Rice Crises - more support coming from China

On a one-day stopover in Beijing, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, en route to Japan, has secured additional Chinese support to combat the global increases in food prices. During discussions Sunday with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Zhang Yesui, President Johnson Sirleaf was informed that China will provide fertilizers, pesticides and seeds by July this year to help Liberia in its agriculture program. In addition, Mr. Zhang said Chinese agricultural experts will be sent to Liberia during the dry season to help teach Liberian farmers modern farming methods. As part of the short-term measures to avert the possible effects of a cutback in rice exports, the Chinese Foreign Ministry official said his Government has instructed the China Oil and Food Corporation to work with Liberia in helping the country secure more stockpiles of rice, says an Executive Mansion dispatch from Beijing. allafrica.com

Ex-Liberian Soldiers Storm Capitol Building

A group of former ex-Armed Forces of Liberia soldiers under the banner of "Unconstitutional Dissolved Armed Forces of Liberia" (UDAFOL) yesterday besieged the Capitol Building, the seat of the National Legislature demanding the immediate impeachment of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. The ex-soldiers numbering a little over three hundred men and women staged a peaceful march with a petition in which they called on the lawmakers to impeach the Liberian leader for what they called breach of the Liberian Constitution, in which the soldiers demanded that the lawmakers begin impeachment proceedings against President Johnson-Sirleaf for treason in accordance with Article 62 and 76a (5) respectively for violation of the Constitution of Liberia as regarding the AFL as the constitution provides. The group of soldiers who were escorted to the Capitol Building by officers of the Liberia National Police and UNMIL Police to register their concern reiterated their demand to some of the lawmakers who gathered to meet them. allafrica.com
I was there! I got stuck in the traffic jam on Monday caused by the protesters and riot police. The top gates of the Capital building were heavily guarded by Riot Police and UN soldiers, but the gates lower down the hill were completely unguarded and open - no wonder they were able to beseige the seat of government. Olly

More current coming

Today I toured what remains of the Bushrod Island Power Station, which until 1997 provided power to most of Liberia during the dry season (whilst the hydro-electric plant produced power in the rainy season). Little remains of the original engines or generators, but it was encouraging to see the installation of two 1.25 megawatt containerised generators which have recently been provided by Norway. Winston, my guide and employee of LEC of 14 years, told me that American funding was putting up power lines from Bong Mines Bridge to St Pauls River Bridge, and EU funding will shortly be doing the same to the New Bridge, so all of Bushrod Island will have access to electricity soon. Meanwhile, LEC is installing five more big containerised generators to supply current to the city and as far out as Payneville, which is extremely encouraging. Olly

Wiwi's new dress

Today we saw Musu's grandaughter, Wiwi, wearing one of Anna's old dresses. Photos of Wiwi (3), Liberia, 25th of May 2008, and Anna (4) South Africa, 7th of September 2005. Olly

Musu's stick house

Musu's stick house is slowly being constructed. There have been a few recent delays - some of the mats that make up the walls were stolen by neighbours last week, and Musu also decided to knock down the original structure and rebuilt it a little larger...so this will soon be her home, probably for the rest of her life. By Thursday (4 days from now) it will have a concrete floor, a corrugated iron roof, mat and tarpaulin walls, and windows and doors, and Musu and her family will have taken up residence. I hope. Olly

The last working traffic lights in Liberia

At many busy road junctions in Monrovia, there are the remains of traffic lights. In fact there is a neighbourhood actually called "Red Light", named after the traffic light that used to be there. But there is only one set of working lights in the whole of Monrovia (probably the whole of Liberia), pictured, which is located outside the Freeport gates. I'm not sure if the Port Authority or neighbouring City Builders provide electricity and maitenance. But I hate these light! Traffic flows so much better without them! Olly

Liberian Power Station

Here is a photo of a rare facility in Monrovia: a power station. Many homes and businesses get their electricity from this one in Randall Street. It simply consists of three or four medium sized generators which can supply its clients with a very limited amount of current. The air around it is thick with greasy black diesel fumes, and the skies around it are full of thin wires carrying current to customers, some of which are so low that trucks driving down the road often become entangled. The Liberian economy still relies on privately owned generators like this, but the Liberian Electricity Company is slowly installing power grids to small sections of the city which can provide more reliable and greater quantities of power via their huge generators. And the LEC grids are providing street lighting too. Olly

Movie Star!

This afternoon Libby became a movie star. She and her little Ghanaian friend Daniel were filmed saying "thank you for coming" into the camera. The footage will be used by the Swiss office in their promotional material. Olly

Crocs

Crocs are fantastic shoes when you live on a Mercy Ship in Liberia. They fit all the ship's health and safety requirements about having heels and closed toes. And they are great for wearing off-ship too, especially in the rainy season and at the beach. Trouble is, we can't find steel-toed Crocs anywhere. Olly

Going bald?

I'm sure that you are as shocked as I am at this photo of the top of my head. Can you see the receding hairline and the thinning hair? I'll be as bald as a coot by the time I return to the UK. Olly

Scrap dealers intensify campaign against illegal scrappers

A campaign launched by the Liberian Scrap Association to cortail illegal scrapping in the country has intensified with the association arresting several illegal scrappers in the country. Information available shows that some dishonest individuals have been in the habits of scrapping the manholes and other facilities in the country and these evil minded individuals have been caught by the association task force committee. A comprehensive investigation on the operation of the Liberian scrap industry and the imminent ban that the Government of Liberia intends to impose on the association has revealed that over 25,000 Liberians may likely be affected and subsequently put out of job if the ban is imposed. According to a recent survey there are over 2,000 Liberians who are regularly employed with the scrap association and another 15,000 who are casual workers with the association. allafrica.com

