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July 28th - “I have lost my mind.” This was the opening statement of Samuel, a 22 year old former high school student who came to visit me. He had previously been on scholarship but dropped out of his junior year in high school. He told me he wanted to go to the “sick bush,” an area where herbalists claim they can cure all sorts of illness. I tried to persuade him to go to the JJ Dossen hospital in Cape Palmas where he could be examined by a fully qualified medical doctor. His answer was that he was told if he took any medicine before going to the “sick bush” he would completely lose his mind. He sat in the living room for about 4 hours and never spoke. However, before he left he agreed to see a medical doctor. My amateur medical opinion was that he was clinically depressed. He would answer questions in a normal way but his answers would always be brief. He would not enter into a normal conversation. I will try to follow up on this case.
July 29th - “Minding birds.” At around 6:30 a.m. as I am beginning the return section of my three mile daily walk, I find groups of small children heading to their family farms. The children range from six to twelve years old. They are on the way to “mind birds.” As rice matures in the field, birds smaller than sparrows descend on the rice fields to nourish themselves with grains of rice. Left alone they can devour a five acre field of rice in three days. During the three week maturing process children chase away the birds. They attach empty tin cans to pieces of string attached to small trees and rattle them. Most of the children have home made sling shots and have contests to see who can hit the rice birds with small pebbles. When there are enough dead birds the children make a soup to eat. The children remain in the fields until dark.
July 30th - “A cup of tea for an old man.” Lawrence attends Mass every day. He claims that at age 76 he is due the respect that old people have in Liberian society. Today he brought a small plastic bag with him. After Mass he asked me if he could have two teaspoons of sugar and two spoons of powder milk so he could have a cup of tea. It was an easy request to fulfill. I often joke with him that we are the same age and that I don’t go around claiming special treatment. His response is that I have always had access to good medicine and bountiful food. Touché.
At Mass I remember in a special way my cousin Bob Morris and my friend Frank Neuwirth who died on the 30th days of December and January a few short years ago.
July 31st – “A trip to the hospital for a critically ill child.” The chief nurse at the Barraken health clinic asked if we could carry a very sick child to the hospital. The nine-month-old girl was shivering and the nurse was afraid she would go into convolutions. It turned out that the child had a very bad case of malaria. Returning later the same day the nurse stated the little girl was out of danger. Malaria is perhaps the most common illness which brings people to the clinic. Most people contract it more than once a year. Most adults treat it as we would treat a slight fever when we have a cold. But malaria is more dangerous. In Africa it kills more half a million people each year. Most of them are children.
The Liberian Government hospital in Cape Palmas has an ambulance which is on call for the Barraken clinic. It now comes for most of the cases. At times when it is on other calls or in the maintenance shop we offer the use of our parish pickup for emergencies.
August 3rd – “Sunday. Sometimes it is difficult to explain the scripture readings.” The first reading today is from Isaiah, Chapter 55, Verses 1-3. It was written while the Jewish people were captives in Babylon. Isaiah uses the symbol of food as a promise that God would return the Jewish people to the Promised Land, Israel.
This is what the parishioners of St Anthony heard:
“Thus says the Lord:
All you who are thirsty come to the water
All you who have no money come, receive grain and eat
Come, without paying and without cost
Drink wine and milk
Why spend your money for what is not bread.
Your wages for what fails to satisfy
Heed me and you shall eat well
You shall delight in rich fare
Come to me heedfully
Listen, that you may have life
I will renew with you the everlasting covenant
The benefits assured to David.”
I wonder what meaning this passage has for those who go to bed hungry every day and see this as a permanent condition. The majorities of parishioners are seriously impoverished and seldom eat bread. They don’t eat grain (rice) except perhaps once or twice a week. Their only drink is water. They cannot afford the sugar and milk that will allow them to drink tea or coffee. Most subsist on cassava, potato leaves or cassava leaves and red oil obtained from boiling and crushing palm nuts. They purchase a few pieces of dried fish perhaps weighing two or three ounces each to give flavor to the palm oil sauce. In less than a year, rice, the staple food for Liberians, has risen from US$35 to $60 for a 50KG bag, a tray of 30 eggs from $4 to $7. Most have no wages - they are subsistence farmers who live off the soil. In the past hunting provided a source of meat but over hunting has depleted this source of meat.
