By this Author: sarahglover44

Hi Wonderful Humans - I'm due for an update. I confess I am feeling an odd combo of overwhelmed and kind of flat. Or maybe I am flat because I am overwhelmed? Instead of ideas popping of things to share with you, I am casting about for what might be interesting. Which is another way of saying I am casting about for what is moving me - and right now, I am just kind of making it. Keep on keeping on - the koko method, which is, honestly, a magic key to life.

A couple of updates:
1. I now have a corkscrew/bottle opener AND - wait for it - a can opener. My Rising colleague Rose found the corkscrew; it took her 4 grocery marts, and it was her story of popping into one shop after another that made me think "oh, I can do that! I can pop into any store I want!" For some reason, I previously was feeling like I needed...permission? a recommendation? someone vouching that the place was ok? I have no idea - but Rose (almost literally) opened the doors for me. I also have a can opener! Precious had a can opener in her apartment that she couldn't figure out how to use. It's a Zyliss MagiCan. With that kind of name, I figured there had to be a following. Oh yes - one YouTube video later, and I am a MagiCan wizard, opening cans like you read about. #blackbeansandrice

2. A few of you have asked about whether it is possible to get school supplies to children in our schools. I'm going to look into that. My guess is that it will be donating money, and us buying the supplies here, and then distributing. Thank you for wanting to do this! More soon.

On Sunday, I went to a beach called Tropicana that is just south of town, about 30 minutes. Several people recommended it. Victor and his son took me. When we got there, they charged us $5 each to enter, and then we sat at a nice table on a nice covered deck and they handed us menus that offered $10 smoothies, $20 pizzas, and $15 hamburgers. ??? There was also some Liberian food on the menu...but this wasn't the beach experience I had in mind. I came with a bag filled with things for the beach: a towel, water, snacks, sun block. I didn't use any of it, though. At our table, we were looking at the beautiful beach and ocean...but there literally was a sign that said "no swimming." !!! Victor and I took a long walk on the beach, he filled me in on lots of history starting in 1979 (the year of what they call the Rice Riot, when the people demanded lower prices for rice. He characterized it as the event that ultimately led to the war). When we got back to the Tropicana pavilion, I bought $30 worth of juice for Victor, his son and me. And then we left.

After this, I realized I am pouring a shit ton of energy into making the best of things - which is not a bad life orientation. But come on: a beach with no swimming? Not the beach for me. (Or, as Victor pointed out, for any Liberians - absurdly expensive. A rip-off for expats and richer posers.)

I'm coming off the energy and newness of entering, and swimming a little more in the day-to-day. (Not swimming at the beach, of course! badum-bum)

Some of you are asking what I do with the days, what my work is. I get picked up by Victor and Precious in the mornings, 8-ish. (Liberians seem to be very early risers.) We go to the Rising offices, which are about a 10 min drive from me. The office is in a walled compound (almost everything is), and is a 1-story building w/ about 7 rooms, a kitchen, and 2 bathrooms. The electricity, internet and water all go off pretty regularly. There is a generator when the electricity goes off, and there always is a discussion about who can turn the generator on, who should turn the generator on, and then finding that person. I think I have figured out that the water is pretty much off every day in the middle of the day. Ask me if the toilets work when the water is off. Then ask me how to use a bucket of water to flush the contents of a toilet when the water is off. I can do that as well as I can open a can with the Zyliss.

I sit in the largest of the rooms with 6 other people. People work very quietly. Every now and then one of the women will kind of start singing - more than a hum, less than a song. It's nice. My job is to help the management team, a group of 6, get better at their work: how they project plan, how they manage people, how they design systems (of learning, distribution, curriculum adoption) to flow out to 95 schools. My favorite work in the world is to help a team become better than it ever thought it could be. So as I get to know this team, I will be doing the work I love the most. Finding connection, trust, understanding them and their work - this takes some time.

I wanted to mention something about the dress here. I was worried about it ahead of time - worried about what women are expected to wear, and also about being hot! I needn't have worried about the norms side of things. Anything goes. I can't see that there is a norm to break. For awhile, I was looking for anyone wearing shorts, and thought maybe I had found that shorts is the line not to cross. But then there was a hot day, and everyone was in shorts. So, that's a relief! I don't think there is a way to screw up dress. The older women are definitely more frequently in African dress - beautiful, vibrant prints; long dresses; head wraps in the same fabric (often with coordinating shoes and handbag). On Sundays, I would say most girls and women are in African dress - often matching. Two or three ladies in completely matching dresses and head wraps, flagging a motorbike to take them to church. I am saying "African dress" - maybe that's ridiculous, given the size and range of this enormous continent. Liberian. But it is just like what I saw in Senegal and Guinea. West African?