Sally's stalker

Sally has got a Liberian phone stalker. He first phone call woke us up at 12.40 am three nights ago, and he has since phoned about 30 times all through the day and night. Sally has saved the two phone numbers he uses as "Nightcaller" and "Idiot 2" so we know when he calls. This morning I had a nice chat with him, although I didn't understand him and he didn't understand me, but I enjoyed using up his phone credits. He's not phoned back since. Maybe that's the end of a beautiful relationship...Olly

Our new website address

We've changed our website address to a more snappy and memorable one, so you can now access these pages via www.peetfamily.org.uk. We hope this improves your ease of access. Olly

New container yard for Monrovia

From our cabin window (see photo) we can see the daily efforts of a team of bulldozers as they scrape out a huge new container terminal in Monrovia's Freeport, which will double the current capacity. Yesterday one of the workers told me that a contract had been awarded to a private company for the port's container handling, and furthermore the yard was going to be made of concrete,which is a massive and very expensive undertaking. This is a good step forward to improving the facilities to secure the "gateway" to the Liberian economy. Olly

Latest infant mortality rates

I heard a Ministry of Health spokesman on UNMIL radio yesterday saying that the mortality rate amongst children under 1 year old in Liberia has fallen from 117 per thousand to 73 per thousand since the new Government came into power in 2006. Good job, President Johnson Sirleaf and her team. May that trend continue. Olly

Blue Atlantic update

Over five months after she was seized by the French navy after being caught as sea smuggling $500 million worth of cocaine, the Blue Atlantic is still moored across the dock from us. Initially she was guarded by armed Nigerian and Nepalese soldiers, but now the disinterested Liberia National Police have taken over. Today, my good mate Josh and I had a guided tour of the ship courtesy of the LNP, and got to savour the delightful smell of rotting food and stinking freezers, five months after the generators were turned off. We saw plenty of cockroaches and even mice. It was quite eerie walking through the ransacked ghost ship, which is still in the condition that the French navy left it in after ripping it apart in their search for more drugs. Olly

Garbage skips in Monrovia

Hundreds of big yellow garbage slips have recently been deployed at nearly every street corner in Monrovia by an unknown NGO, which has several skip trucks which spend all day driving backwards and forward emptying them. Good job. We really appreciate the difference. Thank you, whoever you are, dear NGO. Olly

American Idol finals

This evening we watched the final of American Idol in our cabin. Anna cried herself to sleep because David Archuleta didn't win. You see, we are still perfectly sane and can still lead a resemblance of a normal life after nearly four years of living on a ship in Africa, honest. Photo of David Archuleta (left) and the winner, David Cook (right). Olly

Whoops

On Monday the driver of one of our Land Rovers left the road whilst swerving to avoid a little boy who ran out into his path. The Land Rover ended up on its side down an embankment, having first ploughed through several road signs causing extensive damage as per attached photo. Fortunately neither the driver or the boy were injured, and the damage to the Land Rover can be fixed. Olly

Francis

Francis is a brilliant young Liberian auto-electrician who I use every week to repair electrical faults on our older Land Rovers. His method of work is quite different from any other auto-electrician I have seen before - he actually climbs barefoot under the hood and squats over the engine or the battery compartment to do his work. He has no tools of his own, but he achieves great things. He must have a natural ability to find broken wires or blown fuses that would take anyone else hours to find. Despite his skill, due to the years of war in Liberia, he is completely illiterate and even struggles to sign his own name on receipts. Olly

Ex-Interim President Gyude Bryant's trial

Gyude Bryant, Liberia's former interim president, who is already facing corruption charges, was accused on Saturday of embezzling funds from the national oil company. According to the charge sheet, Bryant and four co-accused are alleged to have stolen $958,000 from Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company between March 2004 and January 2006. All five men have been released on bail, their lawyers said. Bryant was previously charged in February 2007 for allegedly taking one million dollars in bribes when he was interim president from October 2003 to January 2006, when Liberia was emerging from 14 years of civil war. Long suspended, his trial was resumed after the supreme court ruled that Bryant - who has denied the allegation - was ineligible for immunity as a former head of state, as he had been appointed under the Accra peace accord rather than the constitution. somalianet.com

Ex-President Charles Taylor's trial

Charles Taylor's former vice president and successor, Moses Blah, has testified that he never saw Taylor engage in cannibalism or heard him order his fighters to eat their slain enemies. In testimony at Taylor's war crimes trial, Blah refused to rule out, however, that Taylor ate human flesh or ordered his troops to do so. In March, a witness told the Special Court for Sierra Leone that Taylor ordered fighters in his National Patriotic Front of Liberia to eat their enemies as a way of striking terror into his opponents. Joseph Marzah, who described himself as Taylor's chief of operations and head of a death squad before Taylor became president, said African peacekeepers and even United Nations personnel were killed and eaten on the battlefield by Taylor's militiamen. He also said he had sat with Taylor as he ate a human liver. Blah, who said his own cousin was killed and cannibalised in 1985 by forces loyal to former Liberian dictator Samuel Doe, told judges that he had "never heard such an order from Mr Taylor" but he could not vouch for every second of Taylor's time. Taylor has pleaded not guilty to murder, rape, torture and enlisting child soldiers during Sierra Leone's 10-year civil war, which ended in 2002. He is accused of pulling the rebels' strings from his headquarters in Liberia's capital, Monrovia. The Press Assocation.
I met Moses Blah at his house in Coco Cola Community, outside Monrovia in 2006. Jolly nice chap actually. He wanted Mercy ships to dig a well for him in his back garden. Olly

A word from Anna

(At Wulki Farms) The chimps were cute. But I didn't want to hold them because they were a bit scary. Anna

