Saturday July 27

We aren't quite done with the celebrations ! This morning we left around 9am to drive the former Nigerian President Obasanjo's chicken farm for a dedication. Fortunately, it was a lot closer than expected, so it was only a 45 minute drive, and all on paved roads ! The value of fresh eggs as a protein source for the Liberian people is huge; this farm is expected to produce 75,000 eggs a day when operating at capacity. After the dedication we had a tour of the farm; it is on 155 acres where they grow crops for feeding the chickens as well. They don't waste anything; the chicken ummm excrement is composted to use as fertilizer for the crops. The farm is expected to produce significant employment opportunities also.

One of the topics that I haven't talked about much here is the work by the government on decentralizing government functions outside of Monrovia. This effort has several goals: one is to bring the government closer to the people in outlying areas, and another is to provide jobs and a better life outside of Monrovia which might help induce some out-migration. Nearly a million people live in Monrovia, and it is terribly overcrowded; the government cannot provide needed services to everyone in this crowded city. A lot of people moved from the country into Monrovia in the immediate post-war period because it was safer and there were more opportunities to scratch out an existence. Now it is time to reverse that trend; many of the buildings dedicated this week are part of that process.

After the chicken farm, we were on our way to a children's party celebrating the 26th when the President decided to make an unscheduled stop at Redemption Hospital, mostly to talk to the nurses. During this week, around the country, nurses have been taking part in a job action; some have refused to show up for work, and others have just been in a go-slow, no overtime mode. I think the main complaint is wages, but there are some complaints about working conditions also. In any case, at Redemption she talked briefly with some of the nurses present, and then Aunt Jenny ( a retired nurse) privately gave them what appeared to be a strong tongue-lashing ! And of course afterwards the purser came along and dispensed some cash. I had the chance to chat with Tobias, the Administrator at Redemption whom I have met before; Ly Heng and I did some operating at Redemption, but I don't expect to do that again. Hopefully when I am back here in a month to work we can collaborate with Redemption to get surgical patients transferred to JFK for surgery. That process has been tangled in politics and economics in the past, but we will keep trying.

Then we went on to the children's party at the football stadium downtown. It was quite a joyous occasion with music and dancing, and clearly the kids were very excited that the President was paying them a visit. It was a wonderful way to end the public celebration of 26 !

Last night I first went to Aunt Jenny's for dinner with the President, the American Ambassador, and Steve Cashin. It was an interesting and fun conversation around the dinner table ! I had some fufu once again, and it was delicious ! After dinner we went to Antoinette's for a party with Ambassador Straz and many others; he had brought strip steaks and lamb chops with him on his plane. I had a good chat with him and his pilots; they fly a Global Express, but I have no idea what that means lol. Aunt Jenny and Uncle Jeff and the President also came to the party, and it was good to see her in a nice relaxed setting.

Friday July 26

Today is July 26, 2013: this is the 166th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Liberia. Of equal importance, we are celebrating 10 years of peace in Liberia since the signing of the accord ending the Civil War on August 3, 2003. It is a day of celebration for the accomplishments already achieved, and a day of contemplation about the serious work ahead.

  Up at 7 this morning to have coffee, and then drive to the parade grounds so the the Commander-In-Chief could review the troops. That was fun to watch, and who doesn't like a military parade with the troops passing by in salute ! Mr. Straz was at the house, and was very welcoming, so I guess my earlier faux pas wasn't that bad. Then back to the "Palace" for breakfast before heading down the hill to the ceremony at Tubmanburg Town Hall.

The hall was packed when we arrived; my guess it that it held 300 people or so. Debbie and I were seated in the front row of the stage to the right of the podium along with Father Gary, another honoree, who was also celebrating his birthday on July 26. He had come to Liberia in 1973, and had stayed throughout the war. He said that at one point he was taken by the LURD rebels into the jungle; they said they were protecting him from harm, but who knows.

The ceremony itself was over 2 hours long; it included an very lengthy introduction of the National Orator by what appeared to be a high school aged girl; perhaps in thenfuture the protocol officer might consider vetting such speeches ! Then the Orator, who is an older politician and head of the Unity party (the same party as the President) spoke at length about her accomplishments and also the areas that he thought needed improvement. My sense in listening to him that he is looking to run for the Presidency. After his speech came the honors, being Debbie, me and Gary. I have to say that it was a momentous and amazing feeling to be standing in front of a crowd of people who, for the most part, had no idea who I am or why I was standing up there, but afterwards they were very gracious in their thanks.  After the honorings, there was more talk, including the former President of Nigeria ( more about him later), who promised he would be short in his speech, but wasn't . One of the things I have learned on this road trip with the President is that asking a politician to be brief will rarely have the desired results. They say they will make their remarks brief, but once they start talking, they don't seem to know how to stop!

