The Trapani's in Liberia

 We had a visitor from Church headquarters and also one from our area headquarters in Ghana that came out to look at some of the past projects. They're trying to determine if old completed humanitarian projects have been sustainable over several years.  We were out in the jungle for 3 days mostly on dirt roads. On the last day it poured rain. We were on muddy dirt roads and had a lot of pretty deep water crossings. It was fun. We were part of a three-car convoy so I didn't worry about getting lost or stuck. Luckily everyone made it through but sometimes the water was up to the bottom of our doors on our high profile four wheel drive Toyota pickup. All of the villages are organized with a formal leadership structure. There's usually a village Elder, a village leader, a head woman and other types of officers. They all have a gathering area. The villages are so rural that they have very little manufactured materials. This is where they all come together for their village meeti...

This is Brother John Dolo he is a member of the Harbell branch. We visited him in the hospital with the branch president. He works for the Firestone rubber company. As does everybody in the Harbell branch. While he was working he cut his finger. They were not able to save it so he lost it just above the knuckle. He was in the Firestone Rubber Company hospital. Firestone rubber provides the housing, the schools and the medical for all their employees. What was impressive about the hospital is that it was so much better than the public hospitals we have been visiting in Liberia. It actually had air conditioning in all the rooms and sheets on the bed.  It took us about two and a half hours to get home from church today. There was a political rally for one of the presidential candidates. The election is in about 3 or 4 weeks. The supporters were in trucks, vans, taxis and motorcycles. There were lots of supporters just walking along the street. The supporters were going both directions...

This Sunday we were at church at the Dolo's Town Branch. Since they do not have a keyboard or anyone capable of playing a keyboard they sing acapella. They always sing the hymns at about half speed so we spend a lot of time singing. We had the idea of getting a battery powered bluetooth speaker and then playing the music for the hymns through their smartphone. All was going well. The prelude music from the new speaker set a nice tone for the meeting. When it got time to actually sing the first hymn they did not use the speaker but sung acapella again. I spoke with them and I think they'll get it right next time. Few things ever go as you think they will here.  This is the church courtyard where they hold primary and relief society. The church is building a new building for the branch and so the landlord isn't doing much maintenance. Because there are large openings animals get in during the week and make the area pretty messy. Our project at Zappia public school is going we...

Went on a 10-day Safari in Kenya.  It was probably our best vacation ever. It seemed like we were on another planet. The animals were huge, close and very numerous. There were so many zebras. The giraffes are huge up close. We probably saw hundreds if not a thousand of them These are cape buffalo. They attack you if you bother them The hyenas are odd looking creatures. Their front legs are a lot longer than their back legs. They are pretty serious hunters. The leopards were beautiful. Their big problem is not getting eaten by the lions. These are the wilderbeasts. They hang around in large herds which gives them lots of protection. Still, because there are so many of them they are a significant source of food for the predators. The lions were so big. Some came within about seven or eight feet of our safari truck. Our guide seem not to care but I was worried because the truck is so open. The Rhinos like the hippos and the lions have no predators except for man.  A lot of effort...