Liberian Journal #8

by Fr. Ted Hayden, SMA

Jan 20^th. Arrival at Barrake. There is only one road in Barrake and that is the main road from Cape Palmas to Pleebo.  As we passed by the first Barrake houses on the road the small children kept calling my name. Within a half an hour of my arrival most of the children of the parish and many of the adults came to greet me and welcome me back. Greetings are very important for Liberians. Even if they see you several times a day they will stop, shake your hand and give you a warm greeting.

Jan 21^st. Sunday Mass. The church was packed to over capacity. Many of the small children were ushered into the sanctuary where they sat on the altar steps or against the walls. As usual the hymns were sung with gusto.  The volume is about twice as loud as I would have when I am listening to music on my CD player.  Locally made drums and castanets accompany the music. It is interesting to watch the drummers tune the drums.  Local logs are hollowed out and covered with deer skins.  Wooden pegs hold the skin tightly. The sound is adjusted by loosening the pegs.  A simple chunk of rock is used to pound the pegs and adjust the tightness of the skins.  Small children dance and twirl around as they listen to the music. Since children dance in the aisle every Sunday but no one pays particular attention to them. Today I noticed one small girl of about 18 months swaying in the aisle at the back of the church.  I knew she was about that age because she was not too steady on her feet.  If she were an adult I would have said she had too much to drink.  After a few minutes of dancing she ran back to her mother and sat on her lap for the rest of the Mass.  Small children, both boys and girls frequently dance and twirl down the center and clap their hands to accompany the music.

Sunday- Greetings after Mass: “Father, You Got Fat”. Many people commented on my weight and said that I really got fat while I was at home. (I did gain 15 lbs) All of these comments were intended as compliments.  When they comment on my weight they interpret it to mean that I had plenty of food at home and that my family and friends cared for me and fed me well. If I had lost weight they would never have mentioned it. Loss of weight means that you are either very sick or that your family does not care enough about you to feed you.

Jan 22^nd. A Visit to Baby Princess.  About nine months ago a local woman gave birth to twin girls.  She named them Pretty and Princess.  Pretty thrived from the very beginning.  Princess found it hard to nurse at her mother’s breast. The local doctor speculated that she had a weak heart and did not have enough energy. When I left she was trying to use a bottle since this used less energy. She could even eat some Cream of Wheat.  When I went home at the end of October she weighed 4 Kilo (8.8 lbs) I had hoped to see her doing better now. When I saw her my heart sank and I had a lump in my throat. I took her from her mother. I could hold her in the palm of my hand. Her mother, Caroline said that at 9 moths Princess now weighed only 3 kilo (6.6 lbs) she could grasp my finger and hold on tightly.  She seemed to be aware of me but there was hardly any flesh on her bones.   I have lost all confidence that she will reach her first birthday.  Her twin sister Pretty is a plump child and already crawling around the house.

Jan 22^nd. Tabadoo, Kiss-me and other Liberian delicacies.  Every country has its national dishes.  Tabadoo and Kiss-me are favorites of Liberians in the southeastern section of the country.

Kiss-me are very small snails that breed at the bottom of the thirty mile long lagoon that ends in Cape Palmas. Occasionally the lagoon is drained. People walk in the fresh mud and fill buckets with very small snails.  The snails are not much larger than a child’s fingernail, they make a soup with the Kiss-me and devour it along with rice.  The people call the snails Kiss-me because the sound of sucking the snails it sounds like people kissing.  It is not one of my favorite foods because it is just too much work for too little food.

Tabadoo is a wild animal. It belongs to the rodent family.  I have seen them drying over an open wood fire.  They have a long nose like a rat, the body like a rat and the long tail of a rat. To me it is a rat and this is the only Liberian food that I refuse to eat.

I fully enjoy Liberian food and we consume it every day here in Barrake. Most days it is a hot peppery palm oil sauce over rice.  About one or twice a month we get meat.   The other days it is fish or chicken.  Generally we have fish six days a week and chicken once.  That’s perfect for me because I really like fish. Most of the fish is dried because there is no refrigeration in Cape Palmas. Fish mongers dry the fish over charcoal grills. Barrake is eleven miles from the sea so most of the time we eat dried fish.