After that ceremony, we returned to the Guest House to get our bags, and then we went to lunch at the WEAC building for a luncheon. While there I met the Ambassador from South Africa and his wife; he taught in the Government department at Harvard until the ANC was no longer prohibited, and Nelson Mandela was released from prison. She grew up in Hebron CT, and met him in Boston I think. In any case, they are quite an interesting couple and I enjoyed our conversation.

Everything was running late (not surprising), so we finished there around 4pm and then left to come back to Monrovia for a formal dinner benefitting Messongee, a foundation started by the President to provide funds for rural education and development. The honoree was the former President of Nigeria, affectionately known as Baba to his friends. As I understand it, he was an Army General who took over after his predecessor died under mysterious circumstances, and then won an election. After his term was over, there were some who thought he should retain office, but he decided to follow the rule of law and retired. Since retiring, he has developed a modern chicken farming business in Nigeria, and has just recently started a branch of the operation in Liberia. Anyway, the dinner was actually quite fun, and the evening ended with Madam President and the ex-President of Nigeria leading a conga line dancing through the hall, and the American Ambassador and I joined in.

Throughout the evening a number of people, some of whom I have met before, but many whom I have not, congratulated me for my honor, and thanked me for coming to Liberia as a surgeon. I feel blessed and privileged to have the opportunity to do this work; compared to the work that others are doing, I'm not sure I deserve these accolades, but it sure has been a fun week !

Thursday July 25

It was a cloudy morning, but the beach at Robertsport was still beautiful. I could see the fishermen going out in their skiffs from the beach which reminded me of Duxbury Beach. Apparently the surfing here is spectacular, though Aunt Jenny says it is best during dry season for some unexplainable reason. Anyway we piled into the cars, and drove back to the Lake Pizo guesthouse for breakfast. The President has oatmeal each morning, and so this morning I tried it and discovered one of the secrets: nutmeg !! Something else is added to sweeten it, but the nutmeg gives it a great flavor!

We left at 9 am to start a long day dedicating bridges, markets, clinics, and a Baptist mission school ! President Sirleaf has inspired the Sirleaf Women's Market Fund, and she dedicated one of them in Gbah today. The idea is to get women to sell their produce and wares in a fixed building, rather than alone or in 2 or 3 along the side of the road. Incorporated into the concept is that by having many women together, other services can be provided such as literacy training, business training and basic economics. Additionally, her idea is to have a school as part of it, so the women can bring their kids to the school, knowing it is safe, and then start to build around the market such things as stores for goods, a clean water supply, and maybe even a health clinic. The market then serves as a nidus for growth in the community, making it even more desirable for the women to be a part of.

The clinic she opened is a new maternity unit in an existing clinic. One of the health care delivery issues, and a part of the reason for the high maternal mortality rate, is that women stay at home or in their villages for far too long. The concept of this maternity clinic with about 15 beds is to get women to come in to stay there sooner, so that when they deliver, it can be under more controlled circumstances. This would help decrease infant mortality as well as maternal.

An interesting aspect of these visits is  that she rewards the workers with cash, rice, or both. One of her staff is the "purser" (well, that's what I call him), and he has a backpack with bundles of cash. Remember that 72 Liberian dollars equals 1 US Dollar, so bundles of Liberian dollars are not necessarily a lot of money to us, but it is to them. Anyway, he hands out cash...usually a wad of it to one person in a crowd, and I guess that person is responsible for dividing it up. I asked my driver, Macintosh, today why the person who gets the wad wouldn't just take it for himself; he said the crowd makes sure that doesn't happen.

Anyway, after a long day of driving around, and a stop outside of her farm near Tubmanburg, we went to the hotel we had christened the day before to stay for the night. After getting a room, and getting unpacked, we were informed that in fact we would be staying in what they referred to as the "Presidential Palace", which is another guest house for the President. So we packed up and went there, and it certainly was quite nice. She invited a number of officials, including the guy who is in charge of urban water and sewer; he was very interesting, in part because he was formerly a banker, and he decided he wanted to do something different. He felt that the department needed management more than a professional engineer, and so far he feels like he was right. After a lovely dinner, I went to bed in preparation for the big day tomorrow.

