Advertisement for Hewa Bora Airlines

(You can travel to Lubumbashi for $148 or less like this...)


(Or choose HEWA BORA AIRWAYS, 1st company in DRC, and travel like this)

Trip Cancelled!

I was planning a trip to Kole (situated in the middle of the country) to visit some partners. I mean, it's been close to 6 months that I've been in Congo and I still haven't been able to get there. Some of the reasons are:

-I had just arrived and needed some time to adjust to the project
-we suddenly had to work intensely on an HIV/AIDS grant
-we had to rush to Luiza to prepare the health offices before our donor came to visit to area
-we suddenly had to work intensely on a Malaria grant
-the 30th of June and feared civil unrest was looming close
-etc...

It's just bad luck.

I was all set to go to Kole today when my travel agent comes to the office to announce that the Congolese Ministry of Transportation banned all flights using Anatanov flights inside the country for an undertermined length of time.

Antanov aircrafts are old rusted shells of airplanes from Eastern Europe that have been refurnished and used since the 1960s. Rumors are that they are barely held together by duct tapes and it's a miracle everytime they take off and land safely. If you do a google search for Antanov and Congo, you'll come up with searches that tell of their many crashes.

The first thought that came to my mind about the ban was "Well it's about G**Damned time!". Then the second thought was "Why oh why am I so unlucky with this planned trip?".

I am currently adding on my résumé: "Amazing ability to adjust to local resource-limited settings".

Grubs and Termites

This weekend, we went back to Maluku, that place by the water where we ate Liboké and Chikangwe.

On the way back, we stopped at FIKIN, the Foire International de Kinshasa. The place was so crowded that it took us about 45 mins to drive the car into the Fair...and we were located about 5 meters from the entrance (I had half a mind to abandon my friends in the car and just walk there).

I got to eat those disgustingly active and wriggly white grubs from palm trees (barbecued and skewered, they don't have much taste--but it does play a number on the psych to bite into the thick white body and tiny black head).

I also tried termites which, surprisingly enough, are deliciously fried in oil, pili pili and salt. I thought I was going to be disgusted but I started popping the little things like they were sugar. The man selling them was walking around with a huge bowl full of the things and it makes me wonder how many hours it takes to gather so many tiny insects for my eating pleasure.

Will definitely try to score some more to cook at home.

******
Thanks Chris for posting on my Guest Map. Others should be inspired by this great initiative and post their pins too :) I'll definitely come see you guys in Louisville, Ky. What's it famous for again?

Happy Birthdays!!

Happy happy happy Birthday Vicky and Dad!! (and if I knew which friggin' phone number you can be reached at, you'd be enjoying a earful of my great birthday singing :)

Both Big Dorks

Initial email:

Check out the attached email I received from Amazon. To quote: "As someone who has purchased music from one of today's hottest bands, you might be interested in back-to-school offers...". The last music I purchased from Amazon was by Josef Haydn, who died in 1809... And before that, the opera "Arabella" by Richard Strauss, composed in 1930...

Does this mean *gasp* that Classical Music is coming back into fashion?
Dad

*****
Response from my brother:

Hi Dad,

Wow, Amazon thinks you're cool. Weird. They must've confused you with Victoria or something... But they're rarely wrong so perhaps I should reconsider things (maybe I should start ironing my blue jeans too...).

Cheers,
XX


*****
The funniest thing is that my dad doesn't even own blue jeans...

Words of Encouragement?

"[…]Anyway, don't let it get you down; go buy a tub of ice cream and make a pig of yourself instead. Or a beer with friends.

Bisous,
Dad."

*****
They should really make people take parenting classes.

Kindu in Pictures

My morning view through the bathroom's mesh window of Sarah's apartment

Little neighbor with spiky hair. She laughed and laughed after I showed her the picture.

Two Congolese NGO workers set off for an adventure through remote villages where they will draw list of the neediest persons to benefit from an agricultural project. Two people per moto insures that, in the common occurence of a flat, the team works together to fix the tire. In the white bag they have enough clothes for ten days, 2 mattress, two floation coats for the trip on the pirogue, a special drink prepared by a village woman for back aches (those long hours on the motorcycle can be really painful), beignets for the morning breakfast, sheets, plates, cups and work material. Talk about efficient packing!

Bright white manioc (peeled out of its ugly black skin) is dried out in the sun on a straw cot for two or three days

Finger Lickin' Good

Yesterday I went to Chez Tintin again, the place by the water. We sat on rocks and explored the two rusted ships that where shipwrecked by the side of the river (mostly they were ghostly shells of their former selves, smelt weird and had lot of flies breeding around them).

I ordered my usual (Liboké--the grilled fish in Banana leaves, and Chikwangue--the manioc bread-like slices), drenching my Chikwangue in the wonderfully tasteful and spicy sauce inside the banana leaf.