Jan 23^rd. “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread.” Hundreds of millions of Christians throughout the world recite this prayer daily.  For those of us who have an abundance of food the prayer is more one of thanksgiving rather than of petition. Here in Liberia where food is very scarce it is an ardent prayer of petition.  High school students who walk eleven miles from Cape Palmas to see me give me a warm greeting which is very shortly followed by: “Father, do you have any bread?   I buy forty small loaves of bread every day. We use them at breakfast and supper but at least twenty loaves go to visitors.  Sometimes I give them sardines with the bread.   Students are always grateful for the bread and are always disappointed when it is all gone. For students the struggle for food is a daily battle.  Most high school juniors and seniors live in rented rooms. Some come from towns where there is no high school; others have parents who are too impoverished to feed them.  When they pray: “Give us this day our daily bread” they really mean it.

Jan 24^th. A view of the Farm. While I was at home the farm continued to expand.  One duck had ten young ducklings.  The other one had eight.   But the chicken hawks seized three.  There are now more than twenty chickens running around the yard.  Both the ducks and chickens get small portions of grain in the morning but their main food is what they can find by searching through the grass and shrubs. 

Fr. Joseph Marwa, SMA and Jeremiah Kyne built a new house for the rabbits.  They did not thrive in the temporary cages we had for them and many of the newly born rabbits did not survive.  Now each rabbit has his/her own cage and the rabbits are increasing.  The rabbit house has mud walls and a thatched roof.  Jeremiah cleans the cages every day.  He uses the manure for his garden.

The banana, plantain, palm, orange and papaya trees are all growing.  Already we are harvesting bananas and plantain.

A Liberian friend, William Swen who works as an agronomist at the State of Florida Experimental Citrus Farm in Winter Haven sent me 150 orange seeds from 5 different varieties. They have now been planted in seed beds.  If they germinate and survive they will be a big boost for the local people. Unfortunately all of the local citrus fruit trees were destroyed during the 13 year Liberian civil war or reverted to a wild state.

Jan 25^th.  Advice from a Grandmother. A high school student visited me and at one stage of our conversation he said he asked his grandmother why the people in Liberia are poor.  Her reply was that when she had children there was not much need for preparing for the future since almost all of the children remained in town even to adulthood.  Their future was cared for by the village and the farm.  The grandmother continued to state that today the world is different and that parents must plan from the very beginning for their children’s education. Children who go to school are not available for farm work. The reason why school children are poor is because change has come and the families did not foresee the changes.

Often I ask students how many children their mother had. The answers range from four to twelve children.  I ask them whether they plan to have that many children.  The answer is always a no. When asked how many children they would like to have most said two or three. When I ask why they respond that they want to be able to educate their children and they do not want their children to suffer they way they are suffering.

Jan 27^th. St Anthony Parish Feast Day. We celebrate our parish feast day on the last Saturday in January.  The feast of St. Anthony actually takes place in June but June is one of the rainiest months in Liberia so we have our celebration in January when there are no rains.

Bishop Dalieh presided at the Mass. The overflow congregation joyfully blasted out hymns both in English and the local language, Nyambo.

The Mass was followed by games and races.  The prize for winner of each race was one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of rice. Other prizes consisted of biscuits and sardines.  In an area where food is in constant short supply the rice prize was deeply appreciated.

A community meal was served in the public school auditorium across the road from the church.  The main dish was goat soup and rice.  We killed two goats and cooked 150 pounds of rice.  Cool Aid was an added attraction.

Jan 29^th. Construction Projects. This year we plan to dig a well and renovate the interior of the church.

The well will be constructed of reinforced concrete walls similar to street culverts in the use. Water will be tested and when it is certified for drinking the well cover will be sealed.  It will have a hand pump.   In addition we will build a water tower so we can have water flowing through the pipes in the house.  I look forward to the time when I can turn on the shower faucet and have the water flow.  The pump will be controlled by a 2.5 kilowatt generator. These small generators are imported from India. They cost only $225 and a gallon of gasoline lasts 8 hours so pumping water will not be very expensive.

The church was built in 1962. It has no major problems.  However, we will install a plywood ceiling under the metal roof.  When it rains during Mass the sound on the roof drowns out the readings and hymns. It also drowns out the sermon which might be seen as a blessing by the patient congregation.  When the plywood is painted white it will lighten up the interior of the church. We will also paint the interior of the church.

A local contractor who works for the diocese will handle both projects.  The materials are already in Barrake.