Wednesday July 24

Not much going on this morning. Had a leisurely time, and got several days of blogs posted. Next on the agenda was packing as we will be out for two nights leading up to Friday. Then in the afternoon we left for where we celebrated the opening of a hotel in Tubmanburg, which is owned by a Senator. Apparently he and the President worked together to get the financing and arrangements made; he got what he wanted (a hotel) and she got what she wanted (people investing in properties and the like outside of Monrovia).

From there we went back to the Guest House on Lake Pizo near Robertsport, where we had dinner. We sat with the President and Jenny at a table in the house, then the rest of the staff sat inside and outside as they ate. After dinner we went with several of her staff to Robertsport, where we stayed in the new house belonging to the Minister of Agriculture. It is brand new by all appearances, and is located up on a bluff overlooking the beach; what a gorgeous view from the deck in the morning. Since it is brand new, some of the basics aren't there yet...like running water, so there were no showers to be had, but worse things can happen. I had a reasonably restful sleep, other the drivers outside talking lol

Tuesday July 23

We drove in convoy to the Presidential Guest House in Grand Cape Mount county, and after refreshing and relieving, we went from there to Robertsport to attend a Muslim service of Thanksgiving. It was held in the Town Hall, and wasn't overly religious. I think the President saw it as an opportunity to reach out to the Muslim community, which comprises about 30% of the population by some estimates. There have been politicians suggesting that Liberia should declare itself a Christian nation, which naturally has made the Muslim community worried. The President gave a wonderful extemporaneous response to their remarks reaffirming the unity of the nation, and that was quite well received.

We then went back to the Guest House for lunch; I sat at the table with Debbie Harding, Dr. Emmet Dennis, President of the University of Liberia, Mr. David Straz, and the President. Mr Straz is a retired banker who is now a philanthropist; in Tampa there is the David Straz Center for the Performing Arts. He is also quite involved in Liberia, and donated $1.2 million to build a campus for the University of Liberia in Sinje, which we went to visit later in the day. He is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Tampa General Hospital, and I had a conversation with him about that. He is supporting a team from there who is working with Adamah to arrange a visit later this year; he talked about something in the range of 15-20 people on the team, and they will bring their supplies. He mentioned that "I will fly them here in my plane, naturally !" I actually first met Mr. Straz yesterday at the Muslim service when Debbie introduced us; I was clueless, so I asked him what he does. He told me that he was retired and now a philanthropist. I had the feeling that it was expected that I should have known that before engaging in conversation with him. Oh well.

We had a table conversation with Dr. Dennis about higher education in Liberia, and the difficulties therein because of lack of educational structure and teachers in the earlier years. There is also the issue of poverty and affordability; tuition at the University of Liberia rose from $2.50 to $3.00 per credit and that caused a storm of protest. Unfortunately, a large percentage of those applying for graduate school after college fail the GRE equivalent, primarily he thinks because of a lack of basic preparation in math and english before college.

After lunch we waited for the Vice President to arrive, and then we left with him to go to the campus at Sinje; the President was planning to return to Monrovia so she could go to her office and do some work. The school at Sinje looked great; one of the big programs is in agriculture, and they took us to see some of the planting fields, etc. After that we came back to Monrovia to have dinner with Steve Cashen at Mamba Point. He is from Washington, but has spent a lot of time in Africa; he runs an investment bank here as well as being quite involved in Liberian redevelopment. We enjoyed an excellent conversation about kids, colleges, and other things over a great Indian dinner.

Monday July 22

Sleeping on the couch was alright, but this morning there was still no sign of Melvin or Comfort. So Security from the Presidents house came with a locksmith who pried open the bedroom doors; he came back later and replaced the locks, so now each of us has a key. Mr Bernard, Aunt Jenny's husband, aka Uncle Jeff, came to check on us and was as happy as we are that all is well. Comfort also showed up and told us that she had gone home yesterday to cook some food for her son, but was robbed of the food and her phone.

Mr Bernard has an interesting story told to me by Debbie. Under President Tolbert in the late 1970s, he was in the government as Minister of Youth and Sport. When Samuel Doe staged his coup in 1980, his troops took the President and 12 cabinet Ministers down to the beach where they were executed by firing squad. It happened that Mr Bernard was in Ghana at a sports function, and that is why he is still alive today. Aunt Jenny and their sons were able to escape the country, and I believe they all ended up in the US for many years afterwards.

