What's my story?

Friday we went to a talk from Donald Miller, who is a Christian author whose most recent book ("A Million Miles in a Thousand Years") I read a few weeks after getting back from Liberia. I think the timing of it was just right. The book (and his talk Friday) is focused on the concept of "story". Basically, a director contacts him about making a movie about his life (based on his earlier book, "Blue Like Jazz"). But as he thinks about how the movie will go, he realizes his life doesn't really tell a good story. So he sets out to discover what makes a good story, and makes some interesting changes to his life in the process.

He finds that the elements of a good story are: "A character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it." (Although of course there is more to it than that, since he wrote a whole book on it.) The thing I liked about the book is that it makes you think that your life doesn't have to be just a series of moments of you living, working, playing etc. No matter what you love in life, it's exciting to think that you can write a story through your life. Not that there's anything wrong with enjoying the moment and living for each day, in my opinion. But after being in Liberia, where I felt like what I was doing mattered in a much deeper way than just sitting at my computer all day, it affected me strongly to think that even living in Fort Collins, Colorado, I can live out a life that "tells a good story". Beyond that, I am kind of lost, because what would have to change for me to live a good story? Is my story decent now? Or should I sell everything and move to Africa? That seems a little extreme. These are kind of deep "life" questions that I don't intend to answer in this blog (or any time soon, to be honest).

But it's been on my mind lately and I think a great thing to think about. I do know that my life will involve working with Transformation International for the foreseeable future. It's a good thing I've already decided not to devote much time to training this year because that time has been easily filled up doing things related to the Peanut Butter House. I'm planning (another) event focused on it and other grass roots projects going on in Africa. I think it's going to be really neat, but maybe I should have gone into event planning rather than grad school.

Back to School

To anyone who thinks nothing good can come from blogging, I would like to say that after my post yesterday, I was motivated to get up bright and early this morning and call Christine in Liberia. It was great to talk to her, and the rest of the morning I was back to thinking about how much I just want to go back to Liberia (as hard as it was while we were there).

She said that Alfred has been registered for his classes and will start this week! Yay! She and Luther (her husband) went to Alfred's house a couple of times to speak with his father, but both times Jerome wasn't there. Apparently he was with one of his daughters, but I don't know for how long. I hope everything is okay there. The good news is that she is going to ask if it's alright for Alfred to come to the Transformation International house on the weekends to hang out with the boys there. I think that will be so good for him and fun, too, so that was exciting to hear. I'm so happy about how much they are reaching out to him.

Chris told me nice work on getting him to school but I have done basically no work on this. I just got suckered in by a little boy's smile, listened to a little nudging from God and then gave some very busy people more work to do. But it's great to hear that it is working out so far, and Christine said Alfred was very excited about going back to school.

I want to send all the kids who live in Alfred's house to school. I know some of my friends would help since it is so cheap but can make such a difference. Which is why I need to go back to Liberia, so I can set this up. (haha, now I'm daydreaming) :)

Alfred

Here is the rest of the story of the little boy I met in Liberia, Alfred.

After meeting Alfred’s father, Jerome, and seeing the tight-knit community he was a part of, I thought the best I could do for him would be to send him to school. Even at a public school, students have to pay for a uniform and their books. This comes out to about $35 a year – which is nothing to us but can be insurmountable for a large family with little to no income.

While I was in Liberia, I read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and it impressed upon me the importance of education. Especially somewhere as poor as Liberia, having an education could make a huge difference in how someone’s life turns out. Depending on the person, that is, because with an unemployment rate of 85% it takes more than an education to get a job.

Another thing that had inspired me to help Alfred was a story that Luther told us about his childhood. He got very sick as a boy and his family couldn’t afford to take him to the hospital. He was sick enough that he thought he was going to die. But some missionaries came along and took him to a hospital. At first they just dropped him off. He ended up in what he called the “hopeless” room. It was just him and a crazy lady, who kept talking to herself. He knew he was there to die because no doctors came by to check on him.

Then this man Jonathan came along (I might be off on some details here) and took Luther out of the hopeless room. Jonathan paid for his care until he was better. They have been friends, close as brothers, ever since. It was amazing to me because Luther does so much good work. At the very least, he has completely turned around the lives of 18 teenage boys who had no hope for a future. All of this wouldn’t be possible if not for the intervention of one man. So, you never know, the one person you help could make a huge difference!

After thinking about helping Alfred for almost an entire week (& yes I’ll admit to wondering if I could just take him home with me), I was anxious that my chance had passed. We were leaving for the States in a few hours! Christine had agreed to help me, but she is very busy with teaching at the Baptist seminary, helping Luther with Transformation International, taking care of her own children, and who knows what else. So I was extremely grateful when she said she had some extra time to go to Alfred’s house with me.

We pulled up and Christine was clearly touched by their living situation. From my perspective, the children are dirty and half-clothed. Some are clearly malnourished. They are small. Their home is a looted shell, a reminder of the war. I know why she was touched by their situation because I clearly was, too.

But the people living there are so friendly. Fatu remembered my name, and asked how Cindy and Chris were doing. She had a great personality and was very smart. Alfred had actually gone to the Peanut Butter House site to look for us so we just spoke with Jerome. Christine told him that I wanted to send Alfred to school. Alfred was in nursery last year and Jerome got his report card from Kendeja School. Christine said she would keep the report card so she could know where to go to talk about registering Alfred. She gave Jerome the task of finding out what needs to paid for and how much.

