My second full day was much better, I eventually got a little sleep last night, maybe two hours, but I was pretty alert all day. We started the day with church. The one we went to on the ELWA campus lasted about two hours, which is short for Liberian standards. I enjoyed the colorful attire and the enthusiasm of the mostly Liberian congregation. We went to Monrovia for lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. Then we set off to visit another orphanage, as is Rusty and Jamie's practice, I was not looking forward to it. This orphanage was larger and a little more spartan than the one yesterday, but they had no special needs kids there. The 49 children there were all enjoying a large bowl of rice when we arrived, which Uncle Rusty, as he is called, said was good to see because in the past they had gone a day or two at a time without food. Rusty lanced a boil on one boy and checked the injuries on a little girl he had taken to the hospital in the middle of the night last week. Rusty, Jamie and the boys were all busy greeting, holding, teasing and loving all the little ones there. The children were all excited to see them and play with the squirt guns they brought. There are some health concerns there, but the don't seem to be serious, it was still hard knowing that many of the children are waiting to go to loving homes just because of slow bureaucracy.
Rusty is a very respected man here, the director of ELWA has stated that he was going to contact the U.S. State Department and have them revoke his citizenship so that he couldn't leave. The security guard sang Rusty and Jamie's praises for a good ten minutes tonight Telling me how proud of them I should be. He said a lot of the whites look down on the Liberians, but not Rusty, he is just like a black man.
I saw some disturbing things today, but not like yesterday. I have decided to not think about anything sad tonight so I can get some needed sleep. I plan on posting often so you can keep up with our adventure.
Good night Jack
No comments:
Post a Comment