Well, we are back in Liberia! What a trip we had getting here! One person told us the trip from Bo, Sierra Leone to the border would be 3 hours, our driver who makes this drive almost everyday told us 5 hours. We left at 1:00 in the afternoon and hoped to arrive at the Liberian border in time to cross before 6:00 p.m. when it closed. We arrived after 10 P.M.! 9 hours! Crazy road. Rainy season, washed out, rocky terrain, bamboo bridges, darkness, no headlights, multiple brake downs, no starter, bad windshield wipers, worst road yet and my scariest experience thus far. The guest house at the border was decent at the small international one dirt road border town. It does feel good to be in Liberia though. The road on this side was paved the whole way to Monrovia and we had a driver with the UMC waiting for us so we did not need to take public transport AGAIN! The driver had been at the border the day before waiting for us! Danny enjoyed haggling with the driver for a new price since he did not get us to the border crossing in time. It really felt like Africa won yesterday! I was just so thankful to not have spent the night on a muddy bridge trapped in a car with mosquitos and five other people in the African
jungle! The car, let me tell you about the car. It was an old Nissan hatchback station wagon of sorts. Loud at the beginning of the trip and even louder when we ended the trip. The front bumper fell off when the driver Patrick drove into a ditch. We saved it though and hauled it on the roof to put back on later. No lights, anywhere, inside or out. The driver held a dull torch outside the window for fine visibility in the rain for three hours. We ran the heater defroster to stop from over heating. At about 8:30 p.m. we came to a dead stop stalling the car, with not enough power in the battery to start the car, oh and no reverse which is bad when you are stuck in the mud. You get the gist. The final comment is that the last 26 miles took over 4 hours to drive. We realize that Danny runs marathon faster than that. Enough said.
We will keep you posted on our time in Liberia with The United Methodist Church.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Child Rescue Center, Bo, Sierra Leone
This week has proven busier than last week. Most of the kids have started school. The guidance counselor and I have put together a leadership week for the older youth who are waiting for test results to tell them what grade they are to enter this year, either 10th grade or college. There are about 18 of those students. We are spending the day together from 8:00-3:00. I think that they preferred sleeping and hanging out with one another! We have put together some fun as well as educational time with games, bible study, leadership seminars, field trips, reading, computer time, music, and practicing a skit to perform for the whole CRC. Between spending the day with them, preparing for the next day, and still participating in reading time, devotions, and bedtime stories with the rest of the kids, I feel like I am back in America with a crazy busy schedule! You won't believe it but I am teaching music; playing the recorder, new songs from the UMC hymnal, and even a bell/chime choir. It is pretty funny seeing as I was not in choir or band! Very limited skill here.
But God is good and we are doing it! Our field trip today found us climbing a small mountain where a radio station sits. We were invited into the DJ booth and a few of us talked on the radio, one being me. The young adults with whom I am working are just like the teens at home, but at times the cultural differences and expectations are glaringly different. There have been moments of challenge but we have done well with one another. I really love these kids. They are usually very loving and supportive of one another and the adults. I will be sad to leave here. One more week.
I have just been asked to do a funeral at another hospital for two babies who died in the last 24 hours. We were out in town and met two of the women from the States who are working at the St. Mary's Hospital. They thought of me this week when the need for a pastor came about. Both of the mothers were Muslim. They are in the hospital on the female ward for fistula repair, a horrible condition for women with either an opening between their vagina and their bladder or their vagina or their rectum. You can imagine the consequences. It is a problem in the developing world when people are delivering at home and things go bad. The women needing this repair have been ostracized in their communities, not well nourished or loved. They come to this ward to await surgery and become strong and then need to stay for three weeks after surgery
to recover. They leave healed with a new life! Can you imagine the joy of arriving in the ward and discovering a group of women who experienced the same hell as you with this condition? And here is a group of women who become sisters to one another and find love and family again. They are learning craft skills as potential money making while they are there. The youngest patient is 15 years old!
Sarah had delivered twins and one of them had died at delivery and the other one died yesterday. Isatu's son died this morning after a complicated C section, she had already had the fistula repair, requiring a C-section for this delivery. Isatu has three other children but this is the third baby she has lost. She is so sad and just cried when I met her. The women all gathered outside on benches for the memorial service. The ecumenical group of women all sang songs about Jesus and God as well as said a Muslim prayer together and a Christian prayer of blessing. Each of these women gathered had experienced similar losses in their life. Sierra Leone has the highest infant mortality rate in the world! It was a beautiful service that I was honored to be a part of. The group of women have invited me back to visit and pray with them. What joy and community I found there! Please keep Isatu and Sarah in your prayers.
