Pumping water and six new siblings

Learning how to live with the help of our new family

Author

Bobby and Therese
June 08, 2024

How da day?

In Liberia, you would answer that with “fine-oo” or “alright.” Fine here means good and is not the same “fine” we use in the US. So, here we are with installment two of our new life in Liberia.

We got adopted into our new family last week: the Gotojuwee’s. They remind us of the Joffre’s as there is lots going on, all the time, and everyone is joyful and loving.

Our new host family. Starting from the left, Big sister Ruth, Thomas (Dad), Sarah in white, Yassah in blue, Bobby, Therese, small Ruth in Red, Thomaslyn, and Mom Ruth. Not Pictured: small Thomas, as well as Emmanuel and Duclay, the family’s adopted brothers.

 

The whole family has been teaching us how to live here, including everything from cooking traditional Liberian dishes to washing our clothes with hand-pumped water and washboards. The kids have espeically been helpful in learning Liberian English.

Us pumping water with Thomaslyn at the nearby pump.

Sarah and Thomaslyn washing their clothes.

Fun note from Therese: I was failing to carry the bucket full of water back to the house so badly that a neighbor and our siblings helped me carry it on my head. I probably spilled about 15% of it…Most people here can perfectly balance VERY heavy objects like buckets, planks of wood, and platters of food on their heads—no hands.

During training this week, Bobby and I teamed up to create an activity to learn about some students in Liberia. We went into a Junior High School and had students draw collages depicting their family, an activity they liked to do, what they liked to learn, and what they wanted to be when they grow up. We think it went well and the kids definitely liked the hands on activity. We then made them present their collages in boy-girl pairs in front of the whole class.

Bobby and Therese co-facilitating an activity in a Junior High classroom.

Doe Palace (where training takes place) is about a 25 minute walk from our new home. It’s common to see people selling food, house supplies, and random objects alongside the road. One day, we ran into Duclay (adopted brother) selling sour milk—the best sour milk we’ve had.

Another random encounter we had was when Therese stopped to buy some nailpolish from her new friend Patience at a small shop near Doe Palace. Bobby chatted with a judge from Kakata having a drink while we purchased our items. We also got roasted for our poor Liberian English by some locals.

Duclay selling sour milk.

Therese painting Yassah’s toenails with small Ruth and Thomas watching.

Last update is we legally changed our names. Just kidding, but we did have a traditional naming ceremony in which our host mom and dad adorned us with new Kpelle (pel-lay), Liberian names. Bobby goes by Mealerler (may-le-lay) meaning “good things.” And Therese is now Lôa (low-ah) meaning “blessing.”

Our training cohort with a Liberian dance troop and our host parents.

We also brought some lapa (African cloth) to the tailor this week and had some clothes made that we wore to the ceremony. Therese’s is a skirt suit and Bobby’s shirt is called a vai. Generally, most clothes are made by tailors after purchasing pieces of fabric in the market.

However, many Liberians are wearing clothes with American logos or schools (like Central Michigan University and Penn State). We find it so interesting that these clothes made their way to Kakata, Liberia. How did that happen?

Us “bluffing” in our new lapa. Bluffing means to show off.

Therese dancing with the traditional dance troop.

Bobby’s Note:

One thing I can't get off my mind is the Liberian language. Liberian English, as you've seen, is a derivative of English. Learning it hasn't been too bad, especially with our helpful brother and sister tutors, but what has been challenging is the lack of standardization of knowledge. Every person, ranging from kids to elderly people, knows a different amount of standard English—oftentimes using different words, or lacking knowledge of some key words we Americans use everyday. Some people don't speak English at all, and instead speak 1 of 31 different indigenous Liberian languages. Even one indigenous language is spoken differently between counties within Liberia. I could go on, but I'll just leave it at communication is different and fascinating here.

Therese’s Note:

After being here almost two weeks, I’ve remembered that people are just people. Everyone just wants to be happy, healthy, and safe. There are so many inspiring and hardworking people here to meet and learn from. This includes the kids. I am in awe of how capable the children are. Our sisters are putting us to shame on how good they are with preparing food, doing laundry and cleaning the house. Also, we went on our first run this week and noted that very few Americans are able to do what we are doing…I remembered to be thankful.

Thanks again for reading and learning about our adventures here in Liberia. We hope to keep writing semi-regularly and sharing more pictures.

Later on,

Mealerler and Lôa

The content of this website and blog is Therese Joffre’s and Bobby Housel’s alone and does not reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or the Liberian Government.