Christian Dior would be proud - or not: a solid percentage of women wear CD plastic slides. A Dior version of the Adidas slides that I guess are everywhere in the world.

Want to hear a couple of things I knocked out of the park? Sure you do.

• I successfully loaded WhatsApp on my computer. Heart in my throat while doing that because: how does it know? How does it synch? How does it connect to my account? How does it not send me down a rabbit hole of logins and passwords and 2-factor authentication (things sometimes make me cry)? It was flawless!! I scanned one QR code, and, voila! It loaded perfectly on my computer. Which I have to have because the internet in my apartment drops from my phone about every 15 seconds. I wish that was an exaggeration.

• I threw a fanny pack in my luggage at the last minute. Lesson: NEVER TRAVEL WITHOUT A FANNY PACK. Seriously, write this on a sticky and put it in your suitcase so you don't forget.

• I got a pedicure at a little salon near my apartment. Might be my only chance to sit in a hair salon watching ladies get weaves and braids. The pedicure was solid, and now I have pretty toes.

On Sunday morning, I hung outside my little compound on the corner waiting for Victor to pick me up. Little boys - as in little: 3 years old? - were running around and around the block, turning motor bike tires with sticks. Chasing the black tires which were almost as tall as them, and spinning the tires forward with sticks - it was out of the movies. Flashes of color as their little feet, in brightly colored Croc-like shoes, raced down the street. Big smiles, including mine.

xo

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

Today, my eyes saw more things that any of us would see anywhere vs seeing so much difference:

• a boy's soccer game, on a nice pitch. Complete with proud mom cheering on the sidelines. Boys in nice uniforms - one of which was sponsored by a home construction company with a logo that looks very much like Home Depot's.
• a tween decked *out*. Her hair was perfect. She had on tight, cobalt blue jeans and a yellow, one-shoulder top with matching yellow, blue and white sneakers. A perfect yellow barette in her hair. Her whole being was asking "do I look cute?" And boy did she.
• an 8-weeks-ish puppy chasing three little girls, getting caught in their legs, and running to catch up when falling behind. The little girls making sure they didn't get too far ahead.
• Beyonce.

Ok, obviously I didn't see Beyonce. But I walked to a place near my apartment called "Ocean Beach Club." Indeed, it has a huge deck overlooking the ocean and access to the beach. It has a large building under construction that might be apartments one day; when I asked a security guard about it, he said "it's under renovation." Por lo menos (at the very least!) In spite of the unfinished building, it has this elaborate and fancy set of 5 different swimming pools. They had Beyonce pumping through their sound system (Halo). The funny thing was that there were no people there - it is huge; the pools are gorgeous; the view is great. Is this a good find or some weird money laundering set up that is empty because it's all a sham? I have to check in with Precious. I think it could go either way. The good news is: I can *walk* to the ocean from my apartment. That was a good discovery.

Some high schools graduated kids today or yesterday. Lots of celebrations occurred in the streets today. Pickup trucks piled with kids, blowing vuvuzela-like horns and cheering. One truck unloaded kids at a house that had chairs set up outside, and a ready graduation party waiting for them. The proud graduate was in uniform, and was handed a microphone. He addressed the crowd, and they cheered for him. What awaits this young man?

Another wonderful scene was in the school yard at the Baptist school across from my apartment. A circle of maybe 50 children, and a young man in the middle, shouting "in," "out," and some other instructions. There were lines dug into the sand, indicating the boundaries for the game. Based on whether the kids jumped at the right time in the right direction, they stayed in the game or were weeded out. There was cheering, laughing, hilarity all around. Lots of wiggling, bouncing children. A bunch of people (like me) on the outside of the fence, watching with smiles.

This is my first weekend, and I had some shudders this morning from previous moves. Weekends can be tough - too new to know anyone; every last chore or errand involves figuring new things out. I remember almost dissolving into tears in a grocery store on a very cold day in Boston in early 2010 when I couldn't find where the chicken was. Sometimes there are just too many new things at once.

