The Value of One Small Pamphlet

We went out to Kimbwala for church today. When we arrived Bishop Haboko was standing in the parking lot. No one who goes to church in these two wards have cars so the parking lot is always empty. He was standing at the gate and opened it so we could drive in. We asked him why he was out in the parking lot when his ward had already started their meetings. He said he thought he must be out there to greet us.

Last week he got free to attend Sunday School which hardly ever happens and he said he was sitting there enjoying Sunday School and the Spirit told him to get up and go out to the parking lot. He didn’t want to leave Sunday School because he was really enjoying it and he so seldom got time to go. He said the spirit kept telling him to go out in the parking lot. He finally got up and went out into the parking lot where there was no one. About a minute after standing there by the gate a women he did not know walked up. Bishop Haboko welcomed her and asked if she was in the other ward. She said no, this was her first time. She had in her hand a Joseph Smith pamphlet. She said she had found this pamphlet and there was a phone number on it so she called and they told her where she could find the church. She had come to learn more about the church. The bishop said he welcomed her and walked her into the building and introduced her to the missionaries and left her in their capable hands and he went back to Sunday School. Got to love Bishop Haboko. He is a man of great faith and is obedient in all things.



Another story of the Joesph Smith Pamphlet


In January a new family, Bro. MBUYI-MARCEL and Sis. META-BERTINE and their 7 children started attending the Malueka ward. They were soon baptized. The family had been attending the Apostolic Protestant Church. Bro Marcel had many questions and went to his pastor for answers. He wanted to know about apostles and prophets and why there weren't any today. He also wondered why there was no longer Revelation coming from God to his children here on earth. The minister did not have the answers for him but handed him a pamphlet and told him he didn't know how to answer those questions but this pamphlet talked about apostles and prophets and revelation. Maybe it would be of some help. It was a Joseph Smith's Testimony pamphlet. Bro. Marcel was intrigued and started looking for this church. It took him a while to locate the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the pamphlet did not have a phone number or any information about where the church was located. Once the missionaries started to teach the family it wasn't difficult for Bro. Marcel and Sis. Bertine to accept this story of a young boy and angels and prophets who receives revelation from Heavenly Father. Mom and Dad were baptized one week and the following week the children were baptized. They are a strong family and a wonderful addition to the Malueka Ward. Sis. Bertine is the Young Women's President in the ward. Bro. Marcel is a Sunday School teacher.

This is a precious family that were just waiting for the gospel to enter their lives.

If you would like to know more about this pamphlet or find the answers to your questions visit http://www.mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/

How important is a bathroom to a school of 500 Children?

When we first came to Kinshasa the first humanitarian project we submitted for approval was to improve a school in the community of Camp Luka.

The ASAMI Primary school was missing roofing in many places,

holes in the walls and no windows,

steps leading into the class rooms and

It had a partially finished latrine that was falling down

None the less they were holding school in the building but would have to cancel school if it rained. We had just completed the final pieces of the Camp Luka water project and it was such a wonderful addition to this neighborhood and here were all those children with no school to attend in their neighborhood.

We had been told that schools were not a priority for the humanitarian funds as there are so many schools in need of help here in Africa and no regulations or standards for schools but, we had been told of a great organization, IFESH, that specialized in building and improving schools so we worked with them and wrote up a project for the ASAMI Primary school.

As we had been told would happen the project did not pass the criteria for an area initiative. We were very disappointed but moved on to other projects.

A few months ago we had the occasion to return to Camp Luka and follow up on the water project and saw that some improvements had been made in the primary school building but the school still had no usable latrine. IFESH had already evaluated the latrine situation and had a plan drawn up from our first efforts. We worked with the community and submitted a project to add a latrine to the school along with Family Health and Hygiene training which did pass criteria and we were on our way.

We went with Jeanne, from IFESH to tell the community and start the project. The meeting was choice in that Jeanne conducted an election among the community members and a project president, vice president, sec and treasurer were elected along with a committee for construction, and a committee for community outreach taking responsibility for the health and hygiene training. The election was very serious business and took 2 hours to complete. At the end everyone had a job to do and the project was officially underway.

One site visit found the footings and pit completed and the health and hygiene training was already underway.

