The Rainy Season's Lightning Storms

Well, its been a while since I posted my last blog but I have had a great deal of progress. I am currently working on aiding the institute, so that it can be fully sustainable in terms of their food production. They have a thousand acres and they have only utilized about 10-20% of it's potential. I will have my contacts from Concern Worldwide meet with the my partner and soon, the Director Johnson of ZRTTI. Outside of that large mammoth of a project they will aid in the creation of fish farms, expansion of the piggery, renovation and usage of the poultry building, and reintroduction of materials to the carpentry department. There are a lot of people with skills but few with the opprotunites to demostrate them. I am hoping to help them with that.

Well, The books are the next goal but we will see if I can get the proper materials for that to occur with Firestone, Wings of Dawn and the Ministry of Education.

Sort of ironically, I will have to cut this short because the power just went out on campus. I had no idea that would happen and the title of this really is fitting.

I miss you all, and wish you all the best. We will have a great many things to discuss when we meet next. Much love my friends and family.

Summary Update

Learning history is fascinating, but learning history from the people who have been affected it provides emotional connection that the books could never give you.

I am only beginning to learn about Liberia. This also means that I am still learning how I can provide meaningful support to my counterparts and international organizations. I hope that I will be able to assist these people because they have had a difficult life after their civil war.

This is a country that has a great deal of potential for future prosperity. The real factor is whether they will decide to take on the an entrepeuner attitude and create the changes they'd like to see in their country. (to paraphrase Ghandi)

I definitely look forward to showing you pictures of this country. It's a beautiful country with a great food and culture.

I must get to work but I wish you all the best. Send me notes, I'd like to keep up with you all.

Preparation

I have roughly 2 weeks left before I depart to Liberia. These days, I am seeing some of my nearest and dearest friends. It seems quite strange to get close to people just to take off on an adventure. In reality, if I am fortunate enough to achieve my aspirations, I will work in international development and continue this service for the rest of my career. However, I will need to find a graduate program that identifies my potential and desire to serve. This might be a little difficult due to my undergraduate gpa but it is lower because I was working to two vastly different fields; political science and business finance.

I have made ties with Friends of Liberia, a group that I have become a member in. They do very good work in assisting Liberia after their long civil war atrocities. I will do my part in assisting with what I can in the reconstruction of their teaching corps. I am quite certain that this will be much more challenging than my experiences in Moldovan agriculture, when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Donduseni.

Since time is short, I should get back to searching for a graduate program and spending time with family. I will put a lot of time into discussing the conditions in Liberia and searching for assistance on their behalf.