Danny has been working with the Sierra Leonian medical officer, providing him with a few much needed days off. Danny typically ran the ward rounds and saw about 40 patients a day in the OPD. He enjoyed working with a reliable lab and a stocked pharmacy. He works more here than he does at home!
But God is good and we are doing it! Our field trip today found us climbing a small mountain where a radio station sits. We were invited into the DJ booth and a few of us talked on the radio, one being me. The young adults with whom I am working are just like the teens at home, but at times the cultural differences and expectations are glaringly different. There have been moments of challenge but we have done well with one another. I really love these kids. They are usually very loving and supportive of one another and the adults. I will be sad to leave here. One more week.
I have just been asked to do a funeral at another hospital for two babies who died in the last 24 hours. We were out in town and met two of the women from the States who are working at the St. Mary's Hospital. They thought of me this week when the need for a pastor came about. Both of the mothers were Muslim. They are in the hospital on the female ward for fistula repair, a horrible condition for women with either an opening between their vagina and their bladder or their vagina or their rectum. You can imagine the consequences. It is a problem in the developing world when people are delivering at home and things go bad. The women needing this repair have been ostracized in their communities, not well nourished or loved. They come to this ward to await surgery and become strong and then need to stay for three weeks after surgery
to recover. They leave healed with a new life! Can you imagine the joy of arriving in the ward and discovering a group of women who experienced the same hell as you with this condition? And here is a group of women who become sisters to one another and find love and family again. They are learning craft skills as potential money making while they are there. The youngest patient is 15 years old!
Sarah had delivered twins and one of them had died at delivery and the other one died yesterday. Isatu's son died this morning after a complicated C section, she had already had the fistula repair, requiring a C-section for this delivery. Isatu has three other children but this is the third baby she has lost. She is so sad and just cried when I met her. The women all gathered outside on benches for the memorial service. The ecumenical group of women all sang songs about Jesus and God as well as said a Muslim prayer together and a Christian prayer of blessing. Each of these women gathered had experienced similar losses in their life. Sierra Leone has the highest infant mortality rate in the world! It was a beautiful service that I was honored to be a part of. The group of women have invited me back to visit and pray with them. What joy and community I found there! Please keep Isatu and Sarah in your prayers.
Danny has been working with the Sierra Leonian medical officer, providing him with a few much needed days off. Danny typically ran the ward rounds and saw about 40 patients a day in the OPD. He enjoyed working with a reliable lab and a stocked pharmacy. He works more here than he does at home!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Bo Sierra Leone
Danny after reading a bedtime story.
George the trauma counselor with some of the younger children.
Worship at Leader UMC.
The choir at Leader UMC with graduation gowns and tassels.
Teenage girls after a creative writing project with Kathy.
George the trauma counselor with some of the younger children.
Worship at Leader UMC.
The choir at Leader UMC with graduation gowns and tassels.
Teenage girls after a creative writing project with Kathy.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
West Africa
We are doing well and settling into life in Bo, Sierra Leone. We have unpacked our clothes and are located in one place for the whole month of September! So excited! We are living at a new facility the Mercy Training Center. We have a little apartment with a sitting room, bedroom and bath. Someone is cooking for us and doing our laundry. Not a bad gig! The peanut chicken stew is great! We are working at the Child Rescue Center and Mercy Hospital, both UMC projects. Check out their web sites. They are doing amazing work. I will communicate when I can, not sure about internet access. No worries though, we are in a GREAT place! The kids are so excited we are here and the church has been so welcoming! I am very excited about our work here.
The need is so great in Sierra Leone who was at the bottom of life before a 10 year war and is still struggling to recover. They did not have electricity before the war, many parts now do. The main roads are still dirt roads that get washed out in the now rainy season, making travel and development difficult. There is still a 10 percent infant mortality rate. HIV/AIDS is rampant. Poverty and simple living is everywhere. It is a country in deep need for development and aid. The diamond industry is still uncontrolled, meaning the people are not benefiting from taxes from the selling of diamonds. They did just have an election with a change in political power that happened peacefully, thankful for that. There are now laws against littering. May sound like a small thing, but much of Africa is so dirty and littered with garbage! It makes such a difference to see a clean city street or people no longer throwing trash out of the bus window. Helps with health concerns and overall pride in a country. That is just a bit about the changes we have seen since being here two years ago. It is amazing, people remember us from when we spent a day with them 2 years ago too! I have even remembered a few names and faces too!
