Brunegårds in Liberia, Spriggs Payne Airport, Monrovia (2025)

24/11/2024

(Episode 7)

Finale!

All good things come to an end, they say. We have done our last full week in Liberia, and what a week! So rich in everything.

We started out last weekend with two days by the sea at Libassa Ecolodge, an hour south of Monrovia. We were nearly the only ones staying over night. We got plenty of time to talk and write a report on what we are experiencing. The sunsets were gorgeous over the Atlantic Ocean, from our balcony above the tree tops.

At the MAF office we had visits by the Swedish ambassador Carl and his deputy Tania. We also met with church leaders to discuss partnerships for their schools and clinics in the rural communities.
I met with the network of Faith Driven Entrepreneurs/Investors that are helping small businesses. They gave me and Tina a skirt and a shirt to look true Liberian.

And then we met Luther! Luther grew up in the jungle. He walked 3 hours to school everyday as a child, cut grass at an airstrip to support his school fees but he made it through, 12 years. He became a pastor. His mother was beaten to death during the war. His brother was killed and even eaten by the rebelles. (Not an unusual story).
When the war was over Luther was given the chance to for one hour each day talk about reconciliation and forgiveness which his heart is full of on national radio. He became a well known public figure which you see when you walk around with him. Some people tried to kill him by burning down his house while the family was sleeping. Reconciliation, forgiveness and truth are dangerous messages for people thriving from fight, power, corruption and division.
Luther is today the chairman of the biggest political party - The Unity Party.
The most beautiful thing he and his wife have done is to build a school and a university, Best Brains Academy. Tina and I visited there and were so moved by the whole thing.

Tina and I also met with the local staff, which means the Liberians working for MAF. It is such a privilege to hear their stories. Everything is not perfect but we all want to make a difference and that is what counts.

We flew one day with Captain Amos from Kenya to two rural towns, Zwedru and Greenville. Harmatan and CBs made visibility low. This Cessna Caravan had G1000 in the cockpit which makes IFR flying easier.

At the same time the other aircraft flew a team of dentists to the border of the Ivory Coast. For a few days they did dental care in the villages with the result of 250 patients and 634 teeth pulled out. Some if the patients had never been treated by professional dentist before, just by medicine men or witchdoctors with horrible results. The dentists were trained Liberians.
This is MAF at its best.

Everyday we have walked down to the beach for a short swim. If we know when low tide is it is much easier. At other times the current can be strong and swimming be dangerous.

James, the older guard at our compound, has come to our house a few times. He used to work with LAMCO when he was young. Because he eats different food and that he sweats in the sun he brings a certain smell with him. But it doesn’t matter. It is so good to sit and talk for a little while.

Time has come to say goodbye and within the next few days we will be back home in Sweden where it has been snowing. So different.
We are so greatful to MAF that has given us the chance to come here and to the team which gave us a place among them.
We have got new friends for life!

And we got the hats with us home: I Love Liberia!

This is the last episode. Thanks for coming with us on this journey.

Tina & Tomas

17/11/2024

(Episode 6)

Dear Friends,

I always start with the weather; it is getting better all the time. A few showers, some thunderstorms but mostly stable.

Our MAF houses have been completely full this week. Traveling engineers have been here plus our MAF colleagues from neighboring Guinea. This mean that every bed was occupied in our house. We had to go “pillow hunting” in the other houses.
Clay from the USA and David from Uganda has been staying at our house. We met Clay in 2016 in Papua New Guinea where he and his family lived and worked. They were our neighbors back then.

Lots of people here mean pressure on transportation. We have 3 MAF vehicles that we can use and some private cars. If there are no other options the “public” ones are “keke”, motorcycles, taxis and small busses. The two last ones are filled up to a maximum.

Most people drive on right side but not everyone. Most dangerous are the motorcycles, they drive on every side and use a slalom technic between the cars.
There is a “four lane” Chinese built road to our office. When it gets too crowded people make three lanes in one direction, forcing the oncoming traffic down to one lane.
This is nothing for my German friends.

It has been great meeting the MAF people from Guinea. This ”program” is only one year old and definitely the youngest in the MAF portfolio. Guinea is also a poor country, but French speaking. They seem to develop more rapidly than Liberia. Guinea has the world’s largest bauxite mine, needed to make aluminium. That means a lot to the economy.
The MAF base is in Conakry, the capital right by the ocean like Monrovia. I have been told that this is an even more dirty city and the beach is full of plastics.

