Returning our Babies

Today went by too fast. This afternoon we drove the babies and their things out to their Uncle Stephen's house. They moved into a small three bedroom house to accommodate for the twins they are going to care for now. Stephen lives there with his wife Rebecca who is about 34 weeks along in her pregnancy, her 2 year old son, and her mother. They are a nice family who seemed very happy to be getting Hattie and Harrison.
We got a few last pictures with them and said goodbye. It was unbelievably hard. The twins felt like a new addition to our family and we got very attached to them. The drive home was quiet, and when we walked into our apartment it felt so empty. At dinner we started talking about them, but had to stop because we started crying.
They are going to stay in our hearts and prayers forever, and one day we hope to see them again.
-Golden Family

Wulki Farms

Today we drove out to Wulki Farms with one of our friends; the Sheppards. It is a great place to go and tour around. There is a pool side restaurant, tennis and basketball courts, a small golfing range, and different pins for all the exotic African animals. We ate lunch then ventured out to see the different animals. Along the road they have big signs with arrows pointing down different roads where the animals were kept. We visited the ostrich pen first. These birds were quite spunky, as they nipped leaves out of our hands that we pulled off the nearby trees and fed it to them. We guessed that this wasn't their original pen due to the large sign that read "Quails". Later on Lawrence tells us that he really liked seeing the quail. When we told him there was no quail, and it was ostrich that we saw he said, "K guys, there is no difference between an Ostrich and a Quail." We replied, "Well, they are different. But not by any significant thing." Haha! While feeding the 'large quail' we had accidentally entered the territory of an unhappy little bug. The large red ants that lived there also had crawled up onto our feet and bit us like crazy! We were wearing flip flops, and you know how much protection that offers.
The large group of 12 white people hobbled off to see the next animal; the crocodile. Crikey! There were three pens with 2 crocs in each. They were swimming around their 6x6 ft cement home filled with green, gunky water. Yummy. We all felt bad about their living conditions, but decided against our idea of letting them free at the last second.
The pigs were next. They were each in their own little stall, one after another. Some had little piglets with them, maybe 2 weeks old by the looks of it. It was quite an overpowering experience…for my nose at least. (I'm still trying to wash the smell out of my clothes.)
One of the women who worked there, in the pig area, had just closed a pen door and tossed a dead piglet to the side. A few minutes later I walked out with Harrison in my arms. That SAME woman who had touched the dirty, dead piglet, came sauntering over to me jabbering in Liberian-English about how cute Harrison was. I smiled back to be polite and before I knew it she was trying to grab him from me. I held on tight determined not to let my bebe go to this lady who carries around dead pigs. She let go realizing I wasn't giving him up. So she grabbed his hands and his little cheeks saying, "Your white mommy no let go of you!" I held back a few gags and said, "Yup! Now if you'll excuse me. I have to go grab the Hand Sanitizer." That was the day Harrison had his first bath inside of the car with hand sanitizer.
We drove off back to the pool to relax and let the kids swim. Luke had a fun time swimming with Jared, Steven and Jonah, going in and out of the big pool, and the little pool with slides.
All in all it was a very fun, and eventful day to say in the least:)
~Meg and the Fam

Hospital Moments

The girls and I worked up on the Maternity Ward this afternoon doing baths and cord care. These Mothers have their babies so bundled up that they are sweating! If we don't cover them with the blanket afterwards the mom says, "The bebe is cold!" I want to tell them, "No..you live in Africa. You're baby is fine….trust me!" We also inquire how breast feeding is going, and if they have any questions or need any help. Here in Liberia they don't understand, "How is your baby breastfeeding?" You have to say, "How da Bebe suck?!" It is quite humorous. The mothers are appreciative and are eager to learn. One mom who had two children at home already, told the girls how much she learned and how she would do EVERYTHING they had taught her once she was home. She kept asking where we got the soap we were using, and the towels, and the wash cloths so she could go out and buy the EXACT same thing. We love hearing those words. It makes us feel like we are actually doing something worthwhile.
The staff nurses and ladies in the laundry department are getting used to us and also thank us for our service. I love it- it makes me smile! I have grown to love all my little friends at the hospital. I introduced all my kids to the administer of laundry, named Grace, and she insists they call her Auntie Grace. She has four children of her own also, one boy and three girls, so she probably feels a small connection with them.

