Liberia, an aerial view.

 Christopher and I were given an opportunity to take a flight in the SP helicopter today.  There were two pick-ups that needed to be made in the northwest portion of Liberia which left a couple empty seats.  Here is Christopher ready to go.

The roads in Liberia during rainy season range from difficult to impossible.

SP has three field offices in Liberia, Foya, Fish Town and Bopolu.  The drives to Foya and Fish Town can take over 10 hours, and sometimes they are unreachable.  The helicopter turns the trips into less than 2 hours.  The Bopolu flight that we took today is less than 30 minutes.

One of the many villages we passed over.  This one with road access.

Many are more isolated with no road access.

Closer to Monrovia there are many areas that have been cleared and planted with a variety of crops.  Fields typically have a small structure for storage and cover.

Then it is just forest...

 Many areas show the scars of Liberia's 14 year civil war.

The Mount Coffee hydroelectric facility turbine building that we visited in 2010

  Here a farmer is burning wood to make charcoal.

Arriving back in Monrovia you see the houses pushing out into the swampy area of the Montserrado River.  Not a good place to live in a country with malaria.

Downtown Monrovia from the east.

July 2012

 We are into July, the wettest month of the year.  A tough time to start a construction project, but here we are.  Monrovia averages more rain in July than Seattle gets in an entire year!  The contractor has managed some progress though.  We were blessed with 4 days of sun this week and work has begun on the security fence for the new hospital.  The Kitchen/Laundry building will start in the next week or two...if the weather cooperates.   

In an effort to raise the level of quality we have introduced a few construction methods and materials that are not typical in Liberia.  The contractor has done a good job of producing a new style of block and adjusting to the changes.

Work is also continuing on the orphanage project.  The work should wrap up by the end of July.  Here a worker is constructing some toilet partitions in the boys bathroom.  The original layout didn't provide for bathrooms...so we had to cut what was supposed to be a bedroom into two bathrooms.

We also made another trip out to one of our favorite orphanages.  We decided to add a little public speaking to the boys school curriculum, and have them each tell a bible story while we were there.

The children were good listeners, and afterwards they got freezer pops and candy necklaces.  Sara doesn't have either in her hand...but I had to get a picture of one of my favorite orphans.  She was in an accident shortly before we returned in February when the motorcycle she was on crashed (don't ask me why she was on a motorcycle).  She has recovered nicely though.

 More pictures of Christopher and Rusty's trip on the SP helicopter next!