An Expensive Coffee and Unexpected Gold

November 24th: Jimmy and $60

Good day. It’s November 24th — Jimmy and $60. That’s part of what I’m going to share.

Looking for a Working ATM

I went to town to find an ATM that actually works, because the ones I had tried before weren’t working. It turns out I wasn’t very successful. It’s a Monday, and all the ATMs had been used up over the weekend.

That was going to have to wait for another time, so I decided to look for a coffee.

The Coffee Stop That Went Sideways

I ended up going to a coffee place near a big hotel and parked my truck in front of it, pretty much the same way I had done before without any issue.

This time, though, when I got back to my truck, I found that someone had put a padlock on the front wheel. It was done by some kind of private security. I wasn’t supposed to park there, which in hindsight seemed obvious, but it had worked before.

$80, $250, or a Deal

I was given a choice: pay $80 or get the truck towed, which would cost $250. Supposedly someone had already called a tow truck. You wouldn’t expect that kind of thing in Liberia, but there it was.

After some negotiating and finagling, I managed to get the price down to $60.

Jimmy Shows Up

As usual, there were people around watching cars. One of them was a man named Jimmy. He remembered me from Freetown — from a neighborhood called Aberdeen — where we had spoken briefly before.

What made it even more surprising is that we were now in Monrovia, which is about a two-day drive away if you only travel during the day. He even remembered my orange scarf.

So that was that story — a $60 payment and one very expensive coffee.

Meeting Michael

On the way back to the hotel, I met a young man named Michael. He’s 25 years old and seemed very sincere. He told me he really wants to go to vocational school but doesn’t have the money.

I decided to spend another $60 to help him get signed up. Once he’s enrolled, maybe I’ll help him more. That would be sometime in February.

There are so many people here who could use help.

An Unexpected Gold Encounter

As if that wasn’t enough for one day, when I got back to the hotel, another guest who had been staying there for four or five days approached me.

He took me to his room to show me gold — actual gold bars. He was working with the chief of several villages, and they were in the process of transferring the gold to someone else.

I was even offered the chance to buy some. I’m not really into gold and don’t know enough about it, but hearing the story alone was fascinating.

Gold From the Villages

The gold is being found near villages about six hours away from Monrovia. The village people all help with the mining, and it turns out to be a very productive operation.

Just encountering that situation was absolutely fascinating. Nothing seems strange enough around here.

Back to the Vocational School

Michael and others actually visited the vocational school to find out what it would take for him to enroll. It costs $40 to sign up and $20 for an entry exam in January.

The entire course lasts a year and costs less than $1,000. That can still be a big challenge here, especially with so many people looking for work and so few opportunities.