Talking about plastics I realize here what a big problem that is. I have started to love the bureaucrats in Brussels that banned the lids to be separate from the plastic bottle. The blue lids are nearly as many as sand on the beach.
Many local people come to our compound for exercising or swimming and they have a habit of just throwing plastic bottles/bags on the ground.
However, there are some people who have as their mission to clean the place regularly. They are my heroes.

A weekly thing is that people show up because they have once lived in the country. This has solved our demand for a hat with “I ❤️Liberia”.
The other day Lee showed up on a moped. He and his brother Steve went to school here on the ELWA compound in the 70s. They come back every year and do projects for the young Liberians. He also makes these hats! We have put in an order.

Lastly, we had dinner with Grace and Simon from the UK. They have been here for 7 years and before that serving in other African countries. Simon is a dentist. He has built a world class clinic and he also has started a school to train local dentists. We visited it last Tuesday.
Next week they will be touring down south.

People like Simon and Grace make a huge difference.
The British monarchy has noticed their work and Simon was awarded an “Order of the British Empire” a couple of years ago. Maybe the finest thing you can get in the old kingdom.
Simon’s grandson, who is just a few years old, noticed this and now just calls his grandfather for “Obe”.

10/11/2024

(Episode 5)

Dear Friends,

Another week has passed by, full of new impressions. I can’t recall that I have dreamt so much in many years as I have done here. I even remember my dreams when I wake up.
I guess this is my brain processing what we are going through.

I have written before that Liberia is a small country, comparable to the state of Ohio. About 5.5 million people live here and Monrovia with its 1.5 million is the only bigger city.
According to UN statistics West Africa will be one of the fastest growing areas in terms of population over the next 60-70 years. Africa will by 2100 reach a population of four billion (four times its current size) while the rest of the world will stagnate or even go into decline. Nigeria will pass China as the second most populous country.
The corridor of cities between Lagos (Nigeria) and Abidjan (Ivory Coast) will probably be one of the most dynamic socio-demographic areas in the world with several big cities.
This is next door to Liberia.

Liberia has it all: rich in natural resources, the country is good for farming, people speak English, plenty of rainforest, good climate and access of fresh water. Yet, it is one of the poorest countries on earth.

One of the reasons why Liberia hasn’t developed, is its fragmentation; 16 tribes with different languages. From time to time this tribalism has erupted in civil wars. The belonging to a certain group has been more important than being a Liberian. This is partly the root cause of the poor functioning state and corruption.

One example in town is the “Executive Mansion” where the president lives and work. It was built by President Tubman in the early 60s. We drove by it this evening.
It cost a big chunk of the yearly income of Liberia during the building process.
The leader of the coup d’état in 1980, Samuel Doe, is said to have conducted blood rituals and sacrifices in the building during his 10 years in office.
It is built on what is called The Capitol Hill where most of the government institutions are located.

We visited three Free Pentecostal Churches last Sunday. They were founded by the Swedish missionaries who started coming here around 100 years ago. Even these churches are partly tribal, in this case the Kissi People from the northeastern part of Liberia.
We got to hear many stories from older men and women how the missionaries helped the people out in the villages. They built churches, schools and hospitals and they gave these people a future. We heard stories how they helped especially the young to break away from ancient traditions, where killing of others were the norm. Now they learned that they should cooperate and live and work together side by side.
This has partly worked and the churches have a massive potential (and responsibility). When Ebola broke out in 2014, church leaders told their people not to kiss the dead, which was the tradition. This was part of stopping the pandemic.

We got to say hi to the church goers, what we do here in Liberia and sent a greeting from their friends in Sweden.
Before the day ended, they gave us a saasaa as a memory. (See Episode 3)
We will never forget these people.

On Wednesday MAF had its international prayer day. The international staff met at our house, had pizza, sang a few songs and prayed for the world and each other. Even if it is a small team, it is a good team with a lot of talent and ambition.

After that Tina and I went for a swim in the ocean. If you know when it is low tide it is more calm and easier to get into the water.
Since dry season is starting it is a little bit warmer and more blue skies. This is however temporary; soon comes the Harmattan. Sand blowing from Sahara into Western Africa making the air hazy. For pilots it is as bad as flying in clouds (IMC).

Young Solomon has come to our door several times this week. He sells all kinds of clothes and fabrics which he has made. I bought a shirt and Tina some bags and aprons. We probably bought too much because he has since then come back every day.
We now walk freely outside our compound which makes life easier. Outside is a market where you can find all kind of things. There is also a Chinese Mall in the neighborhood. They absolutely have everything!

The only thing we haven’t found yet is a hat with “I❤️Liberia” on.
We need to have two of these with us home.

