Transportation a problem? Or not!

Kinshasa has a very unique transportation system. There are some city buses and they are getting more all the time but they are few and far between. There are many buses on the side of the roads that are broken down and it seems very difficult to keep them running in a place where they must maneuver in heavy traffic and the roads are so potholed that the buses breakdown often. We don't know what the price is to ride these buses but people fight to get on them. When the city bus stops, people run to the door and start shoving and elbowing each other trying to get on'. They stack them in as tight as possible and then they don't stop any more until they let someone off. When you see these buses on the road they are usually so full that another body could not be fit anywhere on them. It looks like a mass of humanity. We have not got a good picture of the stuffed bus yet as we don't want to be rude and take a picture that might offend someone. Most people choose to ride commvies. Commvies are a unique form of transportation that at first look like total chaos but actually is a well oiled machine that services a large population and makes it possible for people to move around the city. Keep in mind that there are 9 million people in this city and although the traffic is always very congested most people do not own cars and depend on the commvies for transportation. Commvies are large vans, mini vans, old VW vans, station wagons or just old cars. The drivers of these vehicles may own the van but most rent the van for a set amount of money per day and then hope they make more money than they spend so they have an income. Gas is $8 per gallon so profit margin can't be very good. They also have a partner that rides the van with them and collects the money from the riders. The regular seats in the van are removed and the van is rigged with 5 rows of seats, actually benches that hold 5 people per seat. It is not uncommon to see many more people loaded into these vans as they open up the back doors and set people on both sides of the back bench or set them with their legs hanging out under the back hatch door as they sit on the floor of the van. Unusually they leave the side sliding door open and two or three people stand in that doorway and hang on half in and half out of the van. We have also seen two or three riders standing on the back bumper which is just rim and holding on to the lip at the roof. How they manage to stay on is unknown to us as they are swerving in and out of traffic, hitting these huge potholes and bouncing along the road. The most precarious rider is the one who hangs on to the roof rim on the back and balances on the Ball hitch on the back of the van. When you drive behind such a van you are fearful he will fall off and you will run over him before you can stop. We try to stay out of the right lane as this is the lane most of these commvies drive in so they can stop and pick up passengers whenever they are hailed from the side of the road. Most commvies are very beat up missing lights and sometimes doors. Several times we have been driving along and the van in front of us looses their sliding door. The passengers just jump off and pick up the door and hold it in place as the van gets back in motion. When the commvies break down or stop passengers will get out and push the vehicle along until it starts up again. They don't want to lose their ride they have already paid for. We wondered how the drivers know when to stop and pick someone up. Usually there are many people on the side of the road waiting for transport and they seem to be waving at the commvies. We finally realized that they are waving in a certain way. They may wave their hand up and down or sideways. They may wave with three fingers or four. They may extend their thumb or just put their thumb up or down. Each gesture means a different destination. Sometimes the driver may even wave out the window to show where he is going. Most cars have drivers on the left side of the car but it is not unusual to see someone driving from the right side of the car. During commute time in the morning and evening competition for transport is high and people run, shove and push trying to get on one of these vans. You can imagine how hard it is if you live on the outside of town and want transport and a van pulls up that is full and you desperately want to get home so you just shove your way in. When they stop sometimes many people have to climb out to allow the person getting off to get out of the van. All this is happening as the driver maneuvers around many, many cars and other transports and the money changer is trying to keep track of who is getting on and making change for these passengers. It looks like total confusion but the system works and millions of people are transported daily around the city. It is interesting to see how many people can get in to one of these vans. I wonder if they know they might be making the world record for van stuffing. We have counted 27 people in one VW bus. That is our record. You may have an appointment with someone but often they are late because they couldn't get transport or many times families have to choose who will go to church on Sunday as they cannot afford transport for everyone to go. The cost for riding the commie runs about $.40 and this is out of the range of many people. Another form of transport is hitching a ride on a truck. We assume that when a truck is going somewhere for a price they will give people a ride. We have seen huge trucks stuffed full of people; men, women and children. Sometimes the truck will be loaded with big bundles of kasava leaves or other goods and the people will just sit on top of the pile. The pile may be tipped precariously but the people just hang on and hope for the best. Last night we were going out to the airport to pick up our new mission president and his wife and we drove behind a pickup truck that had so many men in it we couldn't count them all. I counted 17 but was unable to see those in the front. They were straddling the tailgate and everyone was hanging on to someone. We got laughing at them and gave them a thumbs up and they laughed and to ask why we only had four people in our truck, couldn't we give someone a ride. We have decided that the transportation in Kinshasa is an amazing system. This system moves millions of people every day and without the system the city could not function. An example of creative necessity. I want to ride on a commvie but Farrell says mission rules prohibit my riding mass transit. Oh Well. Where we saw chaos we know see ingenuity. Where we saw lack of order we now see creativity in the making.