Macintosh and I left just after noon to deliver some instruments to Robert at his New Eye Clinic. I was able to see him briefly as he had just finished operating for the morning, and we made plans to have dinner in September. We then went to Harbel to the Firestone Hospital for me to meet Dr. Lawrence Sherman who is a surgeon and Chief of the Medical Staff there. I have heard a lot about him over the course of my visits, and he had heard about me, so we were both happy to finally meet. We had a wonderful conversation, and then he toured me around the hospital, and then we had more conversation. Firestone Hospital is quite clean, and certainly appears to be well run. They have significant amounts of fairly up-to-date equipment: a laparoscopy unit, but they are unable to obtain CO2. The only places that have bottled CO2 are the Coca-Cola factory and another industrial place, but neither of them will sell CO2 to the hospital. So they are looking for another source. They have a med tech guy who fixes everything for them, and they have a supply area with at least 2 inventory clerks who label and track all supplies, donated and bought, and they make sure that the supplies closest to expiration get used first. Basic inventory control, but it requires organization and thought, and I think JFK needs more of that.

Debby was off meeting people about education issues today. Tonight we are going to the Mamba Point Hotel for dinner and then probably an early bed. Tomorrow we go back up country, and we have been told to pack for a few days traveling.

Sunday July 21

Today we had a major expedition! We left in a 30 car convoy to drive to Bopulo City for a church service. I don't know if I mentioned it earlier but we have a fairly new Black Range Rover at our disposal for the week, with Dewalt and Macintosh sharing driving and security duties. Anyway, the road to Bopulo was paved for about an hour north from Monrovia, and then dirt road for another 2 hours. As we passed through small villages on the first road, groups of children and adults would be standing beside the road cheering and dancing. Every once in a while, we would stop so that the President could get out and greet the people, offering soccer balls to the kids and dispensing cash to the chiefs of the village. Security was always tight, as it is around her; fortunately I appear to stick out so they know who I am and would typically encourage me to get closer to her ! We arrived in Bopulo City and went into the service; it was attended by many of the cabinet as well as some Ambassadors. Fortunately the service was not too long, except for the minister introducing the guest speaker; the introduction went on for so long that eventually he had to be told to stop ! They then served a lunch, which we were told to eat quickly because we were behind schedule and the President wanted to get going. The next stop was Bella Yaleh.

Bella Yaleh is a town best known for having a prison that people went to and rarely came home from. There was no road to the town; apparently during the time of Charles Taylor, prisoners were brought there by helicopter. Soon after President Sirleaf took office, she promised the town that a road would be built to Bella Yaleh, and that she would visit them at Christmas. That was a couple of years ago, and she took a group to Bella Yaleh; unfortunately the road was not quite finished, and she famously led the group on foot through the jungle over the last couple of miles. With our visit, the road was finished, and so we drove into the village to the cheers of the hundreds of inhabitants. During the dedication ceremony in the village, the tribal chief gave her the traditional welcoming gifts of a plate of fruit and vegetables, a hammock, a chicken, and a sheep! The District superintendent announced during his remarks that they were going to petition the government to name the road the "President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Highway". He also announced that the local government was giving her 10 acres of land so she could build a house and always have a home in Bella Yaleh.

The road to Bella Yaleh is a dirt road, and during rainy season like now it is a mud road. There were several times when we nearly got stuck in the deep mud, in part because the Range Rover has relatively low clearance. Having arrived in Bella Yaleh at about 5:30pm, we could see that most of us would have to sleep in the cars if we stayed there.  The President was staying in a small 2 room house, and she said we could all bunk in there, but that seemed impossible. So a convoy of about 15 cars was put together to drive back to Monrovia, which is what we did. Fortunately we had security and 2-way radios to communicate and stay together; as with the trip out, there were a couple of times when i thought we would be stuck in the clay-like mud, but we got through. The convoy was led by Representative Edwin Snow, who took us via Tubmanburg where he has a farm; we stopped there to use the facilities and have something to eat. We ended up arriving back at the guest house around 1 am, and found that not only was the front door locked, but our bedrooms were locked also and no one knew how to find Comfort, the housekeeper, or the keys to our rooms. So Debbie and I slept on couches, but at least we got to sleep.

