July 11th. - A Visit with a Youthful Amputee. As a young teenager John was a star soccer player.  He had great hopes or playing with the Liberian National soccer Team. Unfortunately, five years ago he was riding on the back of a pickup truck which turned over in an accident. John’s right leg had to be amputated. For many months he just sat in his father’s living room and hardly talked.  I met with him several times and counseled him that he had a bright future if he would accept his new physical reality and prepare for the future.  He didn’t want to go to school because he said that students would say he was a rebel child soldier who lost his leg in the war.  Eventually he agreed to complete his high school education and is now enrolled in the Catholic Stella Maris University.  His current problem is that he needs to rent a room near the university. He needs a room in a house with an indoor toilet and shower because once he takes off his prosthetic leg he is afraid he will fall if he has to use an outdoor facility.  He found a room for $15. The owner of the house asked for a full year’s rent in advance.  It put a small hole in my budget but without a university education John would not have much of a future.

July 13th 9:00 AM - Mass at St. Mukassa Church.  One of the outstations of St. Mulumba is St. Mukassa.  The church a temporary one, It measures about 25 feet by 25 feet and can hold about fifty people.  The roof is made of zinc and the walls of cement blocks which are just placed on top of one another without cement.  It has no doors or windows so the parishioners carry benches on their heads from their homes.  Just as I started Mass a torrential downpour began.  When the roof started dripping on the altar two men casually arose and moved the altar to a dry spot.  After the Gospel and as I began to preach the downpour increased in intensify.  Those six feet away could not hear a word I was saying.  God and his rain won out and we all sat for a short silent mediation on the scripture readings.  Bit by bit the parish will develop and in a few years a permanent parish will emerge with its own full time pastor.

July 13th - A Young Girl’s Plight. At St. Mukassa I met Lisa, a 16 year old girl in the 9th grade. I have known her and her family for more than ten years. She was accompanied by her 18 year old brother, Robert.  When Lisa saw me she ran to me and threw her arms around me. As we walked around the church and to the nearby Atlantic Ocean with Lisa and her brother, Lisa continued to grasp my hand.  Lisa is slim and has that beautiful smooth and unblemished skin which adorns her youth. Innocence could not have a sweeter face. Later, her brother confided in me that while I was in the USA Lisa had an abortion.  She was living with her widowed mother who spent the day in the market selling produce to earn money to provide for the daily food for Lisa and her two younger brothers.  Unfortunately, young girls are often exploited by older boys and even some mature men.  It broke my heart when I learned this because Lisa still looks young, charming and innocent.
To resolve the problem Lisa’s brother decided not to return to school in September so he can support his sister.  She now lives in a single room with her brother. It is far from an ideal environment for either of them but Robert can at least offer some protection.  All Lisa asked of me was money for her school uniform and some copy books to take notes at school.  I had already been paying her tuition. The total expense for tuition, uniforms and copy books will be about $150 per year.
It is difficult to know what to do in such a situation. Scolding, harshness and threatening the wrath of God is not the solution. Listening, compassion, and counseling seem to be more in line with Gospel teachings.  There is no easy solution. I hope to put her in touch with mature young women who can advise her. In the meantime I hope she will be able to go back to school and finish her education without any further harassment.

July 14th. - A visit with a young man who has AIDS.  Michael, a young man of 22 and someone I have known for over ten years was recently diagnosed as being HIV positive.  When he delivered the news to me he broke down in uncontrolled sobbing.  He had plans to go to college and be a civil engineer.  He was depressed.  He didn’t want his family and friends to know. Yet one had only to look at him to see that he was seriously ill.  He complained that the drugs he was receiving were making him more ill. He was not regular in taking his medicines until one of his friends convinced him to take his medicines on schedule. I mentioned that Magic Johnson, an American superstar basketball player has been HIV positive for over ten years and is still strong.  I told Michael that one day a cure for AIDS will be found and he may still be around to receive it if he takes his medicines and follows the directions of his medical team. I also assured him that God loves him and that God will be with him in a special way during these difficult times. I promised to visit him and help him with some of his needs such as a small portable radio and a CD player to help him in the lonely parts of his day.  Unfortunately, in my estimation there is not enough health and AIDS education in our schools. I don’t think our Catholic schools pay enough attention to this serious moral and health issue. 

