Celebrating 1 Year in Africa

So…September 13th officially marked one year living in Africa. And what a year it has been. When I arrived in Entebbe last year, I thought I would be spending 3 years in Kampala doing some sort of finance job and spending as much time as I could with my friends in Bufukhula. A year later and I sometimes don’t recognize my own life. Congo? Who would have thought?

So in no particular order, here is a list of highlights and lowlights from my first year in Africa:

• Landing in the under construction Entebbe airport with 5 large suitcases and no clue who was picking me up
• Looking at 12 or more houses then finding the PERFECT house
• Learning the words and melody to several traditional hymns
• Finding and volunteering with a fantastic church in Kampala
• Discovering that there really wasn’t that much for me to do with FH Uganda
• Learning that there was much I could do with FH Congo
• Leaving Kampala – hardest thing I did all year
• Elaine’s visit to Kampala and the trip to visit Janet in Kitgum
• Having stomach bacteria problems on the 8 hour drive to Kitgum!
• Spending time in Bufukhula
• Aunt Leslee…enough said!
• Soft serve ice cream and the bookstore at Garden City Mall in Kampala
• Café Bourbon in Kigali
• Spending time with my friends from FH training in Kigali
• Angela, Martha, Martin, Mary and Maria
• Buddy…cute puppy….terror of a dog
• The FIRE
• Seeing lions, giraffes, hippos and elephants in Murchison Falls
• Friday night card night
• Flambayed ice cream at the Orchid in Bukavu
• Renee’s coffee shop
• Being too stressed at work….having to take a mental health day
• Visiting the Buhozi feeding centre
• Jeff and his amazing brochettes and banana bread
• Satellite TV
• Skype…again enough said!
• Bad culture stress…French is hard
• Seeing Gorilla’s in DRC
  

OK...I could probably go on, but this should give you a good idea. It is hard to believe it has been one year; it has gone by very fast. And then at times, it is hard to believe I have two more to go; the time isn’t going by fast enough. These past few weeks I have had mixed emotions about continuing in Africa. I can recognize that this is work stress and culture stress talking. So this one year mark has been a good time to reflect, assess and pray for God’s continued support for my “mission” in Africa.

The one year mark is also a good time to have a party with friends. So, on September 13th I threw a little party and invited both my ex-pat and Congolese friends. We had a wonderful time dancing and laughing and lip-synching to Celine Dion (she is very popular in Africa). Have a look and meet some of my Bukavu friends.




My Friend Kim who works for the International Rescue Committee

My friend Ric and I dancing

Renee our resident Bukavu expert

Liz and I lip-synching to Celine Dion!

The Gang

Buhozi Feeding Centre

Last week I took a seriously needed mental health day and joined the Directors wife Katie at a feeding centre for malnourished children in the village of Buhozi. The village is located about 45 minutes outside of Bukavu. Currently, Katie and Kostas’ home church in Washington, DC have been sponsoring the centre and Katie provides administration and “pastoral” support. The centre feeds about 60 children in the area; all are under the growth targets for their age and each receives a meal of beans, rice and cabbage once a day. While the three mama’s are preparing the daily meal, the children gather to sing and dance.

On this day, Katie and I were accompanied by Keith and Nathan and Robyn. Keith and Nathan just joined FH Congo, Keith for 1 year as a Program Support Officer and Nathan on a 6 month internship. Robyn is a friend of Katie’s who used to live and work in Bukavu and has previously visited the feeding centre. We were also accompanied by Papa Israel who is an FH driver and assists Katie in translating as well as Papa Jean, a public health nurse who sees to the children’s health. (Picture on left: Keith, Israel & Nathan)

What’s interesting about this village is not only do many of the villagers and children not speak French but they also do not speak Swahili; Moshi is the local dialect. This makes it even harder to communicate with the children. I could converse in French and maybe even a few words in Swahili…but Moshi…no such luck! However, dancing, singing, laughing and a comfy lap are universal and I had no problem enjoying my time with the children.

And of course there is the requisite baby holding! Baby holding, that is, without diapers - wet baby holding. I was in heaven.

We also went on a home visit to see Katie’s friend Regine. She is a single mother of 5. This doesn’t seem too bad in African terms, but that 5 comprise 2 sets of twins and all the children are under the age of 5. Regine’s husband left her after the second set of twins was born…and he took the metal roof from the house with him. Regine has no income and no family to assist her. Katie has been providing her with monthly financial assistance and the younger 3 children receive a meal at the feeding centre. All of the children are malnourished and this, of course, affects their normal developmental stages; the 2+ year old twins just started walking in the past month. The oldest, who I believe is around 4 looks more like a 3 year old.

