Dear friends, Dear family,

Thank you for all your messages of encouragement, we feel surrounded by many of you and we are grateful. In our last newsletter, we openly shared that we had reached a certain level of exhaustion and that we had therefore taken the decision to take a sabbatical (6 months) in order to stop, recharge, debrief and equip ourselves for the future.

Since May, we've made some progress in organising this time ‘apart’.

May-June-July-August

First of all, we've decided to leave Liberia 2 weeks earlier than planned. The children will have finished their tests and will therefore only miss a week of school. We'll be passing through Switzerland for a short break, which will allow us to pick up some clothes suited to the European climate! We'll be spending June in France, at a retreat. This will allow us to take some time to ‘be together’ and rest our bodies and minds in a calm, stress-free environment.

The months of July and August are ‘In all directions’: seeing our families and friends, enjoying Switzerland, visiting our churches, going to the wedding of friends in Scotland, a week of debriefing for Melvina and Nicolas, going to a camp for the two older children, spending time with grandparents for the little ones, etc.

An image of a street in Monrovia

September-October-November

At the end of August, we'll be leaving for England. We have decided to spend September, October and November at All Nations Christian College near London. This is the college where we did our months of preparation in 2018 before leaving for Liberia. We think we'll find the necessary emotional and spiritual support there, and the setting invites rest, meditation and prayer.

VOLUNTEER NEEDED (September to November)

During this time in England, we want our children to be able to continue the school curriculum they are following here in Liberia. We will therefore have the materials with us, but we are looking for someone who could supervise their work and help them to continue to progress. We don't think that this person necessarily has to be a native English speaker. We think that someone who is comfortable in English can easily supervise their school work (for Gabriel aged 6 and a half, Siméon aged 10 and Théotime aged 12). But a native English speaker would be perfect !

Here's a little promotional video that you can share with people that could potentially be interested. And don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. Click here

Thank you for your support and for reading! It's been 6 years since we first set foot on Liberian soil!

Best regards, Melvina and Nicolas Theotime, Simeon, Gabriel and Caleb

If you would like to pray for us :

• We believe that nothing is lost in ‘God's economy’. Pray that we can grow and learn from these more difficult times.
• Pray with us that we can find the right person to come with us to England.
• Pray for our finances, so that we can have peace of mind during this sabbatical.
• Pray for the people who will take over our work during our absence.

Luna, one of our Stella's 6 puppies.

Dear friends, dear families, dear donors,

Time flies and it's already March. We're sorry for the long silence. We're finally going to give you some news that we hope will help you understand what we're going through here in Liberia. In September 2022, we took over as Director of SIM …

At last, we're back with some news! First of all, thanks to all those who were able to attend our sharing evening in Vevey in June. It was a very encouraging evening for us, and we hope that the Liberian flavours accompanied you for a few days.

We've been back …

Five years ago almost to the day, we set foot on Liberian soil for the first time. Far from imagining what awaited us, we were ready to face the unknown.

For Theotime and Simeon

I often wonder how our children, Theotime and Simeon in particular, experienced this change. When I …

Dear friends,

Caleb is at ease on his little bike, Gabriel lost his first tooth, Simeon confirms his passion for maths and Theotime likes to chat on the porch of our neighbors with his friends... There is no doubt, time passes and our children remind us daily.

Hospital

In the …

While we receive lots of beautiful snowy pictures from Switzerland, on our side, the tropical rain is giving way to a drier and warmer season. The children have just started their Christmas vacations and we will take a week's break from December 23rd..

But what do we do more concretely …

Dear friends, We are sorry to have taken so long to give you news. We are thinking of you and are so grateful for all your messages, calls, emails and support.

A dental therapy school

Simon teaching in the new classroom

This is a milestone for a country that currently …

Dear friends,

We can hardly believe that we have spent 20 weeks in Switzerland and that we are already back on African soil. We would like to thank you for your faithful support during our time in Switzerland. The time passed quickly but we have the feeling that we were …

Dear friends, dear family,

Thank you for your many messages about Gabriel. Here is finally some news. Back in Switzerland since the end of March, we did many tests at the CHUV. Nothing could be found but the doctors thought that the parasite track had been sufficiently explored in September …

Almost 2 months already that we set foot on the Swiss soil! A hospitalization at the CHUV, exams here and there, a gastroscopy, an appointment in Basel... Gabriel is brave and enduring. He even talks about the doctors by saying "my doctors"! We don't have all the results yet and …

Dear friends, dear families,

It is time for us to share with you in a few words the plans for the next few months.

