Ending Extreme Poverty in the Congo

How Do You Start a Candid Talk?

Candid talk about human excrement is making people in rural Niger, where only 2 percent of the population has adequate sanitation, insist on building and using toilets: A project there is showing people from scores of villages the dangers of open defecation.

“We put barely a speck of human waste [from the ground on the outskirts of the village] in a cup of water and ask assembled villagers who would care to drink it - no takers, of course,” Souleymane Atawaten, water and sanitation coordinator with Plan Niger, told IRIN. He and his colleagues demonstrated how flies swarm around human waste and food. “People quickly realize the danger - the link between their waste and illness.”

via www.irinnews.org

Starting next month, we will start to have that candid talk in rural Congo. Adequate sanitation can save lives and minimize sicknesses.

When Microcredit Won't Do

In the hills of rural Guatemala, a different kind of microfinance, one that doesn’t involve loans, is doing something microcredit can’t.  A company called Soluciones Comunitarias (“community solutions”) is selling products that improve the health and prosperity of villagers, and doing it in a sustainable way while providing rural people — the vast majority of them women — with new business opportunities that do not require risk or debt. 

Soluciones Comunitarias uses the same model employed by second-hand clothing and furniture shops in the United States and elsewhere: consignment. It’s an old idea. What’s new is using it to improve the lives of the rural poor.

via opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com

Micro consignment is an interesting concept. One to watch over the few years.

It takes the burden off the seller and puts it on the supplier.

Congo - 100, 75, 50 Years Ago - NYTimes.com

1961 Soviet Arms Sent to Congo

At least six truck shipments of Soviet bloc arms have already reached the pro-Communist rump regime in the Congo, it was revealed today [Feb. 16] as officials studied what to do if the Soviet Union defies President John F. Kennedy’s warning against unilateral intervention. The Soviet bloc deliveries, which were trans-shipped by the United Arab Republic, took place before Mr. Kennedy’s firm public pledge yesterday to oppose Soviet threats to give all possible assistance to the regime of Antoine Gizenga in Oriental Province. Although Mr. Kennedy avoided saying so specifically at his press conference yesterday, officials confirmed that the United States considers the Congo a crucial test of Soviet intentions. There is no doubt that continued Soviet meddling in the Congo will put in doubt any kind of fruitful negotiation on any subject.

via www.nytimes.com

here's a bit of history about the US and Congo. Congo was ground-zero for Cold War between the US and USSR.

Catch-22

It's very hard for health care facilities to break-even in their operations.  Making a profit is unheard of.  Everything seems to suffer from catch-22.  They have poorly staffed and supported facilities due to their poorer clientele.

Their clients just do not have disposable income to spend on health.  Poor families gamble with their health.  They wait until the last minute or until conditions are beyond worst before going to the doctor or nurse.  They believe it will get better tomorrow.  Unfortunately, they die before tomorrow comes.

Seeds, Roots and Herbs

One out of five Congolese children do not reach their fifth birthday.  That's a tragic.  Rural Congolese families are even more susceptible.  They have less access to traditional health care.

However, these same families have learned to survive on non-traditional medicines and cures.  They have an abundance of roots and herbs.

New roots and herbs are being found daily.  We, Congo Helping Hands, introduced the Moringa Tree for nutrition intervention.  Later, we found that the seeds could be used for simple water purification.  

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Fresh fruits and vegetables are a key ingredient of a nutritious meal.  That's what we know here in the developed world.

But in the developing world, like Congo, only fresh fruits and vegetables are available.  So there are other factors that cause the people to be malnourished.  The quantity of food is at fault.

First, not enough of fresh fruits and vegetables are grown during some periods of the year.  Also, lack of transportation limits the available of fresh fruits and vegetables to near the farm.  Finally, the lack of electricity and refrigeration limits the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Sharing A Meal and Avoiding Waste

Food is precious.  It is especially precious for the poor.  The opportunity to eat a meal is a welcomed and cherished activity.

In Congo, food is always shared and eaten.  Food is not wasted.  Especially in rural areas without electricity, it is impossible to save food. 

Ready For My Shower

Indoor plumbing is mostly non-existent in rural Congo.  Everything is outdoor including the showers or bathing area.  Bathing outside in the open air can be scenic.

For some reason, I had never showered outside.  I guess I had avoided bathing while traveling to and from remote bush locations.  Other things like eating, drinking, and staying well were much more important. 

Bath Time

Most young children do not like to take a bath.  They will do anything to avoid a bath.  For some reason, bath time is just a stressful time.

In rural Congo, bath time is stressful, too.  But it is stressful for other reasons.  And it is stressful for more than just the younger children.

First, the older children would have to walk and fetch the water for the bath.  It could take hours to get water.

Also, the water is just air temperature.  It is not heated for comfort.  To heat the water, the older children would have to walk and fetch firewood.

What Shoes Gotta Do With It?

Are shoes a measure of prosperity?  To most, children without shoes are poor.  They are a sign of poverty.  That's true in most situations.

In rural Congo, most children do not own a pair of shoes.  Most of them don't even own a pair of rubber flip-flops.  So they are poor and are living in poverty.

But if you give a children a pair of shoes, are they still poor and are living in poverty?