Ending Extreme Poverty in the Congo

Do You Know How to Troubleshoot Your Car?

Thanks for the warning lights in our cars!  They give us an idea of what going wrong.  BUT what do you do with that information?  (My favorite, I stop and get some gas at the next station.)

On our trip to visit the health clinics, it was not without some minor troubles.  Before leaving the Central Office of the Health Zone at Bulape, the mechanic was called to work on one of the three motorbikes for the trip. 

I hope and prayed that the trouble was corrected.  And it was corrected.  However after about two hours, a second motorbike developed a sputter.  Oops, where's the mechanic?  In rural Congo, it's a totally different situation.  It's the driver responsibility to service or repair his vehicle.  That's true even if it's a motorbike. 

Dr. Anton looks over the shoulder of his driver.  He learning an important skill for being rural doctor, how to troubleshoot a sick motorbike.

Making The Rounds On A Motorbike

I had the opportunity to go with Dr. Anton on his maiden visit to northern health clinics.  We went by motorbike.  The majority of the roads were only passable by motorbike.  Only a very small portion would have been passable by a four-wheel drive vehicle.

The doctor supervises 28 health clinics in the Bulape Health Zone.  The resident nurse provides health care to the thousands of people.  Patients requiring other than basic health care are referred to the Bulape Hospital.  Congo is organized into over 540 health zones.

The nurses have no means of transportation.  They do not even have radio communication means to reach the hospital. 

Why Would You Rescue Goats On A Hot Tin Roof?

How did goats get on a roof?  They walked in the building, went up the stairs, looked out of an opened window, and the rest you can imagine.

The goats were not pets.  They were not being used for a cute animal picture or video. 

In Congo, domestic animals like goats are a valuable food source.  Also, they are an investment for a poor family.  A goat can be sold to pay for unexpected emergencies.  They can pay a child's school fees.  They can pay for needed medicines.  Finally, they may be used for a family celebration or wedding.

You have to take care of your investment.

It's Hard to Walk Out of Poverty

Transportation is everything in the Congo.  Without transportation, you do not seek available medical coverage which may be 20 miles away.  Because you are too sick to walk.  Without transportation, you do not consider going to school.  Because you can not fit the 20-mile commute into your daily chores.  Without transportation, you do not grow too much corn.  Because you have no way to get it to an outside market.

In rural Congo, the most common mode of transportation is walking by foot.  Bicycles are reserved for the middle-class or business entrepreneur. 

Lack of transportation keeps you in poverty.  It is hard to walk out of poverty.

What Does A Rural Doctor Drive?

What's the most popular car driven by doctors in the US?  Okay, to be fair, let me restate the question.  What's the most popular vehicle driven by rural doctors in the US?  In general, I would guess it is some four-wheel drive type vehicle.  Doctors have to be able to get to their patients and their offices under all kinds of conditions.

In rural Congo, doctors depend upon a trail motorbike like the Yahama DT125.  These motorbikes were parked outside a building where a medical conference was held.  As their US counterparts, these doctors bring their medical expertise to the rural poor people.

Can A Plastic Tank Replace the Cement Water Cistern?

Water cistern are normally made from cement.  They are useful for collecting rain water from houses with tin roofs.  However, they have two inherit problems. 

Cement cistern require expensive periodic maintenance to fix the cracks.  Also, they can not be moved.

Large plastic tanks should replace the cement water cistern.  They would not require any periodic maintenance.  And they can be moved even they were buried.

I have seen vacant cement water cistern especially in rural Congo.  They were not located adjacent to any house.  So, what happened?  Probably, the cement cistern failed.  Then the poor house owner had no incentive to rebuild his house near the cistern.

Could Education Solve Congolese and Other African Tribal Problems?

I was talking to a native African from Ghana.  He is doing water projects in Togo.  So we compared a few notes.  Before long, we were lamenting about Africa.  It was interesting to hear his assessment of the Africa's problems.

The first problem noted was colonization in general.  Specifically, he noted that the former colonies of France and Belgium were in the worst conditions.  The English colonies are by far more self-sustaining because they were better educated.

We both agreed that the tribes within each country was the biggest overall problem.  The colonizers exploited the tribal differences.  Today, African leaders exploit the same differences.

What's the solution?  I believe the solution is EDUCATION for the masses.  Specifically, education would introduce and institute a common language among the masses.  Today, only secondary school educated people speak a common language.  The learned language is usually the language of the former colonizer.  Could a common language in each country instituted by primary school education solve the problem?

We agreed that these tribal conflicts and a largely uneducated population is keeping Africa in poverty.