I was so good I licked everyone of my fingers.

Today my stomach is cramping up like crazy. Ooow. Why-oh-why must something so good be so painful? Isn't there anything enjoyable that is remorse free anymore?

Give me M&Ms or give me death!!

Lazy Post

Thanks Denis for posting on my Guest Map!

Anniversary

08/02/2005

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my first time living in Africa. This special date makes me think about deeply philosophical questions like: “what am I doing here again?”

Bad Mood II

08/02/2005

I’m in such a bad mood I actually fought with a religious sister working here. I’m going to Hell for this one. I bet Hell has a shitty generator too.

Bad Mood

08/02/2005

The UN flight in Kindu to Kinshasa was cancelled. I will therefore not be able to flight back today. Apparently this stuff happens all the time. A humanitarian typically tries 3 times to get on a flight before he/she can take off.

The Kindu office just received a heck of a lot bigger generator. These are the things I expect never to experience here again:
-the whole electrical system to shut down every time a job is sent to the printer
-the lights to dimmer to the point of near dusk when we cook on the electrical stove
-the electricity to not come on at home during the three planned hours of the evening, two nights in a row
-the lights to come on/off, on/off 5 times in an evening
-the server to be restarted 3 times during the course of the day
-the overworked generator to travel around the room due to vibrations of the motor
-the cord of the generator to break off in the guards hands when trying to start it

I have high hopes for this generator!

Electricity

Yesterday evening, I saw people sitting in chairs reading to the only light in town (a NGO building that has a single light bulb that burns bright during the night). I asked a friend what that's all about and apparently, they were Kindu University students stdying for an exam the next day. Even in the middle of seemingly nowhere, people still manage to cramm for exams. I'm impressed.

****

Note to RHJ: I removed my comment from your other blog because the comment that came after it freaked me out a little (blogs are fun but can attract unwanted comments--see my disclaimer). Just so you don't think I'm in anyway related to the person :)

Water

Being in Kindu makes me think a lot about water. In Kinshasa, I typically run out of drinking water about once a week, if I haven't planned my food shopping very carefully. I suck it up, shower in the morning and get to the office parched and ready to drink all the water in the work kitchen's filter.

In Kindu, I run out of water everyday. Sarah usually receives four « bidons » (large water containers previously holdpetrolrole or motor oil) a day. When I'm around, she gets 6. Each bidon is pretty large: they can contain about 20 liters each and are brought directly to our doorstep. We then have to carry the heavy bidons, and tip them over the flush and shower buckets carefully. The remaining two bidons go into the water filter and the maid/cook uses the rest to clean floors, dishes and clothes.

This is a pain in the ass, especially if you happen to be tired that day and all you want is a nice warm bath. To brush my teeth in the morning, I need to make sure I rinse with potable water which has been filtered and bleached. The filter is not the best performer and dribbles water so it takes about 12 minutes to fill up a 1.5 liter water bottle.

I can only imagine what a arduous this task is for a household with 6 children, the mothers and their daughters going to the water source and back. The water source is sometimes located 1 hour away. Women can carry 20 liters bidons back and forth to their households about 4 times a day.

Cooking also takes forever, the charcoal needing to be heated up, water boiled, beans soaked and cooked, twice a day, for 6 people. In a day that is organized around cooking, cleaning and fetching water, no wonder girls don't go to school.

By way of comparison, I did some research :

WHO Guidelines
http://wedc.lboro.ac.uk/WHO_Technical_Notes_for_Emergencies/
09-Minimum_water_quantity_needed_for_domestic_use/
09-Minimum_water_quantity_needed_for_domestic_use.htm"

For a household that uses a medium amount of water in the developing world, WHO estimates that it uses:

-Drinking water 3-4 Liters per day per person
-Food preparation, cleanup 2-3 Liters per day per person
-Personal hygiene 6-7 Liters per day per person
-Laundry 4-6 Liters per day per person
-Total 20 Liters per day per person

Kindu, by my estimates uses:

-Drinking water 2 Liters per day per person
-Food preparation, cleanup 25 Liters per day per person
-Personal Hygiene 15 Liters per day per person
-Laundry 8 Liters per day per person
-Total 50 Liters per day per person

The Average American Household
http://www.awwa.org/Advocacy/learn/
INFO/425FACTSABOUTWATER.CFM">

-In the United States, typically, households consume approximately 30% of their water for outdoor use, such as watering the lawn. Inside, toilets use the most water, with an average of 27 gallons per person per day (102 liters per person per day)
-Total water use (both indoor and outdoor) in a typical single-family home is 101 gallons per capita per day (383 liters per person per day)
-The average five-minute shower takes between 15 to 25 gallons of water. (76 liters per person per day)
-Total 76 liters per person per day


Makes you think...don't it?