2009

Last week we heard that the Africa Mercy will be spending its 2009 Field Service in French speaking Benin, which will be our family's second visit to that country - we were there with the Anastasis from November 2004 to March 2005. Liberia has so much been a part of us for the last four years that it will be a massive wrench finally leaving in December, but I have just heard about a Liberian refugee camp not far from where we will be docked in the port in Benin, where we hope to continue working with Liberians in 2009. So our blogspot will have to be re-named "The Peet Family formerly in Liberia, now in Benin" or something like that. Olly

Wulki Farm

Today we left the big city and drove out past the incredible Omega Tower (the highest man-made structure in Africa) into the beautiful Liberian countryside to visit Wulki Farms, owned by Benoni Urey. The farm is the nearest and only thing in Liberia anything like a zoo - with ponies and donkies, chimps (which were desperate to be held), rabbits, ostriches and crocodiles. The highlight of the day was seeing piglets being born. Libby was absolutely terrified of every animal and bird, no matter how large or small, and refused to come out of the car with the exception of when we got to the crocodile pens, which she said were "my fav'rite ones". A great day out, and a lovely chance to enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside. Photo of Sally and a chimp. Olly

Stolen manhole covers

Over the weekend, several manhole covers have been stolen from the main highway outside the Port, leaving 6 foot deep potholes for traffic to negotiate (which is not easy in the dark at high speed). Steeling manhole covers is an unfortunate by-product of extreme poverty. When they are eventually replaced, the new covers will be welded down to prevent their theft, which in turn makes it impossible to gain access to the sewer system...Olly

Aunty Barbara

A week ago, my father's 71 year old sister had a massive stroke and died in hospital in York. This sad event has increased our feeling of isolation from our families in the UK, and I am very sad to be missing the funeral tomorrow afternoon. Sally and I have both been very shaken by her death and feel very vulnerable right now. We are praying that God will restore our strength and focus quickly. Olly

Remember Musu?

Do you remember Musu? She is the lovely Liberian lady who used to help Sally cook and clean and look after the kids when we lived ashore in Liberia. She is 67, and has been a widow for nearly 30 years. She has given birth to 12 children, but only 5 remain alive today - the others have died of disease or were killed in the war. She lives in a one-bedroom mud-block house, 13 feet deep by 20 feet wide with her extended family of 11, with no toilet, running water, or electricity. At the end of this month she is being evicted from the house by the owner, who wants to live in it himself, so we are helping her to build her own house on some land she already owns. She has already paid for the construction of a frame out of sticks. Sally and I agreed today that we will pay for the corrugated steel roof, tarpaulin walls and cement floor. Once she is settled, we will encourage her family to make mud-blocks to build proper walls and a latrine, which can eventually be rendered with cement to make waterproof. After 18 years without her own toilet (and using the bush), we hope she will have one by the time we leave Liberia in December. The whole undertaking will cost about $800 (£400), and is by far the biggest undertaking we have committed to so far. Can you help? Olly.

Public transport gets worse

The battered yellow taxi is the most common form of public transport here in Monrovia. The whole economy revolves around taxis, since so few people have their own cars. Many people leave their homes at 5am just to make sure they can catch a taxi in the morning before the rush hour begins, when it can often take more than an hour to catch a taxi. And every evening I see people fighting others to get seats for the journey home. Traditionally, two passengers sit on the front passenger seat, and four sit across the back, but earlier this week the Liberian National Police decided that only one passenger should sit in the front (which I admit makes good road safety sense). But this means that the number of seats available in the public transport system has been reduced overnight by 16%, which means even earlier starts and longer delays and more fights for the public seeking transportation. And it is now even harder for much needed fresh produce to be bought to the market from the countryside, and the price of fresh produce in town has already gone up to reflect this. In the long term, the economy will suffer even more, and the city's children will continue to go hungry. Olly

Liberia's Olympic Team

Is it true that all the members of the Liberian Olympic Team live in the USA? Olly

Mayor or monkey, the exodus begins

I got an email today from an old friend: "Following the election of a monkey as Mayor of London, I have moved out of the capital...so nothing more to do with monkey land. Sorry, I meant London". Welcome Borris Johnson, Mayor of London! Olly

No more wunny baddits

Libby is growing up quickly. She now says bunny rabbits instead of wunny baddits, which is a shame. Olly

Maintaining sanity

Our latest attempt to remain sane involves watching American Idol on Thursday evenings on satellite TV. It seems, however, that God isn't allowing us to escape from the reality of Africa tonight, for the program is raising money for AIDS orphans here in Africa and the screen is full of images that we are all too familier with from first hand experience. Anna got quite upset watching the clips of berieved children until we reminded her that she is only a few hundred yards from children dying of AIDS, malaria and malnutrition, right here in Liberia, and we are doing all we can to help them. The program featured a commercial for Charity: Water, a charity run by our old Anastasis friend and crew-mate Scott Harrison, and finished with the American Idol contestents singing the Christian song "Shout to the Lord". Weird. Olly

Mary

Remember 16 year old Mary? She had surgery to unlocked her jaw nearly a year ago. It was her second surgery to unlock it - the previous surgery failed because she didn't do her exercises. And guess what - nearly a year on, the jaw is beginning to lock again, because she's not doing her exercises. We just had dinner with her, and she was trying to push her fish and chips through a very small opening indeed. Sally is trying to explain to her right now, as they bake Banana Bread together in the Crew Galley, what she must do to avoid her third surgery when the ship eventually returns to Liberia...Olly

30th April - Queens Day

Today we celebrated Queens Day with our Dutch crew mates. They all wore Orange, and painted the Dutch flag on their faces. They had a fair on the ship, where they sold cookies and bits and pieces, and off the ship they played weird (but traditional) Dutch games like Trouser Hanging and Land Rover Pulling (?). It was all very good fun, and it was great to watch ten little girls (including Anna and Libby) pulling a Land Rover the length of the dock. Olly