Just a bit about Kinshasa the capitol of the DRC

KINSHASA: Kinshasa is the capital of the DRC. Kinshasa has a population of 9 million people and it is about the same size as the Salt lake Valley. It sits on the bank of the Congo River.

It has many high-rises and some very beautiful buildings but most are old and rundown. Many buildings that were once beautiful are gutted and ruined during different unrest and fighting. There is one medical university that must have been very large and beautiful but now stands like a skeleton on the side of the road and is full of squatters using it as home. There is no water or electricity to it.

Many of the little suburbs which are still part of Kinshasa have no electricity and many have only water in streams that they fetch in big 5 gallon jugs. Plumbing is only for the wealthy and the systems are run on septic tanks.

Every business or embassy or large home has a fortified wall around it topped with razor wire of broken battles to discourage anyone coming over the wall and all have guards at the gate. Our apartment, the mission home/office and Temporal Affairs building all have high walls with guards. Everything is dependant on whether the electricity is on. Electricity service is sporadic and most large buildings have back up generators. We have plumbing with running water and we have a 3 filter system for our water so we can drink the water if we run it through the filter. The water tastes good and we put it in the refrigerator to get it cold and do not have to buy water to drink. The rule when you shower is to keep your eyes and mouth shut tight.

All over the city you will see men selling water. They package it in plastic bags about 2 cup each. People buy water to drink when they are thirsty as there are no water fountains or taps to get water from and no way of getting water. With the heat you have to make sure and drink a lot of water. The bad thing about this commercial system is that when they finish drinking the water they throw the bag on the ground and you can imagine how this litter adds to the garbage that is everywhere, It is a very bad problem and we have heard that in Kenya they have outlawed plastic bags. We don’t know what they use now. But for the Congo this water bag issue is a huge problem as trash. Trash is everywhere and there is no garbage system to speak of and you never see a garbage can on the street to collect trash. Trash does get gathered up into piles and then it is burned. these piles may be little road side piles or big piles filling a huge lot.

On every corner and all along the streets people have stands and are selling something. They have an umbrella over the booth many of them tattered with holes or ribs that hang down. They have 2-6 plastic patio chairs around the booth . They sit at these booths all day with all the chairs filled with friends or family members. These vendors sell big bowls filled with bagets of bread, soda pop, phone cards, and other food snacks. They sell a pasty food called foofoo that is wrapped up in banana leaves and tied with some kind of strip of vegetation. We understand that they boil or roast these bundles and eat them for dinner.

Everyone eats breakfast on the road. They buy bread and tea. The bread is spread with something but we haven’t ventured to try it yet. Lunch is usually more bread bought at one of these booths or from someone who walks around with a big bowel on their head full of bread or a packaged of cookies and a soda pop. You may see some one just start a little fire to heat a pot for tea right on the side of the rode in front of a large business. The road side belongs to everyone and there are no rules to who can you the area or what they can do with the area. At night the air fills with smoke as everyone goes home and people start building charcoal fires to cook their dinner on. The smoke gets pretty heavy at times and we aren’t sure what they cook but we are told it is usually foofoo . This is that pasty food that they add things too such as onions, peppers, garlic and cooked greens. The Congolese don’t like salad and they think we are crazy for eating raw vegetables. Bread is sold everywhere and we buy it at a bakery. The bread has a big European influence and it is the best bread I have ever tasted. We eat bread almost every meal, something new for us.

