Life this Week

This week has been pretty boring unlike in California where the Angels trade for the biggest bat on the market and the Dodgers follow suit with a future Hall of Famer and So Cal being hit by an earthquake. My week was filled with pink eye, a cold and sore throat. As a result most of my time was spent in my room watching countless movies and following the MLB trade deadline. Who wouldve thunk that so many big names wouldve been traded at the deadline this year: Teixeira, Ramirez, Griffey, Bay, and Rodriguez. Geez. Well today I went the UNMIL (United Nation's Missions in Liberia) store. It was quite a treat...haha. It was fun. Tomorrow Im sleeping in til lunch time, saying goodbye to a friend and then possibly going to the market. One thing Ive learned to hate about Mercy Ships is that it brings christians together and makes them family (not bad at all, dont get me wrong, I love this) and then tears them apart. I have to say goodbye to 8 close friends in 10 short days. One left today, one Sat, one Sun, one Mon, 2 Fri and 2 Sun...ugh. Its tough emotionally. So I guess thats my prayer request, that Ill be able to survive with all the goodbyes I have to make in the next week and a half. Thank you all for praying for me so faithfully. I truly appreciate it alot.

Oh one more thing, for all you that have facebook I have put some pictures of my trip up. Im sorry to those who dont but I was unable to get my blog to work so I can put them up. If you want to add me as a friend on facebook just search Wesley Jamison Cummings and youll find me. Thank you so much! God Bless you all!!!

In Memory of Collin Carroll

One year ago today, the Africa Mercy lost one of its crew members Collin Carroll. Collin was with some fellow mercy shippers at the beach. Unfortunately there was an under current that pulled Collin out to sea. He fought against the current and soon tired himself out. As he was fighting the current a set of waves came in too big for him to handle. One wave crashed on him, and then another and another. By this time, some speculators, he was unconscious. One more wave hit him and he had lost all hope to live. His body disappeared for an hour before it washed on shore. Some tried to resuscitate but it was no use. Collin Carroll died July 29, 2007. This morning a service was held on the dock in memory of his life. Some people who were here when it happened and knew him were crying and mourning. Tonight a memorial service will be held at the beach at which he drowned. The hope that comes out of this tragedy is that we all know that we will see him with our Father in heaven someday. God Bless the Carroll Family.

Hydro Plant

I havent done a whole lot since visiting the HIV hospice. On Thursday I went out with the HIV team to Coffee Farm Church about 20 minutes from the ship. What we did was we put on a HIV Workshop for local pastors. We taught them how they can educate their communities on how HIV spreads, how it can be managed and how to handle situations of stigma. We showed them ways that people need to change their behavior in order to slow down the spread of HIV and the beliefs people have that cause HIV to spread. All in all it was a 9 hour day. Yesterday nothing happened. I worked all morning cleaning bathrooms and mopping floors. In the afternoon Sales needed help unloading a huge shipment they got of soda, candy and snacks. You would think that would be easy but it took us 3 hours to unload. We filled up a 12x12 ft refridgerator with soda and loaded about 100 boxes of snacks into food storage 4 decks below where it was unloaded. That made for a long day. Today was a ton of fun though. I went on an expedition through the jungle. We left this morning about 8am and then made a 2 hour drive out to a hydroplant. We explored the plant for a bit and then we grabbed our stuff and hiked another 2 hours up the river. I never believed in the myth of fire ants but I do now thats for sure. They feasted on me all day. Their tiny little bites kill! Anyway, the hike was intense. Some parts of the hike could only be crossed by wading through chest high water. That was probably my favorite part. It took us 30 minutes to get 15 people across. From there we hiked past all the rapids. In the river there were these massive rapids and currents. If you found yourself stuck in the currents you might as well pray for God's mercy and hold on cause it was going to be bumpy. We took a little break at one of the rapids. Everyone went down to the rapid to get under the waterfall that was right there as well and rest. Me and my friend Bates from South Africa we down a little further to where the water was pretty still to swim. We let the currents take us around and around. We were extremely careful not to get sucked into the currents. After our little pool party we headed back. Once we were back at the hydroplant we ate lunch and then piled back in the cars to make the drive back. When I got back I took a 2 hour nap and then got up took a shower and went to dinner. Im not sure what I am doing tomorrow. I might go to the Beach Church or Obijai. I dont know. Or I might stay on shio. Ill let you know either way.