Church with the Twins

Today getting ready for church took a little more strategy and time. We had to pack bottles, formula, burp rags, diapers, wipes, change of clothes…getting the idea? When we finally got to church, and sat down in the chapel, Hadleigh was snatched right out of my loving, protective arms! Every one adores the babies, and want their turns holding them. (All 20 that showed up today:p)
There was a woman sitting behind us who told us she used to own an orphanage. She expressed how it was obvious how attached we were to the twins and we NEED to adopt them. Sadly, she isn't the first person who has conveyed this to us. If there was a way, we would definitely make them a part of our family in a heart beat. But adoptions aren't open in Liberia, and another family has been sponsoring them in hopes of adopting them one day. So we wouldn't want to undermine that; no matter how much we have grown to love them.
~Meg

Shopping at Waterside

Woke up this morning to the sound of pouring rain. Not sure if my shopping excursion with Christina was going to be canceled. We were still on and she picked us and one other lady up at 9. We we went to look for material, to make a quilt and purses in the Waterside district. We didn't really understand the name until after our little adventure. But anyways, the material is called lapper. But the Liberians pronounce it Lappa. The colors and patterns can be bright and flamboyant, with all sorts of designs ranging from flowers to flashlights to babies in the womb.
It was hard picking out our fabric because there were several stores with SO many to choose from. It rained the whole time we were shopping, now I know why they name this district Waterside…the streets turn into rivers and the side walks disappeared. As we pressed ourselves against the store fronts trying to stay dry, many people tried to sell us rain boots. The funny thing is, it wouldn't have helped. The water was too deep, so it would have gushed into our shoes.
Trash and debris floated with the current down the street, cars stalled out, motorcycles waded through the water. It was quite humorous. After weaving our way in and out of the people standing under the awnings, trying not to get wet, we successfully bought our favorite materials and swam (not really) to the car.
Wet once again,
Kim

Our Friends

We have so many friends over here now, that it is going to be hard to say good-bye, so we have decided to extend our stay. I'm sure you will all understand and come to visit us! OK, just kidding, but we really have been blessed with many friendships in our short time here in Liberia. At a BBQ that we were invited to we met several families from the states. They have all made Liberia their home. Some have children that have grown up here and now live in the states, while others have small children between the ages of 3 months to 12 years. Talk about coming here to do humanitarian service for four months, it pales in comparison to living here since the 1970's or 80's. A concept that I can't quite wrap my mind around. A couple of these families are missionaries and were here during the war. They fled to the Ivory Coast with all the other refugee's and helped minister to them during this time. My friend Nancy wrote a book about her experiences during this time of unrest. It is a great book. A couple of the other families that we met had served on the Mercy Ships before deciding to live here in Liberia. All of these people are into humanitarian service and helping the Liberian people in some way. One man opened his dental practice over here. Another is helping to install solar panels. My friend Christina has employed several Liberian women to sew for her. They make beautiful bags, purses, and wallets out of recycled plastic (trash) and they sell them. She makes enough money to give her employees a salary, but there is nothing left over for herself. She does it to help these women earn a living and hopefully, a skill they will be able to use if she ever leaves. I am humbled by the things that my friends are doing. It is not for their gain, but they will tell you they are doing God's work.

Kim

~Babies Bath~

Last night Meg and GG fed Hattie and Harrison at midnight to see if they would sleep all through the night. It worked! They woke up around 8 am this morning. Hopefully they will sleep a lot today again!
Tonight we bathed them. The family who had them before us told us they love baths. But obviously we did something wrong because they cried and cried.
Hattie was screaming and didn't stop until she was in her jammies. Dad says that the slippery tub scared her and she didn't feel safe. My ears hurt for a while after that. I fed her and she finally fell asleep.
Harrison cried, but not as loud or long as Hattie. He likes his hair being washed..I think he thinks it feels good. When he was out we put really good smelling lotion on him and put him in his Footy Pajamas. We laid him next to Hattie in their crib. They look so alike now that Hattie's hair is out of her pony tails!

