rubber trees

James and I participated in the United Nations Volunteer Day a couple weeks ago. A member of our Festival Committee runs the student-led volunteer programs at the University of Liberia and he invited us to join his group for the volunteer work day. It was a great day! We hopped on the bus early in the morning and the energy of college-aged volunteers was a familiar feeling that I’ve been missing! Everything from the hip hop playing on the radio to the way university students carry-on when riding a bus as a group – it all just felt right. After a scenic drive we arrived at Firestone. In case you’re not familiar with the production details of our trusty tires, it all starts in Liberia. Firestone operates the largest rubber plantation in the country, situated near the airport (which they also funded) it is an impressive site. Soooo many rubber trees, it’s all you see every direction that you turn. But let me get back to the focus point, the day’s theme was ''Helping Liberians to help themselves''.

Deep within the plantation several communities still exist. Over the years the plantation was developed around these existing villages. A few communities are home to the workers who tend to the rubber trees, but the one we visited was independent. The Dolo Community is a humble town and our project was working with the community’s school. After a series of welcomes, guest speakers and prayers we got to work. The tasks completed included staining newly built classroom chairs and sorting, organizing and shelving books in their recently established library. After sweating and hard work they treated us to potato green soup for lunch and then the volunteers squared off against the older students in some athletic competitions – guys played football (soccer) and ladies played kickball. Needless to say, the high school kids beat the University students at both events! Haha

Took a little tour of the plantation with James during some down time and he taught me all about the process of harvesting rubber. Check out pictures in my photos link on the right. The day as a whole was long, exhausting and a great time! After all my recent toiling for the development of our upcoming Peace Festival, it felt really good to be doing some hands-on volunteer work and seeing the immediate, tangible results. Plus, I got to touch some fresh rubber sap and learned that it smells like a pig pen and more importantly, the scent lingers on your skin for quite a while!