In the Congo

Kinshasa street

We left Zimbabwe on 19 February 2012 after some tearful goodbyes with some of the close friends we have made there over several trips.  Our overnight in Johannesburg, where we rejoined a couple of bags we had left at the hotel when we first flew over, was uneventful.  However, once again we seemed to have a mad rush to the airport and then a hassle in paying the excess baggage fees levied by South Africa Airlines (SAA) on our Joburg to Kinshasa flight.  We were surprised by the number of non-Africans who were on the flight as we had heard that not too many people were traveling to the DRC these days.

In the DRC we will renovate a guest house at Kananga for volunteer teams to use as a base for future volunteer trips.  We will also visit three United Methodist Church (UMC) Missions, where we will gather information about the hospital at each mission to send back to the UMC global health agency.  Congo-Kinshasa is three times the size of Texas, with only about 1800 miles of navigable roads.  We will be flying to every place we go, with the UM Aviation Ministry, Wings of Caring, which is based here in Kananga.  The pilot Jacques Umembudi Akasa and his wife Valentine are our hosts in Kananga.

The start to the Congo portion of our volunteer activities was a pleasant surprise.  We were advised to expect multiple questions and inspections when we first arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Quite the contrary, we walked through the immigration formalities without having to consult our French/English dictionary, collected our bags and passed through customs with a smile and wave from multiple customs officials.  We see lots of uniformed personal, some without guns and many with weapons.  The international airport field is resplendent with carcasses of broken and abandoned aircraft of all types.  The SAA jet we arrived in is the most modern airplane on the field, a Boeing 737-800.  We are met by Pilot Jacques.  He has a vehicle borrowed from the UMC office in Kinshasa and after standing in the very hot sun for a few minutes while the UMC driver returns to the vehicle, we are off… 

Crossing a crowded Kinshasa street

Well, we do not get very far on the crowded, dusty, smelly highway leading away from the airport and towards the largest city in the DRC.  We are stopped by about six traffic officers who proceed to give the UMC driver a hard time about the vehicle, his license, and whatever other infractions could be manufactured to produce a fine.  Our driver calls some “commandant” on his mobile and there is an exchange of more pleasantries, none of which we can understand as they are in loud and rapid fire French.  Two of the female officers try to engage Sue in conversation and it turns out they want money to buy some water since it is so hot out.  Sue doesn’t bite.  After about 15 minutes, whatever difficulties were being discussed were resolved and with a small contribution to the police water fund being tendered, we were on our way once again.  

We are in the Congo…