Thomas

It seems like every time I go to the camp (and even when I’m not on the camp) someone comes up to me and asks for assistance with education, with training, with housing, etc. etc. – and these days I usually tell them straightforward that there’s nothing I can do – I don’t want to offer false hope and I really don’t have the time to try for all. However, there have been 3 individuals for whom I know the stories and, more importantly. I’ve known them over the years, I’ve witnessed their seriousness and their dedication to others. It’s this selflessness I’ve seen in all three, this concern and compassion that each of them has shown that has pushed me to consider what I didn’t want to get involved with again when I came back to the coast 1½ years ago – finding supporters/sponsors to help them realize their dreams and move onto their goals. Last year I shared Benedict’s story, now I’m sharing the story of Thomas. I think that first I’ll start with his story as he wrote it, then I’ll add my experiences and thoughts about him after that:

the photo is of Thomas with Elizabeth (she's in a lot of photos of things I write about these days, it seems)

Thomas F. Mundu –

Dear Sir/Madam:
REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE
I left Liberia since 1996 April 6, after the brutal killing of my parents. My father served as judge under the late president Samuel K. Doe and he was killed by the Charles Taylor rebels. My mother and I felt into an ambush where she was killed and my aunt managed to escape with me into exile, Ghana. Unfortunately for me and my aunt, we were involved in a tragic motor accident on Nov.4, 2003 where my aunt died on the spot and my left leg broke three times and my right hand fractured.
Since then I have no one in Liberia. It was friends and pastors who took care of me during my stay in the hospital at the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital. After all the treatment, I encountered a snake bite in the bush where all refugees attend to nature.
It was only by the grace of God that I survived and I have no means of continuing my life to return to Liberia. I might be killed by those people who killed my father.
Some more details:

After I survived the tragic accident, I was sponsored by Sis.Johanna, a Dutch national, to study Ports and Shipping Management at Principal's College, Achimota, Accra (under Cambridge International College, UK) from where I obtained an Advanced Diploma.

Furthermore, I was trained by the Ghana Ports And Harbours Authority (GPHA) Golden Jubilee Terminal,(GJT), Tema Port for three months. As a result of the training, I was considered the first highest. After the training, I managed to purchase the Regional Maritime University Admission form to be sponsored by UN, but unfortunately for me, I was not accepted by both UN and the university.

After all these disappointments, I decided to go back home even though my parents were all killed during the war. Now going back home is a complete threat for me. Those who killed my father, who served as a judge under the late President Samuel K. Doe, are still in the government holding key positions.

My life now is being controlled by God through the assistance of friends. I have no source of income, nobody to even depend on if I should go back to Liberia. The issue of going to Liberia is mentioned out of frustration. Presently, I serve as a volunteer Secretary to the Harmony Disability Centre, an organization which I am a member of.

I still want a sponsor to further my studies at any other institution which will enable me to return home with head knowledge rather then none. Feeding is also one of the daily problem that I face.
God bless.
Respectfully Yours,

Thomas F. Mundu
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I’ve known Thomas since the end of 2005 when Johanna (the Dutch SMA lay missionary he mentions in his letter) became involved with him and started to find ways to help him work towards a better future. I wasn’t too involved with him at that time – Johanna was helping him with the education he was receiving. I left the camp in 2007, and when I returned in October, 2009, I was surprised to find Thomas active with the Harmony Center. I hadn’t stayed in contact with him after I left the camp at the end of 2007, and I knew many people had returned to Liberia. To be honest - I never thought of him after that since I didn’t have a strong, direct connection with him during my time on the camp.

When I returned to the coast I was asked to be involved with the Harmony Center, an organization with which many of the people with disabilities on the camp are connected. A couple of SMA lay missionaries had been working with Harmony since I left the camp, and at the time I returned to the coast a year and a half ago, the French lay missionary who was working with Harmony was preparing to return to France, so I was asked to continue. When I first went to Harmony, I was surprised to find Thomas volunteering as secretary/general-office-help there.