To steady myself, I made a list this morning of things to do. I did some of those things. Turns out I had a lovely day - being quiet, reading, walking, making eggs for the first time in my apartment (in a wok, which I strangely have. But no frying pan.) I really needed a rest day. My girl video called me - from Teton National Park where she is camping with friends. The way tech has changed communication is *,mind blowing.*

I gave some leftover food to Sam, our security guy, and finally met the cleaning lady. She and I couldn't understand each other at all, but it was good to exchange smiles.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful sister.

xo

If someone barfs within 1 hour after taking their malaria pill, should they take a second dose? Asking for a friend.

I got cocky because I haven't gotten sick (yet). Before meeting people for breakfast, I downed my medicine - thinking if I was close to eating breakfast, I would be fine. Not so much. I usually take the medicine *after* eating. Which apparently is key. I won't make that mistake again.

We went to a fancy hotel for dinner tonight - an outside patio, overlooking the ocean with amazing food. It was like I traveled to California instead of 10 minutes north of Monrovia's city center. "We" is my boss, who is the managing director of Rising's programs in Liberia; the Rising CEO (based in Sierra Leone); and Rising CFO (based in Ghana). I have to pinch myself that I am in this mix, with access to these leaders, and with an opportunity to help them create things.

This map of Monrovia is great: https://https://www.google.com/maps/place/Monrovia,+Liberia/@6.2952661,-10.8012678,14.08z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0xf09f803d4a9fcc1:0x5b6c4dd7069694af!8m2!3d6.3156068!4d-10.8073698!16zL20vMDFweHF4?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDkyNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
I am staying in the Key Hole area; my office is in Congo Town. Tonight, we had dinner on Mamba Point, north of Capitol Hill (you have to zoom in pretty far for this).

Another struggle today: I don't have a can opener, bottle opener or corkscrew in my apartment. While this has brought my drinking down to zero, it also means I can't break into the cans of beans I bought myself to give me some kind of normal diet at some point. I know there are can openers in Liberia. I just haven't found one yet.

Our driver, Victor, is definitely going to be the person I know best by the time my tour is over. He is wonderful, and I am quickly tuning up my skills on understanding him. He is patiently teaching me the Liberian handshake, which involves a clever snap between the two people that I am able to execute about 1 out of 5 times. A skill I aim to improve.

I had lunch with an office mate, Cece, today. I was eating a recovery meal of applesauce and a banana, though she invited me to dig into the rice, kidney beans and fish she was sharing with another co-worker. It is very typical to have a large dish, and several people stand around it, and eat out of the same dish, each with their own fork.

Cece and I met Monday; she has a big smile, long braids and a 14-year-old son named Mike. She was speaking coloquois with the other woman, and they started laughing that I couldn't follow at all. Then, the taught me a couple things. "Balehgo." They both said this word (or maybe group of words?), but when I tried to imitate them, I couldn't. So I asked how to spell it, and they both started laughing - they both said: we don't really spell coloquois, we just speak it. But then we kind of put letters together to help me out. "Ba" is friend - a warm way of getting someone's attention without calling their name. "Lehgo" is let's go. English lurks in there a bit! I practiced with them so I could say "Balehgo" to Victor at the end of the day. When I did so, everyone laughed, and this will be yet another thing I can improve over time.

Cece told me her story over lunch. She went to the Ivory Coast as a very young child for difficult family reasons. She ran back to Liberia when war broke out in the Ivory Coast. By that time, the war had started in Liberia. She shared alot with me, and it's not my story to share. But I found myself not knowing how to hold my face, what to offer, how to listen. Pangs, lightning flashes, disorientation about the traumas she endured. There, but for the grace of God, go I. Go all of us.

She is beautiful, educated, hard working and a very dedicated mom. Her "man" lives in...Iowa. No lie. He is coming to Liberia in January to pay her dowry, and then they will plan a wedding. Her boss and her boss's wife have kind of taken her under their wing.

I just read this wonderful sentence in The Return by Hisham Matar: "What is extraordinary is that, given everything that has happened, the natural alignment of the heart remains towards the light." Maybe Cece's smile is evidence of that.

Sweet dreams, wonderful family and friends: hug each other and turn your hearts to the light.

xo

PS: If you are wondering about redosing after the barf: yes. The Google was pretty clear on this.

Hi Wonderful Friends - the days here have been full! And my old self is having trouble sleeping - usually I am a champ at sleeping, so that has been a bummer. Even my tried and true Ibuprofen PM is not knocking me out. Perhaps, just perhaps, my mind and body are overwhelmed with new information, and rather than being exhausted from that, it's keeping me wired.