It is always difficult to see poverty such as this. The village is scattered in between fields and fields of banana trees. Produced from the banana’s…banana beer. In talking with Robyn and Papa Jean, the village leaders have been approached about removing some of the banana fields and planting other food crops to help reduce malnutrition. However, they refuse as the beer is more important. Papa Jean was even approached by an angry elderly women who declared that the banana beer was fine for children…they filled up and slept through the night. (Recounted to me by Papa Jean) These are some of the conditions of poverty that FH and other organizations are fighting in Congo and in other places around the globe.

The BASKET

So the other day Joel picked me up at the house to bring me to the office (after a quick stop at the shop for lunch). As we reached the main road, I saw an older man with a large basket on his head. It was a big basket for this guy to be walking around with on his head. I commented to Joel about it as we passed. You see, since the fire, I have no place for dirty clothes and have been thinking about getting a basket of some sort.

But we kept going and headed to the shop. A short while later, basket man was standing outside the door of the shop. They do that, street vendors, stand outside the shop hoping they can make a sale. Well, I asked my Congolese friend Rick to see how much the basket was. He came back with the price of $10, so I borrowed from Joel and bought the basket. Well, I knew it was a big basket…but didn’t know it was a HUGE basket. I can sit in the basket; in fact I did! Not only will it fit my dirty clothes, but Joel’s and Liz’s and all the sheets from three beds and still have room left over. And it’s heavy! Any ideas on how to bring this back home?!?!

And To Think That I Saw It on Patrice Lumumba Avenue…

I see a lot of crazy things when I drive down the main street in Bukavu. I thought I had seen strange and fascinating things on the streets in Kampala, but Bukavu takes the cake. It is almost impossible to describe; you truly do need to see it to believe it. And I don’t think I can put it together in elegant prose, so you will just have to settle for point form:

• Pot holes big enough to loose a car in…OK not that big but pretty close! It is incredible the number and size of the pot holes. And this is on a paved rode. It is fun to watch and to drive as cars swerve around the holes into oncoming traffic. What is not fun is being the passenger or God forbid be sitting in the back of the Landruiser while going over said potholes. Most times you will have a car coming at you in your “lane” and they will honk/flash their lights at you like you are in their way.

• And speaking of lanes…there are no lanes. Cars go wherever they want. You stick to your side of the road, but the middle is first come first serve. I spend a lot of time driving down the middle…one to avoid the holes and two, because the taxi’s go super slow along the side honking to pick up customers.

• And speaking of taxi’s honking…it is constant…all day honking. The taxis here are just regular guys with a car. Sometimes they have a taxi sign on top but mostly they don’t. They drive like maniacs; you can’t be too close behind them as they will suddenly pull of the road right in front of you. Or worse, they pull out in front of you with no warning. Turn signals…what’s a turn signal.

• And speaking of driving like a maniac…everyone drives like a maniac. Even the NGO drivers; even me sometimes.! There really aren’t any rules and everyone is impatient. While there are not a lot of cars on the road, it seems like a lot as everyone drives so badly. The roads are so bad that in most places you can’t go fast. But in those places where there is un-potholed pavement…the faster you can go the better. (Me too!)

• Another thing you see on the road…two wheeled carts carrying wood or rebar being pushed/pulled down the road by a group of young men. It is an odd site and a job I don’t envy. Bukavu is rather hilly and it always pains me to see them struggling to get the cart up the hill. It is a delicate balance as the two wheels are in the middle of the cart. But, it is also funny to see them going down hill with someone riding the load and the rest running to keep up with the cart and keep it balanced.

• Fridays….how I hate Fridays on Patrice Lumumba Avenue…and Saturdays too. These seem to be the days that people get married. Many people! And the custom is to drive your wedding party down the road with the cars all decorated and maintaining a constant rhythmic honking. And the best part…they drive really slow so everyone can join in on the parade.

• It seems like life in Africa takes place on the side of the road. At least the Africa I have been too. In Bukavu it takes on a new meaning. On the side of the main road you can buy everything from running shoes to purses, from cell phone accessories to pirated movies, from thermos’ to kids toys and even Hawaiian lays. There is hardly anything you can’t buy along the side of the road. And this isn’t in a shop. People set up right on the dirt track that passes for the sidewalk or in front of an unoccupied building.

• It is always the noises that strike me as I drive to work; the constant sound of thousands of people going about their lives. But the one thing that always stands out to me is the boys who walk with metal buckets filled with soda bottles. The bottles are lined up around the bucket and they run the bottle opener around the bottles. It makes a musical sound. But combined with the noise of horns honking, police whistles blowing and general city noise it combines to make an often times ear splitting cacophony.

There is so much more to see along driving down Patrice Lumumba Avenue. Everyday there is something new and often I think of something I want to write about but forget by the time I get to where I am going. I think I need a bigger purse to keep a small notebook inside so I can jot it down as I see it. I guess a visit to the vendor with the purses I see on the side of the road is in order!

Bloggers note: And To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street was Dr. Seuss’ first published children’s story