Last Full Day in Monrovia

I still remember tearing up a bit on takeoff from Gerald R. Ford airport in Grand Rapids to come to Liberia almost two years ago. Tomorrow morning I'll fly out of James Spriggs Payne here in Monrovia and I just hope I don't embarrass myself. Its been a long ride, but even the best ones can have an end-date.

Last weekend a massive group of us went out on the barge and I got to say a lot of goodbyes. Yesterday the LEAD staff went out on it too, and we had a great time. Photos to come soon.

This was going to be a longer blog post, but I have a lot to do yet today. I'm packing up now, trying to sell my surfboard, I need to get a new battery for the LEAD jeep, the business training class that we have been launching the mentoring program with graduates this afternoon, then I run a few more errands, meet up with friends for sushi, finish packing, go to sleep and then head for the airport in the morning.

Tomorrow night I'm going to be staying in Accra. I'll be sharing some mentoring program best practices with the Hopeline Institute there and meeting up with some friends. Tomorrow night I hop on a place for Atlanta, Cincinnati and then on to Grand Rapids. It will be a busy and exciting (and stressful) few days, but I'm eager to get back.

All the best, Derek