I always had the impression that he was a gentle, kind, intelligent and simple-living person. So, I was happy to see that he’s been putting all those qualities into action by volunteering with Harmony. About a month after I became involved with Harmony, he came to me to talk about continuing his education. I did what I have done in the past and asked him to please write a little about himself and his goals and then allow me to share that information to help in the search for a sponsor. He prepared the two letters (which I combined into one) that are above. He also, in spite of his letter above stating that he wants to further his studies “at any other institution”, has completed them (thanks to previous donations I’ve received in the past 1½ years). At this time, though, to fully complete and receive his Bachelor’s degree for the studies he’s done, he needs to take a series of 3 exams. Each exam costs, $800 – with the first exam scheduled to take place in June. (Yowzers! Time is flying and I’ve delayed too long in sharing this story.) Upon successfully completing the exams he’ll have a Bsc (bachelor’s degree) in Shipping and Transport Management from Cambridge University in the UK. So, the first exam is in June, the next one in September, and the final one in December. What I’m hoping for at this time is help for Thomas to take that first exam in June. We’ll deal with the other ones afterwards. If anyone is able to contribute towards this first exam, it would be the usual procedure – please send a check or whatever to:

SMA
C/O Theresa Hicks
256 North Manor Circle
Takoma Park, MD 20912
USA

Include a note for Theresa, saying that the donation is to be put towards Steve's work with Thomas.

I had never heard his full story before, but I knew that he struggled to live on the camp – he’s alone and, because of the accident, limps and is limited in some of his activities. I’ve been impressed by his dedication to work for the people with disabilities on the camp, in spite of having almost no compensation for the time and effort he’s putting into his role at Harmony. Because I’ve known him these years and have seen his struggles and his seriousness and dedication – even selflessness – in spite of these struggles, he’s one of 3 people, out of the many who have asked about education, to whom I’ve told I’ll give it a try and see what I can do. (So far, I’ve only tried with one of the other 2 – Benedict – but no success there, yet. I’m doing it step-by-step – there always seems so much to write about, so little time to write, and so much uncertainty about how best I should prioritize what/who I write about. I’ve known Benedict better and longer, so I started with him. Now, there’s a bit of a time crunch, and I’ve been working closely with Thomas for the past 1½ years (he’s also the one who helped me a lot with getting Blamasee ready for school), so, he’s the current priority).

3.5 of 3 (or maybe 4) -part camp series

So, the first term ended. Christmas came and went. While the students were back on the camp during their holidays we were able to get around and see each of them and their families, and make sure all was going well towards preparing for the 2nd term. We visited another former student of the Buduburam School for the Deaf. He had already been attending the Cape Coast school, but for the past term was refusing to go back – he preferred to stay on the camp and play pool (billiards) with his friends. We couldn’t change his mind.

Blamasee and I went to the eye doctor a couple of times. A couple of years after having his hearing severely damaged from a beating he also got kicked in the face while playing football and has had vision problems ever since. I’ll do a separate blog entry about just him one day in the future – it’ll be a fundraising effort. He’s a smart guy, a hard worker, stubborn and a pain in the neck at times (but who isn’t? most of us have our moments). And he’s also getting to the cut-off point for assistance received through Liliane Fonds.

I was also in contact with Marvelous’ father. He and his wife are no longer together – and that was the main problem for why Marvelous wasn’t attending school. The father seriously wanted Marvelous to get into school – but it was too late. The names of the students for the 2nd term had been sent in, and it wasn't clear if it would be possible for an exception to be made. The father was on it, though, and I believed that he’d be successful. Once in awhile I’d call and find out that they’d been to the school, talked with Mr. K (the sort-of Admissions Officer/former headmaster). I was encouraged and was sure that Marvelous would be joining the other kids for the 2nd term at school.

Mary was another story – I had a hard time finding her house on my own, so I went with Blamasee, and, as usual, the mother wasn’t at home. We left a message that she should try to find her way to Elizabeth at the Harmony Center – but, we’ve not heard from her since.

Rachel – well, she was too old for the funders I had, the family didn’t put in any effort of their own – not even to attend the meeting that was scheduled last August – and she was learning sewing on the camp - - - so, I let it drop.

Aaron – he and his sister still weren’t back. I’m not happy with the sister for lying to me. And now with the troubles in Cote d’Ivoire, I’m only hoping that they’re safe.

For Blamasee – one of the ones who was most serious about wanting to go to school – someone was helping me to figure out which supplies Blamasee had, what was still needed, and to use donations to acquire those things. And on his own, Blamasee found some work and used the money to purchase his own school uniforms! I was very encouraged by this.

