Category: Relief Work

  • My first week in Nimba

    Well, I survived my first week as the log/admin for the Nimba project! The big event this week was me taking over financial responsibility for the safes and all the cash in the project. At the same time, I also helped close the books for June. We had a troublesome 281 USD to track down,…

  • Made it to Nimba County

    On Friday, Jerome and I made the drive up to Nimba County. We took 2 patients, their 2 caregivers, and a baby. In Africa, hospitals budget for two people for every admitted patient. The second person is a caregiver, who is responsible for feeding and washing the patient. This doubles the amount of logistical needs…

  • Heading out to Nimba

    Today Jerome (outreach nurse in the Nimba project) and I are heading out to Nimba. The roads are in good shape, so it is only a 6 hour drive. We drive halfway and meet a car coming from the other direction. We transfer ourselves, our two patients, their two caregivers, and our cargo over to…

  • My first few days in Monrovia

    Hey, just a quick update to let you all know I got to Monrovia safely. Arriving in Roberts International Airport was an interesting experience. First, the runway could use a paving job, so while the landing was perfect the deceleration part of the flight was a bit hair-raising, even for someone like me who doesn’t…

  • Got to Monrovia

    Just a quick update to let you all know that I have arrived safely in Monrovia. We rode in from the airport last night in an MSF Land Cruiser through an evening rainstorm. The weather here is comfortable… it is quite hot and humid, but not as bad as Mississippi or Guatemala was. The tropical…

  • This one goes out to all the proud moms out there…

    (Click for a huge version suitable for printing and fridge posting.) Wrapping things up here in Geneva. I’m staying the night with Sima and Steve, and they are dropping me off at the airport tomorrow morning at 7 am. I fly through Brussels, Dakar, and then I arrive at Roberts Field outside of Monrovia about…

  • Life in Geneva – La vie genevois

    I am currently in Geneva for my briefings. I’ve been having fun in the evenings with friends from the old days at Bunyip in Montreal, Steve and Sima. During the day, I go around meeting people and getting verbal briefings, and doing self-study with various materials. Yesterday my biggest problem was that I was overwhelmed…

  • What I’ve been up to

    During the last two weeks I’ve been pretty busy. I worked for a week at International Medical Corps in Santa Monica. During that time I spent a lot of time with a new mentor, Jon Thompson. He and his wife have worked in Liberia, and it was partly them that gave me the confidence to…

  • Off I go to Liberia

    I got my posting! And so the real adventure begins… the rest of this has just been academic. I’ll be working as a “log-admin” in an MSF-Switzerland project based on Saclepea, Nimba County, Liberia. The log part of my job is making sure things go smoothly so the programs keep running. The admin part of…

  • Where’s Jeff?

    Sorry I haven’t sent out an update in a while. I’ve been visiting family and doing paperwork to get in the MSF system. I got my medical clearance from my doctor, extra eye glasses, etc. Kat the Dog and I traveled up to Oregon to see my parents and grandparents. A consulting job back in…