Archive for May, 2006
I had just worn out my last pair of contact lens. Waiting on my new ones to arrive from the USA, and without a pair of eyeglasses, I was as blind as a bat! To make my predicament more challenging, my husband was leaving on a village trip with his Liberian friend Enoch, which would leave me home alone, with my Liberian friend Doris nearby. Suddenly, I envisioned armies of African driver ants invading my bedroom while I slept. With such poor eyesight, how could I detect the ants quickly enough before they marched into my home in full force? By my ingenuity and intelligence, I reasoned! I determined to be brave and fearless.
That first night home alone, I kept a constant watchful vigil, stooping down frequently to inspect every corner of the house. Satisfied that I had everything under control, I was just about to crawl into bed when I spied my first bit of evidence. One tiny trail of army ants had penetrated my living room wall. In horror I watched as another troop forced its way into my bedroom! Leaping onto a chair, I panicked. “Oh no, I’m going to be eaten alive! How can I stop these devouring creatures?” Suddenly, I jumped to the floor and began stomping on as many ants as I could; but they just kept on coming! In desperation I evacuated the house, screaming for the help of my friend Doris, who immediately came to my rescue.
“Kerosene, where’s your kerosene?” she urgently inquired. Finding some, she quickly poured it all around my house, daring any more fighters to enter. She then raced inside to finish stomping out the remaining enemy. The battle won, I was finally safe! Doris promised me that she would remain on guard, so I could get a good night’s sleep. “Thank you.” I sobbed, as I tumbled into bed, exhausted….
May 22nd, 2006
It was a bright sunny afternoon in Ivory Coast, and the African sun was blazing through the moisture-packed clouds, soaking the air with humidity. Having been outside most of the day, Gary and I were ready for a cool retreat in our French-style home. We began preparations for an evening of relaxation with our Liberian friends Enoch and Doris. Snacks were set out on our table, along with our special game of entertainment, ‘Up and Down the River’.
Gary and I waited with anticipation for our guests to appear. Suddenly, we heard a loud burst of noise! Could that be our friends arriving? Looking out our windows we glimpsed a bolt of lightening crisscrossing the African horizon, followed by a crackling peal of thunder. This scenario repeated itself, each time with more intensity; until the entire sky appeared to break loose, throwing torrents of angry rain to the earth.
No need to worry, we reasoned; an African rainstorm can’t spoil our party. The porous soil will soak up all the water! But there was one factor we had forgotten to consider. Our French-style home, nestled at the bottom of a mountain, had been built with a fully enclosed cement courtyard. Well, by the time Enoch and Doris arrived, rainwater had rushed down into our courtyard, filling it up like a swimming pool! The water had even seeped into our house up to several inches deep; tables and chairs were floating, mice were frantically paddling.
As soon as Enoch and Doris arrived, we urgently put them both to work. Gary enlisted Enoch in building a detour for the muddy river raging down the mountainside. I thrust a bucket and broom into the hands of Doris. Our party quickly took a new direction; we spent the entire evening bailing and sweeping water out of our house! I guess you can say that we REALLY played ‘up and down the river’!
May 22nd, 2006
”Hey taxi, do you have room for us?” Gary and I asked. “Sure, why not!” the taxi driver responded. “What time do we leave?” we questioned. “Whenever we have enough people,” the chauffeur replied. So we waited and waited and waited, until eleven people were crammed into that rickety old bush taxi!
The driver placed his left arm out the window, hoping to relieve the pressure on his squeezed-in passengers. The rest of the occupants were tightly entangled to conserve space. Gary and I were sitting in the very back atop the wheel humps, with a very large lady between us. A gas tank jostled behind us, spreading its vicious fumes into every nostril.
Suddenly the taxi took off with a screech, racing jerkily down the pitted dirt road, frequently encountering potholes of red mud as big as the taxi itself. With determination the driver plowed through the holes, splattering red mud everywhere and jamming our heads into the ceiling. Then of course, there was the challenge of those open windows, blowing red dirt into the vehicle until our faces were plastered, giving us the appearance of entertainers masked for a mime. Oh well, who cared about how we looked. At least we were alive!
May 7th, 2006
An eight year old orphaned Liberian girl whom I named Joy, was such an inspiration to me when I was living in Liberia. She would often come to me with her bubbly little self to ask for a hug, or a song about Jesus. One day I gave her a large piece of fruit, a nice juicy ripe mango! Her eyes began to sparkle as she took the mango, carefully peeling off and eating only one tiny section. With a big smile and a thank you, she ran to her friends to share the rest of the mango with them! That was probably her only meal that day.
May 2nd, 2006
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