The day scheduled for the students to go back to school I borrowed the truck I used to use while on the camp. Marie Mah was sick and her sister said she’d go back the following week. Hovee’s brother would take Hovee the following week. Marvelous’ father was still working on getting Marvelous into the school. Blessing and her mom showed up. And – happily – Blamasee was also there, early and ready to go.


Steve, Blamasee, Blessing and Blessing's Mom


Hard to explain the feelings associated with seeing Blamasee there.



In 2004, when I was just beginning with the school for the deaf on the camp, Blamasee was fighting attending the school – he didn’t want to accept that he couldn’t hear well enough for the other schools. He denied the need. Over time, he started attending the school for the deaf more and more regularly – and eventually became one of the better students. He’s now become the leader, in a way, of the deaf kids who are on the camp. They all look up to him, follow him, listen to him. He’s the one with whom I’ve spent the most time over the past year. He also is the one who can give attitude. When he stayed at the Bethany House the night before going to the eye doctor he refused to stay in the rooms where the Hope for Life members stay – even though no one was there at the time (although, it shouldn’t have mattered even if he had to share the room with a Hope for Life member). He refused to use the showers that the HFL members use in the main part of the house. (I didn’t learn all this until afterwards – and then I let him know what I thought about that - - - he and I have moved on.) He’s also the one I’ve seen mature the most. I’m very proud of him.


Blahmasee having his House Mother and Mr. K inspect his supplies


A week or two after school started, I was waiting for someone at the transport station close to where I live – which is also close to where Marvelous’ mother lives. I’ve only met her a couple of times, so didn’t immediately recognize the woman who was greeting me. She doesn’t speak much English, but I was able to understand enough to know who she was and that Marvelous was now staying with her again, and not the father - - and not in school. Hoy. I was disappointed – I had really believed that he’d be in school. What to do? I planned to call the father soon – but still haven’t gotten around to it.

This past weekend, roughly 2 months into the 2nd term of school, along with Elizabeth and Joe (an SMA lay missionary who’s recently arrived and will be taking over some of my work, as well as working on the camp as a nurse), I went down to the school for the deaf in Cape Coast. Marie Mah’s sister and Blessing’s mom both sent supplies for their kids, and we also brought some supplies for Blamasee. I couldn’t contact Hovee’s brother until too late for him to get anything to me.

It was wonderful – as usual, Marie Mah came running and jumped into my arms – almost knocking me over. Before long, we were surrounded by all four of the kids we came to see. And suddenly, from around the corner of one building, Marvelous came walking – with his usual big smile on his face. Amazing. And before I knew it, there were 3 other former students from the camp – Ghanaians whose families, on their own, had taken the initiative and responsibility for the registration process and entered their children at the school. It was kind of amazing to see everyone again – this small group (8 or 9 “kids”) of former students that I’d seen every day in the past – now together at Cape Coast. Nice.


hmmm, can't remember all the names, but 3rd from left is Hovee, behind him, with his fingers up, is Marvelous. The white guy is Joe and next to him is Ofori. Then Blamasee, me, Blessing and Marie Mah


We went to visit the Headmistress, who was out, and then to Mr. K – he seems to be the kids’ favorite.


I can't remember the girl on the left or the guy behind her, but after that is: Marie Mah, me, Hovee, Mr. K, Blamasee, Blessing, and Elizabeth


He took a lot of time to tell us how each of them was doing. After over an hour he was called to meet someone who was looking for the school, and we were taken to meet the housemothers. Blahmasee showed us his dorm room, the bed (which at the moment also had Marvelous’ mattress – since Marvelous arrived late, there were no beds available, so at night his mattress goes on the floor). And he showed us the bag where he stores his clothes – and which is in tatters (I need to remember to find him another one).


Again, the boy and girl whose names I can't remember, Hovee, Marvelous, Elizabeth, Blamasee, Ofori, me, Blessing and Marie Mah


The rest of the day:

Finally, we had to go – I was hungry and there’s a little place next to the Cape Coast Castle. We ate there, and I stayed to read and have another beer while Joe and Elizabeth took a good, but depressing tour, of the “castle”.


Elizabeth at the "Castle"

On the way home, a stop at one of my favorite places for a peaceful feeling and a view, Weda Lodge (I just call it “The House on the Hill” - and there are no websites to link to so you can see this wonderful place).


me and Elizabeth at one of Weda Lodge's vantage points

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End of the camp series (although, I’ll still be writing about the camp, of course – just that the series I started forever ago is kind of old news) – I’m not going to do the fourth part that I had thought would be connected to this series which started I don’t even remember how long ago. I’ve taken too long to get this far so the momentum has been lost -– I had all these thoughts I wanted to write about, things that had happened, people, etc. I wrote about the people and so on – but the thoughts can wait for another time – maybe.