Caustic Soda Injuries

Dozens of children in West Africa accidentally drink from soft-drink bottles, not knowing that the contents are Caustic Soda (which is often used in the production of soap at home). The injuries they sustain often lead to a long and painful death. If they survive the immediate injury, they are unable to eat, and they survive by drinking milk or having a feeding tube installed, but remain very sick and undernourished. In recent years, several of these children have travelled to Europe or the USA, where they have undergone successful surgery to re-line the oesophagus with stomach lining. They change from living skeletons to normal children in a matter of months, and can eventually learn how to eat again. Praise God. Please pray for the Caustic Ingestion children of West Africa, especially Liberia. Olly

Garpo

Today we gave 5 year old Garpo and his aunt a ride into town. He'd been on the ship for plastic surgery to one of his feet, which had been badly burnt in a cooking accident some time ago, and is now heavily bandaged. He can walk with the aid of crutches, but today the poor little chap had no shoe for his other foot, and his aunt expected him to walk a long way on very hot roads, bare foot. So as he climbed out of our car to catch a taxi to his neighbourhood, Sally gave him Libby's flip-flops. It was the least we could do. Libby wasn't too happy about it, but we've promised to buy her some replacements soon, and she got to spend the rest of the afternoon being carried around on my back, which she was very happy about. Garpo will come back to the ship on Tuesday to have his dressings changed and see how his foot is healing. We hope to see him again then. Olly

The Freeport - three years on.

Three years ago, I took an almost identical photo of this one, only it showed the Mercy Ship Anastasis instead of the Africa Mercy. The port still remains unchanged since the war finished: the dock is still damaged from a mortar bomb explosion; the capsized Torm Alexandra still restricts commercial ship movements, and the warehouses are still dilapidated and leaking. And sadly, the port has been deserted for most of this last week. There has not been one commercial ship here for days. How can an economy hope to recover if it's "gateway" remains in such a condition? Click on photo to enlarge. Olly

Torm Alexandra update

The Torm Alexandra is actually floating! She remains at a crazy angle, with her aft submerged and her bow out of the water, but only her rudder is sitting in the mud. She is now moored loosely to bollards for when she actually floats free of her muddy resting place. The salvage team reckon she will be floating fully on Monday coming (but I remain less positive). Photo of the ship's forward mooring lines. Olly

Rice Crises Update: Liberian Government Links Rising Food Prices to Conflict Risk

A surge in rice prices in 1979 contributed to Liberia's descent into chaos, sparking riots and a political crisis that led to the coup that brought Samuel Doe to power. Now the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has identified Liberia as one of 37 countries facing a hunger crisis as a result of food price hikes. In the meantime, the Government of Liberia says it will tackle the escalating food crisis by securing access to commercial imports and appealing for international food aid. Opposition parties are also calling on the government to reduce the government tax on rice, currently US$2 per bag. A 50kg bag of rice that will feed a family of seven for two weeks currently costs US$34 - the average monthly salary for a security guard in Monrovia. The cost of a plate of traditional spicy dishes such as jollof rice at traditional restaurants has shot up to around US$2. People are increasingly turning to alternative staple foods such as cassava, yam, plantain and even imported spaghetti to lessen the impact on threadbare pockets.People say they are becoming increasingly worried that food price hikes could lead to instability and slow Liberia's progress. Aid agencies working in Monrovia say malnutrition rates are increasing. As poverty thresholds change, families are spending less on medical treatment, housing and education. "The guns are no longer firing in Liberia, but economic hardship is killing the citizens," said Spencer Page, a taxi driver. allafrica.com

Rice is life

Rice is the staple food of Liberians, who tend to eat only one main meal a day which consists of a massive bowl of rice with "soup" which contains the protein and oils. Rice is currently about $26 US dollars a sack, but is rumoured to be doubling in price when the next shipment arrives, which will make it impossible for most families to purchase (thats more than most families earn in a month). Currently 18% of Monrovian children are seriously malnourished, and if the rumour of the price increase of rice is true, many more will join them and the emergency feeding programs will have to re-open. Olly

Fatu

Here is a photo of Sally's 11 year old patient Fatu with her mum. She was born with a cleft palate, but her lip was OK. She is making wonderful progress after her operation and speech therapy, and when her aunties heard her improved speech this week they danced for joy. Olly

Another dead guy

Yesterday evening at dusk there was a lot of commotion on a beach inside the port. There was a large crowd, some UN Police, some Liberian Police, and three of the Port's divers who kept on climbing in and out of one of the half-submerged wrecks looking for something. Sure enough, at dawn this morning we could see the body of a drowned man lying on the beach - he had obviously been pulled out of the wreck last night and dragged to the beach. The body was removed after a few hours without ceremony. Olly

Pool open

When we lived ashore in Liberia we ordered a pool from th USA, which was shipped to us and arrived after we'd moved onto the Africa Mercy. So we donated the pool to the ship...and today it was opened to the families, before being opened to the rest of the crew tomorrow. The kids had a lovely hour, splashing and shouting in the chilly water (it still hasn't had time to warm up yet). Photo of Sally trying to look warm. Olly

Ban Ki-Moon

Tomorrow, Ban Ki-Moon of the Republic of Korea, the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, will be in Monrovia visiting his Special Representative and other UN leaders here, and Liberian leaders. Security is extremely tight, and for the first time in a long time today we had UN helicopter gun-ships flying over the city, just to let the Monrovians know of their presence. Olly

