Just another day in Monrovia

Well, my plan to update more frequently did not work out… I’m trying to blog as much as I can so I don’t get too behind. On Saturday Feb. 23 I walked to a large market with some friends. We were exhausted at the end of the day, but we all agreed it was such a great day of experiencing Africa. On the way to the market we met an amazing lady named Mary. She was blind and just walking along side the busy street. There are no sidewalks here really, so when walking you might be on some dirt at the edge of the road and sometimes you have to step onto the road a little to get by. There is unlevel ground, huge puddles (some of which contain sewage), open man-holes…I can’t imagine navigating that as a blind person with only a rolled up umbrella to survey the ground in front of me. Actually, I don’t know if I would have noticed her if my friend on the Mercy Ships eye team had not spotted her and started talking to her. Unfortunately, my friend didn’t feel like there was a surgery to help Mary, but we offered to walk with her because she was going to the same market we were. I am learning so much…a lot of it from the Liberian people but also from those I get to work with. I’m still not completely comfortable walking the streets of Monrovia, so I tend to be very focused on myself and where I am going. I was really struck by the compassion of my friend and her ability to notice someone who needed help and her courage to offer it; Even just a helping hand to guide her along was so much more than she is used to receiving. Turns out she goes to the market every day and sings so people will give her money. Along the way we stopped to sit down for a few minutes and Mary gave us a pre-view of her singing. It was really great and actually drew a small crowd. I inconspicuously took a short video that I will post…not to exploit Mary in any way, but just to demonstrate a once in a lifetime event for me that is a daily reality for her…kind of unbelievable to an average American. It’s so hard to fathom all that we have access to in our country. I think for Mary it is a lonely and dark world…except that she is able to sing about Jesus and has Him in her heart. When we got to the market, Mary went on to walk along the street singing for any who would listen. There were tons of people around and lots of activity. A common item sold is beautiful, colorful fabric, so I bought some to have a skirt made. Then we went up a hill to the Ducor Hotel. It used to be a 5-star hotel prior to the war starting in 1980. People lived there for a while after the war and now it is completely run-down. We ran into some boys along the way who treated us like movie-stars. I think the state of the hotel is a symbol for what has happened in all of Liberia. From there, we could see all the way to the port where the ship was. The pictures posted were taken with the highest possible zoom on my camera. We took a taxi back to the port because we were so tired.