Saturday July 20

I slept a little later this morning, and then around 11 we went to the President's office. We saw her briefly before she went in to do a radio interview, and then we waited till she was done. From there we spent the afternoon going to the dedication of a new science building at Brownley Mission School. This is a school for girls, and because of the President's strong push  to educate young women, they were ecstatic to have her there. There was a formal dedication with ribbon cutting, the speeches, and then a walk through the new facility.I had the opportunity to meet the US Ambassador, Deborah Malik, who told me that her husband grew up in Southington, CT which is not far from Waterbury. The school appeared quite nice, a bit surprising for being out in the middle of nowhere. After leaving the school, on the dirt road, there would be collections of people, and frequently the President would stop to listen to them singing or whatever. One place we stopped was an open air market where there were lots of people making joyful noise. She got out, bought some of the fruits and what looked like biscuits, and then gave it all to the kids. She really is a remarkable woman.

Tonight we went to the Golden Image Awards dinner, for which the President is the inspiration and original award winner. They give out awards to people who foster cooperation and peace. The ceremony was pleasant enough, but it dragged on for 2 hours, and they weren't serving dinner till the awarding was over. The President decided it was time to go after the speeches, so off we went back home. Dinners like that are one reason I wouldn't want to be a politician, but I guess if you can leave when u want the being President would be ok !

Friday July 19

This is rainy season, but I continue to be surprised by the torrential nature of the rain. It is intermittent, night and day; last night I was awoken several times by the loud pounding of rain on the metal roof.

Today I got up around 8, showered, and came downstairs to see that they bought me Raisin Bran for my breakfast !! Yay !! This morning I finished a wonderful book called "God's House" by Victoria Sweet, a physician who worked in Laguna Honda, a public hospital for the chronically ill in San Francisco. She interweaves the story of that hospital with details of her exploration of medieval medicine, and especially the work of Hildegard of Bingen; the result is a fascinating story of old medicine, new medicine, and the surprising connections between them. It also has some remarkable insights into the changes in medical practice which have occurred in the past several decades, leading to the demise of places like Laguna Honda, killed off by perhaps well-intentioned bureaucrats who decided a new model of care was needed.

At 4 pm Dewalt and Macintosh drove me to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the honoring ceremony. The auditorium was packed when I walked in with Macintosh; the usher asked if I was a diplomat, and Macintosh replied that I was a guest of the President, so I was escorted to a seat in the second row. It was quite an interesting process: there were 12 honorees who were called up individually, and then their citation was read, followed by the President affixing their medal and posing for a photograph with them. There was then a toast to the honorees, and a toast back to the President. The military band played selections such as "Que sera, sera" and the Mexican Hat Dance, and then we adjourned to a reception in the foyer. There was a receiving line of sorts with the President and Vice President, drinks, and canapés; I met a psychiatrist from Meharry Medical School who spent time at Yale. I didn't go through the receiving line, so when the President was leaving, she stopped when she saw me to ask if everything was okay with my schedule. I told her that Aunt Jenny was taking care of it and she laughed, saying that she uses her sister Jenny for the same purpose !

Soon after I returned to the guesthouse, Dr. Debby Harding arrived and we got acquainted. She is the other honoree besides me and the orator who will be invested next Friday in Tubmanburg. We learned later that normally only the Orator is invested on Independence Day itself, but there was a miscommunication in the protocol office, and since Debby wasn't arriving till after the ceremony today, they decided to invest her and me in Tubmanburg next Friday. Shortly after Debby arrived, Aunt Jenny came with copies of the schedule for the next several days to review with us and see what we want to do. It's going to be a busy week ! During the week the President will be dedicating a variety of roads, buildings, and programs, and we are invited to accompany her to all of them. It remains unclear what nights we will stay outside of Monrovia, but definitely at least one or two. Aunt Jenny suggested that we come back here some of the nights, although the President will be staying out there, because the accommodations are sparse. But she said we should talk to the President tomorrow to find out what she wants us to do.

After Aunt Jenny left, Debby and I had dinner and got acquainted more. She lives in Washington,DC and has known the President since 1985. She has worked in philanthropy for much of her professional life, and after the 2005 election in Liberia she was asked by President Sirleaf to harness the good will and money being offered by Americans to use for education. Initially it was planned that she would run the Liberian Education Trust for 3 years and then turn it over to Liberians to run it; it has been 8 years of program development, and it is getting close to ready to be turned over. We had a wonderful conversation, and I'm sure we will have many more as we travel during this week.

Shortly after heading up to bed I was summoned next door to the President's house for a potential medical emergency; happily it resolved with no intervention necessary on my part. Now I can go to sleep and be ready for a long day tomorrow. Wait...not quite yet. Persistent discomfort led to a trip to JFK and some tests, and all of them were negative, so I think I can go to bed now.