It would be interesting to have an open discussion with them on the above reading from scripture.
August 3rd – "Clapping, singing, dancing and drumming at Sunday Mass.” The church can comfortably seat about a hundred people. Today the congregation reached 145. Many were small children. They sit in the front two rows of seats. When these are filled they sit on the first step of the sanctuary. When hymns are sung they dance in small circles, some sway and swing their hips. Others remain in place clapping their hands above their heads and singing. I often think that we should have a separate service for small children. We would need experts in early childhood education to design the program. In the meantime the children seem to be happy in participating in their own way.
We have two first class drummers. Before Mass they tune their drums. The drums are hollowed out logs covered with sheep skin. Two wooden pegs can be adjusted to tighten the skins. The choir and congregation bellow out the songs. The sound is too loud for my ears. If it were a recording I would quickly lower the volume. However, the congregation enjoys the music. Now when I read the Psalms which urge “Shout with joy to the Lord” I have an idea of what the psalmist had in mind when he composed the psalm.
August 5th – “Barraken economics - comparative advantage.” Earlier this year the Minister of Agriculture and some other agricultural experts came to Cape Palmas to talk about growing more rice. They gave convincing arguments on how to dramatically increase local rice production and claimed that rice production had an economic comparative advantage over other crops. Growing rice is very labor intensive. Fields must be cleared and enclosed with two foot high fence to keep out animals. Then there is the problem of birds mentioned earlier in this report. Cassava, a tubular root crop is another source of food. It is very easy to plant and needs little care. It can be harvested whenever it is needed. Each morning as I take my walk I notice many women on their nine mile walk to Pleebo with a forty pound pan of cassava on their heads.
They have concluded that it is better to grow cassava and sell it to buy rice than to plant more rice. In the view of these women cassava has an economic comparative advantage over rice. It is a case of PhD economics against the economics from non literate women.
August 6th – “A quiet corner.” The parish rectory sits on a large lot about twenty feet above road level. My favorite spot is a corner of the lot just above the road. It is surrounded on two sides by a two foot hedge. A young coconut tree about six feet high encloses the spot on the third side. I generally sit in this corner very early in the morning and just before sunset. Most of the time I sit alone. It is my quiet time. Today, late in the afternoon a five year old boy sat beside me. For a lot of time he said nothing. Finally, he said: “Father, I am hungry.” I said: “I know you are hungry. So are so many other children from town.” - “Can I have some bread?” I sat there for a few minutes. Each day we buy thirty or forty small loaves of bred. They weigh between 4 and 6 ounces depending on the whim of the baker. The bread comes late in the afternoon and is used for supper and breakfast. After breakfast whatever is left is given to the small children or visitors. We don’t give out bread in the afternoon.
The boy just sat there. Then I remembered the Final Judgment presented in the 25th chapter or St. Matthew: “Come you blessed of my father into the everlasting kingdom. For I was hungry and you gave me to eat; thirsty, and you gave me to drink, homeless and you took me in… As long as you did it to one of them, the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.”
I thought that when I meet my judgment day at least I could say to the Lord that when he was in Barraken I gave him a loaf of bread.
I asked the boy what he wanted on his bread. His answer was white butter (mayonnaise). I put a double helping of mayonnaise on his bread. First, he licked off most of the mayonnaise and then ate the bread. So much for the major event of the day in quiet, tranquil and uneventful Barraken.
August 7th – “UNDP volunteers depart for Monrovia.” For nearly a year three young university graduates have been teaching school and working in community development here in Barraken. They are all from Monrovia and this was their first venture into rural Liberia. Their presence made a big difference in the quality of education in the school. Today they returned to their family and friends in Monrovia. They were frequent visitors to the rectory and often attended Sunday Mass, even though none of them are Catholic. These young men along with more than a hundred others volunteered to work in rural Liberia. Many young people now view volunteering to help in the development of Liberia as a serious personal responsibility.
