Bits and Peices Gathered about their Time in DRC

I've gone through my texts and notes scribbled on papers to gather all of those short little observations and bits of information obtained while they were in the DR Congo:

One night Desi was texting me and finally said he was still awake because of someone playing keyboard across the street. Then he texted me a while later and said- great, now the singers have started! And I wrote back that I didn't think he'd have trouble sleeping to music. He said he didn't but the music was so incredible he wanted to stay awake.


Before starting work on the school they spent a day fixing up Margaret and Dominic's house. They fixed the windows- rescreened them all (to better keep mosquitoes out) and fixed the broken glass.


The men did Home-Based Care as well along with the building project. I'm sure we'll hear more details of that when they get back. From the snippets I've heard things are very dire for families living there. But this isn't that much of a surprise. And some stories have already been posted of people they've come across. He says, "you don't understand- these kids have nothing. Just nothing- and every one of those kids are laughing and smiling..."

The always-needing-a-translator has been a difficulty of the trip. Desi has already determined to take French courses (and we'll practice at home, of course) because he's already looking forward to going back but wants to be better able to communicate next time. Not everyone knows French either- but a lot more know French than English! And while doing home-based care and wanting to be encouraging to families... the difficulty of the situation is only compounded by the language issues. Desi did say that he found it so much easier this time around to be encouraging even when faced with the devastating realities of life for them. This can be shocking and difficult at first.

He texted me one day about a little girl named Esperance. A very sick 8 year old with HIV. She was finally able to go on ARVs 3 months ago but was still extremely frail and sick in appearance.

Ruth had invited them over on several occasions for supper. Desi always remarked that she even had such great desserts. She was spoiling them with ice cream and mango puree or cheesecake. They also heard from her many stories of what it was like living there, especially in the early 90's. They were broken into and beaten by a mob of 15 men. Once, the older German missionary who, just passed away from cancer, was beaten into a coma lasting 11 days. But she never left. She just fortified her house. This is the house our men were staying in. It had a phone line connecting her to Ruth, It had a panic room. It had a switch in the kitchen that sounds a siren on the roof. It had metal bars and padlocks and locks of all sorts.... She spent the remainder of her time in DRC as secured as was humanly possible. But she didn't leave. And Ruth has weathered the difficulties... What kind of courage or patience or most of all HOPE would it take to stay?

Throughout their time there I've gotten texts about the water and power. Both were intermittent (email too) and on some days there was neither. Sometimes they wouldn't have water for days at a time. But Ruth took care of them, bringing them water and even heating it up for them to bathe. They are going through a lot of drinking water due to the heat, bottled or well-boiled. Desi said that water boils amazingly quick there. The difference in power voltage was very apparent.

The building projects in Africa are always a unique experience for our Canadians. They poured the foundations, they had to do a lot of negotiating and exercise a lot of patience and diplomacy to get concrete for some of the work (due to the mines who use it all leaving little for anyone else). They rehired the contractor, Maurice, who'd started the preparations for them. He is, of course, knowledgeable and it seemed important that he remain in the loop since the project will be left still in need of a little work so he was rehired for two weeks and then they were going to negotiate a price for finishing the job.

There is another school on the block being built by World Vision. This is a bit of a complicated issue and came largely from a local man pitting one against the other. But peace and a relationship has been formed between World Vision and our guys who see that the need is greater than even both can fill anyway. The confusion is that the WV school is a school that one must pay to attend, with the money going to a church who will run it. Hands at Work only builds free schools and they provide a meal every day. It seemed important to Desi that they communicate. One thing Desi did was to see the plan for the other school and to modify the Hands at Work plan to have matching roof lines so that the two schools would relate to each other. World Vision didn't understand the significance of this at first, but Desi explained that already there is a bit of a class division going on in the community and yet there was a need to not further divide the community by education. So having the schools match, as they are right near each other was one way of trying to not distinguish the paying school from the free school. The local chapter of World Vision there understood and agreed. The relationship will be maintained by Farzam, another Canadian working with Hands at Work long-term.

They were told before leaving not to even bring shorts. Shorts aren't worn and can be insulting. On the first day they met Maurice, the contractor, he changed from his pants into shorts when he started work. So the following day- our team all showed up working in shorts too. They were SO grateful given the heat to be allowed the freedom. While we were suffering Spring blizzards they were equally suffering end of Summer heat waves.

They went to a "market". It was actually just a shopping district of Likasi with little shops and storefronts. Dominic had to do the bargaining for them because of the language barrier. (I know this would have been a bit of a disappointment to Desi, bargaining is his favorite part) I'd asked him to keep an eye open for bushmeat- but he said they told him that it was only seen in outside areas, not seen very often anymore. They bought cloth.

