Diengenga Mission and Trip into Lodja

Monday 5 March – Tuesday 6 March 2012

Diengenga below

We did make it to our last stop, but not before flying through a really severe cloud condition which suddenly developed.  Jacques is fully instrument qualified so there was no danger, but Jim said he would have had a more difficult time with these conditions as he only had a few hours "under the hood." 

Diengenga welcome

Sue and the lovely fresh flowers welcome to Diengenga

Our last stop was really interesting.  There was a huge crowd with a robed choir and we were followed by the multitude to the guest house at the end of a long avenue, the main street of the Diengenga Mission.  There were welcoming speeches, another huge bag of rice and two dead chickens, plus big bouquets of flowers for each of us. 

Paul and Marty Law

We noticed another white woman on the fringes of the crowd, the first we had seen at any of the stops.  Turns out Marty and Paul Law are long term Volunteers in Mission (VIMs).  Paul grew up in the Congo, as his father and mother were missionaries here.  Marty and Paul have spent most of their married life in the Congo.  We saw a memorial to Paul’s father, Burleigh Law, who was killed by rebels at Wembo-Nyama in 1964.  We had dinner with them and visited for four hours, learning lots of great information.  They will be solid contacts for any future VIM team projects.  

Guest house, Diengenga

The Laws have been upgrading the guest house where we stayed, and are engaged in many on-going projects. Their website Appointment Congo describes the ministry and projects of their non-profit organization.   They started a pastor’s school scholarship fund, which provides a $20 stipend per month to each student pastor for three years while they complete school.  When they graduate they receive a Bible and a bicycle to begin their pastoral career.  Marty initiated a Wednesday after school Bible lesson for area children ages 6 – 12.  Bible stories are told using felt graphics.  The children memorize scripture, color Bible pictures and then have a play time outside the mission church.  With the Lodge Water System Project the Laws are helping to rebuilding a dam that will bring water once again to the mission.

Trucks for road work

The Congolese government has asked the Laws to supervise the rebuilding of the 150 kilometers of road between Lodja and Bena Dibele, the primary river port in the area.  Unusable for more than 10 years, the road has 9 bridges that need repair, reinforcement, re-decking and re-painting.  They even have the only set of trucks and three SUV's operated by anyone in the UMC in the Central Conference.

Print shop at Diengenga

On Tuesday Jacques, Jim and Sue, with several local dignitaries, toured many projects at the mission.  We visited a print shop with very old equipment.  They would like funds to upgrade to computerized publishing.  At this point, with no electricity, the project would need to include solar batteries or a generator.

Staff welcoming us to Diengenga Clinic

Maternity patients at Diengenga Clinic

The Diengenga Clinic provides basic health care and maternity services at the mission.  Construction of an operating room and expansion of the patient receiving area are needed.  

Elementary school classroom at Diengenga

We also toured various schools at the mission.  The elementary school needs major renovations.  The students are in small, cramped, unlit classrooms with poor ventilation.  

Pre-kindergarten class

We saw the pre-kindergarten class, using one room in a rubble filled, dilapidated school hostel (dorm).  They propose to renovate the building for high school boarders and also need a new location for the pre-kindergarten program.  

Wives of pastors in training greeting us at the theology school

Dresses and other clothing are sewn at the trade school for women

At the theology school we were greeted by the wives of pastors in training.  A program to train pastor’s wives is planned with funding.  We visited a woman’s trade school where sewing and other trades are taught.  Among other things, treadle sewing machines are needed.  

Jacques had to explain in all the venues that we were simply fact finding and would go back to the States and work on projects ONLY after they had been vetted by the Congolese UMC leadership and their decisions on the priorities among all the very worthwhile needs.

Trip to Lodja

Road rebuilding

On Tuesday afternoon we were driven into Lodja, the town by Diengenga Mission, in a Toyota Land Cruiser.  It had air conditioning, so Sue, sitting in the front passenger seat, had a nice cool ride into town.  Not so much for Jacques, Jim, and two local officials who were in the back, which was a bit stuffierL  The road is dirt surface, the first part is being rebuilt by Paul Law’s workers.  The road is crowned to slope down to drainage ditches dug at the side of the road. 

Lodja street scenes

Soon homes, stalls selling goods, pedestrians and cyclers appear along the way.  Lots of activity.  This city seems tidier and cleaner than any we have encountered so far in the DRC.

Lodja Clinic

Discussing the clinic, listening to needs to bring back the story

Gathering around to see the visitors

We were in Lodja to visit the Lodja UMC Clinic.  It is tiny, with mud and stick walls and a tin roof.  We had a quick tour and then sat under a tree with local folks while they explained their needs to us.  Children crowded around to see the proceedings and get their picture taken.