Odecious

Odecious is one of our Liberian drivers. He is a great guy and always full of humour and laughter. He works as many hours as possible to earn money to feed his extended family and to save up to buy a new engine for his taxi, which will become his only source of income once the ship leaves Liberia in December. Last Saturday his mobile phone fell out of his pocket and smashed. It will cost him two weeks wages to replace it, and a days wages just to buy a scratch-card for the new one. So sad. Olly

Nutritional "crises" in Monrovia

Moderate hunger has been endemic in the Liberian capital for years, but as the effects of soaring global food and fuel prices have doubled rice prices, the aid agency Action Against Hunger says thousands of city children are increasingly at risk of acute malnutrition. A February 2008 survey showed "extremely disturbing" results that indicated a "significant nutritional crisis" in the Liberian capital. ACF says 17.6 percent of city children weighed by its nutritionists are suffering from acute malnutrition. These figures surpass the 15 percent World Health Organization threshold that defines a nutritional crisis, ACF says, citing lack of health facilities, difficulties of access for the poor and deplorable states of hygiene and sanitation in many areas as contributing factors. Rising food prices are exacerbating the situation, estimating that Liberia is likely to be hit harder than its West African neighbours by rising global prices for rice and grains. The country imports 90 percent of its rice - the national staple - and in the last year, the price of a bag of rice has almost doubled. allafrica.com

Momo

Amadu Zwannah is an old friend of mine, who runs a back-street garage and paint shop in Clara Town, just across the bridge from downtown Monrovia. Together we have decided to run an auto-mechanic apprenticeship scheme for young Liberians – they will come to the ship after school for a couple of hours each day to learn auto mechanic skills, and continue their education from Zwannah when the ship leaves in late 2008. Our first apprentice is 16 year old Momo, and it is great watching him learn about servicing and repairing our Land Rovers and seeing his skills developing and his knowledge growing. I hope it will be of benefit to him in the future. Olly

Monrovia's suburbs

Some of the neighbourhoods surrounding Monrovia have brilliant names. Red Light, Battery Factory, Chicken Soup Factory, Coca-Cola Community, Smell-No Taste, Day Break Mouth Open and Chocolate City are just some of them. (Imagine living in Chocolate City...how very cool). Olly

Torm Alexandra update

The capsized ship Torm Alexandra is still not floating, but in the last day the salvage team has started pumping again, her bow has risen even further out of the water, her stern has sunk further into the water, and she now lists slightly to starboard. I really think something will happen in the next few days! (Have I been saying that for the last ten months?) Olly

Fatu

Sally's latest patient for Speech & Language Therapy is 11 year old Fatu from ELWA, who recently had surgery for a cleft palate. Until last week she was unable to pronounce consonants and her speech was unintelligible, but due to the exercises she has been working on with Sally in the last week or two, she is able to pronounce "p","b","d","t","d","k","g", "m" and "s". She is now a lot closer to being understood than before. She has a long way still to go, but is working very hard, and Sally is very pleased with her progress. Olly

P.E.

Have you ever wondered where Mercy Ship kids have their PE lessons? Here in Liberia they walk to the UN Fields at the end of the dock, which are probably the most secure playing fields in the world, where they play under the watchful eye of Nigerian and Nepalese soldiers surrounded by armoured cars and trucks. And the kids take it all for granted. The same fields are used in the evenings by crew playing frisbee and volleyball, and sometimes the Nepalese soldiers join in. Click on photo to enlarge (to see Anna on the right). Olly

Ceilidh time again

Last Saturday night we had another Ceilidh (Scottish dance) upon the dock. The highlight was real bagpipes played by Peter from Scotland - and he let me have a go. Despite trying to learn them for a year back in 1995, I couldn't get any sound out of them without wanting to fall over from lack of air...Olly

Our old house

We heard today from some guys that are staying in our old house (here in Monrovia) that a night-club has opened up next door which blasts out music until 5am. It is so loud that they need to sleep with ear-plugs. Praise the Lord that we don't live there any more. We are so sorry for John and Melinda and their guests. Olly

Joseph

This is Joseph, one of Sally's Speech & Language Therapy patients. He has had a cleft palate repair, and is now coming to Sally for therapy weekly, which is a huge commitment for a Liberian. He is making great progress and is now able to use his lips in his speech for the first time ever (he can now pronounce "Paynesville" where he comes from, and his last name). Sally is very proud of him, and he is very proud of himself. Olly

Amunckin update

Baby Amunckin is recovering well from his surgery. As you can tell from this photo taken by Sally two days ago, his post-operative swelling has gone down and he is looking great. He will need more surgeries which will most likely be done in the USA and not on the Mercy Ship, but in the meantime his is no longer at risk of catching infections through his gaping palate and is back with his Liberian foster family. And he can now use a bottle for feeding! Olly

High of the week

On Thursday evening I was part of a group from the Africa Mercy who attended a formal reception aboard the US Navy high-speed catamaran Swift, where we were given drinks on the helicopter deck and the opportunity to talk to officers from all four of the US Navy ships currently operating out of Monrovia. My friend Josh and I got talking to a very friendly and unassuming guy who turned out to be the Commodore of the whole group, and he invited us to tour the command ship, Fort McHenry...which we did as a family on Saturday. It was a great morning, and we were treated like royalty and were even invited to join the Captain and Commodore in the Officers Mess for brunch. Swift has already left Monrovia for Tema, Ghana, for more humanitarian supply work, whilst the rest of the task force are heading to Senegal tomorrow, to continue the program there. They will return to Monrovia in September, where I hope we will make more contacts and visit more US Navy ships. First photo of Fort McHenry as we approached her in a small launch. Second photo of Noah in the landing craft that was taking us back to the Africa Mercy. Olly

