Ending Extreme Poverty in the Congo

Congratulations to the Senior Typing Class Students at Lycee Dinanga

Congratulations to Pauline of the Girls' School Lycee Dinanga in Bulape.  She and five other of her fellow students passed the Typing Option of Congo State Examinations.

The results of the Congo National Examination are being released today.  We hope it will be a time of celebration!  In past years, rural school have not faired well with the national exam.

Lycee Dinanga received manual typewriters donated from people in central Indiana via a Congo Helping Hands' shipment to Congo.  Manual typewriters are extremely expensive.  Some manual typewriters cost as much as $300 each due to the demand.

In a country without limited electricity and virtually none in the rural areas, manual typewriters are gold.  Now, these girls has shared in the gold. 

Looking Down at Another Urban Watering Hole

 

All urban water sources are not created equal.  Actually, that's the problem.  Very few if any of the water sources are really created.  Most of the water sources are unimproved.  And those that are improved are not readily accessible.

One water source serving a city quarter of Kananga, a town of may be 600,000 people, is down a steep ravine.  Therefore, water must be carried back up the hill.  Remember the water container weigh about 40 pounds each.

Congolese Women Gathering at an Urban Watering Hole

 

You must have water to live.  In Congo, you or somebody will probably have to walk to get that life-sustaining water.  It does not matter whether you will in an urban city or a rural village.

In the city, you may walk a shorter distance.  You may walk to a central water pipe stand located in your city quarter.  Or you may walk to a local church or building which has a water collection system installed.  But you still have to walk.

Congolese women and girls are still in charge of getting the water.  

Rural Congolese Are Growing and Eating More Rice

 

 

What's for dinner?  The Congolese dinner meal is getting more western.  Congolese are eating more rice.  But rice, a distance second, is not that popular of a staple food like it is in our western society.  Cassava is the still the staple food of rural Congo. 

I am not sure which came first.  Did the rural Congolese farmers grow more rice?  Then they started eating more rice themselves.  Or did they the people started eating more rice or saw the Americans eating it?  And then they started to grow it.

Rice and beans are my staple foods when I am in rural Congo.

 

Waiting on a Vaccine Against Malaria and Diarrhea

I completed my regiment of anti-malaria medicine last week.  For my last trip, I took a daily med called Doxycycline Hyclate.  I had to continue taking my daily dosage for four weeks after I returned.  (Actually, I had four or five doses left beyond the requirement so I took them all, too.) 

A secondary benefit of Doxy is the prevention of traveler's diarrhea.

A vaccine to replace Doxycycline Hyclate would be beneficial to me.  But more importantly, it would save millions of African children each year.  Malaria and diarrhea are the two major causes of death for children in Congo and other poor countries.

Getting Across to the Other Side

I had never rode or traveled in a boat during my previous trips to the Congo.  I finally had the opportunity (necessity) to cross a river which had no other means to get to the other side.  There was not even a bad bridge.  In the past, I have had to get out of the vehicle because the bridge was so bad.  But, this time I was not so lucky.

 

As usual, the distance to the other side looked short until you are in the middle of the river.

 

Jesus Walks on the Water (Mark 6:45-52)

 ⁴⁵Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

 ⁴⁷When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. ⁴⁸He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, ⁴⁹but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, ⁵⁰because they all saw him and were terrified.

   Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." ⁵¹Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, ⁵²for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

What Yellow and Holds About Five Gallons of Water?

If you have been to any third world country like the Congo, then you have probably seen one.  For some reason, most of them are yellow.  And most of them holds about five gallons of water.  We refer to them as a jerrycan.   

Jerrycans are every where.  They are the most popular household utensil of the poor.  They are used to obtain and store water for the family.

Congolese women and children (mostly girls) must walk to a water source to fill the jerrycan. 

Global Water Challenge at Bonnaroo | ONE.

It’s no joke that women and children around the world have to carry 40-pound jerrycans an average of 6km every day to get water – that may or may not even be clean. We drove the point home with our jerrycan races, which educated people about the burden in a fun, but effective way.

I was amazed to see how willing people were to help—once they realized the scale of the problem. Many just said: We had no idea. But now that we know, how can we help, what can we do?

Here's Your Hot Water In The Congo

I just replaced my hot water heater in the last two weeks.  It was a big decision for me. 

At first, I needed to convince myself that I actually needed a hot water.  Remember, I had just returned from a two-month trip to the Congo.  I survived without hot water.  And water was carried to the house by girls.

Finally, I reluctantly decided I needed hot water during the winter months.  So, I got down to the typical American questions.  Tank-less or conventional water heater?  What size water heater?  Etc, etc.

I just could not forget about the water situation in the Congo.  Really, hot water was out of the question.

 

Where Do You Start To Improve Education In The Congo?

Should student programs be first priority?  The students need textbooks, notebook, pens, and scholarship funds.

Should teacher training programs be first priority?  The teacher need textbooks, and training to be more effective teachers.

Should classroom buildings and desks be first priority?  The school infrastructure is in bad shape.

All those items need to be improved.  But where do you start to improve education in the Congo?

 

Congolese Women Are Like 'The Energizer Bunny'

 

Congolese women have prominent roles in their society.  Their contributions are evident everywhere.  On Sunday, there is little different.  Even in church, they are physically and actively contributing outside of the norm.

Congolese women are like "the Energizer Bunny".  They keep going.  They keep doing!