We have been keeping you informed about Gabriel's health for over 18 months now. Since it did not get better after taking the anti-parasite medication, we …

Early Thursday morning, the Landrover, already well loaded, arrives at the dental clinic to pick up Henry and Wannie and all the dental material for this excursion. They load everything on the roof and it's off for more than 10 hours of driving. The privileged ones - of which I am …

Dear friends, dear family,

Thank you for continuing to follow our adventure, thank you for your faithful encouragement and perseverance by our side. We are grateful for all that we are able to experience, and we want to wish you a peaceful Christmas:

Dear friends, dear family,

Thank you for your messages, your calls and your prayers! Thank you for all the attention you have shown to Gabriel's health. We are touched to feel that you carry this concern with us. Here is finally some news from our side.

Stay in Switzerland

The …

Climat

When I arrived in Liberia after spending all day on the plane, the first thing I noticed was the heat and humidity. After a rainy and cold summer in Switzerland, this is a change! It was often nice and warm (I didn't need to use my sweaters ;-) but as …

It is the beginning of September already and we are in the middle of our rainy season. We heard that in Switzerland too, you know the rain this summer!

School

These last months have been very busy. The little school where Théotime and Siméon were in suddenly closed because of …

As the weeks go by, we have the feeling that we have just done our last newsletter. There is no lack of inspiration...! But the quiet time behind our screen to type these few lines.

Doors have opened

In February 2020, we shared openly that Nicolas was looking for a …

Months of work in advance

Nicolas with "Sis Angie" the person in charge of the clinic.

Imagine a word file by patient, sorted in the year of their first visit. You all remember the year of your first visit to your dentist, don't you? So imagine 53,000 files stored …

It is now more than a month since we are back in Liberia. Switzerland and its beautiful white snow already seem far away.

How are we doing?

Théotime and Siméon have joined the school with 5 other children. They like it there. They prepare a play about pirates 2 afternoons …

That's it, we have booked our flights to finally return to Liberia! The departure is scheduled for February 25th. Until then, we have a lot of work to do. Packing 250kg of luggage is not done in 2 days: what it already weighs 20kg!? But we haven't put anything in …

We are very grateful that the health situation is not an obstacle to our future return to Liberia. Covid19 is also present in the tropics but apparently less strongly (climate, young population...).

The children's school will reopen around February 1st.

We were hoping to leave the 3rd week of January …

It is with joy and gratitude that we announce the birth of Caleb! He arrived on November 11th at 7:03 am. With his 51.5 cm and his 3kg600, he is not a small weight and looks strangely like his brothers!

Everything went all well and we take our …

Six months already that we are in Switzerland. This time "imposed" by the circumstances offer us many good things. The children have got the rhythm and can benefit from a psychotherapeutic support for Théotime, speech therapy for Siméon, gym, scouts, play group for Gabriel, birthdays, friends, … Nicolas is doing is …

The road of our last 2 years

It is in Côte-aux-Fées that we settled down for these days of family debriefing. The two big ones came a little backwards but Christian had planned everything: a box of playmobils and a box of lego were waiting for them! He started by …

The triage tent for suspected COVID-19 patients from ELWA Hospital.

We hear that Africa is less affected by the virus than the rest of the world. Yes, some numbers seem to indicate that this is true. However, how to know for sure? In average, african countries have realized 68.5 …

Thankful

Weeks are passing quickly and we finally wanted to update you on our situation.

We are very thankful to have been spared by the CoVid. Every body is healthy. Melvina is still receiving treatment at home but feels much better already. We hope that it will keep improving in …

I guess you won’t deny if I tell you that we are going through a challenging time. Liberia has now only a few cases of Coronavirus patient, but schools are closed, churches and restaurants too. Only 10 people at the time are accepted at the shops and « street food …

Dear friends, dear family,

We have received several message from you asking the following question: the first two initial years are coming to an end, what next? We have realized that it was time to share with you our reflections.

Our house now (February 2020)

In Liberia

When we look …

We recognize in the distance the squeaking sound of the wheelbarrow. "Ah Boakai is coming with his banana bread, corn bread and his fish pies". We will generally buy him a few banana bread that we will keep for a morning or afternoon snack. Boakai is 14 years old and …

It is with some impressions from the life in Liberia that we want to wish you a Merry Christmas and an happy new Year 2020.

Time to times, Enjoying the pool!

During our stay in Switzerland, we have had the same question coming several times : how is your financial situation. Let’s be honest with you. As we are depending on people’s generosity, to talk about our finances means as well dealing with thoughts …

Dear friends and family, We have left you during our summer break in Switzerland, but are now ready to continue sharing our news with you.