They worked many long days and Desi spoke a lot about the corruption that was so much a part of normal life in a country with no economy, where real business is almost impossible. They would get bags of cement that had been opened and with some cement replaced with fine sand and the bag resealed. Corruption at every level. I'm sure we'll get an earful when they return. There were many meetings to negotiate all sorts of things and to build relationships... This has been one of the most difficult elements of life for Margaret and Dominic and they sometimes find it insufferable, like Pastor's wives blatantly stealing food from orphans... just crazy stories. They are finding it increasingly difficult to trust anyone. This only encourages Desi about the need for teams to go in and help them out and strengthen them. They are living this reality and need all the support and help they can get.

Desi loves it there. He finds the corruption sometimes exhausting but also a familiar game that doesn't scare him out of liking the country. He said that even with the language barrier he can tell from tone of voice, eye movements and hand motions what is really going on and he's been able to navigate the waters. He describes the people as beautiful and he's met some really special and devoted and moral people. He loves the brightly colored buildings and the spirited culture. Lots of dancing and singing... People walking everywhere. Little to no begging. And exciting, fun type of busy- more social and free. People are more reserved at first than in Zambia, but are very nice. A married man with kids is called "Papa", like sir. Even the guy you're negotiating with in the market. The kids put their right hand across their chest bow their heads and say "bonjour Papa." Women are called "Mamie." Desi loved this endearing element.

I got this text once. "So, if you run over a chicken or goat it's not your fault. But if you run over a duck, sheep or pig you have to pay to replace it. Law of Congo."

Every now and then we (the wives) hear reports of the men huddled around an iPod to watch a movie. Bob sat out of the first one to do some writing, but even just the other night I get texted that the 5 of them all watched a movie on Paul's iPod. This is a funny thing to picture, I think.

Anything else to add? Feel free to comment to this post.

Chickens, Monkeys, long walks and lost bags

Well,
Their time in Zambia is coming to a close. I'll add here the odds and ends of stories and information that I've gotten. But overall, this was an excellent location for a few days. They've managed to get a lot done at the farm. It was a really good time to prepare themselves for Congo, getting ready/getting rested/ getting on schedule. They feel mostly prepared. So now more about their time in Zambia:

In the last update Desi mentioned Bob going on a long walk with Matthews. When I spoke with Brent's wife, Carol, who was in Zambia last year said she too had been privileged to go on that same walk and that it was a highlight of her trip. I told Desi this and then I got this text back from him the next day: "So you can tell Carol that I started asking Mathews about his morning walk with a lady last year. Right away he said, "you mean Carol?" I said "do you remember her?" He said "oh yes, Carol. She is my friend" and then he started giving details of the walk. He then pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and said that Carol had given it to him. He is now pretty excited to meet her husband."
I love the connectivity in this story. How our lives here in Canada are becoming more and more intertwined with those of the beautiful people of Africa we are working with.

Now to the monkey. There was a little tree house on the farm that wasn't there a couple of years ago. Desi asked Oswald and Matthews about it. They gave him this story about how there was a UK team that came through and they'd mentioned to Pastor Jacob that they had expected to at least see a monkey in Zambia. Well, Pastor Jacob, trying to be the good host decided to buy a monkey for the farm to live in that tree. The tree house was his. George heard about the monkey and called up Pastor Jacob to tell him to get rid of the monkey... what if it bites someone, what if it gets away and eats the vegetables in the garden for the orphans... And that was the end of the story. But then they ask, well what happened to the monkey. And Oswald and Matthews proudly say "We ate him for Christmas." Then the next time Desi saw Pastor Jacob, he slyly mentions that he was surprised not to see any monkeys here in Zambia to which Pastor Jacob replies, "OH NO, if I buy another monkey those two at the farm will just eat him."

So, now on to what they've been eating. The previous update mentions Desi making arrangements with Oswald and Matthews. The team would buy the food and the two would cook it. The practice was a lot more blended, which I love. Desi also wanted to include their families and wanted to have a large Zambian feast together to start. So from the market they picked up 3 live chickens, pumpkin leaves, roasted nuts and of course Nshima (a cornmeal mush that is a staple in Sub-Saharan Africa). And they all pitched in to prepare this meal together and had a large cook-out outside of the farm. They had enough food for two days. I just love this image of them chasing chickens and plucking the feathers. After this our guys cooked a pasta meal for everyone that Desi says was really good too.

Our team has not had the best luck in regards to luggage. Desi had a suitcase lost from his flight between Johannesburg, South Africa and Ndola, Zambia causing him much frustration. There is still no word on if he'll ever see the darn thing again. And now, as Brent has just flown in to join them, he too has had to suffer a lost bag. His contents included the shoes for Desi that I had sent with Brent to replace the work shoes that Desi lost in his bag as well as some of the tools they were bringing to use to build the school in Congo and some soccer balls. So we'll see what happens.

The men have had a lot of work to do on the farm while they were there. There were a lot of general fix-ups and clean-ups and preparatory work. The farm is being prepared for a UK team that is coming to build Pastor Jacob a house on the property. Also, Bob was the only one to go out and do a day of Home-Based Care. He entered an area that has had the support of Home-Based Care for a while now and many of them have been on ARVs for the last year. Bob said it was the most hopeful Home-Based Care day he's ever had in Africa. This is his 3rd time here. He had been warned before going that he would see a lot of people that look healthy and fine but that they are very sick none the less and could still use the support. And then with every house he entered he heard the same theme to each story, which was "You should have seen him/her last year... They were dying and now they are back!" This is a testament to what good can come. This is a story of hope for Africa. Children with parents.

