The Life of a Liberian Wheelbarrow Pusher

Our Next Model is...

Annie Marlene. She specializes in picking out her clothes herself. You can see in the outfit she is wearing a green top with a pink whale on it. She has orange capris with flowers on them, snow white socks, and cinderella shoes. She has added some nice accessories as well which include a gold muchroom necklace that her mother used to wear as a child and a blue hair brush to keep her beautiful

From Americans Working in Liberia Now

Weather Update: Speaking of moisture in the air, the months just leading to the rainiest months of July-September are the most humid. The temps climb because true summer is coming, but we experience occasional brief afternoon rains, followed by sun that leave us sweltering. The water table is very low, so we are hoping for more substantial rains soon for our wells.

If you ever want to travel to Liberia...info. we're learning

Quick Facts Capital Monrovia Government Republic Currency Liberian dollar (LRD) Area 111,370 km2 Population 3,042,004 (July 2006 est.) Language English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages, of which a few can be written and are used in correspondence Religion indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20% Electricity 120V/60Hz (USA & European plugs.

We Leave for Liberia....

5 Weeks from today! Let the countdown begin!WE WELCOME YOUR COMMENTSWe have a book, similar to a baby book, for both Abigail and Emmanuel. It's called 'Our Chosen Child.' We plan to print some of the blog out and save it for them and will add any of your comments if you would like. It will be fun for them to look back and see all the people who followed their journey along with ours and were

Conversations With Annie, Soon To Be 3

Today I had a pin on given to me by Scott's Mom when she went on a mission trip to South Africa. It has a beaded white girl, black girl, and brown boy on it. They are all holding hands. I have been wearing it a lot lately, keeping my kids with me. Annie saw it today and asked me about it and I told her it was to represent her brother and sister who would be coming home soon. I said do you

Why International Adoption

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in Kenya on Semester at Sea. Semester at Sea was a study abroad program through the University of Pittsburgh, but instead of going to one country you went to 12 (mostly 3rd world countries) and had your classes on a boat. We had already seen some extreme poverty and been to the poorest villages in South Africa where Apartheid was just ending. I was

The New Liberia

A little Biased

I admit it, I'm totally biased FOR black people, especially native African black people. I have no idea why. Even our one black photographer at work said to me one day, you are our black reporter, because I love doing stories with the people in North Minneapolis which is predominately black. Today, I was in the parking lot of the grocery store and this guy was having car trouble and I could

Happy Mother's Day...A waiting Mom's state of Mind

First of all a big shout out to my Aunt Nancy...my most faithful blog reader, she checks this everyday without fail! Happy Mom's Day Nanc!!With six weeks to go until I officially have three children I have reached a whole new level of psychosis. The emotional roller coaster I rode before I had Annie is coming back for another spin. I remember two weeks before giving birth I must have felt that

Black and White DO Go Together

www.mercyships.org Some of the amazing humanitarian work going on in Liberia

Liberian Montage

Taking stuff to the Kids..

We will be taking albums for others families' children and about 80 pounds of stuff to the AFAA house from Cheryl.Cheryl was telling one family the children like to put the albums under their pillows and then added,"Liberia has the WORST pillows I've ever seen but that is all that is available." She says the pillows are very lumpy. Cheryl also says, "One of the things I saw that all the

Preparing to Travel, shots and instructions

Scott and I went to the Infectious Disease and Travel Clinic yesterday to get vaccinated against a lot of things that don't look like fun to have, yellow fever, typhoid, malaria. They also gave us two sets of strong antibiotics just in case. At first I said oh, just give us one set whoever gets sick first can get them, then I pictured us on the plane with two kids we barely know both running to

What Time Is It?

If it's Noon in Minnesota, it's 5:00 p.m. in Liberia. They are four hours ahead of East Coast time and five hours ahead of Central time.