The Dispute

The cold snap is over, but it was good for one day anyway. It was in the 90s most of yesterday. We spent a pretty relaxed day around the house. Rusty went and pumped fuel from the underground tanks to the generator, a daily duty of his. I went for a run on the beach, I didn't go far but it felt great, my knees didn't hurt. I probably only went about a half of a mile but that is the longest I've been able to do in over a year. I don't like the heat except I don't mind running in it, especially when I can cool down in the ocean.

Pretty much every day someone comes by to use Rusty's computer, I think we had three yesterday. There are a few students that are taking computer classes but have no computer to work on, and there are some who come to check email and, or get on facebook. It is a real mix of worlds here. You have primitive superstitious people who almost all carry cell phones. They believe in spirits and demons and potions and spells. That is why so many are afraid of the water, they fear the demons that live there will come up from underneath and snatch them. A problem the doctors have when they treat them is that if they don't get better right away they believe the medicine didn't work. Then they go and get "country" medicine, which could be anything from a potion to chalk rubbed on, then when they get better it was the country medicine that worked. One of Rusty's plumbers broke his leg and he had a hard time convincing him to go to the hospital. The plumber wanted to go get country medicine which consisted of braking a chicken's leg and putting some kind of potion on it and his leg, then when the chicken's leg was healed his would be also. (a note to the Moeller's, maybe a new profit center) When we were at the restaurant in Monrovia there was a tv advertisement about a big revival going on all week at the stadium. You could go and buy this salt that if you sprinkled it on it could cure almost any disease. There were many testimonials of great healings. There was also some kind of cloth or blanket that could heal relationships or bring a job. The Preacher went on and on about how any problem could be fixed with this or that item. Rusty said that it is a huge problem here, so many people come and prey on these people, what little they have they take. I'm pretty sure that is why the policeman let Rusty go the other day when he found out he was a missionary, because he didn't want to chance angering God.

True to form I had a new experience yesterday. I went with Rusty to mediate a dispute. A missionary couple before they left hired a "Contractor" to build a house for their house worker, Mamosa. Along with that house was a small house for her nephew, Moses, who was their yard boy. Missionaries are expected to hire some local help, it gives some employment, but I think it adds to the division between blacks and whites. Anyway there was a problem with the first Contractor and a second was hired to finish the work before the couple left. They had purchased all the materials and gave Jerry, the second Contractor, enough money to finish the homes. Jerry also does some contracting at ELWA so the only time he can work on the houses is after work or Saturdays. A Contractor here is anyone that is hired to do a specific job. At ELWA there are some employees, but a lot of the work is done by contractors, in fact if it is a large job the employees want to do it as contract work because they feel they can earn more that way. It is a discussion Rusty has had many times, but he can't convince them that they should work just as hard either way. Back to our dispute, after the couple left Jerry has had a lot of things come up on Saturdays and hasn't been able to make it out there to finish the project. He also decided that it is too far to get there after work and get anything done. All his excuses seem reasonable to him, I think one Saturday his sister was sick and other time he had a different job to do. When He does show up Moses is suppose to help him, but he says Moses just tries to boss him around and doesn't always help. There is also something about missing materials. Kobe and I went along with Rusty, we picked up Jerry and went to the houses to meet with Mamosa. She had gone to the market, but Moses was there. We went around the houses so Moses could show us the unfinished or deficient items. Moses then gathered up some chairs and we all sat in the yard as each pleaded their case to Rusty. The language is suppose to be English, but I could only get a few words here and there. Also in the dispute was Jerry had come to get some of his tools that he had left, but Moses wouldn't let him take them because he felt he shouldn't be working somewhere else until he finished there. Jerry also said that Moses had spread a rumour that Jerry was having an affair with Moses' wife, Moses said that was a lie, because he doesn't have a wife. Rusty seemed to understand it all. After 30 minutes Rusty rendered his decision, he got them to agree on what needed to be done then he said " I beg of you Jerry to work with Moses and finish this" then he said "I beg of you Moses to work with Jerry to finish this". They both agreed that they would, although when we left Jerry wouldn't shake Moses' hand. As we were getting in the car Mamosa came up the road from market, we heard this shout "Grandma" and a flock of kids went running up to her. Rusty greeted her, she was a charming old lady, Rusty asked her how many grand kids she had, she said she had 18, Later he told me that she is raising most of them, apparently her children are not to responsible. After we dropped Jerry off Kobe and I tried to bet with Rusty that Jerry would have an excuse not to show up Saturday, but he wouldn't bet.

I had wanted to tell you more but I'm at my typing limit. Maybe one day I won't see something new and I can catch up, hey it's raining out, maybe we'll have another cold day yay!