Hangin with TeddyRide

On Monday morning, we set off just after 7AM for the Bassa region and drove about 80 miles south to Buchanan, the region's main city. (Buchanan is named for Thomas Buchanan, first governor of Liberia and cousin to US President James Buchanan. The American history trivia is like candy around here.)

We drove through the Firestone plantation to get to Bassa. Row upon row of rubber trees planted in precise lines. Very green and in a rigid geometric pattern. Rubber is one of Liberia's primary products.

Once in Bassa, we visited two schools, both off the beaten track. While the road to Bassa was pretty excellent, as soon as we got there, anything off the main road was not paved. (Buchanan is the third largest city in Liberia; a population stat I read was 32K people.) During the rainy season, this means anything from really bumpy and muddy to completely impassable. We got to both our schools, only because we were in a 4-wheel-drive Landrover. Meaning anyone who is not in such a vehicle - which is everyone else - has really a time just getting to / from...anywhere. Student and teacher attendance is a huge issue here, and honestly, impassable roads and vast amounts of flooding are pretty valid reasons.

At the first school, the Rising team gathered the teachers for a little meeting. This meant the classrooms weren't covered, so I slipped into one and tried to talk with the students, 3rd and 4th graders. They were rapt, but we had a hard time understanding each other. While the language is English, we don't understand each other's pronunciation. I drew a map of the US on the board, and showed them where I lived in TN, where Sophie lives and where the capital is. Then I asked if they could draw a map of Liberia on the board and show me some things. They couldn't, though it's extremely possible they had no idea what I was saying - or that what I put on the board was a map of anything! Nonetheless, we communicated enough that they found a map on the inside cover of their composition books, and then two boys came to the board and tried to copy that picture onto the board. Lots of giggling and pointing, and it was fun.

The second school was quite beautiful - in the rustic, Liberia way (no electricity, no water, etc.). This one had larger buildings, more light, a big courtyard - and the children were bustling and alive in a way that felt different. Funny, goofy, smiling, running after us. Not sure where we were in the timetable, but there was a group of kids tagging along after us who weren't being told to get to class - we must have been close to lunchtime. One little girl particularly captured me. I'm guessing she was about 5. Dressed in a white shirt and blue jumper, short hair (not long enough to braid), and a gap-toothed, brilliant smile. There was something in her face - mischievousness, joy, snap. I fell a little bit in love.

We stayed at a guesthouse for the night; I keep getting shocked at the prices here, and this was another jolt: $75 (US) for a seriously bare bones situation. No internet. Electricity only for 12 hours. The running water was...hmmm, dripping water. And cold. That said, it was one of the only games in town (the one "nice" hotel was $250/night!! Did I mention we were almost in the bush???). So that is why I got to hang with TeddyRide who was also staying at the guest house. He is a musician in Liberia and is kind of a big deal here. Did I know that? Of course not. I was just an old white lady who was politely asking: "oh, you are a musician? Do you sing or play instruments?" And he gently lets me in on the fact that he is a big deal, showing me videos and photos of him traveling around the world. The next day everyone I work with is laughing hilariously that I was talking to him and didn't have a clue. Check TeddyRide out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9UhyTbqjvA

I worked Tuesday morning in Bassa with Krubo, a woman who oversees three Rising "coaches", who, in turn support 20 schools in the region. Krubo is a bad ass. We sat on her porch, while the rain came down and down and down, and talked people management strategies, data collection work, tracking student progress. And in our chit chat, I also learned that she is popping up a little store in her house to sell water and drinks; she has a catering business on the side; and she already has bought land in Monrovia to build a school. She has solar on her house, but since it's been raining (for about 4 months), there was no electricity. Her kitchen is a room that has four...burners? But to me looked like four little places for charcoal piles on the floor, topped with stands for big pots. She and her sister cook over fire. I sat in the kitchen with them and cut plantains for the lunch they were preparing for our team of 8. Fried plantains and dry rice (which is rice, fish, chicken, sausage, okra and Liberian peppers). We did this all over fire.

Been meditating on this wisdom from Prince: "Compassion is an action word with no boundaries." Krubo wants different outcomes for kids; she puts her whole self into this work, and it is hard.

Guys, I am happy. It's hard and tiring. But I now have a little kinship with the guys who manage my apartment, and I really know the street from my house to the main road. I'm finally getting courageous enough to buy fruit and snacks from little stands along the way. I have been terrified of the notion of bartering and also not being able to communicate. A Rising colleague who was visiting helped me step over those fears a bit.

Tonight, I bought 3 bananas and a small bag of plantain chips for a grand total of 100 LDs. Which is 50 cents. Making my terror pretty hilarious.

PEACE