02/11/2024

(Episode 4)

Dear Friends,

I wrote earlier that rainy season is over. It is not. This week we have had some heavy showers and thunderstorms. It makes flying some days challenging.
Normally the Monrovia area has about 5000mm rain/year. This year we will get around 8000, said the person who works with clean water. This is both a challenge and potential. Africa as a whole needs more water (but not here).
This person also gave me a lesson on why not walk barefoot. You can look up ”hookworms” and you understand why. I realized later that everyone here takes a pill every six months, just in case.

This has been a week of goodbyes in the MAF group. Our ”acting” Country Director Alan went back to Scotland and our chief engineer Dave with his wife Becky are leaving for the UK.
Many of the MAF bases world wide have a long and fairly stable history, several were started in the 50s and 60s. Liberia is a ”young” base, established in 2015.
The number of people coming and going is higher than what was planned. That is the reason why we are here; to serve with the experiences we bring with us.

This coming and leaving takes its toll on people staying. It is emotionally hard to make friends and then “loose” them again. This is a price everyone have to pay serving in missions or the NGO world. Sometimes this can seem to make people a little distant to newcomers but it is really just a way to persevere.

We have now been to a few farewell parties and the good thing is we get to experience all kinds of good food. This week Liberian food was served in the hangar. I loved the hot “salsa like” thing we got with the chicken.

You can find some pictures if you follow MAF Liberia here on FB.

https://www.facebook.com/MAFLiberia

Tina has been busy with different women’s gatherings. It include people from other organizations as well.
I sat in on a couple of job interviews for office staff. I have intervied many people through the years but this was new. One young man showed up, right attitude, said the right things, pretty good CV, but luckily MAF had also done some basic tests. The young man’s math ability was equivalent to a 4th grader.
Of course he did not get the job. It also shows how low the standard of education is.

We had three pastors over for “fika”, Swedish term for coffe and something small to eat. They represented the churches which were started here in Liberia by Swedish missionaries long time ago. We will come with them on Sunday.

The sunsets over the Atlantic Ocean are beautiful. When they happen we always walk down to the beach (wearing flipflops).
What you don’t see on the pictures are all the plastics being brought onto the beach from the sea. There are some initiatives to collect and recycle but something more structural needs to happen.

There are lots of practical issues we need to learn during our stay. How to secure we have fresh water, what we do when electricity goes out, where to shop food, how to drive (most people drive on the right side) and this is the latest; where to cut our hair. For women there are many styles and places but for us men I’ve just seen this one: God’s Divine Favour Barbing Booth.

If you have nothing to do after have read this short story, tune in “Liberian Girl”, the 1980s Michael Jackson (and Quincy Jones) hit which put Liberia on map way back then. It is a great song!

27/10/2024

(Episode 3)

Dear Friends,

This week has been different. We were knocked out for a couple of days by having caught a cold or flu. Both of us were totally out of energy and we stayed low not to pass it on to others.
We are fully vaccinated and daily we take a Malaria pill but you start thinking of the missionaries that came here at the turn of last century. Many died out of fever diseases.

When we were back on our feet again, we paid a visit to the National Museum of Liberia. It was interesting to get to know more about old customs and also the more recent history of the country.
Liberia had one of the world’s highest growth rates (GDP) in the 50s and 60s. With a close tie to the USA there was open doors for foreign investments. Africa’s first 5-star hotel was built on the highest point here in Monrovia - The Ducor Hotel. Built by PanAm, the American iconic airline company.

Everything came to an end during the 20 years of civil war. 75% of all schools, hospitals, roads, dams e t c were destroyed.
All foreigners left the country. The Ducor stands as a skeleton and was used for positioning of gunmen, by the warlord Charles Taylor.

The women ended the war. It started out as a small protest at church but became a movement. Leymah Gbowee and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf both got the Nobel Peace Price,2011, for their work. The latter also became President of the country.

I wrote last week that Sweden is one of the biggest donors to Liberia and also have good sized Embassy. To us this was news. But the picture is getting clearer. Yesterday an older Liberian man stopped us on road we were walking on. “You are Swedish” he said and we started talking. He had worked for LAMCO - Liberian American Swedish Mining Company when Liberia was the world’s largest iron ore producer in the 70s.
He continued: ”The Swedes were good to us, they gave us knowledge how to do things”.
We felt proud. Afterwards we found out that 15,000 Swedes were working in this country during those years.
It ended with the civil war.

We met this man on our 2.5km long “loop” in the compound which we use for running and walking. The good thing is that the beach is at the end, close to our house. Twice this week we have gone for a swim. The water is probably the warmest I have ever experienced. Must be close to 30C.

