Welcome to Pleebo

Upon our arrival in Pleebo, we were greeted by the chairlady of the PTA, Sis Bessie, with a delicious lunch of potato greens and fish.  Once we moved our things into our house, we made our way to the City Hall, where we were the guests of honor at a welcome ceremony held in our honor. 

There, we were introduced to many people of importance in our community.  We met the town chief, the mayor, a legislative representative, and many other important people.  We were welcomed into our community in the traditional way, as well, with the kola nut, pepper, and cane juice.  Following this presentation, we were giving traditional Grebo names (the dialect spoken by the majority of people here).  Sarah’s new name is Hnede (pronounced neh-deh), meaning Hne’s mother, and my new name is Nyemade (pronounced nyeh-muh-deh), meaning Nyema’s mother.  Granted, neither she nor I are mothers, but that’s neither here nor there.

Following the ceremony, we were interviewed by the local radio station, which was an experience in itself.  We had nothing but good things to say about our community, and we told them how excited we were to start working at Pleebo High School.  (Little did we know that every person we would meet later that week would remember us from our interview on the radio.) 

Walking back to the house, we purchased a few things to make our first night at our new home more comfortable.  Our main purchase was a mattress for each of us; granted, the mattresses here are nothing to write home about, seeing as the only options are 6”, 8”, or 12” foam, but at least it’s off the floor!  Bessie carried us back home and we settled in for our first night as volunteers at our site.

The next day, Bessie came and took us on a 2.5 hour walkabout around Pleebo.  We found the police station, the cold store (where we can buy frozen chicken if we wish), visited both markets, and saw the Catholic church, where Bessie attends regularly.  She also introduced us to a couple shops near the market that sell non-perishable goods (like canned beans, soap, oil, rice, and bleach – all necessary items, let me tell you). 

Walking home from school

Skyline of Pleebo

Sarah and Jacob (left), a carpenter who lives near us

A beautiful sunset

The rubber tree forest behind our house

Pleebo is a nice city; in fact, it’s the largest city in Maryland County.  It is the economic hub, with the biggest market, and it serves as a transportation center of sorts.  From here, people can catch a car or motorbike to Harper, to Barclayville, to Kanweaken, to Zwedru, or even all the way to Monrovia.  We are fortunate to live in such a prosperous city, that’s for sure, and we haven’t even seen half of what Pleebo has to offer.  Things look to be pretty good for us these next two years!