LOOKING BACK AT 2007

Many exciting projects in 2007! A lot of work and a lot of good things happening



Vision Major Initiative: Dr. Hunsaker brought suture-less cataract surgery to the Congo. This project happened our first week in the Congo. Since then we have had two shipments of supplies for the Ophthalmology department of Kinshasa General hospital. The church has furnished a surgery microscope, slit lamp, 2 ophthalmoscopes, 3 current converters and many surgical supplies including the lenses for the cataract surgery. Dr. Hunsaker has become a beloved friend of all these doctors here in Kinshasa.


Child Soldiers Container Project: IFESH contacted us and asked for help in getting a container from SLC to the eastern side of the Congo to help with a program they have to rehabilitate child soldiers. Many children have been forced to fight in the conflicts. IFESH, an NGO out of Arizona , had grant money to pay for shipping if the church would donate some supplies. They asked for medical supplies, wheelchairs, clothing, school supplies, and food. They will work with these young boys helping them to get over the trauma (mental and physical) and integrate them back into society with a skill for them to be able to support themselves. We were unable to go to this area for distribution of the supplies as it is very remote and not always a safe place to be.


Neonatal Resuscitation Major Initiative: You may have seen this initiative highlighted in October between conference sessions. This is an initiative the church sponsors in many third world countries. This project was done in the DRC in 2006 but had difficulty getting the NRT kits to the participants. The project this year was done in Kinshasa, DRC and in Brazzaville, RC. (See previous blog for details) We are in the process of gathering information from the participants to see how many people they have taught the technique since the training. Kinshasa statistics are very good showing that most all participants have taught others from 5 more to 100 by one doctor. This was done without kits as

we were delayed in getting the kits to the participants (customs issues). They now have their kits and are re-teaching not only their own facility but other practitioners of other facilities.
The follow-up in Brazzaville is much more complicated as the participants were from all over the country, some of them from very remote areas. We have asked for the government liaison for the project to do the follow-up as language and distance is too big a barrier for us to cross. We have funded gas and phone cards and the government is going to work on ways to get the reports from the more remote areas.

Training Perpetuation for NRT: While doing the follow-up for the NRT it became apparent that those being trained needed to have the basic supplies of ambu-bag, infant mask and bulb syringe. These supplies are not available here in the DRC. We submitted for an area project for 100 more basic resuscitation kits to supplement the training provide supplies for some of those being trained that did not have the materials. It was approved. This will give 100 more facilities the needed supplies to put into practice the NRT program. We are very excited to see this projects success. A lot of money was spent but each person we talk to tells us how they have changed their practice and are saving babies. They are so excited an so grateful for the opportunity to learn this simple lifesaving technique.

Measles Campaign: This year the church helped with the measles vaccination program in the Republic of Congo. The church commits to do the publicity and provide volunteers for the national measles program. They provided banners, posters, fliers, and the volunteers for all the centers were the measles vaccine were offered through out the country. They also produced and paid for TV and Radio campaigns in two different languages, French and Lingala. A special couple, the Seiters from Arizona came and set up the campaign. We just had to support them in their efforts. The campaign was very successful and the government was very pleased with the publicity campaign that the church did. The government liaison told us that he was worried the campaign wouldn't go well but when he saw the church was involved he told his people that it will go because that church gets things done. We had worked with him in the NRT program and he felt the team had been very successful and remembered that when the measles project came around.

Literacy Training: 480 people are being taught to read and write in Lingala and then in French. This project last ten months and has been a success from the very beginning as mostly women have committed to coming to class for 2 hours two days a week so they can learn to read. This is a very rewarding experience to watch these people learn to read for the first time. Classes are held outside under the mango trees or in a community church.


Hospital Beds and Family Health/Hygiene Training Program for CRHP (Handicap Center): 40 new hospital beds including mattresses were purchased to replace rusted flat beds with foam pieces serving as mattresses. The beds were made in Kinshasa and have the capability of raising the foot or head of the bed for orthopedic patients. Along with the beds the social work department of the facility will use the church’s Family Health and Hygiene manuals as the basis for a new program they will be teaching the patient and families upon discharge from the hospital. The program is aimed at improving the recovery of surgical patients and reducing readmissions for infection.