Sajj

So today was a full day. I got up at 7:00am and had breakfast. Then I went to Missionaries for Charity, Sisters of Mother Theresa. It is a hospice for HIV patients. They range from infants to the elderly. Some of the kids though have Tuberculosis or are malnourished. It was not easy on the eyes. It was tough at first. I didnt hold back though. The kids dont really get a whole lot of one-on-one time at all so they were practically killing each other for our attention. It was so tough to see that. I cant really explain what I felt. Basically what we did for 2 hours was love on them, cuddle with them and play with them. It was alot of fun and eye opening. On the way back to the ship I saw a boy about my younger sisters age that had down syndrome but not that bad. Just a minor case but you could still see it was there. Anyway, he was out in the pouring rain trying to clean car windows with the biggest smile on his face you've ever seen. And I knew is was 100% genuine. He was just smiling about life, about being alive and I dont know what else he was smiling about. It was hard to see him trudge through the rain trying to make a living. That really opened my eyes. I just wanted to get out of the car to tell him that God loves him and so do I. Well, enough of that...haha. The rest of the day was filled with cleaning, movies (Big Fish - really disappointing, didnt like it at all) and going out to dinner. Me and two other people went to Sajj Restaurant, its about 30 minutes from the ship. We took two bike taxis. We had dinner and dessert and got back about 30 minutes ago. It was a blast. Well that was my day. Ill update again tomorrow because I will be going to the HIV Clinic and registering Africans for treatment or testing. Fun day tomorrow. Well, adios!

Grand Bassa & ANDP

This is place is amazing. The more time I spend here the more I enjoy myself. On Saturday I went to an orphanage in Grand Bassa, about 2 1/2 hours from the ship. We didnt do much there except love on the kids and villagers. We played games with them, swam with them, sang with them, basically lived life with them for a day. My friend from the Dominican Republic (Juan) and I were the fun guys. We were the ones who made the kids laugh and let them use us as a jungle gym. We skipped down to the river with them, did stadium chants and taught them fun games. It didnt take long for us to get worn out so we had to turn it over to the girls. They gave them pictures to color, sang bible school songs and taugh them bible stories. We stayed probably about 5 hours with them. Oh yeah, on the way to the village we passed the Firestone Headquaters. We were able to see how they get the rubber to make the tires. It was cool. Well that was Saturday.
Sunday I went to a church called Obijei (O-bee-jay). It was the coolest church service Id ever been a part of. They ''wing it''. Haha. The church service is structured but you still never know what they might ask us white people to do. Yesterday, they asked one of us to introduce each person from Mercy Ships. There were about 9 of us. After we had been introduce we then lead the church in two songs of worship. It was so funny. You have to be super flexible when you go to the churches in Liberia. Sometimes they will ask us to give the sermon...no joke. I was originally supposed to go a Liberian Civil War Refugee Camp and gop to church there. But it fell through and we werent able to go. Hopefully next Sunday. Well thats basically what happened this weekend. Oh I had to say goodbye to a friend today, but not really. She'll be back in two weeks. And oh, Im not the only 18 year old anymore. Two more just came on board so Im stoked for that! Well ttfn