August 8th – “Joy and laughter.” More often I see the glass as half empty instead of half full. I am constantly amazed at the laughing, joking, and camaraderie among the youth. While they are well aware of the poverty that surrounds them, they still enjoy themselves. They talk about sports, especially soccer. They discuss politics and look at the future. Almost always they see the brighter side.
August 10th – “Celebrations in Barraken.” This year I celebrated the 50th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. The people of Barraken chose today to celebrate those 50 years. The church was full for the 9:00 a.m. Mass, which was followed by a reception in town by the elders and the town chief. Most of the time was taken with ceremonial dancing. The men performed for over an hour. They danced in bare chests and grass skirts. There were several different dances. I could distinguish them by the movement of the men’s feet. They had very intricate steps. They all moved with the same steps to the beat of the drums. The elders made short speeches as did the town chief. They presented me with a goat as a symbolic gift.
(Click here and see a video)
The women had cooked two hundred pounds of rice and the meat from an entire cow. This was ample food for over three hundred people.
In the afternoon there was a soccer match between Barraken and Cape Palmas. Barraken won 2-1.
August 11th – “Celebrations at the Cathedral of St. Theresa in Cape Palmas.” Bishop Dalieh invited me to the diocesan cathedral to celebrate Mass with him, several of his priests and the cathedral congregation on the occasion of my 50th anniversary. Msgr. David Wreh was the homilist for the day. Many of my friends including about 50 from Barraken attended the celebration. After the Mass a meal was served at the diocesan pastoral center. The Superintendent (governor) as well as the Mayoress and other government and organizational representatives delivered short speeches or made presentations of gifts. Among the gifts were a goat, a sheep, chickens and a rooster.
August 12th – “You can be the judge in this case.” Background: Many, if not most of the juniors and seniors in high school rent individual rooms in Cape Palmas. They do so either because they come from distant villages or there is no room for them in the family home. Most are between 20 and 24 years of age. They lost five or six years of schooling when they hid in the forest during the Liberian civil war or while they resided in special camps as refugees in neighboring countries.
John rents a room in Cape Palmas. He is 23 years of age and is entering his senior year of high school. He plans to be a civil engineer. His girlfriend Sara, of three years is now 21 and a junior in high school. She had been living with her grandfather. A few months ago her grandfather died. She had no place to go. In previous times a family would have taken her in but with 85% unemployment in Cape Palmas almost every single family is struggling to put food on the table. To find sleeping accommodations and food for an extra young adult is too much to ask of these families.
Sara now lives with John in a single room. Both state that they preferred the previous situation when she lived with her grandfather and he lived alone in his room. Her grandfather allowed her to visit John on the weekends. Sometimes she stayed the whole weekend.
John came to me asking what he should do. Even if she had money it is not practicable for a young female student to live on her own. She would face harassment from young men her own age as well as fully mature adult men. When John was living by himself he would sometimes visit his school friends. Their mothers would find a small plate of food for him. Now he has to buy food because he has to feed his girlfriend. She cooks for both of them John asks for money to buy some basic foods for him and Sara.
The question facing me is whether by giving John money for food am I condoning an immoral situation or am I showing Christian compassion for two young people who find themselves in a very difficult situation?
John fully understands that according to the value system of our Church we state that unmarried men and women should not live together. He agrees but that does not solve his problem.
What advice would you give John?
August 14th – “Many levels of counseling.” I spend many afternoons counseling individuals or small groups of young adults. Most want to talk about their future and how to prepare for it. Unfortunately, there is very little or no information on what post-high school programs are available to help students prepare for a proactive economic life. Initially most state that they want to study business management or accounting. I point out that there are more than a thousand university graduates with these degrees who cannot find jobs When they ask what areas I think will be available to them, I expand on the following areas:
Civil engineering. The road system needs to be expanded by more than 95%. Also many new buildings requiring engineering will be constructed during the next few decades
Health services. Doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, and trained counselors are in very short supply.
