The Obama Phenomenon

In Liberia, Obama is a national hero. Many Liberians I know stayed up all night here to watch the election returns coming in. When I'm walking down the street, people who realize I'm American sometimes just randomly shout "OBAMA!" at me. People are naming their kids Obama. And more and more, you see his name in print. Not just in newspaper articles about the US economy, or foreign policy... but in advertizements and on sign boards all over town, Obama just keeps popping up! A couple local examples:

The Obama "Yes we can, Liberia" filling station (that's gasoline in the 1 gallon mayonnaise jars)... and right next door, the Obama Communication Link:


And finally, the Obama Grocery.

Mr. Obama, it looks like you've made it! In Liberia, at least! --Rick

Medical Students at ELWA!

For the first time in about 2 and 1/2 years, we have medical students at ELWA Hospital. I am really enjoying having Ginny (on the left--a 4th year student from Univ. of Vermont, and an old friend from Holden, MA) and Corinne (a repeat visitor--she was here as a student in 2006 and now is back for a second tour, from Switzerland). Having the opportunity to teach and train them, as well as to see them interacting with patients and staff, is just wonderful. I think this experience is a real challenge--we have so many patients who are acutely ill, and so few resources in terms of testing and treatment, that they are really challenged to sharpen their basic clinical skills--and to depend on God. I'm praying that the Lord will use this time as a very special one in their lives, as they make decisions about how he might have them use their skills and talents in a way that taps into their gifts and personalities and also brings Him honor.


Thanks for coming to Liberia, Ginny and Corinne!

Mystery Photo #6

Corinne, a medical student who was here in 2006, is now back for a second 3-month rotation! She told us the other day that she enjoyed our blog, but said, "What ever happened to the mystery photos?" So, here we go with ... mystery photo #6! As always, comments and guesses are welcome, and we'll "reveal" it in about a week.

Yekepa Camping Trip

Do you guys like to go to cool places where something used to be happening in the way distant past (like a ghost town), or where something might go on in the future (like an industrial site that's for sale)? Do you like to go camping, swimming, or hiking? We got to do all those things the first weekend of the year, when we joined the Waines clan (Dave, Audry, their kids and a couple of their EQUIP volunteers) on a weekend camping trip to Yekepa, a town on the border of Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Guinea. Yekepa is the site of the largest iron ore mining operation Liberia has ever hosted--at that time (in the 70s and 80s) run by LAMCO. Just recently, Arcelor/MITTAL, the iron and steel giant, has signed a contract to reopen mining operations in Yekepa, including rebuilding the town, revitalizing the railroad from Yekepa to the port of Buchanan, and resuming mining operations sometime within the next few years. African Bible College has just reopened their school in Yekepa--we are friends with some of the folks involved in the project there.

For us, it was a terrific weekend which included a swim in the big, man-made lake; a scramble to the top of Mount Nimba, and some sweet fellowship while roasting marshmallows around the campfire. And... just for a bonus... it was nice and cool! Must have gotten down to 68!

Here's the group, taking a breather about half way up Mt. Nimba....


And here they are on their final scramble to the summit....

Jared claims the summit marker for his own... All in all it was a great weekend. On the way out of town, we got a little tour of Yekepa, including a "swim" in the "pool"----- Love, Rick for all of us....

Hey there. It's shameful that it has been over a month since we posted. We thought of doing it, but the thinking and the doing just didn't get together I guess. Anyway, we have a few ideas stored up so maybe we'll get some extra posts in this month.

Max was home for about 3 weeks. We enjoyed having him here and quite a few people came by to greet him. But overall it was a quiet Christmas.

We got a nice pile of mail today. It looks like the Liberian mail system is working finally. The stamps on the letters indicate that it comes in about once a week, and most mail only takes 10 days to get here, sometimes less. Our town runner picks up the mail every couple of weeks I think. So.....how about sending us something?

Let's start with whatever can fit in a padded envelope:
a magazine (choose one that isn't all advertisements)
a dvd or cd (used- don't spend money on this)
Knorr pasta mix
instant beverage envelopes or tea bags (please not used ones)
photos
a paperback (again- one you've already read)
the Sunday comics
the Tuesday NY Times Science section (for Rick)
calendars
Surprise us! We'll share whatever isn't something we'll use. Don't send anything valuable- this is an experiment -I am just wondering if stuff will reach us reliably.

The address is:

Rick and Debbie Sacra
c/o SIM Liberia
PO Box 6958
Monrovia, Liberia

Don't forget to WRITE A NOTE too! Even something short. I guess you better let us know if something is on the way (you can say it's a mystery package and when you mailed it) so we can be looking for it. If it doesn't show up in a timely fashion, sometimes it helps to ask at the post office...and it will magically appear.

More again soon, Debbie

Something Different

This news is a couple weeks old, but I still want to share it. In the first place, when I shared about our SIM team, I forgot someone. Christina Holder is a journalist who has been here since June, doing some work for SIM and some freelance work. (SORRY, Christina! I didn't have a picture of you!) She also organized an art show at the museum in Monrovia (yes, we do have an official museum, at least a building called a museum) featuring several local artists and some of their works relating to their wartime and post-war experiences and perceptions. The boys and I went to see it and enjoyed the paintings. Since art is not something we talk about much here, I thought you might be interested in seeing them.

Christina posted the paintings on her blog and here is the link: http://beautifullybroken.typepad.com/liberia/2008/11/peace-dance-ii.html

You'll enjoy her other blog entries and also there should be links to her articles.

This links to her features on the SIM website that are about Liberia:
http://www.sim.org/index.php/category/stories/country/LR

Christina leaves next Friday but is hoping to return to Liberia, probably to do more free lance writing. If you read her work, you will see that God has given her a compassionate insight into the lives and hearts of people here.

Caleb's new cast!

Last wednesday, Caleb was playing goal in a soccer game in gym class, and put out his hand to stop a shot, and his wrist really hurt afterwards... (his team was leading 3-0 when he left the game... on the strength of some bold goaltending). That evening I looked at it and figured it was kind of a bad sprain. But when on Thursday it kept swelling and hurting, Dr. Mom and I finally figured out we should do an x-ray.... indeed, Caleb had a fracture of the two bones in his forearm (a "buckle" fracture for those of you in the medical arena). It was in good position and so didn't require any pulling or bending, just a cast... He feels much better now. And all his friends have signed! This is the first time any of us have had a broken bone.