Library for Presbyterian school: 650 textbooks for a school that has been teaching teacher to student without textbooks for the last 13 years. This project was pure joy! We now have wonderful friends in the Presbyterian Church that call us their partners with Christ.



Latrines and Family Health and Hygiene Training: We have partnered with HPP Congo, an NGO who focuses on helping communities become self sustaining. Humanitarian funds will provide 30 latrines for at risk families in the community of Malueka, a suburb of Kinshasa. The families become a part of a community group where they are taught how to improve their living conditions by having a proper latrine, hand washing principles, safe water, safe food, nutrition, first aide and disease prevention. The program uses the Family Health and Hygiene manuals from the church to teach the Health and Hygiene principles.
The materials for the latrines were provided to 30 families who are widowed, house orphans, are handicapped or very, very poor.

Family/Community Garden: A community of Kinshasa called Pigeon Quarters requested funding of their community garden project. They have joined about 10 families together to plant a vegetable garden. They plan on feeding their starving families and also perpetuating the garden by selling half of the harvest to buy more seeds and fertilizer. This project comes with a great story that we will have to tell in detail later. Humanitarian missionaries have not had great success with gardens but we will give this one a try. There have been many delays in this project due to heavy rains, malaria and who knows what. We are trying to keep the faith but we are doubtful about the success of this project. Hope we are wrong. This picture shows Farrell buying the seeds. We never give money but go with the people to make their purchases and pay. When we got to this man to buy the seeds the price doubled when he saw Farrell was American and white. There was quite an argument and the man came back down to the original price.

Major Water Projects: "Water is Life" The water project we have been working with since we came to the Congo was a 5 phase water

project that has been changed to a 3 phase water project. The first phase Camp Luka was suppose to service 15,000 people with

clean water and at present is servicing 40,000 people. The second phase is Laloux which will finish next week. Both of these projects are comprised of a well, a reservoir, an electrical pump to pump

the water to the reservoir and fountains through the

community to dispense the water.

These people have been walking great distances for water , down steep ravines and dipping water from stagnant pools. Now they will be able to get their water in short order by accessing the fountains. The third phase is small and will be a hand pump and will only take a short time to complete. Providing clean water to families is giving them a great blessing. Clean water is a large problem in the DRC.

Looking ahead at 2008

Most of these projects will finish in 2008 but we also have some project just recently approved.
Luputa Water Project: This is a very large water project that is planned to take place over a three year period and will cost $2.6 million. Luputa is a remote area in the central part of the Congo and doing this project will be a great adventure.
Cassava Food Project: This project was just authorized this week and provides for the organization of a community, Luputa, to farm cassava plants, perpetuating large harvests and processing the cassava making it ready for market. This will provide food for the community and an income for those participating in the program.
More Latrines and Hygiene Training: Our last Latrine/Hygiene project was so successful and productive we opted for another one but this time it will provide 50 latrines. Can't wait to get this one started.

We can't believe that our mission is half over. We have been busy and time just seems to zip by while we are having fun. The best part of all of this is the relationship that we are building with each other. Nothing like taking a couple to a strange land and making them work together 24/7 to make them grow together and learn to depend on one another. Our Father in Heaven has blessed us abundantly and blessed our family, each and everyone of them.

Our famiy is sure that all their blessings are directly related to our service. We have a new granddaughter. We have lost our beautiful nephew, Joe. Our mothers just keep on ticking and surviving without us. We love what we are doing and realize 2007 has been a memorable year, one we will never forget.