Unfortunately, that is where the story stops for now. I sent some money to pay for Alfred's school (thanks to a friend of mine from church for chipping in, too) but still need to talk to Christine about what she has found out. I hate that I've been home for over 2 months and this is still on my 'to-do' list, it's amazing how quickly time can pass and how easily I fill it with other things to do. Since I've gone through the trouble of posting this, I am making a promise to myself (& Alfred) that I'll call Christine tomorrow. I would really love to talk to her anyway because she was one of my favorite people that we met! So hopefully I'll have more information soon. Thanks for reading this kind of long story, but it was something that had a really big impact on me while in Liberia.

My Friend Alfred

There were many kids who hung around the Peanut Butter House site, and they were all great. But something about Alfred stood out to me. He’s probably about five and has a sweet smile. And, we understood each other, which to be honest was hard to come by. Even though the Liberians speak English, it can be really hard to understand! After a while, he said to me, “My pa is sick.” I asked him if his mom was alive and he said no. We’d been to a few orphanages by then and I just thought, “I do not want this boy to end up on his own.” I said maybe I could come see his pa one day to say hello. He said he didn’t live far so it was a date as far as I was concerned.

A couple of days later the opportunity came up to go to Alfred’s house. I decided that going along might not be the best idea, so Cindy and Chris came with me. We were also escorted by Abraham, another little boy who lives close by. We started to walk – past some houses, through a field, through a garden, past a school, past some more houses, up a hill … I guess Alfred’s idea of far and mine are different! Finally it became apparent where we were headed – to a burnt-out concrete building at the top of a hill. Honestly, it looked creepy.
The house on the hill is not actually where Alfred lives, but his house is just next to it and looks very similar.

We approached the house. It was three stories high, but completely gutted. No windows, doors, roof, or floors. All that was left was a concrete shell, blackened by the rains that fall in the summer. Alfred took us to where he lived – just one room – with his father Jerome. Jerome was healthy until about 8 months ago, when he fell (maybe he had a stroke?), and now he has lost feeling in half his body. I would guess Jerome is around 50-60, and Alfred has a brother and sister but they are both older than him and don’t live at home any more. So Alfred helps his father, he brings his cane and a small chair for Jerome to sit in while we visit. We said a prayer with him, and I could feel God working on me to do something to help.

About 2 or 3 other families are also squatters in this home. One of the women, Fatu, gave us the grand tour. The house must have been pretty magnificent before the civil war. It used to belong to Liberia’s former President Samuel Doe’s brother. Now the only decorations that remain are a few tiles in the bathrooms and some drawings on the wall. The drawings are of soldiers with large guns. Some of them have “boy” written above them. One looks like he is holding a knife and the head of a corpse that is by his feet. It says, “War in the city.”

A few of the kids who live in the house. 2nd from the left in pink is Abraham, and Alfred is in green next to him.

You can see the hardship in these people’s lives. Jerome can’t work anymore and can’t afford to send Alfred to school. Other boys living in the house have huge bellies from malnutrition. But they are all smiling and grateful to God for what they have today. Fatu was as hospitable as any woman wanting to welcome you to her home. Another older man who lives there took his machete outside and came back with 2 big sticks of sugar cane for us. And they have a poster of Barack Obama, who has brought great pride and hope to everyone we spoke to in Liberia.

After a while, we left but Alfred’s situation stayed on my heart the rest of the trip. The next day, I asked Christine for advice on the best way to help Alfred. Something hard to figure out while in Liberia was how to help people well. We have enough money to temporarily fix people’s problems, but setting up a pattern of sufficiency isn’t really the answer. She said she would go with me to see him and ask his father what we could do. So I know this is getting long so I will leave you in suspense for part two!
One of our gracious hosts showing us how he will get us some sugar cane! :)

Colorado vs Liberia

So far, coming home from Liberia has been bittersweet. I actually wish we had a few more days there, things didn't really come together until the last few days and it would have been fun to have some more time to get to know the friends we made there. I keep thinking about how different life is here! So in honor of that, here are some things I've been grateful for since returning, and things that I've missed.

Grateful for:
- electricity and running water
- brushing my teeth with the tap water
- how clean it is here
- my education
- our government (there's plenty to complain about but at least it works)


I don't miss:
- worrying about running over hundreds of pedestrians while driving
- all the attention that comes with being an American in Africa (especially when holding a camera ...)
- people assuming that just b/c I'm American I have plenty of money to spare
- sweating all day
- not being sad or wanting to cry several times a day.


I miss (oddly enough):
- seeing the status of the ants on my bathroom wall each morning
- talking with Chris while showering and filling the bucket in case the water pressure runs out
- waking up to Francis' beautiful smile and hugs
- being surrounded by joyful people
- the inspiration of Rev. Luther and the Transformation International boys,
- coke with real sugar
- swimming in the ocean after a long and hot day.


We have tons of pictures to go through, soon I'll start posting a few at a time with some stories.

I'm going to Liberia

The craziness never ends in the Harper household. Just as the dust is settling from one trip, we up and decide to go on another. In truth, going to Liberia will be much more than a vacation, and will gobble up the majority of our time off for 2010, but I think it will be worth it. I think it will be good for me, it's been 4 years since I went to Gulfport to help with hurricane relief, and that trip was inspiring and humbling at the same time. This will be Gulfport multiplied by 1000 since I have probably never seen anything like what we'll see in Monrovia. The trip will be great for Chris because he'll be able to use his talents at videography to help this project get off the ground and continue. And, I am very happy that we are both going, because I think it will be good for us as a couple.

Here is a news story about Plumpy Nut, which is basically peanut butter with some extra nutrients to help feed malnourished kids. According to what I've learned so far, this simple food can save lives, and is easily produced in countries like Liberia where peanuts are easily grown. So it is also a self-sustaining business. I'm sure I'll have more to say later.


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