Students Providing Health Education in a Novel Way

The 2nd year students of Winifred J. Harley College of Health Sciences gave a skit in a program at the Miller McAllister United Methodist Church about how HIV/AIDS is transmitted and that people with the illness should not be discriminated against. It was very clever and delivered a positive message that people can be touched and hugged without fear of contracting the disease themselves, and they need the support and love of friends and family.

Renovation on Adams Hall Continues!

The roof has been removed and ready for repairs.

The new roof partially completed.

Even the plumbing will be done including a supersized septic tank!

The workers in process of adding a bathroom to a room that didn’t have one.

Christmas In Ganta

Some scenes around Ganta at Christmas!

Students who were unable to go home for Christmas Vacation break for financial reasons gather for a holiday dinner at my house. This has become a tradition and students start giving me their names even before the vacation starts! It is great fun and a way to meet with the students in a relaxed atmosphere. They also take the opportunity to do some extra clinical practice in the Ganta United Methodist hospital to improve their nursing skills.



The Three Kings of Ganta are…students from Ganta United Methodist School who came visiting and caroling one evening before Christmas. All the students were dressed as characters depicting the Manger Scene. It was very festive!



Guests for Christmas dinner included other missionaries: Dr. Ashwin Sakharia, the dentist teaching in the Dental Nurse Practitioner Program and providing oral health care for patients of Ganta United Methodist Hospital’s Dental Clinic. Dr. Elma Jocson, the new GBGM missionary, Pediatric Surgeon from the Philippines. Helen Roberts-Evans, another GBGM missionary who works for the Liberian Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in their Education Department. There are about 120 UMC schools in Liberia providing education throughout the country and in some very remote areas.

The Construction Starts for Adams Hall: Meet the Crew

The construction on Adams Hall is being done by the West Africa Construction and Enterprise Company owned by Mr. Fred Gbatu. He is well know around Ganta and has done other work for the Ganta United Methodist Hospital. His work is meticulous and thoughtful. I thoroughly enjoy working with him and we collaborate on ideas and details.

Mr. Fred Gbatu

Some of the construction crew



Men at Work. What a wonderful mess!

Moving Day!

Moving Day for twenty-four students of Adams Hall to various accommodations on the Mission Station while the renovations take place. Many thanks to both the Ganta Mission Station Superintendent, Brother Joseph Theoway, and the Ganta United Methodist Hospital Administrator, Mr. Victor Taryor, for helping lodge the students for the two months it will take to do the work.

Local Wildlife

The local people call this a deer but I have heard it is actually an elk. It is found in the forest and people hunt them and raise them for food. They are very docile.

A Little Bit of Home

One of the senior students wore this to class one day, much to my surprise! I had to explain my excitement at seeing an Oriole's shirt in Ganta, Liberia. She had purchased it from the second hand clothes market in town.