Low of the week

Another week has flown by. My lowest part was on Thursday, when I parked outside the Port gates and was beseiged by people needing medical attention. There was a man with a broken leg, and I explained that we had no spaces left for orthopedic surgery; there was a deaf man with a bad back, and I explained that we had no ear/nose/throat doctors or back doctors; and there was a man with a massive hernia in his groin - he couldn't even walk, and had paid every last penny he owned on transport to the ship, only to be told that we had no surgeons onboard who could repair his hernia. He begged me for the taxi fare home, which I gave him (it was only 20 pence). After three years in Liberia, I'm still affected by the utter dispair of the sick and injured. These people are too sick to earn a living, and will live off the support of their extended family until they get medical attention. Some of them will live in agony for years, and some will die. I can see the fear in their eyes as they think what is ahead of them. What to do? (as they say in Liberia). Olly

Supplies from the Americans

All day today, small US Navy boats have been bringing supplies into the Port from the big US Navy ships anchored out at sea. The supplies are quickly whisked away by big vans from the US Embassy. Click on image to enlarge. (Is that Heineken poking out of one of the bags? Again?). Olly

Special Court underway in Liberia for Sexual Violence

The Liberian government has created a special court to deal with not only rising rape cases, but also other forms of violence against women. During Liberia's 14 year civil conflict 850,000 people fled their homes and at least 270,000 were killed. During the war the rape of girls and women was widespread. Since peace was sealed in 2003, sex crimes - and impunity for them - have persisted throughout the country. Although a rape law was enacted in December 2005 which made rape a crime with a maximum of a life sentence for those found guilty, rape cases have continued to rise according to rights groups. Half of reported rape cases are attacks against teenage girls between the ages of 10 to15 years old according to government statistics. allafrica.com

Liberian refugees don't want to quit Ghana

Hundreds of Liberia's remaining refugees currently in camps in Ghana want to be resettled anywhere but Liberia. Dissatisfied with plans by the United Nations refugee agency to repatriate them, they recently staged daily demonstrations outside the gates of the main Buduburam Refugee Camp, about 30 minutes' drive from Ghana's capital Accra. Under the UN plans, they will be given $100 dollars and sent back to war-torn Liberia to start life all over again. The refugees are demanding $1,000 and resettlement in a third country, either in North America or Europe. Between October 2004 and June 2007, around 105,000 refugees were voluntarily repatriated to Liberia by the UNCHR. Some of them had been in countries such as Guinea, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Nigeria for up to 20 years. Now, the remainer are reluctant to move from Ghana ("the Jewel in the Crown of West Africa") to Liberia. afppress.com

Easter Saturday: Egg decoration

This morning the ship's kids decorated hard boiled eggs by dipping them in brightly coloured dye. Unfortunately their hands and clothes got dyed too, so now we have brightly decorated kids. Olly

US Task Force off-shore

USNS 2nd Lt. John P Bobo

USNS LCPL Roy M Wheat

USS Fort McHenry

HSV2 - Swift

USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo and USNS LCPL Roy M. Wheat have just arrived off the coast of Monrovia to participate in a "humanitarian aid distribution exercise" in conjunction with the US Embassy in Monrovia, the US Marines and USS Fort McHenry and HSV-2 Swift. Their launches come into the port daily, carrying lots of men in uniform, and before long I expect we'll see them carrying larger amounts of aid, if that is indeed the purpose of them being here. Last night I went on our ship's bridge to identify the four ships but only the two USNS ships were identified; the two warships remained completely unnoticed by our automatic ship identification system, I guess so they can move around the world without being challenged by maritime agencies or being targeted by anyone with hostile intent. Olly

Census time in Liberia

Liberians are being counted for the first time in decades. The Liberian government began its National Housing and Population Census yesterday, the first in 24 years. Nearly 10,000 census field staff have been employed, including enumerators, supervisors, inspectors, coordinators, monitors and trainers, who have been recruited from all over the country to carry out the 2008 national census. The field staff will knock on every door (assuming the houses have doors) of every household nationwide to get information from the residents. They will be asked to provide details of births (which could be tricky), deaths, possessions, land ownership (which is often impossible after ownership documents were lost or destroyed in the war, and is the subject of most court cases) and other properties. The field staffs are also required to note the number of residents in every household (again, tricky). Liberia conducted its last national census in 1984 and has depended since then on the statistics gathered by the United Nations agencies and other international organizations. The last census recorded Liberia's population at 2.5 million. It is more like 3 million now. Olly

Liberia: UN Soldiers & Police Raid Monrovia Ghetto

The Inquirer (Monrovia): The Liberia National Police (LNP) along with UN Soldiers has once again raided a notorious ghetto area popularly known as "Gblagba" on Center Street. Yesterday morning's raid on the hardened criminals who had perpetually used the area as a 'sacred hide-out' came as though the place were desecrated by security authorities. A police officer who is in charge of the area, Daniel N. Gueh, told The Inquirer that the criminals, ranging from drug addicts, prostitutes, gamblers, pick-pockets, and cell phone snatchers had inhabited the place for over five years. This latest demolition exercise carried out at Gblagba has left neighbors with mixed feelings, for fear of being attacked by the ferocious criminals who had threatened them on countless occasions before.

"Death threats" to witnesses against Liberia's Taylor

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Witnesses testifying in the war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor are receiving death threats, deterring them from speaking in open court, officials say. Three individuals once close to Taylor's regime and who will play a key role in linking him to atrocities in Sierra Leone had received threatening phone calls and letters, presumably from Taylor loyalists, chief prosecutor Stephen Rapp told Reuters.

