Our Neighbors: Part Two. Meet Annie & her Family

When we sit on our front porch, we look across our front yard and see another house that is always humming with activity.  Here, Annie lives with her rather large family.  (For a long time, we were unsure of the actual family dynamics here, but I think we’ve finally got them down.)  Annie and her husband, Jacob, have two children, June Boy and May; Annie’s husband’s brother and his wife, Beatrice, have four children, Jimmy, Evelyn, Mieta, and Gertrude; and an aunt named Nancy lives there, as well. 

Annie works in the market, selling bananas and cookies every afternoon.  When she’s not in the market, she is working incessantly around the house – chopping wood, scrubbing pots, cooking for the eleven people in her household, or washing clothes.  She takes care of everyone around her, and she is one of the best mothers I have ever met. 

Her daughter, May, has become one of our favorite neighborhood children.  She is only three years old, but she has the most sass of any little girl I’ve ever met.  Walking by our house, she is sure to yell out “hello!!” a few times, just to make sure we heard her.  Her next favorite phrase is “how’s your bodies!?” which we are greeted by almost every night, coming home from school.  My favorite experiences with May, however, have come when she is wearing her brother’s “Ladies Man” shirt – so sassy, so much attitude, and so in charge of the world around her. 

Evelyn, Mieta, and Gertrude are some of the most genuine Liberian girls I have met here.  They work in the market every weekend and every day after attending school.  Every morning, we see Evelyn taking a cart of goods to the market before she goes to school, as well, and she’s always saying hello to us.  If we ever have any questions about what is going on in our community, how much anything should cost in the market, or where we can find something we are in need of, Evelyn or her sisters are quick to clue us in.

May and June Boy
(Too bad she's not wearing his "Ladies' Man" shirt!)

Mieta, Gertrude, and Evelyn (holding a neighbor's baby)

This family is one of the hardest working families I have met since arriving in Liberia.  Annie and Beatrice are busy in the market almost every day, their husbands are busy carpenters, and their children are always studying or working along with their parents.  I am confident, however, that if Sarah or I should need anything, any member of that family would be happy to assist us in whatever way they could.  I can’t wait to see how our friendships with this family develop over the next two years…and I can’t wait to see how sassy May becomes when she turns five :)