The need is so great in Sierra Leone who was at the bottom of life before a 10 year war and is still struggling to recover. They did not have electricity before the war, many parts now do. The main roads are still dirt roads that get washed out in the now rainy season, making travel and development difficult. There is still a 10 percent infant mortality rate. HIV/AIDS is rampant. Poverty and simple living is everywhere. It is a country in deep need for development and aid. The diamond industry is still uncontrolled, meaning the people are not benefiting from taxes from the selling of diamonds. They did just have an election with a change in political power that happened peacefully, thankful for that. There are now laws against littering. May sound like a small thing, but much of Africa is so dirty and littered with garbage! It makes such a difference to see a clean city street or people no longer throwing trash out of the bus window. Helps with health concerns and overall pride in a country. That is just a bit about the changes we have seen since being here two years ago. It is amazing, people remember us from when we spent a day with them 2 years ago too! I have even remembered a few names and faces too!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
South Africa
We returned to South Africa and rented a car because many people warned us that independent budget travel was not safe. The roads were wonderful and the rates were reasonable and this turned out to be a very comfortable mode of travel for a change. We did a bit of sight seeing, visiting old friends and meeting new ones.
We began in the Drakenburg Mountains and then journeyed down to the coast of South Africa to Cape Town. We had the mountains on our right and the coast on our left. It felt like Europe or the California coast until you drove through a black township/settlement area. The reality of the economic and racial divide was glaringly obvious.
We enjoyed a couple of days of hiking, visiting Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope, seeing whales, seals, a penguin colony, and a walk on the beach.
We connected with Rev. Tobie, the Superintendent and Administrative Assistant to the Bishop of The United Methodist Church South Africa Provisional Annual Conference. Rev. Tobie invited Kathy to preach at the Mfeluni UMC which is currently worshiping in the community center in Mfeluni townships. We experienced dynamic worship, a great click talker interpreter, and a fabulous lunch. We wish we had more time to spend with them.
Rev. Stewart Mgobongo and Kathy at Mfeluni UMC. 
Future hopeful sight of Mfeluni UMC.
Future hopeful sight of Mfeluni UMC.
We then traveled to Kgmotso a rural village where Katie, a Peace Corp Volunteer we befriended earlier is posted. She asked us to visit and share our skills with the community. Danny spoke to teachers and parents about epilepsy, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Kathy spoke to the 6 & 7th grade after school girl's club about delaying sex and their goals for the future. It was a great day.
Danny with his interpreter.
The Kgmotso Girl's Club
Kathy and our host Katie.
Where in the world are Danny and Kathy Dickriede?
We will be working in West Africa. We plan to visit former contacts in Freetown, Sierra Leone before we join the staff of the Mercy Hospital and the Child Rescue Center (CRC) in Bo for the month of September. Both of these ministries are the work of Floris UMC in the Virginia Annual Conference. A great book to read about Sierra Leone is Along Way Gone by Ishmael Beah.
Websites for the work of Floris UMC are . . . www.childrescuecenter.org www.helpingchildrenworldwide.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The Love of Christ Ministries Orphanage
More photos of the The Love of Christ Ministries Orphanage!
Check out their web site of the TLC Orphanage in South Africa, it is linked to the top left of our blog, and see for yourself the great and AMAZING work that they are doing! We loved this place!
Babies getting ready for their morning snack.
Morning snacks ready for babies.
There is a real system here!
Now I know how my mom felt with twins, I had four to keep happy!
All the babies in their pajamas ready for evening bottles and bed!
Check out their web site of the TLC Orphanage in South Africa, it is linked to the top left of our blog, and see for yourself the great and AMAZING work that they are doing! We loved this place!
Babies getting ready for their morning snack.
Morning snacks ready for babies.
There is a real system here!
Now I know how my mom felt with twins, I had four to keep happy!
All the babies in their pajamas ready for evening bottles and bed!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Jordan and Israel
Well, not exactly on the African continent! We stepped away from our Rosemark year and funds and went out of Africa. We met up with Murphy, our son, in Amman, Jordan where Danny's brother and nephew are working. We used their home as a base for travel to Jerusalem, Petra, Jerash, Umm Qays, and the Dead Sea. We visited the visited the holy sites of Gadara on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:28-32), Bethany on the Jordan river (Matthew 3), Mt Nebo where Moses looked into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 34).
We also spent a weekend in Jerusalem walking the hot uneven rocks and ramparts of the Old City. We walked the Via Dolorosa and the stations of the cross which led us to the Church Of the Holy Sepulchre/ Calvary. We began a walk of Holy Thursday at the Garden of Gethsemane into the Dung Gate. We visited the Western Wall, the holy site for the Jewish people with good views of the Dome of the Rock, the Muslim holy place.
We also arrange a spectacular day trip to the ruins of Petra, rightly named to be one of the New Seven Wonders of the World! A long hot day passed viewing the amazing rock carvings of the Nabataeans people from 2200 years ago.
We head back to Africa mid August, rested, relaxed, and ready for the last three months of our Rosemark year. Stay tuned for more exciting work and adventure.
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