(no subject)

Lots of work-related stuff lately on the blog (and photos); probably because that’s been much of my life this past two months, but I’m happy to be rejoining the Liberia social scene, and enjoying the company of some of the best people I've ever known.

I’ve been doing a bit more surfing these days. I’m definitely not good at this yet, or perhaps as committed as I ought to be, but each time I go out I feel myself edging closer to the ‘aha’ moment…

The sun rises in Congotown after an early morning surf. SKD (football) Stadium's lights can be seen on the horizon.

This past weekend friends Andrew, Andy and I spontaneously headed out to Robertsport for a pretty chill weekend after we heard Saturday's Kameko 'Tired of Being Broke' concert was cancelled. Rumors have it he’s in jail for fraudulently claiming Rita Marley and Ma Ellen were coming, but rumors do fly. It was great getting out on the water Saturday, despite the frustrations of pretty much not catching much of any waves. Argh.

This week should be a bit quieter than last week’s busy work week. Just following up on a few more post-conference details, and pulling the peer-mentoring program together (more on that soon). Tomorrow is our third class and we’ll be discussion lesson three: the “Tiered Approach to Mentoring” which I’m sure means nothing to you now, but will be explained in the next blog post – yea, really hyping it.

In other news, I’m told that today we’ll have the remaining 55-gallon oil drums needed to complete the barge under construction at a friend’s house. Okay I’ll be out with it, it’s going to be a fairly spectacular raft for cruising the St. Paul River. When you don’t have cable TV, bowling alleys or movie theaters you have to get your weekend kicks somehow. Specs: 16’ wide x 19’ long, floating on 36 55-gallon drums, pushed by 2 40hp 2-stroke outboards, hosting a modest bar and thatch roof; maybe toilets. It should hold over 20 people, and would take a calculated 15,000+ lbs to submerge….

Not a small project. LEAD's agricultural intern Brett Pfister is quite the skilled welder.

Should be done in two weeks.

Longer term, I'm beginning to think about what comes next: this first round of the peer mentoring program will be finished at the end of May, and I intend to fly back to the US at the beginning of June. I've loved my year and a half with LEAD, but I struggle if I should stick around longer - an option - and see what else I can offer the organization, or if I should move on. I have other employment options here in Liberia (paid ones, my faithful, beloved and appreciated donors will be happy to hear), and the idea of sticking around is enticing but again, I need to weigh out the benefits of sticking around and moving on. I'm exploring what other options may be available for me in the future, both in North America and internationally, but those conversation haven't matured yet.

Taking Bush for a walk to the neighbors' isn't something you can do in suburban GR. Skimpy jealously watches on (ears).

It opens up larger conversations too; like is the development field one I want to continue to participate in? What are the long term impacts of the work I'm doing? Do I still want to live overseas? Just how much of the Gauntlet summer sailing season am I really willing to miss...?

Today I'm doing a bit of work across the street at Evelyn's, the restaurant where I go when I need internet if the office internet goes down. Blog posting, catching up on three days of emails, updating the LEAD website and emailing out conference attendee contact info for post-conference networking. This afternoon we are planning tomorrow's class and then I'm chasing down my jeep, which is back at the mechanic's for the usual assortment of chronic problems.