Christmas in Kinshasa

Christmas in Kinshasa is much less commercial than we are use to. The streets were decorated two weeks before Christmas with beautiful many lights . They put lights around the huge trunks of the trees that line the main avenue and decorated the starues that are in the roundabouts. Christmas decorations were sold on the street by the vendors. Most people do not give Christmas presents because they can not afford to not even to their family. We received several text messages wishing us Merry Christmas (everyone has a cell phone). We spent Christmas Eve doing a service project at the Polio Victims center where many children stay while they have surgery and then recover. It is very barren without any amenities and they often do not have enough food to eat. We wanted to give them a little Christmas ans were thinking of giving baskets of fruit and a treat with a small toy but our Congolese office staff told us that the Congolese are happy when they have a full belly and we should give beans and rice. So, we gave 50K sacks of rice and beans and a little bag with some cookies, candy and a toothbrush. They were very pleased to get the rice and beans and accepted the bag of goodies graciously. someone brought them big baskets of bread and they were eating it like it was their first meal in days so we decided the advice of beans and rice was good advice.

We then had dinner at the mission home and pretended that we were the grandparents of the mission staff families and had a great celebration.

Got up early on Christmas morning to go to a Church Christmas celebration at a penacostal church, Eglise du Louange. We had our advent celebration at the Tweedy’s Sunday and one of their guests, Julie invited us to come hear her sing with her group. Julie is a native Congolese who is dating an embassy friend of the Tweedy’s. We accepted but about changed our mind when we found out we had to be at the church at 7:30AM and that the meeting would last 2 hours. We felt an obligation to go since we had already accepted the invitation. The Thomases picked us up at 7:15 and took us out to the church. When we arrived we found a large plain bldg on the outside and another building across the street and both were filling up with people. We thought at first it was two different churches but found out it was one and they were televising the program to other buildings. A man came up to us immediately and had us follow him in to the main building where we found hundreds of plastic lawn chairs set up and the hall decorated for Christmas including a stage with podium and a platform with bongo type drums, guitars and an electric piano. Their was a group already singing “Praise the Lord” songs and they sounded very good. We were escorted up to the front of the hall where there were 4 rows of lawn chairs with cushions, all seemed to be reserved. We sat down in the backrow on the end trying to “blend in”. The row behind us smiled and greeted us with Joyeux Noel. After a few minutes when the hall was filled the main pastor entered with an entourage of pastors from the many churches that the congregation represented. They proceeded to the front and sat down on the podium. The grand pastor was seated in a chair that looked like a throne. Immediately a man came down off the podium and asked us to move. He told us that the grand pastor had asked that we move to the front row and sit in the middle immediately in front of the stage where there was 3 clear podiums with neon lights defining the edges. We were not given a choice so we got up and moved up four rows to the front and into the center chairs. By this time we were feeling quite conspicuous as the congregation watched our every move.. As soon as we were seated the 4 rows were filled with people and the meeting got underway.

The program was loud, with lots of audio equipment being dragged around including 3 camera men who would stand in front of us and zoom our faces and our missionary badges. Who knew this because we could see ourselves on the television screens that were set up throughout the hall. We began to wonder if we were being televised on the congo TV and were praying that we were not.

The program consisted of a choir that was all dressed in bright orange print Congolese dresses and shirts. There were several children’s groups that came dancing down the isles and then danced and sang on the stage in front of the podiums and at least 2 feet from us. The dancing was a range from rock and roll to breakdancing. Each group of children were dressed alike in bright color costumes.

We had preaching, and singing, and praying for 3 hours. We prayed sitting down, standing up and kneeling during a very long prayer session. The praying was done by the pastors sometimes and sometimes we were invited to praise the Lord in our own words and then we would have music accompaniment while people prayed aloud and with much ferver all at the same time.

We had a children’s testimony session which reminded us of the Church’s primary program where several children came out and quoted scriptures and gave testimony of their love for Jesus Christ. They had their parts memorized and gave their remarks in loud, clear voices that were enhanced by the fine audio system that was set up in every corner of the building. One little girl told about having a problem and she went to her friends for help and her school and nothing helped so then she went to Jesus Christ and her problems went away. She gave thanks for Jesus in her life.

The Head pastor of the church is a singer and sang his praises several times. He had a great voice and was accompanied by the band and a back up group. One of the under pastors gave a fine sermon in French which was translated into Lingala for all to understand (except those of us who didn’t understand and relied on Farrell to translate the French for us. He told us we just don’t have a star to guide us to Christ but we have many things that lead us to Christ. At one point he went over the reading assignment for the week and everyone in the audience pulled out a journal and started writing down his comments and references that he was giving them. It was very impressive and made us realze this wasn’t just a Christmas thing, going to church, but they were meeting on a regular basis having Sunday school and congregational meetings.

