Some challenges with our projects

 We are buying a trash pickup vehicle for the city of Totota.  This is the one they want. Diesel powered with a three ton lifting and dumping capacity. The problem is we just can't directly buy it. The purchasing department in Ghana has to purchase it through one of our registered purchasing companies in Liberia who then have to purchase it from the actual store. The problem is that a few weeks ago they had 7 and now they're down to two. There is no new shipments for a few months. The city would really like the vehicle before the rainy season starts in one month. They have lots of old piles of trash to pick up.

We are also purchasing them twenty four sets of rain boots, shovels, raincoats and 12 wheelbarrows. 

5 years ago in Timor Leste we taught English classes. The couple after us did the same but no one has done it since then. A new senior missionary couple has started them up again. It's been hard there because of visa restrictions. Couples can only stay there for 30 days and then they have to leave. I'm not sure of the current arrangements.

Every 6 weeks missionaries go home and new ones come in. This is the new batch. They don't look totally disoriented because they have been to the mission training center in Ghana for a couple of weeks which gets them acclimated. The US missionaries that come directly from Provo mission Training Center are usually in shock for a few weeks because of the heat, time difference and culture shock.  The African missionaries are never in shock. Many times the mission provides better living conditions than the homes they left.  Often the African missionaries have their struggles when it's time to leave the mission.  

Every missionary transfer Cheryl and I present a PowerPoint presentation on the services and resources the church provides to the returning African missionaries.  It's an impressive list of opportunities available to them. They can enroll in online college through pathways at BYU almost for free. They can get grants for scholarships. Can get loans to start their own businesses.  There is counseling available. Those returning to West Africa which is most of them, will have a specialist assigned to them who makes contact before they leave their mission. This person makes sure that they have the opportunity to avail themselves of all of the services. They need to do this because in many of the countries they're returning to there are few opportunities and it's hard to be successful.  There were four African missionaries in this group. They are returning to Ghana, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zimbabwe.  On the other hand the missionaries returning to America are going to a land of opportunity that the African missionaries can't even fathom.

This is the front gate for the Pipeline school that we are remodeling. We have to build the schools like fortresses. The contractor raised the cement wall a couple of feet and put barbed wire all around. People are so poor they will even steal from schools.

Saturday was the worldwide Relief society celebration. Africa does it big. Lots of dancing, singing presentations and a march through the city.  The church transitions remarkably well to the African culture. The style changes but the meaning stays the same.

We are having a challenge with the hospital remodel in Buchanan, Liberia. When our contractor reinstalled the solar panels the solar system would not function. It's an old system with lots of worn out parts that needed preventative maintenance . Now the hospital has been dark for a couple of weeks. Hopefully we have it figured out and on Tuesday they will have light again.

Our project supplied them with a generator, it's just that they don't have enough money to buy enough fuel to keep it running all the time.  Sadly they have a lot of experience running the hospital without electricity and so it's not as bad as it could be.