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A mother and her children are special. Congolese mother and their children are special, too. What makes them special?
They want the best for their children. They want them to be educated. They want them to be healthy. They want them to well fed. They want them to have opportunities.
If you want the best for someone other than self, you are special.
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What is like to search out water for your family everyday? Congolese women and girls go out everyday from their homes in search of water. They carry empty buckets and jars in search of water. Just because water was there yesterday, it may not be available today. They are like water hunters.
You and I have no idea of what it's like to HAVE to find your daily water. For us, water is something we do not have to worry about. It is always available within a few feet of us.
Water is not something you can do without. You need it to drink. You need it to clean yourself and things. You need it for cooking. You really need it. You can live without food but you need water.
I can not think of any scenario that comes close to having to find water everyday. In Congo, you think about water differently. Is it available? Can I drink it? Is there enough? Is it clean?
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Even in Congo, there are signs of prosperity, too. One of the signs is visible in the homes built.
In rural Congolese village, you can see some houses are built better than others. Some houses are larger. Some houses have a separate cooking room. Some houses have two doors. Some houses have a brick veneer. Some houses have a tin roof.
It's still true in extremely poor conditions, a man's house is his castle. One day, his castle may have running water and electricity.
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You have heard the jokes. They are almost as famous as the knock-knock jokes. It's the "How Many Men Does It Take To?" jokes.
It's no joking matter in Congo. There are thousands of men sitting around to do anything. So it is a matter of how many men you can afford to pay versus how many men does it take.
You are torn between doing the best job with the best equipment versus doing the best job more labor intensive equipment. How many men does it take to drill a well? If I use a LS300 rig to drill a well, it takes four persons (male or female). If I manually drill a well, it takes 9 to 12 strong, young men.
It's a dilemma.
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Rural Congolese classrooms do not have good walls. The walls are bare if they exist. There are no clocks on the wall. There are no bulletin boards. Sometimes, there are no blackboards for writing.
Therefore, teaching aids are rare indeed. In this headmaster's (principal's) office, hand drawn pictures of the circulatory and digestive systems are prized posters. The renovated building was recently completed for safe storage of the schools' few textbooks and other teaching aids.
Most rural classrooms are made from sticks and mud with thatched roofs. These poorly constructed classrooms and schools perpetuates poor educational opportunities.
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I recently heard an answer on Jeopardy. One contestant answered, what's the Land-Rover. She was wrong. The others did not know the correct answer (the question) either.
I knew the question. Alex finally responded, what's the Toyota's Land-Cruiser. I had the right question.
Years ago, I was introduced to the Toyota Land-Cruiser. Currently, it is the workhorse of rural Congo. It transports people and things. But it is very expensive. It is only affordable to high profile non-government organizations (NGOs). Only a few individuals can afford even older model Land-Cruiser. The LandCruiser is a people's vehicle.
The people walk from place to place. People carry everything on their heads or on their bicycles. The makers of the Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV) hope to change that situation. The BUV is a simple to use and maintain vehicle for the people. It provides cost effective transport of people and things.
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If you lived in Congo, you could go to get a drink of water. It would take you 40 minutes to go there and 40 minutes to walk back. And it probably would take you longer to back because you would have to walk up a hill. Also, five gallons of water would weigh over 40 pounds.
I read one organization's criteria for a water well is a 40-minute walk. That is, if the girls or young women spent less than 40-minutes to get to a water sources, then the village did not qualify for a water well.
Would you walk 40 minutes to get your water? I live in a different world. In my world, most of us would not wait 40 minutes at a restaurant to eat a delicious meal. So walking for 40 minutes to get water or a meal would be out of the question.
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Sanitation is a universal problem in Congo. Only 23 percent of the population use an improved sanitation facility. Three out of four people in urban and rural communities used unimproved sanitation facilities. Unimproved facilities span from shared facilities to open defecation.
Outside latrines? Water and sanitation facilities are not part of this pilot classroom project. A more comprehensive plan of water and sanitation will be addressed separately by our Congo Water Project. Obviously, we will have to protect our water wells.
We (Congo Helping Hands) plan to build some new classrooms. Previously, I answered questions about whether these classrooms will meet building codes, the locations of the proposed classrooms, whether these classrooms will have dirt or cement floors, and whether they would be electrified.
OK, I am done! This is the fifth and final question. (Sorry, I do not get too many questions.)
The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF issued its 2010 updated Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water Report.
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The question of the day is whether our classrooms will have electricity.
Today, I continue a series started three days ago. We (Congo Helping Hands) plan to build some new classrooms. Previously, I answered questions about whether these classrooms will meet building codes, the locations of the proposed classrooms, and whether these classrooms will have dirt or cement floors.
When built, would they be electrified? There are no power-grids in rural Congo. Only critical buildings like hospitals have solar and or generator-powered electricity. Lighting is the biggest need for electricity in the classroom. Adequate natural lighting will be planned and used. Natural lighting is abundant and free.
Even in major urban cities, electricity is limited. Most buildings in Kananga only have generator-powered electricity.
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The question of the day is whether our classrooms will have dirt floors or cement floors.
Today, I continue a series started two days ago. We (Congo Helping Hands) plan to build some new classrooms. Previously, I answered questions about whether these classrooms will meet building codes, and the locations of the proposed classrooms.
Do you propose dirt or cement floors? The pilot classrooms will have dirt floors. Cement floors could be added on a case-by-case basis.
Cement is costly commodity in rural Congo. Cement is imported. The transportation cost helps drives up the cost of a bag of cement.
Many rural schools and houses use naturally hard clays for floors. The building is just the first step on our journey to support education in rural poor Congo.
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