Thursday, 3/25
Rising very early I knew that there was something wrong with me. After a shower, I was having a hard time concentrating and had no energy, and It was my turn to have more upset stomach. We had the early presentation at Ministry of Agriculture to all the farmers and had been preparing for this since Feb 25. When the day finally arrived Tony became our transportation to the Ag office. The place was packed and there was standing room only. We had arrived early enough to set up our projector only to find out that CARE Int’l was also presenting as was a german company called Welt Hunger Hilfe. I volunteered our electronics rather than disconnecting altogether. The meeting dragged on and on but there were personnel there from USAID, Sustainable Trees, Cocoa farmers, Palm nut growers among others. Our presentation was chosen first and the interest was very high with many questions. At the close, everyone wanted our email and phone and the USAID rep named Wilbur asked for a copy of our presentation. We were in such a hurry to get out of there because we had a 1pm meeting with the Baptist Investment Board and they were waiting. The AG meeting had gone way overtime so we were scurrying to get to the next meeting. Fortunately, the brethren waited for us and Tony drove furiously. Dr. Hill chaired the meeting and all were excited at the opportunity to work together. The Baptists have thousands of acres across Liberia and many have been abandoned or are currently dormant. They were also very excited about the Radio Station and fascinated by our ideas for the school system. Dr. Hill and the men pledged to cooperate with us on any property or facility or project we needed. They even pledged us the use of their properties for agriculture, radio, schools or clinics. In short, they joined with us in every way possible promising letters to that effect. We promised to consult the Baptist brethren in the US to renew their involvement in Liberia.
We had to fly back to the office because we had not had time to prepare the documents for Momulu at MOH and time was passing us by. While at the office, Cassandra stopped by stay in touch and review her credentials she had emailed for us to consider. She works with Peace Corps and wants to stay in Liberia. She is well educated, from the US and well connected, especially in Bong and Nimba Counties, We think she is just the kind of person who could be an asset to TOLL. After meeting with her, Sylvester came back by and said Auntie Pea was coming over to talk to us. She is the sister of the president and we were delighted to meet her. She was thrilled with both of us, the Doula program, agricultural plan and especially the radio. That little device had caused a great stir everywhere. Because Sylvester was so sincere and generous we had given him a radio the day before and Auntie Pea wanted one also. When she heard of our difficulty with MOH, she said “You know he’s my brother”. We didn’t know so she clarified that the Minister, Dr. Gwenigale, was her husband’s younger brother and immediately called him on her phone. We were shocked when he answered. Since he was in a meeting, she told him she was coming by in a few minutes. She then told us her story about the war and how the rebels invaded her home and took over her house in Monrovia. At gunpoint they forced her to leave and she never returned. Then she offered her house to us saying it was a big secure compound but it needed refurbishing. We knew we needed God to intervene but had no idea it would come from this direction. After the precious meeting with her she left. A few minutes later she called us from Dr. Gwenigale’s office and said she asked him why we were being delayed for so long. She also said she had seen our program and wanted us to be able to implement it in Liberia. His reply to her was, “as soon as they get their paperwork to Momulu, I have given orders for them to be approved.” We reserved our jubilation until it all actually happened but we knew God had stepped in. After the meeting with Autie Pea, Ezekiel stopped by the office. He heard that we were looking for Moringa seeds and offered as many as we needed. We were down to our last money but I committed to 5,000 seeds for $35. He promised to return tomorrow with the seeds. I was still feeling ill so we left for home. Isela had been after me too move us to Bill’s guest house and since the Blamoh’s were still at their mission conference we decided to move our stuff, I knew there were going to be ramifications with our host but was too sick to consider it. We settled in at Bill’s and he was delighted to have us. I took some medicine and crashed. The Honorable called us late and was disturbed that we left ‘unceremoniously’. I apologized and assured him of our love and respect but that we had discussed it with Yvonne and him in the last few days, and that this was always in our plans. So he said OK and hung up. We were scheduled to speak in his church tomorrow and I thought we could smooth things over then.