Leaving Diengenga for Kananga

After grabbing our bags from the guest house at Diengenga Mission, we flew back to Kananga, coming in right over “our” guest house.  We’re back home in Kananga again.

Wembo-Nyama Sojourn

Saturday 3 March – Monday 5 March 2012

Burning field below on the savannah

Our next stop was at the largest and oldest UMC Mission in the Central Conference, Wembo-Nyama.  On the flight to Wembo we saw several fires burning below.  Nothing large, they looked like controlled burning off fields or burning to create new fields. 

Looking at the strangers

Again, large crowd to greet the plane's arrival and then a parade to the guest house, complete with talking drums.  As soon as the crowds left, we sat down in the guest house living room to relax.  Soon we heard scurrying noises just outside on the porch.  As we looked to the windows and open door, young heads began to appear, just wanting a good look at the strangers in their midst.  They were friendly and inquisitive, but with no French it was hard to communicate.  They soon hurried off to more interesting pursuits.  We stayed Saturday and Sunday nights at the guest house and the Zimbabwe rats we experience last year in Murewa had checked in before our arrival so Jim did not sleep much Saturday night as they were doing laps above his head in the attic.  Sue said she did not hear them in her room... go figure.  (In Murewa, Sue heard the rodents and Jim denied their existence – at first… until the night a rat was noisily chewing its way out of a closet in Sue’s room). 

Sunday morning came very early; we were awakened at 6 am to the sound of the talking drums.  The drummer was just outside by the front porch.  He played there for 30 minutes.  The drums are very loud, with lots of different sounds that say something to those who know how to interpret.  They speak in the language of this region, Otetela.  We learned that it is the custom to greet visitors the first morning with a talking drums serenade.

Wembo-Nyama Village Methodist Church

We attended church at the partially renovated "Mother Church" of Methodist in the Central Conference in Wembo-Nyama Village.  We heard about the history of the church, founded with the arrival of the first UMC missionasry on 12 February 1914.  The church hopes to find sponsors to complete church renovations before the 100th Anniversary 12 February 2014.  We were presented a huge bag of rice and a dozen eggs as a welcome gift and these were served at one of our meals back at the Wembo guest house. 

Wembo-Nyama church interior

Looking at the strangers outside the church

After church we were driven in a Land Rover along the very long main street of Wembo-Nyama Village and also around the mission.

Women's Sewing Institute

Gathering around to see their picture

Saturday and Sunday late afternoons we took a walk around the mission.  On Saturday we had an entourage of young children following us and frolicking beside is as we walked.  Sunday we came upon a group of young women gathered in the courtyard of a school, a sewing institute.  They came out to greet us and were glad to have their picture taken, and then gathered around to see the results.

As we walked back to the guest house for dinner we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

Greeting the visitors at Wembo-Nyama Hospital

Maternity ward

Dental clinic

Jim, Sue & Louise - head maternity nurse

Monday morning we visited Wembo-Nyama UMC Hospital, the number one hospital in this area of the Congo.  It services a population of 95,000 in Wembo and the surrounding area.  The hospital has a 200 bed capacity but there are only 87 beds in operation.  Here, also, the top priority is getting water to the hospital.  Currently, water is transported by hand from a stream to the hospital.  They want to build an underground cistern that will collect rain water.  A pump would pump the water from the cistern to a roof tank and the water would be gravity distributed into the hospital.  There are many more needs – electricity (there is some solar power for blood bank storage, medicines, building renovations, medical equipment and supplies, among others.

Teacher's College Computer Lab

We also visited the Wembo Teachers’ College, among the top teacher colleges in the DRC.  There are 1100 students.  They have recently been accepted to prepare for offering Masters and PhD degrees.  We talked with teachers in the English Department.  They requested and provided us with a proposal for materials they need to better teach their students to speak, read, write and understand English.  As there is no power at Wembo, there is currently no Internet access, although they do have a computer lab, useable when there is electricity.  The program lacks written materials, language lab and audio materials.  Everywhere we visited there are so many needs.  We are gathering preliminary information.  The District Superintendent in each District, the UMC Medical Board, and ultimately the Bishop of this Central Congo Conference will need to prioritize the needs, and provide solid cost estimates for presentation to churches, conferences, and GBGM in New York.

Waiting to take off from Wembo

Monday afternoon we were supposed to be going to the second UMC Hospital at Minga Mission, another very remote location with a small dirt strip, but after flying for almost 35 minutes we ran into a thunder and lightning storm over the plains and had to turn back to Wembo.  Again, we had crowds welcoming us back.  We had battery problems getting the plane started on our takeoff from Tunda Mission and again had to get a couple of batteries rounded up from the Mission to get the plane started.  A couple of times, Jacques was at the propeller, giving it the old WWI prop pull and Jim was in the co-pilot's seat turning over the engine and managing the throttles. 