(For some reason this post makes me think of « just take a look, it's in a book, a reading rainbooooow! »

****
Thanks to dreyno01 and Mary for posting on my Guest Map !

Kindu

I'm in Kindu to help out for work for a period of 12 days. Very exciting indeed!

Kindu is located in the East of the country and, as a result, has a high concentration of soldiers--both Congolese and UN-based (a large portion of which are South African men, living on a military base--think prefabricated units and lots of big trucks).

We run into a little trouble with the immigration guy who takes us into his office, closes the door and demands 5 dollars from each of us. A demand we fight bitterly against. The intensity of the man is intimidating but I shut my mouth, stay in the corner and we leave unscathed.

The flight into the city is beautiful: wide expanses of thick green forests (bordering on being a jungle), punctuated by a large riverbed and little beige/orange roads leading to different areas around the city. What a change from Kinshasa.

I am staying at Sarah's apartment with large ceilings, and plenty of living space. Which seems quaint, until she reminds me that there is no running water and electricity runs for about 3 hours in the evening. Not ideal when you find yourself pouring water from a heavy bucket into smaller toilet and shower buckets. After two days, my muscles are already getting larger.

My room is also situated on a busy street and, I learn that New York is not the only city that "never sleeps". The first night I sleep a restless sleep punctuated by cries of children. I think I am dreaming but look out the window to see three children in the misty morning, dragging their feet through the orange dust and weeping into their hands. In the morning I find out that a child had died in the hospital.

Morning, afternoon and evening music blares from battery-operated radios from 5:30AM in the morning to 11:00PM at night

I shower in a concrete block with cold water from a bucket, where I can catch a view of the dusty roads, palm trees and carts.

*****

On of my first job is to take pictures of people so that badges can be made. One by one, the guards and other employees take their place against the blue wall and give a very serious look. They come check out their picture on the digital camera, shake their head and smile at the results. They remind me that so-and-so isn't here yet but that I musn't forget to take his picture. One of the guards does not have his uniform on, so he switches shirts with another guard. He adjusts his collar and gives me his most serious look. I do manage to get a few of them to smile for the camera.

******

I watch friends play tennis on the only tennis court in town. They bring their own nets and chairs. The court is simple but does the job. My friends have a regular audience of adults and a multitude of children who rush around like real professionals to get the yellow balls. I feel like I'm in Wimbledon. The children constantly ask me to sip some of my drink which I refuse stating the red can may look like cola but contains beer. It's a useless conversation since they all speak Swahili but I note with interest that the "give-me" sign and the "no-way" sign is pretty universal.

*****

Local families, the women decked out in their best and brightest pagnes and spiky hairs, children standing at attention, babies cradled in their mothers arms and fathers standing protectively next to the children, ask the local camera man to take their pictures in front on the shiny new cars. A teenager chooses a red car and leans against it, legs crossed and elbows on the hood, looking very stylish indeed.

I am talking on the phone when I get whistled at from all corners. I look around in a panic, not understanding what's going on, when I see a soldier lowering a flag on a pole next to the court. I hang up without saying bye and turn off the phone quickly in a panic (should the caller try me again). I stand at attention. Whew, no one gives me a hard time. I think I just escaped another national incident.

Rumble in the Jungle

I just finished seeing a great documentary called "When We Were Kings" about the 1974 fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Congo (then called Zaire). Mobutu, president at the time, put up US $10,000,000 to have them fight in an arena in Kinshasa. The fight was phenomenal, watched by both Congolese and Americans. Its amazing to see these two boxers, one a hilarious trash talker, the other a calm buddha-like reincarnation, prepare for the fight amidst the discovery of a new country, an awareness of self as a black American, a pawn to promoters, a sex symbol, a hero and a bad guy. All these emotions are tugged from you throughout the documentary set to fast-paced action and incredibly well-timed sound effects.

When I think of Muhammad Ali, I see the old guy with a bent back, hands shaking with Parkinson and a gentle air to him. This movie shows the POW, the charisma, the power, the charm of Muhammed Ali at age 30. What a presence (Ali, if youre reading this and single, please marry me)...

Heck, I hate sports movies but loved this documentary. Next time youre at blockbusters, rent it will ya? I promise you wont be disappointed.

Some timeless Ali quotes:
"Float like a butterfly.
Sting like a bee.
Your hands can't hit
what your eyes can't see."

"If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize."

"I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark."

"That all you got, George?"
What Ali whispered into George Foreman's ear in a late round clinch during the Rumble in the Jungle.

"It's not bragging if you can back it up."

"The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life."

"If they can make penicillin out of mouldy bread, they can sure make something out of you."

"I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest."

"Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn't choose it, and I didn't want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name - it means beloved of God - and I insist people use it when speaking to me and of me."