Jan 30^th.  A Time to Remember. Tomorrow I will have my 75^th birthday. At this stage of my life many of my friends and relatives have gone before me with the Sign of Faith.  I remember them.  One year ago, my cousin, Bob Morris died.  He and his wife, Pat had been married over 50 years.  They have 6 wonderful children and 13 grandchildren.  Bob was a man of deep Faith. He was successful businessman and saw no contradiction with that position while at the same time being a faithful member of the Catholic Church. His wife shared his values and his Faith. Somehow, they managed to pass this treasure on to their children and grandchildren. I often think of Bob.  Also, last year his brother Tom, a US Navy Admiral died.  These are members of my own generation and I would be unwise if I did not realize that I am not too far behind them.

I also remember many of the SMA benefactors who make my work possible.  On Dec30th, I offered the first annual memorial Mass in memory of Frank Neuwirth.  Elaine, his wife of over 50 years invited me to her home in New Jersey for the Mass.  More that 50 attended the Mass including his children, family, and friends.  Frank has been a very generous supporter of my work with poverty stricken school children.  Through his help and that of others I have been able to pay school fees for over 300 students. Without financial assistance most of these children would be school drop outs.

Feb 1^st. No Easy Answers. When I was ordained as a priest in 1958 I was confident that I had a firm grasp on theology and could provide clear and sound advice on any moral question. If I didn’t know the answer I knew where I could find it. I had studied at the Catholic University of America and had some first class teachers. In 1958 I was fully confident in my ability to offer clear and unequivocal advice. Now I am not so sure.  Consider this case:

Paul is a 20 year old high school senior.  He would have graduated three years ago but he spent 3 years in a refugee camp during the Liberian civil war.  He has a girl friend, Terry who he has been sleeping with two or three times a month, Terry’s parents are dead.  She had been living with her aunt.  Her aunt decided to move to Monrovia but could not take Terry along with her. Paul, reluctantly let her move in with him. In the USA I would raise an eyebrow if a 20 year old male stated that he was reluctant to have his girlfriend move in.  But I believe Paul and we discuss the case.  He says his girlfriend has no where to go.  If she tries to make it on her own sooner or later some older man will take advantage of her.  She most likely will get pregnant and have to leave school. Her plans to finish high school and go on to college will be frustrated.  Since unemployment is at 85% her chances of finding a job will be minimal.  She will most likely end up begging for food.  I concur with his reasoning because I have seen this happen several times.  Paul asks me for my advice. I explain the traditional Christian teaching in this area but I am reluctant to put pressure on him to send his girlfriend away.

In Cape Palmas there is no hostel to take care of young girls. Unemployment is over 85%. The poverty is grinding. Most families struggle every day just to put some food on the table and often this is lacking in both quality and quantity.  In pre-war days it would be easy to find a family to take a girl in. But now parents cannot even take care of their own children.

We often hear of the millions of people throughout the world who live on one dollar a day.  A recent UN statistical report states that Liberians live on 50 cents a day.  The resulting dire poverty creates many problems.  Some of them will not be resolved until the economy improves.

I tell Paul that God loves him and that all God expects of him is to do the best he can. Both he and his girlfriend will graduate from high school in June and at that time they can plan for the future

Feb 4^th. Shoes for Lepers.  In Bonike, a town about thirty miles from Cape Palmas there is a small leper colony. The disease is no longer active there but many of the people have been severely disfigured by Hansen (the proper name for the ailment) disease.  Two men and two women have disfigured feet and cannot wear shoes.   In Ganta about 300 miles from Bonike there is a larger colony attached to a hospital.  They also have a talented shoe maker and top notch shoe making equipment there.  Bishop Dalieh sent his car and driver with the patients to Ganta.  The patients will stay there until their shoes are made and they become accustomed to walk with them. Bishop Dalieh paid for the diesel fuel with a gift of $518 which someone from the USA sent with me on my return trip to Liberia.  Small gifts go a long way in Liberia. In the meantime Bishop Dalieh is using a pickup for transportation.

What makes the story unusual is that nobody talked about it.  No one saw it as anything special.  People would expect the bishop to do something like that.  If a similar act of charity took place in the USA it would become a top rated news story.  In Liberia it was never mentioned.