When driving down the main streets ii is not uncommon to have salesmen carrying their wears come right out in the street and try to sell you something through your window. They sell maps, shoes, shirts, ties, Kleenex ( these are heavy duty and people use them to wipe away the sweat from their faces), newspapers, children’s toys, flashlights, bags of water and almost anything you can imagine . People are usually stopped in traffic when this happens but not always. Sometimes the car in front of you just stops or slows down and the transaction takes place while the car continues on down the road moving slowly. It is hard to appreciate this dangerous way of selling but the cars are whizzing by and where there are two lanes the cars may make three lanes causing the cars to be very close in proximity. I have seen one of these vendors raise his hands and his goods up in the air to make himself very skinny so he won’t get knocked down when two cars whiz by on each side of him.

There is some open air markets where many vendors put out their wares. One is "Thieves Market". They sell paintings which they swear they painted themselves. They sale jewelry, wood carvings, masks, kuba clothes, onyx and jade carvings. Everything is up for barter. You can never get away without buying something and usually they make such good deals you buy many things you didn't want to buy. They also have a fabric market with just rows and rows of booths selling Congolese fabric which is very colorful and is the cloth that the women make their beautiful Congolese dresses out of.
POLICEMEN: Here in Kinshasa it is very hard to understand the police system. There are security guards at businesses like the grocery store. They are all in uniform and many carry guns or even rifles. There are several different kind of policemen. The ones dressed in navy blue uniforms with red bars on them are mostly mean and rude although one by our intersection is very good at directing traffic, always waves and smiles when we come by. The other police are dressed in bright blue pants and hat with yellow shirts. They only direct traffic. Most of these policeman are grouped together in 3,4 or 6. We have been told not to be the first one to stop at an intersection as they work together as one stops you while the others walk around the vehicle and try to get you to pay money. There are also state soldiers who are dressed in dark green uniforms are always with their dark green vehicles and usually are quick to say bon jour. You don’t want to mess with the soldiers. They have a reputation of being mean and using their power to rob people. There are also the UN soldiers. Their compound is just across the street from our apartment and they runaround in grey or white vehicles and are dressed in gray uniforms.

We have had 3 incidences with the police. We were stopped once and they demanded money from us but we just kept telling them in English we are poor missionaries and they finally waved us on.

We have finally decided that the best thing to do is wave and smile at every officer (no matter their title ) and try to make friends. This is starting to show some results as now when we approach an intersection we get salutes, smiles and many times the traffic is stopped to let us pass through. I guess the Lord provides. As you can imagine we are always watching to see that we not offend or disobey traffic rules. We don't have any pictures of policemen as we never stop long enough to ask for a picture and here you have to ask if you can take a picture and then it may cost you as everyone wants a way to get your money.

TRAFFIC RULES: We have been told that you must stop at all intersections, use your turn signal and yield the right of way but no one does any of this. There are no stop signs to speak of and traffic lights are rare and if you do come on one you must stop way back from the intersection or incur get chewed out by the policeman. At the main intersections there are round booth raised up above the traffic and a policeman stands in this booth and stretches out his arms. If his arms are pointing at your lane you have the right of way but be ready for him to turn without warning and change the flow of traffic. People weave in and out of traffic and there is no time to turn on a signal light and most cars are so beat up they don’t have headlights let alone turn signals. The unwritten law is if you are in motion you have the right of way. You hear horns honking continuously which signals that they are passing or taking the right of way. Headlights are also flashed to signal that a car is taking the right of way so watch out.

If a car breaks down it stays right where it is and they fix it right where it stands. It doesn’t matter if it is in the middle of an intersection or lane they fix it right there and I don’t know how they do it without getting killed as everyone is just whizzing around them, ignoring that they have the hood up or are changing a tire. We saw a big truck in the middle of a road and they were changing the axle. How they did that in the middle of the road, no one knows. We have seen only a few accidents but when there is one it is bad. It is no wonder since everyone speeds and leaves no room for error. Traffic is always bumper to bumper and if there is an inch of space some one takes it as a pathway. We were trying to get across a main road and you have to inch out into traffic or just take off and hope people stop. Farrell is more careful and a car behind him got angry and took off around us sailing through the intersection and cars screeched to a stop and it got through but I sure had my doubts it would make it. People get really angry if you let someone in or wait for someone to pass. If you come up to a car and it is going to slow you just go around it even if someone is right next to you they just have to get out of the way.