July 14th - Sometimes I Just Get Weary. My missionary work in Liberia has two major facets. One is to try to preach and bear witness to the Gospel - to try to offer the Sacramental life of the Church to those who are open to hear it.  The other part is trying to show the compassion of Christ by working with people whose problems are overlooked by society. Day after day I listen to young people with real problems and who see no solution to their problems. Sometimes I can help. Other times the solution is beyond my control. Living without electricity or running water - eating dried fish and rice almost every day, driving on huge pot holed roads really doesn’t bother me. But to see people suffer from dire hunger, parents unable to send their children to school or be unable to respond to individual cases such as recorded in this journal is the most frustrating and downside part of missionary work. At times I just get weary when I am seemingly overwhelmed by problems. Yet, I can help in many cases. I am very grateful to family and friends which provide me with the means to meet some of the most pressing needs of the poorest of God’s people.

July 15th - Daily Mass.    At St. Mulumba parish about a dozen men and women attend daily Mass. One woman, Tannin walks three miles.  She is there even on the rainiest day. She and the other women sing with gusto and drown out any male singers. All who attend are women and men of deep faith. They just want to begin every day, rain or shine by praising God.  It is inspiring for me to be with people of such deep and lively faith.

July 16th - A Youth with TB. Wilfred is a 22 year old young man. He has been orphaned since the age of two. He was raised by his grandmother.  I have known him for over ten years.  First, when he attended school in Cape Palmas and later when he went to Monrovia to continue his education.  After a persistent cough refused to leave him an x ray indicated that he had TB.  TB is on the rise in Africa and is one of the three top killers along with malaria and AIDS.  Powerful drugs can arrest TB.  After initial treatment one small tablet has to be taken every day.  Experience has taught health practitioners that patients often forget to take their medicine. When this happens TB often returns in a much more virulent form so Wilfred goes to the TB clinic every day and then on to his classes in computer science at Stella Maris University.

July 15th. - Meeting New Economic Realities. Before leaving the USA I saw $4.00 a gallon gas prices and the effect it is having on the US economy.  Here in southeastern Liberia most of our goods are imported from Monrovia. Diesel fuel for the pickup is $7.00 a gallon and gasoline for the generator and Yamaha motorcycle is $8.00. To save money we cut the use of the generators from three hours a day to one and a half. We also cut the use of our vehicles by 25%.  Even with these cuts our fuel bill is much higher than earlier this year.
What hits most Liberians is the big jump in food prices.  A 100 lb bag of rice cost $35 in January.  Now it is $60.  Rice is the daily staple here.  A four ounce small loaf of bread cost 10 cents in January. It is now 20 cents. Other food items have similar increases.

July 15th - Schools Rise Fees. School fees have been raised an average of $15 per year. It doesn’t seem much but last year I was able to help 197 students here in the Cape Palmas area and 33 in Monrovia.  It is still a bargain. Annual elementary school fees at Our Lady of Fatima are $60 while at the high school level they are $80. The total bill this year will be more than $2000 over last year. As much as I don’t like it the raise is justified. Schools as well as families face the increase in fuel, for and other prices.

July 15th - A Student Says Thank You. Liberian youth will choose a chance for education over almost any other goal.  They are grateful for the chance to go to school. Every once in a while a student will write a spontaneous note of thanks.  One student recently wrote: “Dear Fr. Hayden: I am very much happy and grateful to you and the Society of African Missions for the kind support thus far. When I retrospect where you took me from grade 4, and now where I am promoted to the 12th grade. Now, I feel that words alone are quite insufficient to express my thanks.  I mean you came into my life when I was orphan and needed some great support to continue my endeavor of acquiring quality education. Though I have strong desire to exceed higher heights I will never forget you.  But deep down in the silence of my heart I hope and pray that God will infinitely bless you to help us, Liberian, more and more.  Thanks.  T Sieh.
The student has been consistently the top student in his class.  He is trying to decide whether he will become a civil engineer or a priest.  He lives with his grandmother.  It is through the generosity of SMA and many family members and friends that I am able to help students such as Sieh. So, to these people I say: “many, many thanks”