Boy, are there alot of new things. A clear story line is not coming to me, so I'm gonna just share a few of these new things:

• I hired my first (and maybe my last) motorbike! I left on foot from my apartment on Sunday morning to go meet Steph, the CEO of Rising Academies, at the Royal Hotel. I looked it up on the map - yay! I had driven by it on Saturday, so had a hunch where it was - yay! And I walked out the door at a brisk pace. When I checked the map again, I was further away from the destination rather than closer to it. Awesome. I asked directions (twice), and this isn't very easy. In this English-speaking country, I mostly have a really hard time understanding folks. But I got squared away (thank you Google maps, and thank you, thank you for cellular service), and realized I was going to be close to an hour late. By this time, I had figured out that the motorbikes were mini-taxis, and when I found a gaggle of them, I hired one. I even haggled! I was desperately proud of myself. After I told a couple co-workers who have lived in Liberia and Sierra Leone for years about this, they both said: "Oh, we don't do motor bikes!" So it might be a great line for me to draw as well - but that one ride was pretty great, and it made me feel like a hero.

• On Sunday, we went to Redemption Beach and Unity Park, a nice park and development along the shore, created by George Weah, immediate past president...and retired footballer who is the only African FIFA World Player of the Year. (A bit like if Tom Brady became Pres of the US.) Beautiful walk near the ocean with lots of people out on a Sunday stroll. Teenagers checking each other out and taking photos much like my daughter and her friends take. Pose, hair flip, side eye, smile. The park doesn't include green space; it is a paved walk, a couple sand soccer fields, an area with those stationery metal workout machines, and gravel areas for cars to park. Importantly, there is a monument dedicated to government officials who were executed at that site in 1980. The civil war didn't start until a decade later, but some of the same people were involved. This is the first (and I think only) monument in the country to name these atrocities. (A Little bit of history here: https://kukatononnews.com/liberia-redeeming-a-bloody-history-the-story-of-php-community-unity-park/). Windy, beautiful, so nice to be outside. The thing that was disorienting for me was that there were heaps of trash on the beach. Tons and tons and tons of plastic bottles. Before I leave, I might be the old crazy white lady who picks up trash on the beach.

• Today, we did school visits. Rising Academies runs 95 public schools across the country. They are reliant on the government for the buildings and the teachers, but Rising provides teacher coaches, curriculum, professional development, and collects lots of data. The schools we visited do not have running water or electricity. The students were spit-polished with perfect braids (girls) and tidy short hair (boys). They are extraordinarily well-behaved. We visited one pre-K class that had about 40 children with one teacher. I don't know how she did this, but she had them in the palm of her hand. These kiddos are gorgeous little humans. The schools serve grades K-6 and serve 150-200-ish children each. I saw two little girls in one class, who I think were sisters based on hair and dress, trade a pencil back and forth. I feel quite sure they only had 1 between them. I don't have the words yet to describe the contrast I felt in those schools. To have my phone in my hand - which can access almost any information with an internet connection - and to see these kids 100% reliant on the words their teachers wrote in chalk on the board for their information was mind blowing. Most likely, these children's parents do not read or write, and many of the teachers are high school graduates at best.

• It's the rainy season. Our ride to see schools was over bumpy, dirt roads in a 4-wheel drive Landrover that had a pipe up the side of the car and along the windshield to shoot water out of the top if the undercarriage got flooded. The water was so high on the road at times, I'm actually really surprised water didn't come into the floor boards of the car. I mean it was RAINING. On one long dirt road, while I was looking out the window, I saw chickens carefully standing under the eaves of a building so they wouldn't be in the rain. They were looking at the rain, just like we all were.

• Food! The food here is tasty. Very flavorful and pretty spicy. My favorite thing so far is sweet potato leaves; they use these leaves a little like we use spinach or collard greens. I tried fufu tonight - Liberian fufu is very distinct from Ghanian fufu for you fufu aficionados out there. I also had this great plantain dish called kelle welle. (A recipe for you here, though I can't vouch for it - but the ingredients will give you the vibe of alot of food here: https://thestoriedrecipe.com/kelewele-recipe/). We drove by a large market today, and you could have bought fish, ginger, chicken feet, flip flops, and probably a million other things. Fish and chicken feet were in particularly huge supply.

The blog title (Pulling on a string) is where my mind is in terms of understanding what I am seeing and thinking about where and how to impact schools. The images in my mind are very Gordian knottish right now. And I'm gonna think, pray, brainstorm, meditate, and ask for help from you all to look for a string to pull. Who knows, the idea might come when I am picking up plastic bottles on the beach.

I'll get going on photos. Hugs and love to you all.