Congo settling in

21 – 25 February 2012



Shopping for the guest house in Kinshasa

Tuesday, what a day… OMG, we went shopping with Jacques and I believe all six million residents of Kinshasa were out on the streets and alleyways we crossed picking out mattresses, a freezer (electric/gas powered), water pump, storage tank, guttering for catching the water to be stored in the cistern we will be constructing.  As we proceeded along we gathered local, impromptu advisors and sidewalk superintendent’s who each had an opinion on what to buy  The city was really crowded and it took almost an hour to get through very slow moving traffic… lots of car smoke, dust and the ever present smell of garbage alongside the roads.  I had transferred $5K of the $6.8K for the project to Jacques in the privacy of my hotel room and he blew through most of that in five short hours of shopping.  Everywhere we went, we were the only white folks in the sea of African faces and even though we were in locations the guide book would certainly not recommend you go by yourself, we felt safe.  Jacques lead the way and another UMC member followed up closely behind us just to keep our progress covered.  We saw some interesting sights, but Jacques advised us not to use our cameras out in the open so the only pictures we took were from the car as we transited to and home from the city.

Wednesday we met with Dr. Pierre Manya, the doctor in charge of medical affairs in the UMC Congo Central Conference.  We will look at some Methodist hospitals & clinics to gather information for the Methodist  global health agency in New York about current conditions and scout out some possible future sites for teams and an infusion of money.  This will be done over the period of our stay in country. 

We checked in our luggage this afternoon for tomorrow’s flight and on the way, again got stopped and this time it was a $7.00 equivalent payment to the police party fund that finally let the church vehicle pass.  The UMC official said it was because they saw “rich white folks” in the rear seats.  Bummer, but they explained that this was just “normal.”  When we got to the airline luggage check in, the customs lady wanted $20 “for her mother” but Jacques said no way and we got through the throng of people who were just seemingly standing around the check-in building.



Guest house, Kananga

 Thursday 23 February we flew to Kananga, a 1.5 hour flight from Kinshasa.  We were one of the last to board.  We had assigned seats, but apparently this is a mere suggestion.  All the seat were taken except three at the very back.  Some of our carryon luggage ended up stored in the kitchen area.  We are staying in a two house compound with high walls all around that are topped with jagged pieces of bottles.  Jacques, his wife and family live in the main house.  We will be staying in the guest house that will be renovated.



Simon

 Staying with us in the guest house is Simon, a young Brit pilot who is working for a US non-governmental organization (NGO), Wings of Hope out of Missouri.  He flies people to meetings or mercy missions, when he has enough money to buy aviation fuel for the trip.  Our host, Jacques, does the same type of things for United Methodists.  Aviation fuel is very expensive here and difficult to transport to where it is needed.



Rainy Friday

 Friday it rained all morning into the afternoon.  We settled in, then late in the day went for a drive around Kananga with Jacques and Virginie, his daughter.  Again, short patches of paved road remains, with the rest dust roads.  Colonial era buildings remain, but are shabby and often empty. 




Shopping in Kananga

 

The stores are in old colonial buildings and in low concrete block buildings with 4-5 stores spaces.  There are often extensions to the stores in front, where wares are displayed and shopkeepers sit. 



Getting about in Kananga

 The streets are crowded with people shopping, walking, bicycling, motor biking, and in a few instances driving cars.  Goods are transported on the head, on bikes, in handcarts, and on motor bikes. 

After driving about, we parked in the shopping area to buy a few items and some groceries.  This is when Sue ran afoul of a local con artist.  I opened my door ever so gently into the street, lightly tapping a young man who appeared out of nowhere ever so gently on the leg.  He immediately grabbed his leg and professed pain.  Then the relentless begging began.  “Mama, Mama ...” and a volley of French asking for money.  I said no repeatedly, but he stood behind us at each stall intoning “Mama, Mama…”.  Several shop keepers chased him away, as apparently he was known to them.  When he would walk away he walked upright and perfectly fine.  But then he would return.  It ended when we left that street.  I’ll be very cautious opening car  doors from now on.



Sue and the seamstresses

 Saturday 25 February, we met the District Superintendent, several pastors and lay people, and the project manager for the Conference.  While visiting we met these two women who were sewing clothes for sale.  There are four sewing machines in the room.