Agriculture. Food production is desperately needed. Liberia imports more than 8% of its rice supply Rice is part of the daily diet.
Forestry. Liberia has one of the largest untapped tropical rain forests in West Africa. Also the rubber and palm oil plantations will need professionally trained foresters.
Education. There is a dire shortage of teachers and school administrators. Because of the civil war the government has not been able to train teachers for nearly twenty years. The teacher training colleges are now reopening.
Information services. The country is at the initial stage of computerizing its records. Computer software and hardware experts are needed.
Ministry. While they are in a minority, there are a good number of young people who are interested in becoming priests, sisters or preachers. Every year there are a large number of young men who express their desire to become priests.
I always advise the students to seek out the opinion of other adults and not to rely solely on my opinion of what lies ahead in Liberia.
August 15th - “Feast of the Assumption.” I remember my father, Joseph Hayden at Mass. He died on August 15, 1940. I was only eight years old at the time but I remember him very well. When I mentioned this to some of the students they thought it unusual that Americans would remember their deceased. My response is that most people certainly remember the dates of the death of their parents and other family members. It is very easy to remember my mother, who died on December 18, 1997. She was a widow for 57 years.
August 19th – “Everybody knows my name.” I sometimes wonder how people in rural Liberia cope with the seemingly boring lifestyle. They rise early in the morning and walk to their farms or prepare to carry food to Pleebo to sell in the local market. Some old woman in the family will have some sort of meager meal prepared by fire in the afternoon. It gets dark at around six thirty. There are no lights. People go to bed early. On the other hand, they are full of greetings for one another; they stop to exchange information and to pick up news of the day. It reminds me of the TV program Cheers - everybody knows my name. They are just happy to be a part of a community where everyone knows their name.
August 21st – “Dr. Walter Departs for his home in Kenya.” Dr Walter is a surgeon from Kenya. He is in his mid thirties and has been in Liberia for two years. Dr. Walter works for a British NGO, Merlin, which manages three general hospitals in eastern Liberia as well as several clinics. The staff of Merlin gave a going away party in honor of Dr. Walter. There were about 150 people invited. I was the only white person at the party. There was food, drinks, speeches and presentation of gifts.
I was pleased with what I observed. There were a large number of professional people, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, hospital administrators and other medical people at the gathering. The group was entirely African. Most were Liberians. It is rewarding to observe African leaders assuming responsibility for managing such a complex program as medical services.
August 23rd - “Lost mind revisited.” Finally, the young man who claimed that he was losing his mind was convinced to visit a medical doctor at the JJ Dossen hospital. The doctor prescribed medicine. However, he gave the medicine to an older brother and asked him to personally give the medicine to the patient each day for thirty days and then return to the hospital. All in the family agreed with this plan.
August 24th – “Workday for Barraken students.” Every Saturday young people clean the church. They are there early on Sunday morning to bring fresh flowers. Last Sunday I announced that in addition to these responsibilities all the Barraken students on scholarship should come for a work day on the 24th. I told them that we would check their names. I pointed out to them that the work had two purposes. First, the parish is their parish and like the adults, they must participate in the upkeep of the church property. Second, their work saves the parish money. We do not have any ground keepers or janitors. I closed with a simple statement: “If you show up for work we will pay your school fees. If you don’t show up, we will not pay your school fees” Two students failed to show but sent excuses and will do their share of work before school opens
August 26th - “I want to go to school.” I am inundated by young people who want to attend school but do not have anyone to help them with their school fees. Government schools have greatly reduced fees. This has helped. The downside on the reduction is that classrooms are overcrowded and teachers are hard to find. Some classes have sixty or more students.
Catholic schools have increased their fees moderately by about $14. I am sponsoring nearly 150 students in Catholic schools so I really feel the pinch. I am not complaining about the increase. If schools want to retain good teachers they have to pay decent wages.
It pains me to tell children that the program for this year is closed. This is the most difficult aspect of missionary life for me. But as hard as it is, I have had to learn to say no to any more new students this year.
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