3rd of 3 (or maybe 4?) -part camp series

I left Buduburam in 2007, and about a year later, Buduburam School for the Deaf closed. Many of the teachers were returning to Liberia, as were many of the students; the school had a break-in and some of the resources were stolen (the TV and DVD player along with some of the DVDs in sign language – uggh, sad); for different reasons, some legitimate and some suspicious, the school was closed down. When I was moved to Accra at the end of 2009, I was asked to follow up with the deaf children who were still on the camp. There were 6 deaf children that could be found on the camp – and that included one “new” 5-year-old girl, a Ghanaian whose family was now living on the camp. Two former Ghanaian students, who were still interested in school, were able to be located in Kasoa (the nearby town where they lived). From time-to-time, Blamasee (one of the former students) and I made rounds to visit the families and the former students.

Marie Mah, a little girl who’d give me these big hugs every time she saw me and would sign to people that she and I were going to get married one day, has grown to be a young woman (well, not a woman, she's still a sweet little girl, just now in a young woman's body) over the past 3 years; Rachel, probably the oldest of the students (she’d been in her mid-20’s when she began school in 2006) was still around; Aaron was a student about Blamasee’s age, who’d begun attending school after I left the camp; Blessing was also a “new” student – she’s probably the least educated of all the former students, and probably knows the fewest signs; Mary is the 5-year-old “new” girl, and the one who’s mother is the hardest to find at home; Hovee is one of the Ghanaian students who came from the near-by town of Kasoa – also one of the brightest students we had; and Marvelous, also from Kasoa area, was always the biggest comedian of the group. All the students were in their teens (with Blessing at the youngest end and Blamasee and Aaron at the older end), except for Rachel – late 20’s – and Mary.

In May last year we went to the audiology department to get updated check-ups on the 8 “children”. Then, early in June last year, we arranged for the 8 students and one family member for each to head to Cape Coast School for the Deaf to begin the registration process. We found out the list of things needed, the time-frame, and filled out some forms for basic information on the kids. In July, a teacher for the deaf [P-Mommy (possibly spelled P-Mamie – at least that’s how I always spelled it in my mind since I never had to spell it anywhere else), who can also go by “P”, and whose real name is Phyllis - and I met back in 2004 when she was volunteering on the camp during the break between school years where she taught in California. We’ve kept in touch since then – mostly through these blog updates] came to Ghana to volunteer in whatever way I could best use her. The timing was perfect – school was to start at the end of August/early September, a lot of other things were going on, and following-up to see how far the families were doing in gathering the long list of supplies needed and trying to judge what was really possible for the families to do and what was actually needed was very time-consuming and not the most enjoyable task. P took over making rounds with Blamasee once or twice a week, she prepared check-lists, made notes of the visits, encouraged the kids and their families, shared her observation of family situations and motivations and did as much to prepare the kids and their families as was possible.

P left in August and I was also going on a small leave in early September – so, I planned one last meeting for the 8 students and families who were preparing for Cape Coast School for the Deaf. I made it clear that this was our last chance to meet. We had to meet at 8:30 because by 10:30 I needed to leave. One mother was there early. Wow. Yet, by 10:30, we hadn’t started the meeting – only 5 students and parents were there – and 1 had only just arrived. I explained the purpose of the meeting – for them to meet each other, offer advice, work things out like transport, etc. because I wouldn’t be around to help out any more. I told them that after I got back to the camp in the early afternoon (I was taking several of the kids with disabilities to the orthopedist who was making his bi-monthly visit to a nearby town) I would come around and see how things went and what was decided. As I drove off to the meeting place for the kids with disabilities, another one of the fathers for one of the deaf students called that he was almost there. So – they ended up with 6 parents at the meeting. No problem – when I got back to the camp I made rounds to the 6 who live on the camp and called the 2 from the nearby town. I knew the long list of supplies needed was expensive, and a donor organization made it possible to assist a bit with some of the expenses. Thanks to P, I had an idea of about how much might be needed to assist the parents. For the two families that didn’t show up for the meeting – there was no good excuse, so that was the end of my efforts with them at this time. Sorry for the students, but at the same time, I realized I couldn’t keep pushing or putting in more effort than the families or the students were doing.

