Ending Extreme Poverty in the Congo

The Job of Congolese Women and Girls Is To Carry Stuff

Everything that comes from the fields or bush arrives on the heads of the Congolese women and girls.  There is no donkeys or other animals.  There is no wagons or other vessels.  There is no trucks or even bicycles.  It is transported by the Congolese women and girls.

The women and girls pass me by loaded down.  Their loads stacked up one, two or three feet above their heads.  Their eyes are focused straight ahead.  Their bodies are rigid and still while they walk along the path.  Their faces show no emotion just a little sweat to prevent overheating.

In a poor rural village, one of the major jobs of Congolese women and girls is to carry stuff.

The Last Two Miles Are The Most Difficult Two Miles

 
Have you ever lost a bag on an airline?  My bags have only been delayed and temporarily misplaced.  The trip to Congo is over 8,000 miles one way.  For them to arrive in Bulape requires patience, a grand strategy, quick tactics, and luck. Sometimes you never know where your luggage will ultimately end up.

The bags contain the normal stuff like clothes and personal toiletries.  But it also contains comfort items like kool-aid and snacks.  Finally, it contains tools and supplies needed for projects. 

The last two miles of the journey are sometimes to a project site located deep in bush surrounding Bulape.  Then it is a step back into history and the 1800's when each bag was carried by a porter through the jungle.  The paths are sometimes impassable except for by foot.

Strange Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

Seeing a strange person walking down the road is one thing.  But when that stranger appears to follow you home is just too much.

We, who live in a developed or even in a developing country, are blessed.  We have the opportunity to experience and see everything.  And some folks will say we see too much.  But it is good we can see so much through the media.  The television, magazines, newspapers, movies, videos, and internet allows us to experience many things without seeing it in person.

In rural Congo, there is no television.  There is very few opportunities to see movies or videos.  And the internet is limited.  Printed materials do not always project real things.

Imagine this!  A group of different colored people, speaking a strange language, carrying strange objects, are coming after you.  It's a panic setting. 

Cooking with Charcoal is More of a Necessity

 
More families in the Congo are cooking with charcoal.  It is not the same as the occasional grilling.  It is being used for routine cooking.  In the urban and city areas, charcoal is near unanimous fuel. 

In the rural areas like Bulape, charcoal use is not used too much.  The cost of charcoal prohibits the widespread use.  However, the rural and outlying areas are the main sources of charcoal.  Charcoal pits, as shown, are plentiful near wooded areas.

Charcoal is relatively easy to make.  More importantly, it is much easier to transport than wood.  Especially in Congo, the transport of things, or lack thereof, dictates availability more than any other factor.

A Congolese Thanksgiving Feast

 

Happy Thanksgiving Day!  That's for my fellow Americans.

In Congo, I found that family birthday celebrations come the closest to our Thanksgiving feast.  Congolese go all out to celebrate their older family member's birthday.  Those birthdays are precious.  Older Congolese have suffered through diseases, suffering, and colonialism.

There are plenty of foods to eat.  Chicken, fish and goat replaces the turkey as the center piece meat.

It's not our Thanksgiving Feast but it's a Congolese Thanksgiving Feast.  Yum, yum, I am ready to eat!

Why Palm Oil May Be Good?

Palm oil is one of the few vegetable oils that is high in saturated fats.

Palm nuts produce palm oil.  It is traditionally used cooking in Congo.  Also, palm oil can be used to make soap.  The majority of the palm oil consumed is imported.  Can Congo become a major palm oil supplier?

There is a lot between the importer and net exporter of palm oil.  One of the bumps (problems) is tall palm trees.  There is no means to get the palm nuts down from the tree except someone climbing up the tree.  That bump may be on its way out.  A midget palm tree seems to grow well in Congo.

However, there is a downside of the midget palm tree.  Anyone can get at the palm nuts.  Theft of palm oil is a real possibility.

Is the high saturated fats content of palm oil, good or bad?  Probably, it is not problem now since the Congolese poor are not high fat or calorie consumers.  So, palm oil may help Congolese alive.

From Wikipedia: Palm oil is naturally reddish because it contains a high amount of beta-carotene (though boiling palm oil destroys the beta-carotene, rendering the oil colourless). Palm oil is one of the few vegetable oils relatively high in saturated fats (like palm kernel oil and coconut oil). It is thus semi-solid at typical temperate climate room temperatures, though it will more often appear as liquid in warmer countries. 

Why Two Chickens Are Worth More Than Any Turkey

Thanksgiving is time of giving thanks for what you have.  It is not a time to whine about what you do not have.  Nor is it a time to whine about what you had.

My friends in the Congo are thankful.  They understanding the true meaning of thanksgiving.  They do not need a national holiday to re-focus their lives for few hours.  Family and life are at the core of their living and thinking.

Two chickens do not equal a turkey.  Two chickens are worth more than any turkey.  These two chickens were given out of poverty.

What's In The Big Metal Cooking Pot?

You see a Congolese girl with a big metal cooking pot in the middle of a field near the edge of the bush.  You think, what is she doing with that big metal cooking pot?

Is the pot full of food?  You think may be her mother is cooking nearby.  But it looks shiny new.  It's filled with water.  You think may be her mother is preparing to cook.  You must have water to cook.

She is coming from the water source.  She only has this big cooking pot instead of the normal yellow jerry can or plastic tub.  The water is the important thing.  It does not matter what you use to get water.

Where Thirty Year Old Stuff is Still in Style

 

Do you know about tie-dye cloth?  Most people probably do not remember the tie-dye cloth era of the late 60's and 70's.  It was very popular among hippies.  I remembered those days.

On trip to Congo in 2001, I was faced with tie-dye cloth from a 30 year prior period.  At that point, I realized Congo was not only a poor country but it was a country in a time warp.  I thought, you have got to be kidding.  Even I had discarded all my old tie-dye T-shirts because I knew those times were gone forever.

Because of poverty or a lack of development, rural Congo is still in a time warp.  Manual typewriters are still very useful.  Cooking is done over an open fire.  Candles or flashlights are used for night lighting.

Actually, It's Nothing You Can Imagine

 
I have often mentioned that mass transportation of things and people is BIG problem in Congo.  Actually, it is more like non-existent.

There is a train that operates north out of Kananga toward Ilebo.  Actually, there are railroad tracks that travel north out of Kananga.

It is questionable if the train makes the full round-trip to Ilebo and back on a monthly basis.  Actually, it could take weeks to make it to the end of the line.  Also, there is only one train.

There is no passenger bus or train system.  Actually, you can ride in or on top of a railroad box car.

I wish AMTRAK and Greyhound operated in the Congo.  Actually, anything is better than nothing. 

Actually, most Congolese walk.  Actually, most stuff is carried on bicycles.  Actually is what happens on a regular basis.