I am still alive
I am still alive. I just have not written in a long time. I have spent all of 2006 on the Anastasis in West Africa. First in Liberia and presently in Ghana.
Since coming to Africa in Nov 2005, I have worked various jobs all over the ship. I have been been the recepetiontist, artist for the child delevoplment program, ships steamstress, and more, too much to write about.
I have asked God for work in the arts. Guess what? I have done many paintings since then.
Africa was a wonderful surprise for me also. I dearly love Liberia and her people. Liberia has been free of a fourteen war since 2003, but still has not recovered from its hardships. Water and electric are big problems for most of the population. Children are every where with half the population under fourteen. Our medical staff treat the huge tumors that come in daily. Wells are being dug, schools are being built, teachers are being trained, dental teams work daily to treat and extract teeth by the thousands.
The heat never lets up as it daily beats on the land and her people. People smile, never fail to call a greeting, love to touch and sing, are who are so grateful for anything you can do for them, without them asking. They love to return and honor all acts of kindness.
I have walked everywhere, I come to love the sounds, sights and smells! Dancing which I love, is a big part of the African culture. I am so comforable here, fear never enters the picture here for me. I still see pieces of the old world with their belief system in the witch doctors, and other acts that are to appease the gods. Change is slow here, but change is everywhere. It is not only the changes of Liberia that is happening but also in me. Slowly I have come to love the simple life, the jungles, the bush country, the mud huts, the bare feet, the fish and rice dishes, the drums beating sound, the cattle walking everywhere with out fencing, the goats in the market place, the fisherman swimming in the rivers, the emtpy buildings that thousands of people now call home. The needs are so great, it can be over whelming it can stop you all together. I am glad to be here, to have this experience and to carry this back with me to the place I call home. I sometimes feel I have two homes now after spending seven monthes here. Who could have guessed that I would come to love it here so much. Only God knew!!!
Since coming to Africa in Nov 2005, I have worked various jobs all over the ship. I have been been the recepetiontist, artist for the child delevoplment program, ships steamstress, and more, too much to write about.
I have asked God for work in the arts. Guess what? I have done many paintings since then.
Africa was a wonderful surprise for me also. I dearly love Liberia and her people. Liberia has been free of a fourteen war since 2003, but still has not recovered from its hardships. Water and electric are big problems for most of the population. Children are every where with half the population under fourteen. Our medical staff treat the huge tumors that come in daily. Wells are being dug, schools are being built, teachers are being trained, dental teams work daily to treat and extract teeth by the thousands.
The heat never lets up as it daily beats on the land and her people. People smile, never fail to call a greeting, love to touch and sing, are who are so grateful for anything you can do for them, without them asking. They love to return and honor all acts of kindness.
I have walked everywhere, I come to love the sounds, sights and smells! Dancing which I love, is a big part of the African culture. I am so comforable here, fear never enters the picture here for me. I still see pieces of the old world with their belief system in the witch doctors, and other acts that are to appease the gods. Change is slow here, but change is everywhere. It is not only the changes of Liberia that is happening but also in me. Slowly I have come to love the simple life, the jungles, the bush country, the mud huts, the bare feet, the fish and rice dishes, the drums beating sound, the cattle walking everywhere with out fencing, the goats in the market place, the fisherman swimming in the rivers, the emtpy buildings that thousands of people now call home. The needs are so great, it can be over whelming it can stop you all together. I am glad to be here, to have this experience and to carry this back with me to the place I call home. I sometimes feel I have two homes now after spending seven monthes here. Who could have guessed that I would come to love it here so much. Only God knew!!!
posted by alberta leahy at 9:58 AM
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