I'm now fully settled in at the Jetro office and have found a groove for my daily routine. I can wake up, make my coffee and breakfast, and settle down at my laptop to check email to start the work day. Internet is fast and productivity is high.

Dinner with James Cooper

Last night Daniel and I got together with my friend James Cooper for dinner, after first being invited by James to visit his house and meet his wife, Theresa, and two daughters, Samilyn and Naomi.

James and I met during my first visit to Liberia in Summer 2022. He was managing an automotive repair shop across the street from the apartment where I was staying, and I saw him early each morning on my way to teach my classes at the MCSS office. We started engaging in daily conversations, and when he learned what I was doing here, he graciously arranged to introduce me to several aspiring young ICT professionals so I could learn from them what trying to become an info tech professional was like here. We also started meeting at the pub on weekend evenings just to hang out.

I only got to see James once during my 2024 visit, at our end of visit party. During our conversation that night I learned about the solid waste management business he was then managing, and the trials and tribulations he was facing as the foreign owner of the business was leaving the country. We got to talk about that a lot more last night, where he updated me on what has happened over the last two years. Daniel and I got to tell him what we are trying to do with Jetro Web Development, as well as our plans to try to build an social justice computing school. James has an entrepreneurial spirit and is very interested in business, and he was excited to hear about what we doing and expressed an interest in getting involved. We plan to get together several times more during my stay here this Summer, so I'm sure we'll get to discuss this further.

Looking Back at How Far We Have Traveled

In preparing to write this post I went back and read the From Keyboarding to Computer Science and Mission Accomplished! posts I made during my first visit. All of the current Jetro Web members can be seen in these pictures. They have gone from keyboarding to web professionals in only four years, an impressive accomplishment indeed! The joy I have gotten as a teacher from being able to accompany them along this educational journey is truly one of the highlights of my life.