As I went around and visited the families, all was fine until the last family. The first 2 were grateful for the bit of assistance being offered and made promises that they’d be able to do the rest. Blamasee is pretty much on his own, so I made arrangements with someone else to help out. And then the 4th family – the family that seemed to me to have the most family members around to help out and also seemed to always be doing well enough – started to complain, saying they didn’t know if they could do any of it, saying it wasn’t enough money to help them, and getting more and more attitude. I wasn’t in the mood – end of a long day that had actually been going well until then – but, I had missed lunch and it’s not a good time to give attitude when it’s 4 in the afternoon of a long day and Steve hasn’t eaten since early morning. They were told that if they can’t help to get their family member to school to just let me know – the assistance being offered wasn’t given with their name on it, and there were others who could use it. Anyway – I was getting my own attitude, and getting pissed off – they grudgingly made promises that they’d get their student ready for school and make sure he was enrolled.

I stormed off, finished the day, and didn’t go back to the camp for another month.

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When I next came to the camp, a month later, it turned out that of the 8 students we started with, only 3 actually made it to school. I was happy for those three and very proud of their families. I knew it wasn’t easy for the families, but they did it. It was really kind of amazing. As for Blamasee, he was the first of the deaf students I met when I came back on the camp a year before and he’d been making all the rounds with me. His family doesn’t offer much support to him, and he struggles to get by with doing small jobs here and there – he’s a hard worker, but, for a variety of reasons I won’t go into now, he doesn’t keep his small jobs for very long. I know his family isn’t supportive, and I know he could do something on his own to meet some of his needs, but he didn’t come up with any of the supplies needed – and the money left to help him out wasn’t enough to pick up the entire tab. Sorry for Blamasee – he watched his friends go to school while he, the guy who was always asking about school and who very much wanted to go ever since the school for the deaf on the camp closed, couldn’t go.

As for Aaron, the student from the family with attitude – he also didn’t go. And it turns out that for some reason, his sister took him to Ivory Coast for something. Mary, the youngest, didn’t go; and Rachel, the oldest, also didn’t go. Marvelous also didn’t go – there are some family problems there, so, for whatever reason, it didn’t work out.

What I found when I returned to the camp came with mixed feelings – excited and happy and very proud of the families of Marie Mah, Blessing, and Hovee - - and angry, annoyed, pissed off and out of patience with the others. By chance I ran into Mary and her mom in the market that day – and the mother started making her excuses – “no money”. Meanwhile, my thoughts were, “sorry – but I also saw no effort. Every time when we gave a message about the day/time we’d come by, you were out. You’re the one with the largest extended family here, and there’s been the least follow-through.” I’m sorry for Mary, though, and may still try to do some follow-up with them in the future. But at that moment – too late.

For the next couple of months I continued to see Blamasee from time to time. He'd continue to go around the camp with me, visiting some of the families. He still wanted to get to school, and I began trying to figure out how much support to give him. A couple of months into the school term it seemed like a good idea to go with Elizabeth Dede and Blamasee to visit the 3 who did get to Cape Coast. It was a chance not just to see how they were doing, but to encourage and push Blamasee to really put in effort for himself, to work towards earning some of the supplies he needed to get to school the following term.


me with Marie Mah and Blamasee

It was great to see them in their uniforms, excited and happy to be there, and it was a nice reunion for them with Blamasee. It was also good timing – we arrived at the school just before the headmistress was heading out to send the list of students’ names to the government for the following term – and she was able to add Blamasee’s name to the list just in time.


Elizabeth with Marie Mah, Hovee and Blamasee


me with Marie and Blessing, who was sick the day of our visit

I also called Marvelous’ dad to find out what happened – and, like I said, some family problems. He brought Marvelous to the Harmony Center on the camp one day so we could meet and see what to do. I gave him the contact information for the school for the deaf in Cape Coast and he immediately called the guy who does the intakes and arranged for a visit. The father put in a lot of effort that day, coming to the camp from Kasoa, finding his way through the camp to the Harmony office, making the calls and arrangements. I was impressed and had hopes that Marvelous might be ready to enter school by the following term – it wasn’t certain, though, since they’d delayed and Marvelous’ name was not on the list that Blamasee’s name made it on at the last minute. Now, though, it was up to the father to work it out.