The community was doing the work under the supervision of IFESH. A second visit found the walls nearly finished and a training for the community on conflict resolution ,being taught by IFESH. It was very rewarding to see the community work together for the common good.

Sister Moon took advantgage of all the children wanting to be a part and taught them some songs like the Hokey Pokey, Going on Safari.

They had a logt of fun. They then sang her some songs in Lingala.

The Closing Ceremony was soon at hand. The Latrine was officially turned over to the school and a dedication prayer and ceremony officially opened the latrine for business.

Eric our site manaager conducted the ceremony.

The Chef of the village and some of the elders offered a prayer and then drank Orange Fanta which they spit on each corner of the latrine as part of the dedication ( they were suppose to use Palm wine but settled for Fanta). We understand this was part of the ceremony to ward off any evil or harm to the latrine.

The official ribbon cutting(actually TP cutting)

Four latrines 2 for girls and 2 for boys

We then held graduation with certificates of participation for all the Health and Hygiene trainers that will be going out into the village to train the members of the community.

This was a pretty grand event for a latrine. It made us realize how important it was to the community to have this addition to their school.

The Moons came to lend their support and enjoy the festivities.

This project has accomplished several goals. A school of more than 500 students now has a latrine, where before they were using the outdoors. A community has received a training course in basic hygiene and now are better prepared to help themselves avoid disease and achieve better health. The community also has a better understanding of resolving conflicts and working together to complete community projects. The community now feels better about itself.
Working with good partners always makes for a better project. The good people at IFESH, along with the Camp Luka community members put forth the effort necessary to make this project a winner.

"Look at Me" Video

Graduates singing "Look at me! Look at me! I can read! I can write"

Look at me! I can read! I can write!

It's Graduation Day in Malueka for those participating in the Literacy Program. They sang a song, "Look at me, Look at me, I can read, I can write."

Do you remember when you learned to read, how excited you were. Remember when your child learned to read and you saw their world open up to wonderful possibilites.

These women and men are celebrating their 9 months of effort to learn to read and write for the very first time. They are so excited to be able to accomplish something they have wanted to do all their lives. This is a result of a project conducted by Humana People to People and funded by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Malueka, the same neighborhood we reported on for the Family Health and Hygiene training also has been busy taking literacy classes. The classes were held in nighborhood churches and under mango trees in neighborhood yards. The project funded 200 people to learn to read and write in their native language of Lingala. No one was turned away who wanted to learn and the classes mushroomed to 500 participants. A community voluunteers were trained to teach the class by a professional teacher. Along with learning to read and write the classes used matereials supporting the strengthening of the communitysuch as health and Hygiene, ethics. etc. There were about 30 community teachers that taught 2 hour classes 3 days a week. Participants ranged from 15 yrs of age to 80 yrs of age. Most were woman but there were a few men.

When we visited a class we observed the students writing the letters in the sand, then writing the letters in the air, then writing the letters on the chalkboard in front of the class (with much cheering and encouragement) and then they would write the letter or word in their notebook.

One lady stood during the class and said, " Five weeks ago I could not read or write, but now I can read and write. Now I can help my children with there school work. I have always wanted to know how to read. Thank you for this gift."

We were touched by the joy we saw on all the participants faces. We attended the graduation for six classes of participants. It was a joyous occasion with a demonstration of their reading and writing. They performed a skit about a woman who got in to trouble because she couldn't read a letter that was sent to her. The skit went on to show that by being able to read many problems of our lives are solved and we can make decisions for ourselves.

Each participant was congratulated by the HPP leaders, the church missionaries, bishop of the church from the area and a representative of the Minister of Education who was over adult education. Some came up very reserved and tearfull while others clapped their hands and sang and danced.

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An 80 yr old man spoke and told how all his life he had gone with out being able to read or write. He said that when he was young they drove the white man away and declared independence and now today here is a white man coming to help me learn to read and write. Now I can read just like my children and grandchildren.

What a choice experience to share with this community the gift of literacy. The community has taken on a new life with woman being proud of who they are and what they can accomplish.

Everyone was dressed in their best and many were dressed alike matching the class they were associated with.

"We are getting better. We are getting stronger. We are getting smarter," said one woman.

Humana People to People are a solid NGO with many partners. The church is in good company in their support of this organization and their programs for the community of Malueka.

Good changes are happening in Malueka!

