As we have mentioned before, life in Liberia isn’t that cheap, and we are truly eating imported food.
Here is a list of the food and where it comes from and about how much it cost in US dollars. Remember, the average salary of a pastor is US$30 a month and 80% of Liberia’s population is still unemployed.
Instant Coffee Cote d’Ivoire $2 a small can
Coffee-mate Thailand $7
Fruit Jelly France $4
Smuckers Jelly USA $4
Jif Peanut Butter USA $5
Bottled Water Lebanon $5 a case of 12
Sprite Algeria $.75 a can
=)Chips Ahoy USA $4
Fruit Juice Cyprus $2 a cartoon
Crackers United Arab Emirates $1 a small package
Canned beans Italy $1 a can
Butter Denmark $4 a 250g block
Rice Texas $20 for a 25 pound box
Now, we are eating some wonderful local food. The bananas are the sweetest I’ve ever eaten. The mangos and papaya are great. Pineapple is the best ever. I’ll never eat it out of a can again. These are ripe from the fields.
Also corn, peanuts, plantains, and chicken are locally grown. We’ve eaten great here. The cook, Ocelia is amazing with the limited resources available. We have eaten potato greens with chicken, cassava greens with chicken and even peanut butter sandwiches. One day we mentioned our enjoyment of peanut butter jelly sandwiches and even peanut butter and banana sandwiches. That evening, Ocelia made double-decker sandwiches with one layer of peanut butter and jelly and one layer of peanut butter and banana. Our new favorite snack is banana chips. Just like potato chips, but made from banana slices. Good!
Thank you for your prayers. We and the people of Liberia need them.
