Day 4

As I begin writing this, it’s hard to believe that we are only on day four because we packed so much into the first few days. Today I woke up hearing the cutting of materials in the common area outside my room. Renee was busy cutting cloth getting ready for the WOP training that she is doing. Yesterday we bought 10 yards of black material with 3 colorful Lapas, which are around 2 yards of materials each. (Lapas are Liberian wraps used by women as a skirt or holding their baby on their back. I’ll have to post a picture of the ladies carrying a baby using the Lapa.)

As I said, Renee was cutting the material preparing for class and once she got started, it turns out there were 23 in her morning session. Today they were making table runners. Each runner used a half a yard of the black with part of the Lapa. Needless to say she ran out of material pretty quickly, as she had 8 ladies in the afternoon. Here are some pictures of the finished products.

So what did Leo and I do when Renee was busy with the WOP, you may ask? This morning at breakfast Emmanuel let Leo and I know that we will both be giving the devotional, Leo on Thursday and me on Friday for the WOP. Our morning ended up being a study time to find an appropriate devotional to give to the ladies during our turn. I was not surprised by Emmanuel‘s request, but Leo was a little surprised. I’ll give him this, he didn’t say no, he just said he will come up with something. Leo also went out and watered some of the plants to begin the morning.

After we finished preparing our devotional, I suggested we go out for a walk. Leo and I headed away from Emmanuel‘s home just to see what may be interesting. As we walked, we watched some young men making concrete blocks. We talked to some builders who were putting in a foundation (forgot to get pictures), and we greeted many people on the road. Here are a few pictures of some of the things we saw.

When Leo and I walked for a while, I received a text from Emmanuel saying we were to come back because lunch was ready. We came back to some collard green soup over rice and fresh fruit. It was then that Emmanuel explained something he told me earlier, but I misunderstood. My time of teaching is from 4 to 6 PM and Wednesday night there is midweek service at the church. Emmanuel planned that I would do my teaching in the church from four until church started at six and continue teaching until church is over at seven. The evening ended up being quite busy for me after all. After our late lunch I had time for a quick shower and begin teaching shortly after 4 and we finished just after 7 PM. Immediately after the service the garden guy, Aloysius, was there to begin the watering from 7:30 till just after 8 Leo and I carried water so the plants could get watered this evening. It may not seem like a difficult thing, but the water comes from a hand pump and is carried to where the plants are growing and the humidity is really high. When we finished both Leo and I were soaked with sweat. This too is Liberia.

We finished the night with our supper together and talk of the next day. My alarm will be Renee cutting fabric again to begin another day.