Rice and Soup: A Taste of Liberia

One thing that helps adjusting to a whole new country and culture is good food. I cannot complain about the food here one bit. I am surrounded by organic farms, and I eat of their fruits on a daily basis.

For breakfast, there is a one-burner gas stove that does not require any electricity to use. Since I’m usually making breakfast just after the electricity is turned off (7 AM), I poach an egg that was hatched by a free range chicken and eat it over a piece of bread. There really aren’t that many fences here, so the chickens have claim over any land that they want—and they do take advantage of that. Chickens and roosters are everywhere-- along with stray dogs, which I want to take one in as a pet while I’m here. (Although, no dog can replace Toby).

Stephen is the cook/security for our house during the day. He is a professional at making rice and soup, which is usually the menu for lunch every day. Soup in Liberia is made from the following ingredients: a chicken bouillon cube, onions, a vegetable (ranging from okra, potato greens, squash, cassava—which has the flavor and consistency of a potato) and two very spicy peppers. This combination is then cooked until all ingredients are well cooked down. Along with this spicy dish is served fresh pineapple, mangoes (although, they are now out of season) and currently, I am enjoying papaya.

Dinner is sometimes leftovers, but more often than not, there is some meal created out of the food from the local markets and the canned goods purchased in Monrovia. I have enjoyed meatless tacos made in a toaster oven and spaghetti with mushrooms in a garlic butter sauce.

On the other end of the spectrum, for as much food as Liberia is capable of producing, malnutrition is a huge problem. At Phebe Hospital, there is a Special Nutrition Unit that is funded by Unicef in order to treat severely malnourished children. I heard about a boy who had drank caustic, mistaking it for water. He was already a very small boy, but now that his esophagus was basically burned through, he was unable to eat and gain the weight that his body so desperately needs.

One day, while sitting at the nurses station, I saw this boy wandering out of the Pediatric Ward, looking a little lost. He was so tiny that every bone in his body was visible. I couldn’t believe how much his pelvic bones were showing through his skin. I beckoned him over to me and tried to talk to him, but wasn’t sure if he understood English. A nurse and I returned him to the Special Nutrition Unit, where I learned that he was playing soccer with his friends and got really thirsty so he drank what he thought was water from a bucket.

Just the other day, another child came into the ER four days after drinking caustic. I looked into his mouth and saw that the roof of his mouth was completely eroded down to the bone. It is very sad to see.

On a positive note, the first boy I talked about got to go home today, which was a very happy event.