Nap Time!

Today Mom told all of us kids that the Twins need to learn how to put themselves back to sleep. And if they have been fed, played with and burped, and they start to get cranky, they should lay down for a nap. She said that they don't need to be coddled or picked up every time they make a noise. It is good for a baby to self soothe. This will teach them to sleep longer at night and not get up as often.
So today after we fed them and played with them, we laid them down for a nap. MC kept walking over to the crib every time they made a noise, and Mom would have to tell to, "leave them alone, they are fine, come back over here." It was pretty funny.
They napped for a good amount of time and were so much more happy when they woke up.
They kept falling asleep ALL day and we began to worry that they wouldn't be tired when it was there bed time and that they wouldn't sleep during the night. Our very experienced Mother once again shared her wisdom and said that well rested babies sleep better at night. So we were relieved that they were taking so many naps.
We have already learned so much and I bet we are going to learn much more.

-Golden Kids-

Church with our Babies

Last night the babies woke up at 1:00, 4:00, and 7:00. Meg and GG were awake when everyone got up to get ready for church. They looked exhausted! Dad told them they could stay home and catch up on thier sleep.
Some of our friends lent us a red 2001 Jeep Cherokee, that they aren't using, for the rest of our time in Liberia. It is going to come in handy since we were walking everywhere before!
In church all the people came over to us before Sunday School, touching and smiling at the twins. They asked if we were adopting them, and when we said no they told we should, "carry dem back to da States" which means bring, or take. They were all very grateful that we are caring for them. They would say, "Bless you!" or "Thank you!" when we explained the twins' situation.
All the ladies pinched their cheeks and tummies, talking to them in really fast Liberian English. It is getting easier to understand what they're saying.
It wasn't a hot day, and the weather was just right. But everyone kept telling us that, "Your bebe's are cold!". And would want to wrap them up in their thick fleece blankets. They were sweating a lot by the time church was over.
When we got home they zonked out and took a good nap.
For dinner we had two cooked chickens with baked carrots and potatoes in a broth. It was amazing!

*MC + Lawrence*

Soccer Boys...

BBWT- that stands for "Babies Born With Talent". Down the street from us there are about 20 boys who have put together a soccer team. We saw them playing one day on the street and jumped into their game, passing the ball with them. We noticed how flat their ball was, so we asked them to walk the last few paces with us to our apartment where we had a few really nice 'street soccer balls'. We donated one to their team and before you knew it they asked us to sponsor them! Oh boy, what did we get ourselves into. They said they needed jersey's, shoes, socks, and shin guards. We said that we couldn't make any promises but would see what we could do for them. I quickly e-mailed my friend Cheryl in the states and put in a request for some soccer jersey's.
The boys have been asking us to come watch them play. One day they came by our apartment and escorted us to one of their games against another neighborhood team. The field is a sand lot with high walls, some of which have barbed wire on top of them (and yes, they have already come to us once to get their ball repaired!). At one point in the game the ball got kicked over the wall into a residential yard. The man wouldn't give the boys their ball back. The boys and their coach pleaded with the man but to no avail. Finally, John climbed the wall and spoke to the man, who was old and crotchety, telling him that the ball was ours and that we gave it to the boys as a gift. The man finally relented, but for a fee. We had to pay him to get the ball back! I guess this has happened before, but instead of getting the ball back, the man just popped it. Our team won! They really are very good. Afterwards we surprised them by treating them to cookies.

First night with the Twins

Last night Hattie and Harrison woke up at 12:00, 2:00 and 4:30, crying and wanting to be fed. They shouldn't have gotten up the first time; MC stayed awake listening for the babies, and the moment one of them made a noise she rushed out of her room, swooped over their bed and grabbed them out! She burst through mine and Meg's door and flipped on the light urgently whispering, "The babies! They were crying! They are HUNGRY!" Meg and I tumbled out of bed half awake, and told her that our door was open and we didn't hear them crying. But since they were awake we fed them anyways.
I changed their diapers and Meg got their bottles ready and heated. We fed them and burped them, and before long they were back asleep. I swear the hours turned into minutes in between each feeding...I felt like a zombie. When it was time to wake up I felt nauseous and told Meg, "I don't even wanna get up! I want to sleep ALL day!"
-G.G.



