Another hospital is improved

This was a handover ceremony for the project we had at Tubmanburg Hospital. This is a rural hospital that is run by the government and provides medical care free of charge. It was in pretty poor condition. We replaced a lot of the roof, a lot of the floor tiles, doors and windows. We purchased a lot of beds cribs mattresses and all sorts of medical equipment. A lot of the contractors and local church leaders are in this picture.

They always have some sort of ribbon cutting as part of the handover ceremony. Cheryl always seems to be the official ribbon cutter.

Here is some of the medical equipment that we donated. We always try and put a sticker with the name of the church on the equipment so when the church comes back in a few years and audits the effectiveness of the program they can identify which pieces of equipment were donated by the church.

We had another finishing ceremony this week. All of the women on the right of the picture are single mothers with a baby. This program teaches them an employable skill so that they will be able to support themselves.  This is a program that we funded through the Catholic Church charity organization. They handled all of the work we only had to pay for the program and show up at the graduation.

One or both of us always have to speak at these ceremonies. I think the Liberians understand my English about as well as I understand theirs, so I'm not so sure how much of what I said was clear.

They were trained in cosmetology, baking, decorating, tailoring, soap making and reselling. Each student gets a starter kit. This one is for the baking class. It also includes a small oven. They are about 100 involved in this program. It's also coupled with the Ministry of Health that teaches the women good health practices for their baby which also includes giving them immunizations.

We were invited to the graduating ceremony of "the gathering" program. This is a Church program that's only in West Africa that teaches young adults employable skills. This gathering taught soap making, computer class, tailoring and catering.

This is a picture of the graduates marching in. Africans are always happy and they love to dance.

This is some of their trades. In the front are various types of soaps they made. Behind are things that the decorating class created.

The church provided 15 laptop computers for the computer class. Because theft is such a problem they have to store them in a large safe.

Out of 195 countries in the world Liberia is ranked number eight from the bottom in economic prosperity.  The sad thing is in the last few years things have stagnated with no improvement. These young adults are so full of hope of raising and providing for a family. You feel so bad that things are so hard here.

Aside from the gathering program the church provides a lot of scholarships in agriculture. They also provide small loans to start businesses. The church also does lots of farming supplement programs for the members. This is all in addition to the regular fast offering program where the church provides for basic food and shelter needs. There is a great love for the Liberians shown by the members of the church throughout the world.