The pastor said, “Magi brought gifts to the baby Jesus. What gifts did you bring today for Jesus?” Immediately canvas bags were passed for donations. Then a basket was brought to the front and people started coming up and laying down wrapped gifts and placing envelopes in the basket. Plastic baskets with a sign on them saying Mission, were passed and more donations were given and then again a basket was brought to the front and more letters were put in the basket that we think were letters of people pledging their lives to Jesus Christ. Two bottles of cooking oil were placed near the basket and then a man brought up a goat as his offering. The goat was terrified with all the music and the shear number of people. The goat was taken out a side door very quickly.

At the end the pastor went over to the band and picked up the guitar and the other pastors sang with him along with the choir and congregation a final “Praise to the Lord”. The congregation loved this and went crazy with their shouting and singing; Oh and whistles. When ever you have a ceremony or celebration here people bring whistles and blow them without mercy. By the end of the meeting our ears were ringing.

Now the pastor turned to thanking people for coming and they had us four missionaries stand and be recognized, introducing us to the congregation and asking them to welcome us which they did by singing and many coming over to us and giving us hugs and the 3 kisses on the check, Congolese greeting.

At this point a man came down and escorted us out of the building while all the people watched us leave. We were escorted to an office and asked to wait a minute and the main pastor came in to receive us. He was very gracious and offered us refreshment. He thanked us for coming to his church and being a part of their Christmas celebration. We were now three and a half hours into this adventure and were expecting to host a party at our apartment so we excused ourselves. The Pastor walked us out to our truck thanking us again for coming and had his people clear a way for our truck through the throngs of church members who had filled the street.

What a great experience we had sharing our Christmas morning with the Church of Praise. We had not anticipated being treated so graciously and having the experience we had. Julie, who had invited us was so happy we came and thanked us several times for coming to her church and meeting her Pastor. Certainly it wasn’t a worship service we were use to but we were touched that people were focusing on Christ and reading the Bible and that children were being valued as an important part of the church.

On the way home we braved it and bought bread from a lady carrying a huge bowl of bread on her head. She had just left the large Victoire Bakery where all the vendors pick up the bread so we were fairly sure it was clean and had not been handled a lot or had time to gather too much street dust.

We had the couple missionaries and the Tweedy’s to Christmas dinner. It was a little unconventional Christmas dinner of coldcuts, cheese, street bread, bowtie pasta, fruit, roasted chicken, corn mango salsa and a variety of cookies and peppermint ice cream.

We played a game with white elephant gifts that we traded around and then Farrell put on a BYU game that Matt had sent. All the guys spread out on the couches and promptly fell asleep and the rest of us just visited and relaxed. We were going to play games but enjoyed just talking and sharing.

I was very proud of myself for not getting home sick until we started SKYPing the kids. We got to talk to Ben and Tiffany, Matt and Shirlene (all though their video doesn’t work) and then we went to bed.

Former missionaries, the Seiters came to the DRC to do the measles Initiative in Lubumbashi . They planned on a Safari in Kenya on their way home. They invited us to go with them and since we had been told we could take one to two weeks off during the holidays we decided to take the opportunity and go with them. The Thomases came also which gave us a a fun group to be with. The Public Relations missionaries in Nairobi set up the Safari for us and arranged for us to stay with missionaries while we were in Nairobi.
We flew out of Kinshasa on the 31st to Nairobi.

At the Kinshasa airport the Thomases were stopped by officials because they didn’t have the proper visa. Apparently you have to have an exit visa and a reentry visa. Farrell ended up asking the agent for a solution and he said it could be arranged. The Thomases paid $100 to the agent and he “prepared the terraine” and got them on the plane with a promise to meet them when they returned to “prepare the terraine” when they wanted to reenter. We had such a visa since we had been traveling to Brazzaville on a regular basis.