July 16th - The Wake and Funeral of Msgr Frank Nyaleh. After a brief illness related to diabetes Msgr. Frank Nyaleh died at the Catholic Hospital in Monrovia. His body was taken by a Toyota Land Cruiser to Cape Palmas.  On the way there were wakes at Zwedru where was pastor and in Pleebo where he served for four years.
Wakes for Catholics in Liberia are conducted in the church. They are long events consisting of the rosary, hymns, tributes and Mass.  Tributes are interesting. Church organizations, family members and friends pay verbal or sung testimonies to the deceased.
The first group to give testimony was the Catholic Women Organization. About fifty women dressed in blue tie dye ankle length skirts and long sleeved white blouses approached the coffin from the back of the church singing “Franko, we love you (Franko is the nick name everyone used when referring to Msgr Nyaleh), Franko, we will miss you, Franko, why did you leave us so soon? Franko, now you are in your true home, Franko, pray for us.” While continuing to sing they laid a wreath at the front of the open casket.
Another mourner approached the casket and said: "Fr. Frank, I have come to rake the leaves. He went on to say that when he was a student at St. Francis high school Fr. Frank had given him a small contract to cut the grass and rake the leaves around the church.  He cut the grass and then sat down to rest.  Fr. Frank asked him why he was sitting down. When he said he wanted to rest Fr. Frank took the rake and started raking the grass and leaves.  The student pleaded with Fr. Frank to let him do the raking. Fr. Frank dismissed him and told him to go home for the day.  Fr. Frank finished the raking.  The incident happened over ten years ago and finally the former student came to tell Fr. Frank in the coffin: Fr. Frank, I have come to rake the leaves.”
More than fifteen groups and individuals paid tribute through songs, dances and narratives. All thee ceremonies were followed by Mass with homily.  No one seemed to be concerned that the whole wake service lasted more than three hours.
The following morning the funeral ceremonies and Mass marked the final farewell of Msgr. Nyaleh who served the Diocese of Cape Palmas for 22 years as a priest.

July 17th - A special story about Liberia’s President.  A high school student related a story that happened while I was in the USA. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is now 70 years old. She is a Harvard trained economist, a former Vice-president of City Bank based in Kenya, and the head of the UNDP (United Nations Development Program). In the latter position she was the highest ranked female in the UN.  She travels the country moving even into the remotest villages. At one village the tribal elders met her.  The men dressed in traditional gowns were in the meeting house. The women were outside sitting on the ground waiting for news of the discussions. The president with her wining smile warmly greeted each elder. The president then stated: I am a woman so I will go out and take my place with the women. Then she left the meeting house, went out and sat down with the women.  Consternation broke out. The meeting was adjusted to include women.  It will be a long time before rural meetings will be for men only.  I couldn’t think of a better way to get her message across that Liberia has to be an inclusive society.

July 18th - A Difficult Decision-No New Students for the Scholarship Program. The increase in school fees has pushed the SMA scholarship program to its limits.  It is going to be a real struggle to continue with all the students in the program. Reluctantly it has been decided that it will not be possible to take new students.

July 21st. - A Mother’s Plea.  At around eight in the morning a woman came to the door. I invited her in.  She told me that she had started her eleven mile walk from Cape Palmas at four thirty.  I invited her to have a cup of tea and a small loaf of bread which she fully enjoyed after her long walk. She had the report cards of her third grade daughter and her fourth grade son.  Both had academic averages in the 90s.  She wanted me to help with their school fees at Our Lady of Fatima School. I asked her who paid their school fees for the recently completed school year. The woman said she did. When asked why so couldn’t continue to pay the school fees the woman said that she is a market woman and supported her family by selling small tinned food.  She had sent over a thousand US dollars to Monrovia to buy more goods.  On the way from Monrovia to Cape Palmas she with many other small Liberian business men and women lost all their goods when the ship carrying them sank.  The ship did not have any cargo insurance so there was no compensation.  Now she has no way to pay the school fees for her two children. The school fees for both students will be about $100.  Somehow I will manage.  My resolution not to take on any new students lasted two days.

July 21st. - Rule for Student Visitors. Students from Cape Palmas often ask if they can come to Barraken to meet me.  I always tell them that they are welcome as long as the M word never comes up in the conversation. They all know the M word stands for money.  Recently a student came for a visit and started his story. Father, be patient with me. I will not mention the M word.  I know that you are paying my school fees and don’t have any extra money. I am not asking you for money.  I just need food. I have two small brothers who stay with me and we didn’t have any food yesterday.  I am just asking you for some rice, tomato paste, sardines and onions.  When I point out that these items can only be obtained by spending money they agree but insist that they followed my rule and did not mention the M word.

July 22nd - Women Carry Heavy Loads Eight Miles to Market. At six every morning I take a three mile, forty minute brisk walk on the main road between Barraken and Pleebo.  Every day I see Barraken women carrying forty or fifty pounds of cassava or other farm produce on their heads as they begin their trek to the Pleebo market.  Often they have an infant on their back. Sometimes small children around the age of four or five accompany their mothers.  Women walk together in small groups of two or three and chit chat on the three hour walk to Pleebo. If they are fortunate they can sell their produce for two or three dollars. With the proceeds they buy dried fish and other food items not available in Barraken. Women have a very tough life in this area of Liberia. They literally work every day except Sunday from sun up to sun set.