Despite all the strange things about this city, the city is growing. Everywhere you look there is building going on. New businesses open every day. People are happy, optimistic and enjoying life. You can buy fresh flowers on the corner, a bouquet for 1000fr ($2). There may be no fresh milk but the bread is the best in the world. Traffic is terrible but nothing is too far away. Police at first seem intimidating but after awhile become friendly and helpful. You find beggars everywhere but along side them are people working very hard to make an honest days living.

It is interesting how our views have changed just in the 2 months we have been here. We love the Congo and find new things every day to keep us busy and useful. Life is good

Farrell and Marilyn

Elder and Soeur Barlow

Sunday Go To Church

Sunday is for going to church and that is what we do on Sunday here in Africa. It is an all day process because of travel time and Sunday responsibilities. Let us share with you Sunday in Kinshasa.

When we went to the Masina Stake Conference two weeks ago they were dedicating their new stake center. It is a beautiful building and it takes a lot of care to keep it up. Since many of these people live in homes with dirt floors and no electricity, these buildings are something new for them and it takes some education to hel;p them remember how to care for the church in a sacred way. Many need to be taught to use the garbage cans for their trash and to wipe their muddy feet when coming into the bldg.

In Masina when we came in to conference there was a youth choir of 47 youth singing the prelude music. There were two young boys about 16 taking turns playing the organ. This was the first time we had seen them playing rather than using the piano as a player piano. They sing here in full voice seldom varying the volume. They sing one verse then change keys and sing the next verse. They put their heads back and let it rip. The volume is incredible and when you sing as a congregation you kind of get into it and you let it rip also. You can’t hear if you are on tune or not so you just let it go and enjoy singing at the top of your lungs.

The congregation is very reverent. No one talks, seldom do you hear a baby fuss and the little kids are very quiet and I haven’t seen them playing with toys or anything they just sit there and seem to listen. Mothers nurse their babies very discreetly. They have on these dresses with fitted skirts but loose blouses and they have an extra piece of cloth around there skirt they pull loose and use to cover the baby their blouses have zippers in the back and they unzip buy pulling their blouse open slightly in the back from bottom towards the top and then slip the baby under their blouse and nurse. I am told that sometimes they are not this discreet and bare all and nurse right in church but I have never seen this.

We have been assigned by Pres. Maycock to the Kimbwala and Malaweka wards. This area has no missionaries assigned to them because it is very difficult to get out to these wards. He wants us to attend their ward meetings on Sunday including their PEC etc. We will be Sunday prostelyting missionaries to this area. That is good and we will be glad to go there but we went there the day after we arrived in Kinshasa with the Christensens and it was a ride from ______. I believe I wrote about this ride earlier. We had no idea how to get out to this building and so asked Pascal the mission employee who is over all the apartments of the missionaries if he would guide us out there. He was more than willing. He said that Bishop Kuteka of the Kimbwala ward is his God Father and the person who first invited him to church. We set out on our trek early so as to allow plenty of time to get there. Pascal drove the mission van out to his ward house and we followed him and then he left the van and got in our truck with us and from the back seat directed us on along the way. The road getting to Pascals ward is a paved road but is broken up in many places with pot holes big enough to drive down into. The pictures I took do not do these holes justice. As we followed Pascal the big 12 passenger mission van would disappear into these pot holes coming out on the other side as we would start into them. It is like riding a roller coaster only not as smooth. After Pascal got in the car we were into the dirt roads. As we would come to these pig washed out areas Pascal would advise Farrell what was the best route through these holes so as not to get stuck in the mud in the center and not to high-center on other areas and how not to roll your car by going on the edge of the hole.

At one point there was a big hole that took the whole road. On one side was a cement wall and on the other side a store front. On the left side of the hole was a huge piece of cement that just jutted out. Farrell tried going on the wall side as close as he could get to the wall and ended up hitting the big piece of cement. He had to back up and take another run. On the side of the road was 3 young boys and they started laughing so hard and yelling at Farrell they almost fell down. Farrell tucked in the side mirror and made another run and got through the narrow path although we were tipped at a pretty good angle. The next huge hole was more than Pascal could take and he decided he had better drive. He tried one route and thought better of it and then a lady came out and started yelling to him in Lingala that he better take a different route because he was not going to get through there. He took some little side roads and finally got us back on the “main road” to the ward house.