We were met by the Sudweeks at the airport with a returned missionary from Kinshasa, Tierry, who was our transport and guide for part of our journey.

The Subweeks took us directly to a MALL (apparently there are malls in some parts of Africa) where all the missionary couples were gathered for dinner. We ate milk shakes and fast food and it was a real treat. We were introduced to our host couple and taken to their apartment and invited to use their apartment as home while in Kenya.

We arose early in the morning to be fed a real American breakfast of eggs and bacon and real milk and then Tierry picked us up to take us to the airport for transport to Masai Mara our Safari site.

As we flew into Masai Mara we saw giraffs lumbering off of the runway as we landed. We were met by a safari Van and a beautiful Masai woman who handed us a cool damp cloth to refresh ourselves from our journey. We were driven to the camp site and greeted with tea time including hot chocolate and cookies.

Masai Mara is a Safari Resort on a game preserve. We were taken to our tent to settle in and unpack. Our tent was a permanent fixture with a wood floor and a tiled bathroom and shower. The bed was surrounded by a mosquito net. It was rather romantic set away from the dining area on a little path that put us right out in the preserve area but we were enclosed by an electrical fence that kept the animals out. We were warned to always keep our tent zipped closed to prevent finding monkeys on our bed when we returned. The tent had windows all around open to the outside which gave a faint breeze through the tent and it was very pleasant.

We went to lunch which was a buffet of breads, cheeses, fruits, meats and salads. And of course we ate way to much. We then went to meet our guide, Rafael, who came recommended to us by the Sudweeks.

Our vehicle was an open SUV with padded rollbars. It allowed us to sit and look out or stand and look out through the open roof. Rafael asked us what was on our agenda for our first trek. I said Giraffes were my favorite and someone else said hippo and leopard. We headed out over the beautiful savanna hunting big game.

With my poor eye site I was always the last to spot any animals but right off we saw a herd of zebras and many gazelles. Then off in the distance someone spotted a giraffe. I couldn’t see it and then all of a sudden I could see this head of a giraffe sitting up high over the horizon. Rafael headed in the direction and there standing on a slight rise was a huge giraffe standing like a sentinel looking out over the terrain. As we got closer we headed down into a gorge and there drinking at the bottom of the gorge were 6 giraffes the large male on top was indeed a sentinel watching for any danger while his family drank and fed on the trees there by the stream. It was a wonderful sight one that filled my soul as we watched these beautiful creatures who in turn lifted their heads and watched us. What a great beginning to our Safari.

This first trek gave us many wonderful sites as we bounced along the open savannah. We were at the end of the migration of the wildibeast and zebras. As the dry season starts these animals, thousands of them, start to migrate down to the Serengeti looking for green grasses. We may have been at the end of the migration but we still saw hundreds of these beautiful animals. They say the migration is a site to behold as these huge herds of animals move south.

We returned to our homebase tent with a plan to meet Rafael at 6:00 am for an early trek. When we got back to our tent our bed had been prepared and a bottle of wine was waiting for us. No we didn’t drink it.

At 5:00 am we were awakened by a Masai tribe member reminding us we were trekking in one hour and he gave us hot chocolate and cookies to warm us up. The savannah becomes quite cool at night and the morning was cold and the hot chocolate was a wonderful amenity (I think the hot chocolate is a missionary thing as everyone else got tea or coffee.)

Our first trek for the day included a bush breakfast. Rafael had picked up boxed breakfasts for each of us and we planned on staying out on trek until lunchtime. Again our guide took great care in finding many beautiful animals for us to see. We stopped within 6 yards of a cheetah mother and two cubs who were feeding on their kill from the night hunt. Once the cheetah were filled then the jackles came and feed and when they were through the buzzards finished off what was left. The site was very bloody but the animals were very interesting and you realized you were witnessing the circle of life right there before your eyes.

We ended up eating breakfast at a table set up by a trading post. We searched the wares of the trading post but soon were drawn across the trail to some Masai women selling jewelry in the dirt. One of the women spoke some English and we had a great time dickering for some treasures. I bought a 5 strand Masai bead neckless. I didn’t realize when I bought it that it was a real treasure and I am sure I didn’t pay enough for it. It is my favorite treasure from Africa.