Feb 5^th. Crowded Classrooms. During the thirteen year civil war no schools were built.  No teachers were trained.  Now the chaos has begun.  One high school junior told me that there were 84 students in his classroom. There were not enough chairs and no books at all.  Teachers are not paid on time. Some teachers are not on the government payroll. In this school the students have fund raisers each month so they can give something to the math, chemistry and biology teachers.   Over 50% of Liberia’s population of 3.5 million is under the age of 19.  The Liberian government with the help of outside donors is addressing the problem but it will be years before the schools can be raised to their pre-war standards.

The Catholic schools put limits on the number of students in a classroom. It now stands at 45. Also, the teachers are paid on time every month. However, the standards here are still far below where they were before the war.  Finding qualified teachers is a major headache. Many of the best teachers have retired or died.

Feb 9^th. Cape Palmas to Monrovia on the UN Helicopter. My work entails going to Monrovia one or twice a year. 

Senator John Ballout who is the senior senator form Maryland County where I live told President Ellen Johnson Serlief about a meeting he had with me concerning education in Cape Palmas. He mentioned that I was traveling to and from Monrovia by road.  Her response was: “I don’t want that old man to travel by road.”  She instructed the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs to write to the head of the UN in Liberia to allow me to fly on the helicopters which are usually restricted to UN personnel.  Now I am on an approved list for this purpose.

The trip to Monrovia takes about two hours.  The helicopters fly about 1000 feet above sea level.  I could see many of the Catholic churches which dot the sea coast.  I had been in most of them many times.  In the 1960s SMA had a small 4 passenger Cessna 172 airplane which serviced many of the Parishes. From 1959 until 1963 I did most of the flying so I knew the landscape well.

Welcome to Monrovia. About ten Liberian friends met me at the airport.  Most of them were students at one of the Universities in Monrovia and nearly all were from the Cape Palmas area.   They escorted me to St Joseph’s hospital where I lodged with the Spanish St John of God Brothers.  They staff a 230 bed hospital as well as some clinics in Monrovia.  They do a tremendous job of serving the poor.  Each day the compound is filled with people seeking admission slips to the out patient department.   The slips cost about one US dollar each.  That permits a patient to consult with a medical doctor.  If medicines are prescribed they are given free at the hospital pharmacy. From experience the Brothers learned that when they gave prescriptions for the patients to fill local pharmacists charged so much that the people could not afford to buy the medicine.  So the Brothers decided to include medicines as part of the outpatient treatment.  Each of the ten doctors sees 40 out patients.  The 400 outpatient tickets go very fast.  Women with small children can be seen as early as 6 am waiting to receive out patient tickets.  The doctors cannot handle more patients because they have in-patients to visit. Also, most doctors have private practices which they serve in the afternoons.

In patients costs are also low.  A 22 year old male student I am assisting needed an operation for a hernia.  The cost of the operation, two days in the hospital and the doctors fee came to US$ 65.

Naturally the hospital operates at a deficit and most of the support comes from Spanish benefactors and international agencies.  The Liberian government also gives an annual subsidy.

The kind, patient and professional care the Brothers and Sisters offer the people of Monrovia is a sure sign of God’s concern for the poor.

Feb 12^th. Children who never get the Chance to Play.    Traffic is always heavy in Monrovia and moves at a snail’s pace.  Children from 8-12 walk between the lines of traffic selling cold water, soft drinks, Chicklets and candy.   Many go to school but spend three or four hours after school every day selling. Sometimes several children from the same household spend their afternoons selling. They may eke out a profit of about fifty cents.  This is handed over to the child’s mother to help provide the daily food.  Many families depend on income from their children for an essential part of the family income. Many children never get the chance to do sports or play games with their friends. Their childhood is lost.

Feb 16^th. A UN Helicopter Ride from Monrovia to Cape Palmas. The   two hour trip was uneventful.  I arrived round noon. Bishop Dalieh invited me to his house for lunch and in the afternoon I returned to Barrake.

Feb 21^st. Ash Wednesday. Fr. Gustavo Buccilli presided at the liturgy. Over a hundred people attended the Mass and participated in the blessing of the ashes.  In an ordinary day only about ten people attend daily Mass.  These people are farmers and are on the way to their farms at daybreak. However, they wanted to receive the blessed ashes before going to their farms. Fr. Gustavo did the imposition of the ashes to all in the form of a cross and reminded them to “turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel” (Mk 1:15) while the ceremony is intended for adults Fr. Gustavo also imposed the ashes to small children.  They were too small to sin yet the reception of ashes was deeply appreciated by the children;   I always try to find ways to let the children participate as fully as possible in church services.

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