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Congolese live in extreme poverty conditions. Many of them suffer and die from preventable and treatable diseases and conditions. They see family members suffer and die.
Even so Congolese celebrate family traditions. They appreciate those precious family traditions. The suffering and deaths strengthen family ties.
Underground cisterns can provide a good source of clean and safe drinking water. Rain water can be collected in the cisterns. Also, a water from a well can be stored in a cistern during low useless period. Then the stored water could be used to meet high demand periods.
A underground cistern working in combination with a deep water well and solar pump would provide a near endless supply of water at a low operation cost. In Congo, about 12 hours of daylight is available 365 days a year.
The underground cisterns need to be protected from contamination.
If the cistern is located in the village center or near a school, Congolese girls would save hours a day. Those saved hours could be used more productive for school or for food production.
Do you wish the solution to poverty was clear cut like a math problem? I do!
Someone could just announce the solution and then everyone could get to work to implement it. The solution does not have to be easy but it should be doable.
Poverty is one of those things that I think most people would like to eliminate from the face of the earth. Many of us continue to work on different solutions. Everyone has their theory or solution. Is access to health care the solution? Or is education more meaningful? Or is economic development the solution?
I believe there is no single solution. For each country and situation, the conditions and solutions are different. Sometime, I just wish the rural Congo solution was clear as black and white.
Most houses and buildings required maintenance. Everything is not maintenance-free, yet. In Congo, houses and buildings require more periodic maintenance.
The roofs are made from palm fronds. At first, the fronds are green. And they are water-restraint. Over a few months, the fronds turn brown. They dry out and fall apart in the sun and rain. They have to be replaced frequently. Otherwise, the roof leaks.
I have said in the past, Congolese women and girls are very hard working. They can heavy stuff from the fields to their homes. The heavy stuff including wood, corn, and water. All these things are necessary to sustain the lives of their families.
Nick Kristoff of the New York Times has a great video showing Congolese women at work. He, with tongue in cheek, refers to it as the Congolese women's exercise program.
In rural Congo, the main streets are not too busy on most days. The people generally congregate near their homes. There is not too much shopping or even window shopping. A few shops are open for business.
However, once a week, the main streets become full and crowded with visitors and shoppers. Normally, the each rural village has a designated market day. On market day, traveling vendors arrive in the village. They setup shop for a day. Market day attracts thousands of shoppers.
Congolese women work in the farm fields. They go out to the fields mostly everyday. Sometimes they still out there in the field many overnights.
Congolese women go to work with their children. They take them everyday.