This morning GG and I had to wake up at 5:50 to catch a ride at 6:30. This was TERRIBLE because we were both exhausted. I find that being a Mom is a lot harder than it looks. I felt like I was going to die when our alarm clock went off! I now have a great amount of respect for all you mothers out there!
GG and I were invited to go out to a place called RobertsPort with several of the fiends we have made here. It is about 2 hours away, and we had to pass through an immigration checkpoint. The officer flagged us down and asked for our passports so he could log them in his "book" that was inside the office. Minutes later he motioned for our driver to come over to him. We were all thinking "GREAT, they think our passports are fake and now we're going to get arrested." It turns out the office was locked, and he didn't have the key. So he gave us some Liberty (Liberian Dollars) and we were on our way. After almost three hours of driving we finally reached RobertsPort beach-our final destination. We had taken a wrong turn and drove an extra 45 minutes further into the heart of Africa. It was quite the little adventure.
The beach we hung out at all day was really nice. It was clean, secluded, and had neat land marks. We swam for a while, went on a walk down the beach, took lots of pictures and went through an old church that we came across. The weather graciously turned from gray, cloudy and rainy, to bright and sunny. We were all SO excited, that I guess we forgot to put sunscreen on when the sun came out.
We left around 3:30 and went out to dinner at The Sajj. Their food is so delicious. It's a good thing they don't serve lobster...because GG and I had that covered! We were burnt to a crisp and red like a beet! (At this point you are free to laugh) I think I'll open one back in Washington:) After dinner we all drove to our friends house that has a projector and huge screen, and watched the cartoon movie Tangled. It was a really fun day, except for when we got home and Mom saw our sunburns. We were locked away in our rooms with nothing but aloe vera and minimal clothing for the next two days. Not really. But Aloe was my new cell phone...always by my side!
~Meg

The Twins

Tonight was a very exciting night for our family! We are the new foster parents of 3 month old Liberian Twins- Hadleigh and Harrison. Their mother passed away three hours after child birth, and her brother (Stephen) is now responsible for their care. He is a wonderful man that has a two year old son, and is expecting another baby early August. The twin's father has four other children to take care of and doesn't want, or have the means to care for them. Having twins is a hardship here in Liberia because of the cost, especially since they are on formula.
Our family happily offered to help by watching them while his wife is going through her last month of pregnancy and birth. They are definitely going to have their hands full already. Another family had them before us, and the Uncle (Stephen) has been really involved in their lives. He visits them frequently, checking up on them, bringing formula and diapers. He wants what is best for the twins, which would be a life in the United States. A family from Texas is sponsoring him in hopes that when adoptions open up in this country, they will come over and get them. So they have been sending money to provide for Hattie and Harrison's food, clothing and diapers.
The twins aren't identical and have very different personalities. Hattie is more mellow and serious and doesn't mind being set down, while Harrison is more loud and likes to be held. He has a huge smile that makes you laugh!
They both talk and talk; jabbering away all throughout the day. They will sometimes wake up at night and you can hear them cooing and making noises. They aren't that fussy and only cry when they are hungry. We absolutely love them, and are going to have such a hard time parting with them. They are so precious and fun to have around.
We decided that Mom and Dad (Kim and John) are going to play the role of 'Grandparents' and let us kids take on the part of the parent. So that means waking up to feed them, changing them and bathing them. We will keep everyone updated on how things go!
~The Goldens~

