The next step was to secure accomodation for the night. We had planned to stay at the guest rooms at Cuttington University, however they were unavailable due to renovations. So we drove a short way to Phebe Hospital, which was a sprawling complex just up the road.
Somewhere around 1950, a young graduate nurse named Carolyn Miller moved from the US to the centre of Liberia, and based herself at Phebe. She spent the next 40 years working as a nurse and training staff. She is deeply loved and remembered here. There is now a hospital, a nursing school, huge electricity generators, water, vehicles and ambulances. By western standards it would all look pretty basic, but in the middle of Bong County Liberia, it stands out. The complex had staff houses and 2 guest houses. We checked into the larger guest house. Carolyn Miller’s original house was still there, next door to us. As a child, Karrus met Carolyn Miller at school. She is still alive, strong and in her 70’s, and visited Liberia in 2008.
We drove to Gbanga for some supplies. When we returned, Karrus showed me around the grounds. We ran into his cousin, who was at the nursing school. When I asked her how she found the school, she replied that it was great, but they needed textbooks. The whole school shared just a few.
I then saw a vision. There was a large blue 1970’s era Toyota truck, troop carrier size, which looked as though it had been parked for a year or so. It was covered in dust but the tyres were still inflated. With double rear wheels, I guessed it was good for 8 tonnes.
I said to Karrus, thats might be your truck. He seemed dubious. We tracked down the hospital mechanic. He said that the truck was fine, with the exception that the clutch went last year and the board had not funded its repair. They had several new Landcruisers and Hi-Ace buses, as well as a couple of cars, and I assume a 70’s truck was not a priority. More importantly, they had not used it for a year and it had not been missed.
We tracked down the decision making authority of the truck to the medical director, who was not there. However Karrus brightened a bit when we made the connection, that if we told the director we wanted the truck for the Carolyn Mller School, it might go down well in these parts. Anyway, there was nothing to lose.
Had I been staying here longer, I would have been able to repair and or replace the clutch myself, say a days work. They had tools in the shed and worst case there was a Toyota dealership in Monrovia with parts. But we needed to get back tomorrow. I had an idea.
A few minutes from Phebe were 2 large military complexes: the Bangladesh Engineering Unit, and an UNMIL complex. We drove down to the bangladesh guys and i walked to the gate. I thought these guys spoke english? But it took about 10 minutes before a fluent speaker came down. I showed him my australian passport to identify myself, and he said that the boys had a cricket pitch, was I up for a game some time? Much as I’d love to, I dont think that the fit young Bangladesh soldiers would be able to stand up to my bowling. My Bosie-Googly is a wonder to behold. I did them a favour and gracefully declined. I explained about the school project, and that there was a potential truck, we had a clutch problem, and you guys are engineers…Well, he was genuinely interested, and said a couple of interesting things.
1. We are not mechanical engineers but road engineers. If you need any heavy earthmoving or grading done, just ask. Its in our brief to help the community. The protocol is that if the Commissioner was to ask us for earth works, we would be happy to assist.
2. UNMIL over the road has a transport and mechanical division.
So the plan is to see the Medical Director, hope he gives us a truck, and ask UNMIL to repair the clutch and hopefully give it a nice overhaul while they’re at it. And when it is time to build the school, we have graders.
That night the guys cooked a fish, pepper and rice thing which tasted great. I picked up some extra mosquito coils and went to sleep, surrounded by pesticide and surprisingly loud wildlife.