We were taken to a Masai village that allows tourists to come in to their compound for a price. The village is surrounded by a stick fence with each wife having a hut made from sticks woven to gether and then cow dung plastered on the sticks to make thick walls. There is no light in the huts except from the small windows. There is a room in the hut to keep the cow in during the night. The Masai are herders of cows and goats. They graze during the day and are brought back into the compound at night. The gates are closed to keep the predetors out. You can tell how many male members there are in the village as each has his own gate to the compound. The Masai are polygamists who have as many wives as they can afford. A wife costs 10 cows. Our guide told Farrell he was a poor man if he had 6 sons and only 2 daughters. He would only get 20 cows for those daughters and he would have to pay out many cows to get those sons married off.

The Masai women sang a song of greeting to us and the Masai men did a jumping dance. Farrell, Elder Seiter and Elder Thomas were invited to try the jumping and some did better than others. One of the Masai could jump very high. They jumped flat footed and it was amazing how high they could jump. You must read about the Masai as they are a very interesting people.

We returned to the village for lunch and a rest and then took another trek in the afternoon from 3 pm to 6 pm. We came across some lions who were sunning and they did not seem bothered by our presence in their world. They looked rather lazy and could careless that we were within 6 feet of them.

We found many hippos bathing in a stream and on the bank were several crocodiles. The hippos were making quite a noise sounding like the horn players of the old Taylorsville Elementary School band warming up.

We also came across a leopard up in a tree. A rare site and we were able to watch this beautiful cat come down out of the tree and walk right across out path.

We were blessed to see every animal available including the rare black rhino. When we returned to our homebase in Nairobi (missionary apartments) they were all jealous as none of them had seen a leopard or a black rhino and they had been on Safari a number of times.

We spent Sunday with the missionaries going to church and taking in a bit of Nairobi. In the evening we had a fireside where the DRC missionaries presented a fireside on what was happening in the DRCongo.

Monday morning we headed out with Tierry in a Safari van to Lake Nukura. This is another state park preserve that is famous for its pink lake given it’s color by the thousands of pink flamingos that call the lake home. We stayed in a cottage on the lake and spend 2 days circling the lake and seeing the wonderful wildlife in the area. The flamingos were amazing and truly did give the lake a ring of pink around it’s shore. This park had many type of monkeys and the famous white hippo.

We loved Kenya. It is very different from the Congo but still has some of the same problems as the Congo. Going on Safari is a realization of the wonders of God’s creation. I don’t think we will ever care about seeing a zoo again. Seeing these wonderful creatures in their wild state was breathtaking and made us realize what a wonderful gift we have been given in this world we call our home. This was a life altering experience and one we wish our whole family could experience.

xx

Learning is Eternal

Learning is Eternal
Knowledge is the only thing you can take with you into the next life. When you learn that knowledge is yours forever. No one can take it away. Once you learn something it is yours for eternity.

Meet Frere Bakanjeka – Bakanjeka is the director of the Ecole Scolaire Presbyterian (Primary School) He came to us asking for help with books for his students. We visited his school and found a very clean open school with 500 students. Approximately 40% of the students are on scholarship because of inablity to pay tuition. Tuition runs about $20 for 3 months. The students did not have any books but were taught by teachers writing on the blackboard painted walls and then the students reading what had been written. This man was delightful and looking for a way of helping his students get the best education possible.

He had a list of books covering French 1,2,3 and 4, mathematics, history, and social science. The church has an education program on Family Health and Hygiene. We offered him this program for his students and he was so excited he stated they had been looking for a health program to teach their students and our program would work very well.
The project was written up and sent to Area Authorities in Johanasburg for approval. The project was approved and we spent almost two weeks getting the books for his students.
We took the books to the school and presented the studentbody with their new books. When we arrived the students were all standing outside waiting for our arrival. This country is big on ceremony and they were prepared with a program honoring the church’s efforts and allowing the students to show their appreciation. We all sat under a large mango tree in the schoolyard and the program proceeded.
The books were presented to Frere Bakanjeka by the local bishop, then several students recited poems, sang songs and cheered. The students were excused to go back to class and we then sat down and had ate (another traditional part of the ceremony.) We were given the proverbial Orange Fanta, bananas and roasted peanuts.
When we finished the students came backout into the yard for a break and we mingled with them and took pictures.