On Sundays we go to church. 85% of the Liberian people are Christians and there is a church in every street corner. They use a rhythm instrument called Saasaa which I have never seen before: It contains beans with a drilled hole, and it is held in some sort of net. The musician swings it with the rhythm and the sound is really loud.
To sit close is not good for my tinnitus.

21/10/2024

(Episode 2)

Dear Friends,

The rainy season is ending, which means less rainfall, more sunshine, higher temperatures and that we need to keep any eye on the level in our water tank.
As you all know water is crucial, clean water. So we have a tank in the backyard which collects rainwater but that we also fill with water from the community pipelines.
However, this water is not clean enough to drink or to use for cooking, so it is filtered inside the house and gets purified enough for us to drink.
This is of course something we always think of when we go or visit somewhere; is it safe to drink or eat. So far so good!

Talking about health, the statistics for Liberia doesn’t look good:

-33% of all kids have been brain damaged by malnutrition (stunting).
-Around 60% of all women has undergone ge***al mutilation.
-The infant mortality rate is 57 of 1000 which gives Liberia the 11th worst place in the world.
-Only about 50% of the people can read and write.
-Malaria is the biggest cause of death.
(We eat Malaria pills every morning)
-Life expectancy is 64 years.
-This is one of countries in the world with most cases of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) due to the long civil war.

This is a tough environment to work and live in. I was very proud the other day when Tina and I met with Karl Backeus and Tania Berger, Ambassador and First Secretary at the Swedish Embassy. Sweden is the second largest contributor to this country after the USA and the embassy is fairly big.
We also got to know that the total number of Swedes in the country is around 25.
We have probably soon met most of them.

Last Friday we did our first flying. The route was to Harper which is a border town close to Ivory Coast. The landscape opened up a little bit down there and not only rainforest. (When flying over, it is called “the broccoli”.)

For you interested in flying it was an IFR flight with lots of CBs at the destination so approach was done close to minima.
I’m happy that MAF has the old procedure that the captain always say a short prayer before we take off.
There is no other than MAF flying domestically in this country.

I think we are slowly adjusting to the temperature and climate. Humidity is the worst. I wrote last time that it is like walking into a “steam sauna”.

We did some sawing in aluminium this morning. Sweat was dripping from my face. After that small work I was totally soaked and needed a shower.
Or maybe I’m just in bad shape……

Tina had her birthday last Friday. Trying to do something special we found a totally unexpected surprise, a sushi restaurant in Monrovia. In fact, it is called Africa’s best sushi restaurant. It was clearly a top notch thing and we loved it. It is located at Mamba Point Hotel if you are in town.

12/10/2024

(Episode 1)

Dear Friends,

We have arrived in Monrovia, Liberia. During the next weeks I will weekly write a short blog about MAF’s work here, what Liberia is like and how we are doing.

Most of you probably just have a vague idea where this small country is located and of the history she carries.

Liberia is situated on the African west coast just north of the equator. A small country with a the size of Tennessee ( a little bigger than half of Sweden)
The climate is hot and humid, like a sauna.
Around 5,5 million people live here. The capital is Monrovia.

Neighbors are Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, and Guinea.

It is the the first and oldest modern republic on the continent. Liberia was established to give freed slaves in USA an African home. Independence from the USA was declared in 1847 and has since then stayed independent.

However, the history is not of a success case. The country was ruled by the Americo-Liberian settlers for more than one hundred years until a military coup put an end to it in 1980.
Civil wars and unrest for the next 20 years plus severe outbreak of Ebola in 2014, damaged the country badly.

Today it is one of the poorest country on Earth.

This is why MAF has put a base here; to serve the most vulnerable people and ”to bring help, hope and healing through aviation and technologies for rural communities”.

Tina’s and my roles are to walk alongside with the team here during two months and serve/support them with the experiences we have. This is very similar to what we did in Papua New Guinea 2015/16 and Arnhem Land 2018.

We stay in a house located right by the sea, but in a gated compound. On pictures it looks like we are in paradise but it needs to be said that out of many reasons living here is stressful; climate, safety, deceases (Malaria is present here), traffic, work conditions, corruption, infrastructure and much more.
I will write more of this in the weeks to come.

To Tina and me it is very meaningful to be here and serve in whatever way we can. We often feel we get to use all of our abilities and experiences even if this is in a new context.

Still, small things can rock our boat. Lately they found what they think is a green Mamba outside our gate. Tina doesn’t like snakes.

Brunegårds in Liberia

24/11/2024

17/11/2024

10/11/2024

02/11/2024

27/10/2024

21/10/2024

12/10/2024

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category