Maundy Thursday

This evening we visited the ship's Queens Lounge which had been transformed into a beautifuly calm and reflective room complete with candles, where we shared communion between our family. Noah and Anna picked up on the mood very quickly and were quiet and well behaved, but Libby didn't quite get it and shouted out "I so hungry" when we ate the communion bread (which spoilt the atmosphere just a bit for the other people deep in prayer and reflection). Another area of focus in the Queens Lounge was footwashing, but we sensibly decided to keep the kids well clear of that. Olly

US manoeuvres continue

The US Navy's manoeuvres, kicked-off by the arrival of the HSV2 Swift earlier this week, continue with the arrival today of a proper-shaped war-ship which remains outside the Freeport but which sent in a launch and a landing-craft to pick up some soldiers (Marines perhaps?) from the dock where they were waiting with US Embassy staff (after some cloak-and-dagger operation ashore perhaps?). (Probably not!). The war-ship remains anchored off the coast tonight - perhaps we will see more of it's tenders tomorrow. It is really quite thrilling seeing these heavily armed boats roaring past our ship: our American crew get very excited (quite rightly) and the US sailors always wave back at us...Olly

UN Ghanaians replaced with Nigerians

The friendly Ghanaian soldiers who have been guarding the Freeport since before we arrived in 2005 have been replaced with Nigerian soldiers (who all seem a lot smaller in my opinion, although they are equally as motivated and well trained I am sure). The cocaine ship Blue Atlantic still lies at berth across the pier from us, and remains guarded by Nigerians and Nepalese. Olly

Photo of the Day...is me!

Olly Peet poses with the new Land Rover. Praise God for the generous donation! afm.mercyships.org

Just look at he state of my dirty jeans! Olly

Oh yeah...

...happy St Patricks Day by the way. Olly

How to use a toilet:

Click on image to enlarge. Olly

HSV2...again

Yesterday the Port spent hours moving ships around and clearing part of the dock, and building a huge wall of containers two-high, in preparation for the arrival of a visiting US Navy ship...and today who should arrive but HSV2 - the US Navy's High Speed Vessel Swift which we were berthed alongside in Tenerife just after Christmas. Of all the ships in the world, its funny that we keep on bumping into her. Despite all the hours of preparation by the Port here, she stayed for less than an hour and didn't even berth. Photo of HSW2 Swift. Olly

Report time again

Today is the kid's Report Card Day (again). The ship's Academy gives out reports SIX times a year, compared to once a year in UK schools. Olly

"Dock Time" - a poem by Grade 1

People are wiggling on the wiggle cars, giggling.
People are wobbling on rollerblades, falling.
People are riding bikes, talking, hair blowing.
People are running, sweating, zooming in Running Club.
Dizzy hips are spinning around and around with hula hoops.
The chalk is colourful and drawing pictures of yourself is fun.
People are flipping on scateboards, excited!
Robbers are running to get dizzy, smiling at the cops.
Girls are playing with baby dolls, crying, rocking, swinging to them.
Stars are twinkiling, it is time to go to bed.

A poem by Anna, Elijah, Joyce, Kaitlyn, Rick and Miss Elizabeth. Anna wrote the bit in italics. Olly

Fan belt fun

Today the fan belt broke on the vehicle I was driving. Would you believe it, even though today is a public holiday and all the shops are closed, I stopped outside a workshop that was open and half a dozen men leapt at the possibility of work as I opened to hood to have a look...twenty minutes later they had fitted a brand new fan belt, for $15 including labour. What wonderful service. Photo of a fan belt. Olly

Appalling childbirth statistics

Ladies living in Western Europe face a 1 in 47,600 chance that they will die during childbirth. Ladies living in West Africa face a 1 in 12 chance that they will die in childbirth, and ladies living in Liberia face a 1 in 6 chance. Wow. Olly

Baby Amunckin Part 5

Today baby Amunckin was discharged from the hospital as his healing is going so well. His nanny Kebe from the orphanage has done a great job of keeping his wounds clean. He will return for out-patient appointments to have his dressings changed twice a week and will hopefully soon be travelling to the States to be united with his parents, who can't wait for the newest addition to their family. William, as he will then be known, will continue his surgeries in the States. The photo is of Kebe with her two Acres of Hope "babies"-Libby and Amunckin. Sally.

I'm a millionaire (or am I?)

I just received this email: "On behalf of the Trustees and Executor of the estate of Late Mr Edwin Gabriel...I wish to notify you that the late Mr Edwin Gabriel made you a beneficiary to his WILL. He left the sum of Five Million One Hundred Thousand Dollars (USD $5,100.000) to you in the codicil and last testament to his will." Of course its utter rubbish. I get this junk almost daily. Does anyone else out there? Olly

Ex-UN staff demonstrate

Today I received this text message: "All be advised that due to downsizing by UNMIL, ex-workers are demonstrating around Starbase and moving towards the city and have commited acts of violence towards UNMIL property and staff". Sure enough, one of our drivers reported that demonstrators were lining one side of the road outside Starbase (cool name for a logistics base, eh?) and on the other side of the road police in full riot gear with tear-gas, backed up by armed UN troops were standing by. So this is how recently made redundant UN staff hope to get their jobs back, is it? Olly

Decoration Day

Tomorrow is Decoration Day, when Liberians clean and decorate the graves of their ancestors and remember their dead. Last year we lived very close to Back Road Cemetery, where dozens of people were selling whitewash and brushes, plastic flowers and wreathes. Inside the cemetery was a hive of activity, with people painting graves and tombs and clearing undergrowth and garbage. Pictured is a guy who whitewashes tombs for 50 LD (about 50p or $1) each. Olly

Baby Amunckin Part 4

Sally, Noah, Anna and Libby spent some time today with Kebe and baby Amunckin on the ward, 24 hours since his surgery. Sally says he looks great, with only band-aids over his stitches (not heavy bandages) and his face looks fabulous. He was awake and looking around and was quite comfy. Olly

