Farewell Jeremy, welcome Andy.

I love being brought up to date with happenings on the Africa Mercy. Congratulations, Andy, on your recent appointment as Transport Manager, and well done for hanging on in there for 6 years, waiting for the position to come your way.

Photo below of the Africa Mercy Transport Department in Conakry, Guinea: Andy (standing) and Jeremy (outgoing manager, seated), with Mathieu in the black and blue shirt and Lamin in the blue t-shirt.

Photo below of Andy at my old desk. Funny thing is the office hasn't changed one bit since we left 18 months ago...

Photos courtesy of Andrew & Jodie Rothwell. Olly

More ship visitors

Earlier in December we received a visit from ship friends Murray and Candace, who stayed a few days with us en route from Guinea to Cape Town having just left left the Africa Mercy. 

It was lovely spending time with you, guys. Come stay again on your way back to Indiana. Olly

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all PeetBlog readers. 2012 wasn't the best of years for me personally: constant rain, no real summer to talk of, and no real job continuity or job security. Praise God though, that we have food, and a warm dry house, and health, and a generous welfare system, and honest cops, and free and helpful hospitals, and family close at hand, and a great church, and good friends all over the world. Olly

Book review: My Friend the Mercenary

I read this book a few months ago. James Brabazon, a British war correspondent, travelled with LURD rebel soldiers into Liberia twice - in 2002 and 2003 - as part of the battles to overthrow Taylor's government. He was accompanied by a South African mercenary, who acted as his bodyguard...

...an amazing story. You've got to read it. Olly

Happy Birthday Libby

I know this entry is late...but Libby was 8 on 22nd December. She continues to be a strong Liberian girl who is head and shoulders above the rest of her class mates. She's doing great in school and can read well and we're proud of her. Olly

TV show review: Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations: Liberia

I've finally tracked down Series 6, Episode 16 of Anthony Bourdain's TV show "No Reservations" on the Travel Chanel, about his trip to Liberia in 2010. Click here to watch it.

Mr Bourdain's blog entry about his trip to Liberia begins "I’ve been to what? Eighty, ninety countries? I’ve seen a lot of things. But no place has so utterly confounded me, intimidated, horrified, amazed, sickened, depressed, inspired, exhausted and shown me – with every passing hour – how wrong I was about everything I might have thought only an hour previous". Click here to read the full entry.

He spent time with my old boss, Dave Waines, who was one of the few aid workers to stay in Liberia for most of the war years. Click here (and open link in new tab) to watch Dave telling one of his stories on YouTube.

Mr Bourdain's comments reminded me of something a friend said, when she visited us in 2007 when we lived in Liberia. She was responsible for 17 countries on behalf of one of the UK's biggest aid agencies, and said Liberia was in the worst condition of any country she had ever visited.

Mama Liberia, we continue to pray for you every day. Olly

Book review: Chasing the Devil

I'm reading a brilliant book by the Daily Telegraph's Tim Butcher, about his journey on foot through Liberia in 2009, following in the footsteps of Graham Greene and his cousin in the 1930s.

If you are interested in Sierra Leone or Liberia, you MUST read this book. Olly