Margaret is the Hands at Work missionary, along with her husband Dominic, serving in Congo for Hands at Work. She stayed behind in South Africa because she was sick and there was some questions about if she had malaria. She's been tested. No malaria. But she did succeed in getting positive results on a pregnancy test. Margaret is pregnant. She was very sorry to the team- her first time getting a team to help her in Congo and here she is pregnant and getting sick all the time. Desi patiently explained to her that each of the 5 men on the team is a father and that each of them will do anything for her that she wants. That she should not worry about disappointing any of them! What is important is that she stays healthy and rested and they are going to make sure that happens.

Also, they have been picking Margaret's brain about what things will look like in Congo. They discussed a lot of the practicalities, the housing and food. A typical house in DRC has several units around a courtyard. This is practical for security reasons. If you are away for even a short time you will come back to nothing- everything will be taken. So clustering houses like this helps offer some protection. They will be staying in a house connected to the house of a German missionary named Ruth who has been in the DRC for 20 years. She is practically Congolese now herself. She has been very helpful to Margaret over these last years. There were two German missionaries but the older one died last year. In Congo, the electricity goes out every 3rd day. So this lady had her house wired again so that when her power goes out she can just switch over to her other line! There is security stationed in their courtyard. (2 men who alternate) They will have use of a washing machine on the property. Another aspect of Congo is that young women are "adopted" by a local "Mama." Margaret's old Mama died last year and now she has a new Mama. Mama will be doing all the cooking for the men.

Now to the border crossing. Margaret has a contact at the border to facilitate the process. The public relations lady will only be there between 8 to 8:30 in the morning. That is midnight our time. Desi has asked for prayer that they are able to cross with minimal fuss. Even with the VISAs in their passports there are still concerns. Desi has warned that I may not here from him for a couple of days. So I suppose no news will be good news at this point. I would appreciate anyone reading this to offer up a little prayer for their smooth crossing and their time in Congo- That they are able to accomplish the work they went to do and that they will be safe from harm and hassle. Thanks.

Eye Witness Accounts

As previously mentioned, this is the first Westside team to enter the DRC. And the permission from the board did not come easily. It has been a process that has taken nearly 2 years. Part of the proposal drafted this year to the board in order to gain permission included accounts from people who know the area who could testify to it's safety. The board needed to know that they were not putting a group of Canadians in a harmful situation.

These are excerpts from a couple of those accounts:

The first is from another church STM leader in New Brunswick who last year began sending annual teams to the DRC:

“The reason we go to Lubumbashi in Southern DRC instead of other places, is to
work among displaced people—people who have fled the danger in DRC’s east.
Southern DRC is safe. Just follow the people. The reason they displaced
themselves to southern DRC is because it is safe.

“Even if fighting does flare up in the East, it’s over 1000 miles away—through
mountains and over terrible roads. The rebels certainly do not have air
capabilities. If they ever did try to come south, it would take them over a week.
News reports would pick that up, and we would simply cross the nearby border
back into Zambia.

“My team did not take extra liability insurance, and our waiver was not
sophisticated. The greatest way to manage risk on the field is to avoid acting
irresponsibly on the field. If your church’s leader acts irresponsibly, then you are
at risk.”

And this next excerpt comes from a man who grew up in Likasi who operates a flight service and travels regularly between the US and the DRC. This is what he had to say:

“You’d be amazed to see how many foreigners are in Likasi. If you go you will
see that the peace is there. You will sense the peace…BIG peace. The challenge
is in going around at night. You just need to find a good area to stay. There is not
this issue of people coming into your house in DRC.”

“The trouble in DRC is the fighting. Uprisings bring trouble. But the fighting has
never gone on in Lubumbashi or Likasi. That is in the Eastern part of DRC. The
Eastern part is scary. It is over 1000 kilometers away.”

Rukang added: “The people are tired of war. Working in Congo is easy because
the people are ready to receive you.”

That last part gets me.

The Go-Ahead

The process of sending a team to Congo has not been easy. Last year's attempt was painfully unsuccessful. In order to facilitate this year's attempt, the governing body of the church has been provided with a lot of information in an effort to sway the decision in favor of being allowed to enter the country with a team.

This included complete detailed evacuation procedures and plenty of reassurances. The reassurances include letters from local missionaries working in the area, even one randomly found on the internet, answering questions about their comfort level and safety precautions. It has included sending out various scouts to report back. It has included promises to monitor short-wave radios daily while the team is there.

Today, the team is awaiting the last of these "go-aheads" from the board in order to be allowed to purchase the tickets that our agent has tentatively held. We are all anxiously awaiting the moment the tickets are bought and paid for. This will be a long-awaited moment after desiring and praying to be allowed to go to Congo since 2005.

Any moment now...