An honest living

Opposite the ship is the remains of a conveyor-belt gantry that was used for loading iron ore pellets into ships in the 1970s and 1980s, but was abandoned in 1990 when the war started. Today I noticed a guy high above the water tying sacks of polystyrene to a steal beam, so that he can then unbolt the beam from the gantry and drop it into the sea, where it will float and his friends will swim with it to shore before selling it. If he fell he would be splattered on the steal pier below for sure. Click on photo to enlarge and see the crazy guy. Olly

Baby Amunckin Part 3

Baby Amunckin had his operation this morning to put his face together. It looks like it was succesful - Dr Gary did a great job and he now has a top lip and gums where they should be. Olly

Hair

Libby had her hair braided today by Kebe, baby Amunckin's carer whilst he was having his operation. Olly

Baby Amunckin Part 2

Baby Amunckin and his carer arrived on the ship today for his first round of corrective surgery tomorrow. Olly

Sunday 9th March

Today we had a most splendid day. We left the ship early, and drove with our friends Paul & Jodie and their daughter Aly (3) for an hour out of town, right past the airport to where the road runs out. Then we climbed into dug-out canoes and were taken down the tidal river to a beautiful beach (6° 08’12.68N 10° 22’ 30.98”W if you’re asking) where we swam and relaxed for an hour before continuing onwards by canoe to visit the chimpanzees of Liberia Institute for Biomedical Research on their remote island. These chimps have a ferocious reputation, but they looked very peaceful as we canoed just off their island and threw them fruit and bread, until one of them threw two fist size rocks with incredible force and accuracy at one of our canoes…we made a hasty retreat back to our beach, where we swam and relaxed again before heading for home. Many of our Lebanese friends have chosen this area for their weekend retreats, and the river has a few fine houses along its banks with patios and boathouses and their motor boats spent the day carrying them out to sea and back for fishing. A great day out. Thank you Paul & Jodie. Olly

Cool photo

Here's a cool photo I found on the ship's Intranet, taken a year ago when the Anastasis arrived in Monrovia from Ghana and we were waiting on the dock. Olly

Tooth number two

Last night Anna lost her second tooth in the Dining Room whilst eating a mango. She did a weird high-pitched squeeking for about two minutes when she saw the tiny amount of blood, but then went quiet at the thought of $1 from the tooth-fairy. Olly

Preaching at the Ministry of Transport

This morning whilst I was at the Vehicle Licencing Section at the Ministry of Transport offices, a local Pastor came in and started preaching to the staff. None of them stopped what they were doing, but he continued anyway. He read a few Bible versus, sang a song, took up an offering for God's work, blessed the workers and then went on to the next office. Huh. olly

Lamin

This is Lamin Turay from Sierra Leone, who along with his brother Moses are our vehicle mechanics. They do some excellent work of a very high standard. Lovely photo of Lamin taken off the "photo of the day" on the ship's intranet. Olly

Another new Land Rover

Thanks to the generosity of one of Mercy Ships' biggest supporters in the UK, today we took delivery of a brand new 9 seater Land Rover which brings our fleet up to 28, 19 of which are Land Rovers. Just the small task of getting the vehicle registerred here in Liberia remains before we can use it. Olly

Emmanuel's new eye

During the war, Emmanuel (one of our drivers) lost his eyesight in his left eye when a rebel's bullet sprayed fragments of concrete into his face. Our eye doctors removed the damaged eye last outreach, but Emmanuel has had to wear sunglasses ever since to hide the empty eye socket. Today he was very happy to be given a new artificial eye, which matches his other eye perfectly. Now he can leave his sunglasses at home. This is what Mercy Ships is all about - making people whole again. Olly

Baby Amunckin

Today Sally organised for Patty from Acres of Hope to bring a baby with a bilateral cleft palate to the ship to see if Dr Gary could correct it. Patty showed me the baby on the dock - I have never seen such a massive cleft before, and even Dr Gary has only seen about 20 in his 25 years as a maxfax surgeon. As I drove away I realised that nowadays I take seeing babies with such things in my stride, whereas years ago I would have been traumatised for days after seeing the baby. He has a lovely smile and a very sweet nature too, says Sally. Please pray that we can admit him soon and that his surgery will be succesful. Olly

Who ate our dog?

When we lived ashore in Liberia we had a guard-dog called Yoda, who we gave away when we moved onto the Africa Mercy. A reliable source recently told us that Yoda was killed and eaten by some Liberian security guards, because he didn’t bark. Huh. Olly

11am at ELWA Campus

Anna and local kids at ELWA Campus this morning. They were shown the kid's version of the Jesus Film, which was a big hit. Olly

10am at ELWA Campus

Walking to church at ELWA with our friends the Dunsheath family. Olly

7am at ELWA Campus

Our good friend Mambu was baptised in the sea at ELWA early this morning, and Sally and Noah went to be part of the event. Here he is seconds before being fully immersed. Olly

John Doe washes up on ELWA Campus

Last Sunday the 8 year old son of our good friends the Dunsheaths stumbled across the body of a man on the beach outside their house on the ELWA Campus, where we spend a great deal of our time each weekend. In true Liberian fashion, no-one panicked and the body was eventually hauled from the beach to the nearest road, where it was left for two days before it was removed. I guess the Liberian people are still familiar with the site of bodies after so many years of war, and even though the war finished in 2003, 2008 is just another year where people still die in Liberia. Olly

Goodbye Captain Jurryan

Since early 2005, Jurryan Schutte from Holland has been our Captain on the Anastasis and Africa Mercy. We have spent three field-services with him in Liberia, and sailed to South Africa, Ghana and Tenerife with him. He is the best Captain we have ever known, has a great sense of humour, and is an amazing man of God. He is leaving the ship tomorrow after serving in Mercy Ships for three years constantly, and we will miss him. Here he is in full dress uniform on the day President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia came to visit the ship. Olly