Frere Bakanjeka was so excited and pleased. He said the books would be used for those students who were very serious about learning and had proven their desire by their actions.

Frere Bakanjeka spoke in the ceremony and said he was afraid that we would not help him since he was of another religion. He was pleasantly surprised when we got excited to help him and found a way to help his school. He said it is not the way in the Congo for one religion to help another. He then said that it showed we are all Christians and understand the teachings of Christ in loving one another.

In all the school was given over 500 books. Not enough for all the students but more than they had before we started. It was a grand day and profitable in that we were able to find a good place to use humanitarian funds to strengthen a good organization.

This sister on my right is a minister. She was so pleased to be a part of this "cooperative effort" between her church and our church. Note the beautiful Congolese dresses worn by these women.

We are ready for more great projects like this one.

Elder and Soeur Barlow

What is a Pousse-Pousse?

Now we have told you about the commvies that transverse the city serving as the main transportation here for the people in Kinshasa but we haven’t mentioned the proverbial Pousse Pousse, an integral part of the commerce here in Kinshasa as one of the main means of transporting all types of goods from place to place

A ”pousse pousse” is a cart that is sometimes pushed and sometimes pulled, much like the pioneer handcart. It is about 3X4½ foot with a handle on the front and back. People use these to move anything and everything. We have seen cases of detergent being hauled from the warehouse to the stores. The pousse pousse must have had about 30 cases of detergent on the one cart with one man pushing it. We have also seen a pousse pousse with a car body balanced on it and one with a set of living room furniture piled 3 layers deep, a full load of lumber, gravel that is heaped 4 feet high, and 15 galvinized barrells. Some are loaded with a full load of scrap metal, and one with 5 gallon jugs of liquid with as many as 30-36 jugs at a weight of about 1000 lbs. No wonder you see these drivers straining with every muscle in their body.

They travel on the side of the road more in the right lane than off the road and the pusher holds up his hand trying to get you to let them have space to get down the road. Most people don’t give them any space. The side of the road is too broken up to push a cart like this and they try to find the even ground to move along. But remember the roads in Kinshasa are very rough and much like what we call off road trails that we would never travel without 4 wheel drive. They “jay-push” across busy 4 lane highways with cars going every which way and we often see them going down the center of such a road trying to keep from being wedged between the two-way traffic. They often carry more than what you would dare put in a pickup truck. Another interesting thing is they never secure the load. There are no bunk cords or ropes or tarp to keep the load steady. It often rides precariously along but seldom do you see them loose a load.

The men (and boys) pushing these carts are wiry and very strong and I think these men and boys must be a hardest working people in Kinshasa. Often you see one pushing and one pulling helping each other to stabilize the cart. This is necessary especially when going up and down hills. Going up hill the man in the back bears the weight of the cart and going down the one in the front has to bear the weight and keep the cart from running out of control. It seems like a hard way to make a living.

As you watch the men pushing these carts you can see every muscle in their body straining to make this cart go. Considering that the Congolese seldom eat more than one meal at night and a tlight breakfast of bread and tea, it makes us wonder how they ever have enough energy to work so hard all day long. Their body fat % has to be zero.

We greatly admire these industrious people and realize they are one of the few stable parts of the Kinshasa infra structure. They help make things work here but get paid very little for their efforts.

So know you know what a pousse-pousse is and all you children remember, many children in this world work very hard just to eat. The children we see helping push these carts cannot afford to go to school. They work side by side with their dad or brother surviving here in the DR Congo. This world may be harsh by some standards but we never pass anyone that doesn't return a smile for a smile and a Bon Jour for a Bon Jour. There is a lot of laughing and singing and a lot of hard work.