Girls Day Out

Today we were picked up by the Sheppards, a family we recently met and clicked with. We had dinner with them last Sunday and had a great time getting to know them better. This family has lived here since the 1980's doing missionary work; they call Liberia their home. All five of their children have grown up here, but now live in the states, with the exception of their last son who is 15. He and Lawrence hit it off and played on the trampoline for hours. They also have a Liberian foster son who is 3 years old, and they are looking to adopt him when adoptions open back up. Their daughter in law to be has been here for the last 7 weeks visiting, and seeing the country where her fiance grew up. All of us girls love her and we get along well.
So, we got picked up around 1pm, dropped Luke off at their house to play, and went to "The Sajj" for lunch. It's a small little Indian restaurant off to the side of the road and kind of hidden from view. If you weren't shown where it was, you wouldn't be able to find it. The restaurant was built around some already existing trees. They have incorporated the trees into the overall design by carving images into them. We noticed from the past few times we've been here, that this is where the white people hang out. When I walked in I was like, "Whoa! White people!"
After lunch we drove down town to a little place called Bannesville. There is a large open-air market here where they sell lots of clothes, shoes, bags, belts and many other things. I saw a few brand names like "Gap" and "Ed Hardy" and "Ann Taylor". Many of the clothes were nice and have never been worn. There were rows and rows of little shops or cubicles that the sellers had for themselves. The lay out is hard to explain. One roof covered all of these makeshift shops. It was made out of corrugated tin and old bags; wooden posts held the whole thing up. The floor is just the dirt on the ground with some seashells mixed in. There were lots of puddles and mud from the recent rain. (But today we were lucky because it was hot and sunny.) Each person has their own little section where they are selling their merchandise. We didn't buy much, only a few things here and there. But seeing everything was the fun part. We wanted to take a picture in the beginning, but all the ladies saw our camera and kept asking to get their pictures with us. It was funny, and they like to see themselves in the picture frame, so we agreed.
One of the crazy stories for today was when we were walking down an isle and two girls were walking towards us with buckets on their heads. When we got closer we realized that there were monkey arms in it! The Liberians, supposedly, really like monkey meat, but I'm none too eager to try it myself. A boy in the market picked up an arm and pushed it towards me. I screamed and hit him hard in the arm. I didn't feel too bad about it ;)
When we were done shopping, we walked out the entrance and passed some women selling different food items under an umbrella. We heard that Kiane (Kai-ann) was really good and that we should try it. The ingredients are crushed up peanuts, cassava and sugar. Then you just pack it really hard together, and you have a little treat. It was pretty good! But then again what do I know? I have been deprived of good American sweets for 10 weeks now. (Haha!)
I know I will miss the Liberian food when I return home though.
~Meg

Happy Fourth!

We hope everyone at home had a great, and safe, fourth of July. We really missed being there, but we got to celebrate early with a few of our friends here.
On Saturday we drove out to ELWA for a B-B-Q lunch at the beach. It was hosted at
a families home who is living here full time and has two small little children. ELWA compound is a great place. Right by the beach, small paved roads, and safe. . . for the most part.
Every family that came contributed a dish, and we brought our spicy spaghetti, a dish that I learned to make from our cook. Meg made it today considering I was at AGC playing volleyball with the gigantic principal from Lighthouse Christian School. . . okay lets get back on track. The food was great; it was actually American! After eating, Meg and I played (more for me) volleyball with Jared, Matt, and Mark (the Med. students), and a second Matt we met at the party. Because the weather was warm and sunny we decided to go down the road a ways to where it is safe to swim. The Matt we met at the party has a big, heavy duty dirt bike and Meg asked if she could ride it (she has always loved motorcycles, but has never ridden one). Since there were no busy roads out there, with only the occasional car on it, Mom consented. Matt made Meg wear his helmet (it was huge on her and looked hilarious, shh. . . don't tell her I said that) and they drove about a minute down the road to the swimming spot.
When everyone else caught up we changed into our bathing suits, laid our towels out, and swam. Well, Dad the kids and I did, Mom and Meg laid on their towels in the sun. The weather is gradually getting cooler. It wasn't as hot as when we first came, and the water was a little chillier than before. But we all had a great time. Lawrence and his buddy Matt swam, threw the football and tried to do flips on the sand. Lawrence likes him a lot, and says he is, "the older brother I never had! Well…the brother YOU never gave me, Mom!" It was sad when it was time to go. The students were leaving to go back to school the next day, and we had grown close to all of them. So we got a picture with them and said our goodbyes.
- GG -