We finally arrived at our building and we were in time for the first Sacrament meeting. Many of the village children came into the chapel grounds running after and along side our car. We were the only car in the parking area. Everyone has to walk to church. The children are always so excited to see us white people.
There are light fixtures and electrical fans in the chapel but they never run. We don’t know why but it is probably because they have no fuel for the generator or the generator is broken or something else. The doors and windows are all open. Well actually the windows have no glass in them. The chapel has grass around the outside but the floor in the church is always very dirty as there is no way to keep the dirt from coming in on shoes and feet. There are three buildings in this church. The chapel has the bishops office and a priesthood/Relief Society room in it. The Primary meets in a separate building and then there is a Gazebo out back that also is used. There is a bathroom/outhouse on the premisis also which I have never been in so can’t describe how it works.

These wards do not have piano and they don’t use the table organs that the church provides probably because no one knows how to play one. They start their meetings with prelude singing instead of prelude music. The congregation is led usually by one of the young women and she sings a stanza to let them know which song they are going to sing and to set the pitch and then she leads the singing as usual. They usually pitch their songs quite low and sing full voice with great harmony. The songbook is the French Cantiques (Hymns in French) and the tunes are the same as what we sing in the US but they change it a bit. They don’t read music so the timing can change quite a bit. We sometimes sound like we are the harmony as we sing along with them because they have their own way of and singing the hymns. How ever, they sing with great heart and full voice and it sounds wonderful. And the spirit of the meeting is the same as in Taylorsville,Utah. . .maybe stronger.

It is obvious that this is a very poor area as the people dress very simply and many are wearing American type clothes but mosr of the women wear native African dresses. They look beautiful and are very neat and clean. People here really dress up for church and wear there best clothes. The men’s ties are always interesting. We see Christmas ties, looney toone character ties, very short fat ties and very long skinny ties.

We sat on the stand for the first Sacrament meeting. The bishop sat us by the window so we would get some air. It is so very hot. Farrell and I were both asked to bear our testimonies. I got chicken and bore mine in English and Pascal translated for me. I have got to do better. We sat there with the sweat dripping off our faces. I think I am getting use to that though. After church everyone came to welcome us and shake our hands.

At the second ward Sacrament Meeting Farrell had been asked to speak. He spoke in French and told about his parents when they first joined the church and how much they had to sacrifice to be the first Mormons in their little Georgia town. He told them how they sacrificed their time and talents to help the church grow. He told the people that some members of the church give 100%, everything they have to the church, some give 50% and some give !0%. Then he asked them to think about how much they were willing to give to the church. Everyone was leaning forward on their bench and listening intently or at least trying to understand what he was saying in what he calls his fractured French. After the meeting we went outside and stood on the porch and were shaking hands with the members and all these sisters in their African headdresses came up to him and told him they were 100% members. They loved the idea .


We understand that these people will soon have a new church bldg. to meet in. The church is building many buildings here and as we meet people and they find out we are missionaries for the LDS Church they remark on the beautiful buildings that our church is building and that they are the most beautiful buildings in Kinshasa. That is probably true as the buildings are beautiful and stand out in whatever neighborhood they are in.

The church here is in its infancy. The mission has approx. 120 baptisms a month and the challenge is to help people learn how to live the gospel. People have no problem accepting the idea of Joseph Smith and his seeing Jesus Christ and God the Father. They love the scriptures and they love the plan of salvation. Usually the husband joins and the problem is getting them to see the importance of the whole family being a part and working as a family unit within the church.

We have been so impressed with the church leaders such as the bishops and their dedication and efforts to work hard to do the Lord’s work under difficult circumstances. When we came to these wards the day after we arrived in Africa I was in such cultural shock and felt so lost in this foreign place and then we went to these two humble wards for church. When we walked in and they were singing the familiar hymns and were having Sacrament Meeting with the same structure we have always had it at home We realized we were home. We were home with the saints who believe the same thing we do, who love the Savior the same way we do and who love us because we are as one in our pursuit of returning to Heavenly Father.

We are getting to feel at home here and we are so glad we have this opportunity to learn about our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world. Without the missionary program we would never have such experiences and meet so many wonderful people. This is an experience of a lifetime and we intend to live it to the fullest.