July 23rd. - Small Animal Project Show Little Result. About two years ago we started raising rabbits, ducks and chickens with the hope that Barraken farmers would follow suit.  So far not a single farmer has asked for a pair of breeding rabbits or ducks.  Farmers in this part of Liberia do not have a tradition of raising animals. Some goats, sheep and cows wander freely about the town in search for their own food.  When one man saw me feeding chickens he just shook his head.  When I asked why he responded: “Every day I go on the farm and scratch for my own food.  Let the chickens scratch for theirs.”  Yet the wandering cows, sheep and goats invade individually planted gardens and often destroy them.  Town elders refuse to take action.
The animals provide good food for our table but the hope that others would raise ducks and rabbits has come to naught.  I will have to think of a different approach. 

July 25th - Liberian Volunteers Bring Help and New Ideas to Barraken.  The UNDP (United Nations Development Program) has started a program of recruiting and training college graduates to work in small rural towns in Liberia. Three have come to Barraken. Eddie, Ernest and Ansu have been here for the past nine months. Ansu is the administrator of the health clinic.  Eddie and Ernest have been teaching in the Barraken elementary school. They are the only college graduates teaching in the school and have made a big difference in helping the students get a better grasp of math and English.
The volunteers also help in community development programs such as encouraging young people to keep the areas around the water pumps and common pit latrines clean.  They also conducted health and HIV awareness programs.
Recently Eddie and Ernest conducted an adult literacy program. Most elders and even the teachers in the school said that it wouldn’t work.  Last week twelve adult women received literacy certificates.  Now these women can read the labels on food, street and other signs.  Most of all they can help their kindergarten and first grade children and grand children with their reading lessons.

SMA Programs for Volunteers – Education. Earlier this year SMA helped the principal of a new school in Libsuco with volunteer teachers.  The recently completed new school had only a principal.  Nathaniel Saar and Joe Sieh took our Yamaha motorcycle every day nine miles to teach the children. They were highly appreciated. Both Joe and Nathaniel returned to our noon meal each day with stories of their experiences.  One day Nathaniel who taught kindergarten, first and second grade stated that a kindergarten student failed his science test. I thought this slightly amusing.  I asked Nathaniel why the student failed. He said that in identifying parts of the body the student could not point his nose. Part of the problem is that the only time the students speak English is when they are in school. At home they speak the local Nyambo language.  I suggested that Nathaniel give the student a retake.  We certainly would not want to prevent a potential Nobel Prize winner from progressing because he failed kindergarten science.

Repairing Roads. On my daily walk I noticed that some of the small pot holes were developing into major blockages. One dangerous area was around a corrugated steel culvert. On both sides there were dips of two feet or more. Truck traffic would have crushed the culvert and a ditch would have grown wider and wider.  One day I took a group of about fifteen young men and we went to repair the road.  Their first comment was that it was the responsibility of the government to repair the roads. I admitted this but said that no government can answer all the need of the citizens.  I told them that every Liberian had the responsibility of doing what he or she could do to help the communities develop.  In two days with just pix, hoes, shovels and two wheel barrows we repaired the area.  After that we filled the smaller potholes on about a mile of the same road.  Whether the young people learned something by this exercise or they just chalked it up to an ageing and eccentric missionary remains to be seen. 

July 26th - Liberian Independence Day - A Subdued Celebration. In past years Independence Day celebrations was a major feature of Liberian society. People bought special clothes for parades were common place.  This year most of these elements were lacking. There was just no money for special events. People just had to cope with another day in grinding poverty.

July 27th - Church is filled to Capacity for Sunday Mass. St. Anthony church can comfortably seat a hundred people when it is full. Today we had a hundred and forty five.  The small children sat on the floor between the front row and the sanctuary.  Most were between four and six years of age. As the various hymns were sung they dance spontaneously in small circles. In many ways there was nothing special about the celebrations.  But bit by bit the congregation is growing.

All of what I relate in my journal reflects a very accurate reflection of my experiences in Liberia. At times, I change the time sequence and even the names of individuals involved in my stories. That is because many of the stories reveal very difficult problems which would cause deep concern if the individual’s name and precise location were known. But the incidents are very real and fundamentally accurate. But I have to use discretion.

USA Address
Fr. Ted Hayden, SMA
SMA Fathers 23 Bliss Ave
Tenafly, NJ 07670
Telephone: 201 5670450
E-mail: capebarreke@yahoo.com