Up, up and away...

Saturday 3 March 2012

Kananga Airport

Going for a ride in a small plane for the first time can be a little unsettling, but making your first flight, over deserted savanna and then thick jungle, with no enroute weather or flight following and then landing on a short, dirt field is clearly not for the faint of heart.  We headed to the airfield in Kananga early on Saturday morning for Sue’s first small plane adventure.  Jacques dropped off the senior Congolese UMC doctor, along with the sole doctor at one of the Mission Hospitals we were scheduled to visit and the senior maternity nurse at one of the other Mission Hospitals, along with Sue and Jim, to check out at the terminal while Jacques prepared the Cessna 206 Super Skywagon for our trip.  It took almost an hour for us to clear the terminal, after paying a $10 head tax. 



Honor guard

 As we left the terminal, a senior police VIP was arriving on the commercial plane and there was an honor guard, band and lots of senior brass present.  We had to walk out to the UMC plane, pass the honor guard and band just after the VIP had deplaned.  We did get some strange looks from the assembled policemen, three Congolese and two white folks heading to a small plane.  The doctor said everyone knew we were missionaries and were heading “up country.”

Co-pilot Jim, "You doing OK, Sue?"

Jim got to sit in the co-pilot’s seat and he said this brought back a lot of great memories from his plane riding days in the service and from having a private pilot’s license, albeit, inactive now.  And yes, he thinks he could have gotten the plane on the ground safely and even done a short field take off if it was a real emergency.   Luckily, he did not have to recall any of these procedures in real time.  As he says, “as long as take offs equal landings it is a good trip”.



Louise, Dr. Philippe, Sue - "Yikes, what have we gotten ourselves into?"



Sue was so busy filming the take off that she didn’t have time to be scared.  Then we were up and over Kananga, and it was thrilling to see the sights beneath us.  Soon gossamer clouds floated below, for a mere instant taking the shape of a fish, an airplane, a prehistoric animal or a  Star Wars fighter.   





A river runs through it



We flew at about 5500 feet over savanna and dense forest, with occasional serpentine brown rivers.   Small villages, laid out along one street, appear intermittently.  Soon the street dissipating into a path winding into the wilderness beyond.  We had a sense of arriving on an island, having traveled over a vast sea of green.



One street town





Landing strip at Tunda Mission

Our first stop after flying for almost 95 minutes was at the UMC Tunda Mission. Dirt strip landing and then a huge turnout of most of the Mission population to welcome us.  We thought it was because of the senior doctor and the returning Mission doctor, but were told it was primarily for us, simply for taking the time and effort to come visit and witness.  Emotionally, almost overwhelming to us.  




Arriving at Tunda Mission

  

Parading to the church



A parade through palm lined walks to the church follows for a formal welcoming ceremony, complete with choir and drums. 

After a nice lunch at the District Superintendent’s house, we toured one of the three UMC Hospitals in the Central Conference area and our hearts simply ached at the sights, sounds and smells.  The poorest equipped UMC Hospital in Zimbabwe looked like John Hopkins compared to this facility. 



Running to church



Tunda Hospital



The young doctor had been there a few years, but he had made some improvements, wanted to show us around and talked about the many items they needed simply to improve the most basic of care to a population served of over 70,000 souls.  Tunda Hospital uses only the first floor.  The second floor has no windows and needs major renovations.

Malaria patients



 


Dr. Manya at Tunda Hospital borehole

 



Louise in operating room with solar powered light


Their major documented project was trying to put in either a hand pump or maybe a solar powered pump at the Mission’s deep well so they would not have to carry buckets of water, drawn from the well, to the operating room (which only faintly resembled anything close to minimum acceptable conditions) and to the Maternity Ward where the women were delivering on old, rusty beds with minimally acceptable standards of cleanliness in regards to sheets and mattresses. 



They were doing the best with what they had to work with, under very trying circumstances.  There had been a lot of fighting in the area during one of the last conflicts and you can still see shrapnel wounds on the building. The facility was built in 1944 and is literally falling down around their heads.  Not sure what can really be done to help with the overall problems, but hopefully, we will be able to help find funds for the well pump.

 

Arnold, the sheep

We are now the proud owners of a large male sheep, nicknamed Arnold by Jim.  He is currently being driven by pedal bike almost 90 miles from Tunda Mission to Wembo-Nyama Mission.  He actually missed our take off so Jacques will pick him up the next time he makes a flight to the Mission.  We were presented Arnold for just showing up at this very remote UMC Mission and for any consideration we might be able to offer in tackling some of their problems.