Last Sept. a group called HPP Congo (Humana People to People, Congo) came and asked if the church would like to be their partner in helping mobilize a community. This is an international NGO that is trying to improve the quality of life of poor areas of the world by teaching communities independence. They have a 10 arm plan to implement into communities.
1. Hygiene and Sanitation
2. Security for children without parents
3. Pre-school
4. Strengthen the economy of families
5. Youth activity in political, social , cultural and economics
6. Education/ Literacy
7. District development
8. Safe and healthy envirnoment
9. Food Security
10. Limit Malaria

The HPP Team
The church agreed to fund two arms of the HPP program, Health and Hygiene and Literacy. The Health and Hygiene program started immediately and used the church's Family Health and Hygiene manual for training.

littered pathway family well

cooking facility

Malueka is a community of 4200 families. There is high unemployment rate and a lot of illiteracy. Most of the people speak Lingala only. Often the families have to choose which child to send to school as they can not afford to send them all. Families average 5 - 7 children. Water comes from family wells which are often contaminated and their is little knowledge of healthy living practices.

Coordinators Family Hygiene Class
HPP mobilized the community by calling family action group coordinators from the community and training them to be educators for the program. Two family action group coordinators became responsible for 10 families. They followed up with their families offering encouragement and helping them to see how to improve their families living conditions to reach a higher standard of living and there by avoiding illness and disease.

Health and Hygiene training for coordinators
This is a class conducted in Lingala by Rochelle (yellow sleeve shirt). She is an employee of HPP and is teaching the Family Coordinators how to teach the class. Most classes are held outside under the Mango tree at various places in the neighborhood.

The project required that each family in Malueka would revise their latrines to meet the minimal standards. They needed to have a door that would open and close and they needed to have a cement base with a cover for the hole to keep flies from entering the holes. Thirty latrines were funded for the project. The community groups voted which families would receive the latrines provided by the church funds. They were chosen as to their need and level of risk (widows, elderly, handicapped), etc. Those receiving the latrines had to provide the labor and if they were unable to do all the labor their neighbors pitched in and helped them there by learning to care for one another, learning to cooperate and learning how to be a community.

Latrine holes were dug deep enough to accommodate 2 ½ 50 gallon drums that had their tops and bottoms removed and were welded together in a tube. This would keep the holes from collapsing in the sand. The latrines were build of wood and covered with a galvanized medal roof. Note the pop bottle lids used as washers to secure the screws.

We observed the community making many changes because of the Family Health and Hygiene program. We saw yards being swept clean. Refuge pits were dug and used for disposing of garbage. Cooking areas were cleaned and sheds were built with a shelf to put cooking utensils up off the ground.

Washing stations were set up where people could wash their hands before cooking, eating or after using the latrine. Mothers were taught nutrition for their families and the importance of protein, carbohydrates and the need for a variety of foods to meet the needs for vitamins and minerals.

The before and after of the latrines.
The new latrines are easy to clean and have a cement base to stand on with a cement cover for the hole which is easily moved on and off the hole. UNICEF funded cement bases with covers for all 4200 families in the community.
This elderly woman was so excited to get a new latrine and was very appreciative of the Health and Hygiene training she was able to receive.

We had planned on giving Family Hygiene Kits to each family who received the new latrines. The community leaders had been so responsive and had worked so hard, volunteering many hours to the project and had been very responsive to their responsibilities. When we held our closing ceremony it was decided to give the kits to the Family Action Group Coordinators as a thank you for all their hard work. They were pleased and were grateful to have their efforts acknowledged. One coordinator spoke for all the leaders. She said, ”In five years (HPPs time frame for the mobilization of the community) Malueka will be a model community. We are learning to help each other. We are learning how to take better care of our children. We didn’t know what foods were important to our children. We now know that our children need protein every day. We know that we need to boil our drinking water to prevent getting sick. These hygiene kits are very much appreciated but the best thing in this kit is the bar of soap. That is what we will use the most, a bar of soap. Thank you for your help for our community.”

Who will benefit the most from this community raising their standard of living? The children will be the biggest beneficiaries.

This first Health and Hygiene project went so well and was so successful we were able to get the church to fund 50 more latrines.

More to come on Malueka as we are ready to close the Literacy project. We can't wait to report on it.

Things are changing in Malueka.