Sign Language Class and More

It has been a while since I have posted, but I hope that there are still interested people who are passionate about knowing about and improving lives in the world. I have received news from David that the United Methodist University in Monrovia has decided to add a course for their students. They have decided to develop a course on the history of sign language, an introduction to sign as a language and some beginning signs. David and I are collaborating to see what should be included in the course.

Also, David has said that the University is going to admit the Hope teachers into their initial teacher training program. This will provide the teachers with invaluable training and experience that will greatly improve the Hope program and the students' future. Both plans are still in the beginning stages of preparation, but we are very hopeful for the future.

Currently, David, Jeff and other leaders in the Methodist church in Liberia are attending their Annual Conference. David and Jeff will present a report on the progress of their programs. It is our hope and prayer that their mission will continue to be heard, accepted, and supported.

ChildArt Liberia

We have received some exciting news from Hope for the Deaf school in Liberia. David, the director of the school, has told us that they have started a new program called ChildArt Liberia. It is run by UNICEF that establishes programs for children in the hopes of teaching art skills, as well as giving the children a safe outlet of their feelings and experiences, especially concerning the civil war they lived through.

The above picture is from that program. They have classes Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. While I was there, it was apparent that the children needed some kind of creative outlet, and I am so happy to know that they are getting the opportunity to use their imagination and their spirit to create something of their own.

If you would like to know more about the ChildArt Liberia program, please read this article, it is a little old but gives good detail about the program. Hopefully their will be more great news for the school as we enter the new year!

The Irrational Campaign

Here's a short story of the kind of impact that we did not expect to have when we took our trip to Liberia. 

We were featured in the United Methodist Great Rivers Conference newsletter before we left, and a pastor who read that article and had been to Liberia got in contact with us.  We didn't get a chance to meet with him face to face before we left, but we when we got back he was going to be speaking at Quest church here in Champaign. Quest church was beginning a campaign to build a church and a well in a village in Liberia and wanted the pastor to share about his experiences.  They are building a church in Liberia before they build their own - we currently meet in a Holiday Inn lobby.

A couple months later, the church (who we now had become involved with) invited us to speak after they had raised about $6,500 of their $13,000 goal (which they later changed to $15,000 to include scholarshps for 40 village students).  

Raising $6,500 in a couple of months is impressive enough.  But after we spoke and provided some personal inight into the lives of the people they would be helping, and after a few people in the congregation gave some big gifts they had been saving up for...this was announced this morning - the last official day of the campaign.

Donations will continue to come in during the next couple of weeks.  On January 8th, the Pastor and another member of the church will fly to Liberia and have the opportunity to personally present the gift to a village that will never be the same.  Their children will have clean water, they will go to school, and the community itself will have a building that can be used a school, church, gathering place and source of pride and togetherness for years.  

Glad to be a part of it.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell

As we were in Liberia, the overwhelming feeling that we got from witnessing the living conditions, and listening to the stories of war, was it just isn't fair. Through our experiences and through our faith, we have come to understand the unfairness of the world we live in. And it is this realization that we must live with each day, and never hesitate to bring awareness to the lives of thousands of people around the world.

Aaron has put it this way, "If I do not want to live in unsanitary conditions, then my brothers and sisters (in Liberia and the world) should not live in unsanitary conditions. If I do not want to go hungry, then my brothers and sisters should not go hungry. If I do not want to go without education, my brothers and sisters should not go without education. If I do not want to experience the horror of war, then my brothers and sisters should not experience war."

In this sense, a great way to bring awareness to Liberia is a new documentary that is now showing in select cities. It is called, "Pray the Devil Back to Hell." It is about the organization of Liberian women to promote peace during the Liberian civil war. It is a story of hope and peace. Click on the above link to gain more information about the documentary, and where it is showing.

Also, if you would like to see it come to a theater closer to you, click on the link below, and demand that it come to your community. If you get enough people to join you, it may come. (If anyone wants to join me in bringing it to Champaign...)

View all Champaign events at Eventful

More Pictures!

I have downloaded some more pictures. These feature our visit to a few villages to dedicate some wells and latrines. If you have questions, let me know!

Visit to Villages

Story #4-The Power of Bed Nets

Preparing to go to Liberia, we had to complete several precautions to ensure that we had a safe and worthwhile stay. We made sure we had the appropriate legal documents, emergency insurance, vaccinations, as well as medicines, a first aid kit, bug repellent, and of course, a malaria bed net. While we did not give a second thought to gathering these things before we traveled to Liberia, the importance of them was magnified throughout the weeks we worked and lived in Africa.

Most of Liberians do not have access or the ability to purchase these lifesaving materials. The typical greeting in Liberia is, "How's the body?" or "How was the night?" Signifying the impact of health upon their lives each day. When they become sick, they can only hope it will pass so that they can see another sunrise.

Not only is malaria a threat to their everyday health, it is also a threat to their hearing. Presently, there are no statistics available as to how many people are deaf or who have a hearing loss in Liberia. If audiologists are available in the country, many do not see them, so there are no statistics on the causes of deafness. But talking to the Principal of the Hope school, David Worlobah, and going through student information sheets, I found that most of the students became deaf after an illness or due to loud noises during the war. These illnesses consisted of malaria, typhoid, or Lassa fever. With these diseases, a high fever is likely, which can cause deafness. Deafness that could be preventable.

As you can see in the picture, our malaria net was put to good use; as was our bug repellent and stomach medicine. We were able to leave a few of our materials behind, but there are still many more that are needed. If you would like to provide a lifesaving malaria net or find out more information on the Nothing but Nets campaign, please take time to visit this site. Or go to Worldvision website to learn how to provide health care to families in need.

Story #3-Reality of Hunger

One morning in Liberia, we saw one of our friends who is a pastor for the United Methodist church in Liberia. Our conversation, like a lot of our conversations, focused around the realities of living in a war-torn country. Today's topic, not for the first time, was hunger. She stated that that day, she ate a handful of peanuts for breakfast, and drank some water. She would not eat again until she ate a bowl of rice with her family that night. She was anxiously waiting for that night.

The realities are much more real when they are in your face, and not on the television screen.

The reality is that most Liberians eat one meal per day, if they can.

As guests and as Americans living in Liberia, we were expected to eat three or more times a day. We had food prepared for us each day. While we essentially paid for this luxury, it was hard for us to skip a meal without a caring friend noticing and encouraging us to eat. We are grateful for and amazed at their willingness to go hungry, while we filled our stomachs.

But the hardest thing to do was to go to the school each day, with a full stomach from eggs at breakfast, and face the students and staff who had none. It was even harder to leave the students at lunchtime knowing that I would go and fill my stomach again, while they didn't. And knowing too, that they were not ignorant of this fact. Being told, "I'm hungry," or asked, "Buy food?" was hard to stomach each day. It was no wonder that the students had a hard time concentrating in school, or even coming to school; choosing to work for food instead of receiving an education that they deserve.

Without the ability to feed every student, and without the ability to skip a meal to at least see how they feel, and show them we understand, Aaron and I pacified our frustration at the reality of hunger and privilege each day. It is this reality that has led me to choose to fast each Sunday for the month of October, so that I can feel at least a small part of the hunger that these students face each day. I know that fasting just one day in the week will not compare to the feeling of lifelong hunger, but I will at least experience the beginning. And more than anything, it will give me the opportunity to bring awareness to the reality that millions of people around the world face each day.

If you would like to share in this challenge, have questions, or would like to find out how you can help the students and staff at Hope eat each day, please email me at tricialauter@gmail.com.