  They reluctantly gave up and started moving me into a little room with 5 beds and told me to take the one in the corner.  They helped me into that bed and I started saying out loud "Thank you Baby Jesus, thank you for this bed.  I am so happy to be here."  At that point, my body began shaking so violently that I was coming off the surface.  I reached for one nurse's arm and all I could softly whisper was "help me, help me."  I knew I was going down.

I am not sure who taught African doctors and nurses to run I.V.s but they have the impression that you must nearly break someone's arm with tourniquets and needles to get the job done.  They started alternately running saline solution and Cipro and trying to take my blood pressure - 70 over 40!  The next day the nurses told me "Our women's ward was closed when you arrived so we were not going to take you, but you were so sick your face turned blue and we thought we were going to lose you so we put you in the men's ward."

That first night was tough.  I was so sick I could barely get out of the bed and my stomach continued to empty itself in all directions.  They continuously ran I.V.s wide open but as quickly as they would get fluid in, my body would get it out.  By 8:00 the next morning, I felt a little better but that was short-lived. 

My blood pressure was now 70/50 but the bacteria must have been fighting back because I became sick all over again.  The two women who saved my life the night before were now off duty and I asked the new nurse for Cipro for 2 hours before he brought it.  When I needed it again, the doctor decided to switch to Flagyl which was a mistake.  About a minute after it dripped into my body I had some sort of reaction to it and I started going down.  I knew it was bad and again started begging for help.  They quickly switched the I.V. back to saline solution and ran it wide open.  A few minutes later my body was stable again.

I asked "What is wrong with me?"  The response - Cholera.  When I tried to think about what I had eaten the previous day I was told that the bacteria was probably in my body for 2 - 3 days before I got sick. 

I spent 2 days in a clinic with sick people all around me who were suffering from different symptoms but were receiving the exact same treatment.  The clinic consisted of a women's ward and men's ward with 5 beds and 1 toilet in each, a small pharmacy, a business office and no cafeteria.  Patients’ families are supposed to bring food.  My only lifeline to home was my cell phone.  My family and closest friends started calling, texting, crying and offering to get on a plane.  Truthfully, I was a world away and there was nothing anyone could do to help me.

However, the Lord provided everything I needed, big and small.  They hit me with so many I.V.s and medications that I had no idea how much the medical bill was going to cost.  The day I left Liberia I had $100 to my name.  Right before I departed, our driver asked if I would help him get money to his sister in the U.S. and handed me $1,700 in cash.  I always travel to Liberia with protein bars and had 4 of them left.  I didn’t think I would need them but decided to put 2 in my purse “just in case” which is what I nibbled on for 2 days in the clinic.  Since I was alone, towards the end of my stay I gave the clinic staff $10 to buy me 2 hard-boiled eggs and 2 pieces of toast from a nearby Holiday Inn. 

By the end of the second full day, I was very ready to go.  I called Delta to upgrade my flight to first class because I could not sit up for any period of time; and I requested wheel chair assistance.  I was so wiped out that I slept 10 hours of the 11-hour flight and could not lift my carry-ons.  About 4 hours away from New York my stomach started acting up and I started to panic.  But thankfully I found an expired prescription in my American medicine bag that calmed my stomach and allowed me to continue sleeping.  During my 4-hour layover in New York, I had to find a seat next to the wall so I could lie against it.  It is difficult to express the relief I felt when I saw the lights along New York's coast line because I knew I was home, that I would receive the best medical care possible and that I would be OK.

This was more than an adventure; it was a life-experience.  We've been talking about the need for medical clinics at our school locations but now I have a much better appreciation for the urgency.  The people we serve are hours from the nearest hospitals in Liberia and don't have the funds for transportation or medical attention.  The total bill for saving my life in the clinic - $200; outrageously cheap by American standards; impossible for Liberians.

I interviewed the clinic staff and learned that they primarily treat 6 conditions: Malaria, Gastroenteritis, Urinary Tract Infections, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and Lumbago.  The most urgent of these are treated with I.V. fluids.  We don't need American size hospitals; we need small clinics stocked with 20 - 30 medications and we will save countless lives.

However, that is not the most important lesson I learned through this.  As I sat on that tarmac and looked at that plane I realized I was stripped down to nothing and could not count on any of my business achievements, any of my friends or family members or even the body that supports me on Earth.  In that moment I started praying "Lord, it is just you and me.  I have no idea where I am going or what is going to happen but I am too sick to handle this so you are going to have to." 

For whatever His reasons are, the Lord saved my life that night.  If I had fallen ill 20 minutes later, the plane would have taken off; and since severe and sudden dehydration are symptoms of Cholera, the doctors in Ghana and the U.S. tell me I probably would not have survived the 11-hour flight.  Also, if I had gotten sick earlier in the day, I am not sure we could have found the medical attention I needed in Liberia on a timely basis. The Lord put me in the place I needed to be, at the time I needed to be there, and surrounded me with people who could help me, all of whom were complete strangers.

My Mom picked me up in New Orleans and immediately started campaigning: "You are never going back to Liberia. You are never traveling alone again."  But here's the problem; my mother’s pleas are counter-intuitive to what I learned through this.  When you have an encounter with the Lord on that level it teaches you that He truly does have you in His hands and you trust Him even more.  Believe me; I hope to never get that sick again.  But I would not trade the misery of the illness for anything because it stripped me down to nothing and forced me to trust Him and only Him.