Thank you!

But first of all, we wanted to give you a small feedback of our time in …

Day-15!

Yes, the whole family (almost) is counting the days. We are all looking forward to seeing our Switzerland and all its treasures : Family, friends, mountains… and for some others : cows, horses, big Swiss ships, etc.

A Bassa house in a bush village.

A marathon?

This first year in Liberia …

To find a local church that is adapted to our family need was not a piece of cake ! Preach too long, music too loud, assembly too large, too many kids ! Here in Liberia, the children attend generally to their own service separated from the adults.

We finally had a crush …

The new building.

I don’t flood my patients with my drill anymore and my air water tip is now blowing air only (!), the air conditioning unit is working wonderfully, it’s spacious and bright.

The old reception small and dark is now in a large and welcoming space! You …

A house in our community

She can not hide itself. She is visible everywhere. So present that she seems to be part of the landscape. That she could almost become bucolic! On the surface. Nine months that we are mixing with her and we are still not accustomed to her …

Our parents

We had the great pleasure to spend a more than 3 weeks with our parents, including 10 days of holiday. They arrived without any problems on December, 26th, the suitcases were real Father Christmas' sacks! The boys were really excited and joy was in our house! A big …

Snow, snow!

Candlelight Christmas service at the hospital.

Our Liberians friends had warned us that around Christmas: "snow, snow!"… Really? Snow? Don't worry if you haven't got a white Christmas, we have understood yet that the Liberian's snow is the morning fog slightly refreshing for those who wake up early …

Gbarnga (pronounced: banga) is a small city north-east of Monrovia. 3 hours drives… if you know how to avoid Red Light (the biggest market of Liberia), if you do not have any problems finding gasoline…

Between the Hospital and the office

Nicolas working on the server at the hospital.

It was difficult to be precise about the work of Nicolas before coming to Liberia. I think that now after soon 6 months, we can clarify a little bit the question. To start, let's say that …

At 9 am, the first patients, emergencies, are taking seats on our chairs. The wait can be long as most of them arrived at the clinic around 6-7 am! For some of them, they have traveled 2-3 days to arrive to Monrovia,...

Felicia, the nanny

We present you, dear friends, Felicia. Felicia is our nanny, an ideal homemaker (our main invaders: sand and ants!) and cook. She cooks 3x a week Liberian dishes, always based on rice, onions, garlic, tomato concentrate and fish. The main ingredient will vary: okra, cassava leaves, potato …

The morning

We invite you to experience one of our Mondays! We usually do not need an alarm. We have our own natural alarms. They are called Gabriel or Siméon and are set up for around 5:30 to 6:30. Nicolas is appointed chief of the porridge. We spice …

And the school?

8 weeks went by since we boarded the airplane in Geneva... it seems so far away! Lots of things are happening here and it is difficult to sort out what we would like to share with you, but don't worry, we are doing well. The kids are …

Our new home

Our new home

Here we are! We have landed in Monrovia almost two weeks ago now. The long trip went well, thanks to the screen behind the seats of the airplane! Directly immersed in the heat and humidity, we were well welcomed by SIM Liberia at the …

En Avril… n’ôte pas un fil ?

In french, we have a saying: In April, do not take off a single thread. This year we can put it aside! Our boys have been playing in swimsuit the whole afternoon in the garden!

Almost behind us ...

Last month's tempo was set …

The end of the courses

It is already two weeks since we have left our English life. Our time in England has ended well. The kids had adjusted and had started to speak a few words in English! We have made the most of the courses and talked about challenging …

Hi everyone,

Weeks are passing by but we are grateful that the boys are now well adapted (Siméon goes to school with pleasure!). Ride with bikes, afternoon at a hut or around the bonfire are highlights of our outside life here! Gabriel is visibly growing. He is coming to class …

Hi everyone,

Here are some news from All Nations where we arrived around 15 days ago. We are gently settling in and we can now follow the every day routine without too much stress. Life here is quite intense! Théotime and Siméon are going to school and nursery (Théotime until …

Our Project takes shape !

You will soon receive official news. In the meantime, have a look at this Video ! It'll give you a foretaste of what we are scheming :-)

See you soon,

Melvina, Nicolas, Théotime et Siméon

This home page will be updated on a regular basis with news, photos and short videos. As we discover life in Liberia, we will post news about our family life, our work, our great moments and our challenges.

We look forward to your visits!

Melvina and Nicolas