7.17.08

So here I sit. On the eve of the release of The Dark Night. Technically I could go get a pirated copy off the street for 50 Liberty (Liberian Dollar) or just under $1 USD. But I cant do that. I have to experience it on the big screen.
Oh man, Ive already been here 11 days! Time flies. I get home exactly 3 weeks from today. I'm excited but there is still so much for me to do. I forgot to mention in the Indiana Jones entry that I saw quite a handful of malnourished children and babies. Not a sight for the weak minded. It was tough for me to handle let me tell you. Made me think about just how important getting fed everyday as an infant is and having the right nutrition around to grow strong. Saturday, I head to an orphanage called Grand Bassa. Its going to be one heck of an experience.
Not much has happened since I got back from the whole jungle fiasco. The other night when the All-Star Game was on I stayed up until just after 4:30am to watch it. It started about 12:45am Liberia time. I went to bed just after the 12th inning was finished when Nate McLouth threw out Dioner Navarro to save the game (at least until the AL took it in the 15th). Pretty boring game but it was the only Live baseball Ive had in weeks. Gosh I take baseball for granted. Everyday I realize something little I take for granted. Tiny stuff you wouldnt even think about. Like soap or butter or cinabons. Haha.
Ok so since Im being made fun of because about the whole fabric thing (*cough* Mrs. Norton) let me explain that. On Monday I was taken to the market by my older sisters (they treat me like their little bro, just a tad annoying but its ususally fun) and we all bought African fabric. The fabric is made by Liberians in their villages and then sold at Water Street Market for $2.50 per lapa. A lapa is an amount of cloth. I took the cloth I bought to a tailor across the street from the port and Im having 2 nice dress shirts made from it for $10 a piece or 620 Liberty. There you go, now no more laughing at me.
Ok so now thats explained, Im going to give you a little history lesson. After the American Civil War was over. The US government deported alot of African slaves to Liberia. I cant remember the number but it was like half a million former slaves I believe. The US dropped them off here on the coast of Liberia. As a result there is alot of American influence here. The capitol of Liberi, Monrovia, is named after James Monroe a US president. You can also see the influence in the countries name itself. There is a town called New Georgia after the state of Georgia. Its not just the name of the cities. The only music they know comes from the US .There favorites are Akon, T-Pain, Alicia Keys, Kanye West and Chris Brown. My partner I work with sings songs I never wouldve guessed he knew. Since I know he does I blast my iPod so we both can hear it. Its funny cause people will walk by and we're rockin out to like Chris Brown or Alicia Keys. Its hilarious. So thats just a little taste of the culture here. Im not done, I just wanted to give you a taste.

Indiana Jones

I know Im crazy. Its almost midnight here but Im staying up to watch the MLB All-Star Game. I have to. I hardly get any baseball here. I saw Josh Hamilton rise from hero to legend last night after in blasted 28 home runs into the New York Sky Line during the first round of the Home Run Derby. Anyway, I had the best day today so far since Ive been on the Africa Mercy. The whole day was like Indiana Jones. Filled with off-roading with jeeps, weaving in and out of trees, dodging mud puddles and having to cross really really rickety bridges. And oh, crazy wild savages shooting blow darts with poison on them at us...jk not really. Almost though. So today I went out with Paul Waldron who is one of the key members on the CDS team (when I find out what that stands for Ill let you know). So what he does is go into villages cerca Monrovia and helps the villagers build and teach them to maintain wells. Its fun. Today I helped him pick up some sand in order to make some cement so put around the new well. We did that but then in turned into driving all through the jungle helping villagers with minor tasks, fixing wells, teaching them how to farm effeciently and almost tipping over off a bridge (twice) and into a river 10 ft below. Crazy. For a few seconds I thought I might die. By the way Im not exaggerating this one bit. We left the port around 830 this morning and arrived back at 515. Long day. On our way back to the main road from the jungle we saw (and tried to run over) this massively long snake about 12-15 ft long. We missed. But I think when I saw that I literally thought I was Indy searching for some treasure, lost long ago but an ancient forgotten tribe. Im not done. It rained all last night...terribly hard. It was crazy. I think we're about to get a hurricane soon or something. As we drove through the jungle it rained on and off all day. For a while we thought we might get rained in and have to spend the night. But God showed us a way out and around. We drove through puddles that were easily waist deep on me. It was nuts but such an amazing day. Paul said he had never had such an eventful day in Liberia. It was crazy.
Yesterday I went to the market with a few friends. It was almost as nuts as the jungle. As we entered the market this Liberian started screaming at us, yelling at us about something (I had no idea what it was). For a while I thought it was some selling technique and I was like, ''If this is how the market is going to be, I want to leave now.'' I ended up finding out that he was probably mad because the doctors mightve had to turn away a loved one of his because they were unable to help them. Youd be surprised how much that happens. Anyway, we spent maybe an hour and half in the market. I bought some fabric and Im getting dress shirts made by a local tailor. On the way back to AFM we rode motorcycle taxis. That was fun. There was life 4 of us (2 Americans, 1 Canadien, and a Philipino). We tried to race. At the tailor we went to their was birthday party going on and we were invited to join. That was a blast. The last two days have been incredible. If the rest of the trip goes like this Im going to go loco. #

I promise that all the stories above are 100% true.