Thursday July 18

When I walked into the terminal from the plane yesterday, a man came up to me and said "Dr. Knight ?" He then escorted me through immigration, handing my passport to someone with instructions to take care of it, and we picked up my luggage. Outside I was met by Dewalt and Macintosh; I have subsequently learned that Macintosh is from the President's security detail and is assigned to me for the duration of my stay! We drove in pouring rain (yes, it is rainy season) to the President's house where I met Aunt Jenny. She explained that the President had gone to Nigeria for an ECOWAS meeting, and would be back tomorrow, at which time my schedule would be discussed. We then drove next door to the Presidential Guest House where I will be staying. After a meal and 2 Club beers, I took a shower and fell nicely asleep. Aunt Jenny came over after my breakfast this morning to discuss my schedule a bit more. This morning I will go to JFK around 10, and then I will go to her house for lunch at 1. Not surprisingly, there has been a change in the Honoring schedule: the original plan was for me to be part of a group of 35 honorees on Friday, but now my honoring has been moved to the actual Independence Day ceremony itself on Friday the 26th. One of the facts of life in Liberia is that plans change frequently based on unanticipated circumstances, and one has to learn to go with the flow. I think that one of the personal benefits to me of spending time in Liberia has been just that: I have to put aside my compulsion for timeliness and planning, and recognize that I don't have control so I might as well just enjoy it. They take good care of me and everything works out. I went to JFK and met Dr. McDonald outside the Administration Building as she was on her way to a ceremony thanking Chevron for some donations. I went with her, and saw several old friends as well as meeting some new ones. Afterwards Dr. McDonald and I talked briefly about the needs of the surgery department, especially as it relates to the soon-to-start postgraduate education program. After that I went up to the OR to say hello to Percillar, Anthony Hne, and the others; it feels weird being here and not working, but I assured them that I would be back in September to work. I then went to Aunt Jennie's for lunch, and had a very nice time as expected. Her husband was there as was one of her sons, Carney, who I think is an accountant. We had a very interesting discussion about the current state of politics in Liberia, and concerns about the possibility of unrest which is just under the surface. There is no doubt that some people are discontent; I think that is only natural when things are getting better, but some people are impatient and think that change can happen overnight. The planning for all of the Independence Day celebrations seems like it continues to be a work in progress. The big ceremony on July 26 will be in Tubmanburg, but it remains unclear whether we will go there the night before or the morning of; I think it is about 2 hours drive. From what I am told, the uncertainty mostly relates to the availability of accommodations. Aunt Jennie told me that three of us will be honored on that occasion: Debby Harding, a US woman who has done a lot to support education in Liberia, myself, and "The Orator", whose name and accomplishments remain a mystery so far, but he is the one who will speak for the honorees as I understand it. Aunt Jenny said she would get more information soon, and would let me know in the next day or two what I will be doing. After another visit to JFK and a meeting with Dr. McDonald and Dr. Johnson at 4 pm, Dewalt and I went across the street to get some passport type photos so I can get a JFK ID ! I told Dr. McDonald that I thought I should have one, and she readily agreed, so that is now in the works. Then back to the house for a quiet dinner and evening. Tomorrow the celebrations begin !

Wednesday July 17

This is a special edition of my blog because of it being a different kind of trip to Liberia. I'm not here to do the usual surgical work at JFK, but rather I am here to join the celebrations of Liberian Independence Day on July 26. As part of those celebrations, each year The President chooses to honor certain individuals, and this year I am one of them. On Friday, in a ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she will confer on me the distinction of Knight Grand Commander, Humane Order of African Redemption; I really have no idea what it means, other than that it is a great honor and I am proud to be so recognized. It goes without saying that the honor is shared by all of my fellow travelers over the past 4 years (Robert Numoo, Colleen Pietras, Santiago Arruffat, Jenn Malsbury, Eric Lucero, Yuk Ming Liu, Ly Heng, Diego Holguin, John Dussel, Jonathan Laryea, and Nathan Lafayette) as well as all of the people who have helped our work with donations and encouragement. A particularly loud shout out in that regard to Mary, Tanya, and Donna at Waterbury Hospital who have been amazing in finding opportunities to help our work ! As part of the Independence Day celebrations, The President will be bringing the festivities to 3 northern counties in Liberia next week, and I have been invited to join her entourage. I particularly excited about this, since I have been outside if Monrovia for one afternoon only in the 7 trips I have made here. For the most part we come, we work at JFK Hospital, and we go home; I am looking forward to this opportunity to see some of the rest of the country.