A Bit Of Excitement…

First, thank you so much for your comments. We sit around every morning reading them as a group. The “righteous” one cracked us up. Mollie, sorry for misspelling your name.

Today we did not go to the orphanage; instead we had a meeting this morning to decide which projects we should tackle. We decided to paint the new dormitory, both in and out, and run the electric wiring. Zach is going to do a mural for us to paint as well.

We didn’t have a ton of time left so Gabi (Father Gabriel) decided to take us to the church that his sister is getting married in on Sat. It rained a ton last night and the roads were especially bad as most of the trash piles had turned to mud. Luckily we were riding in a 4WD Land Cruiser and were able to make it through, but we did have some difficulty in spots.

The church is embedded in one of the poorest sections of Limete and seeing a jeep full of white people turned out to be something. They treated us as celebrities along with reaching in the jeep to touch us and talk to us. Most were commenting about the car full of Chinese people as they had not seen many people of light skin. There is a significant population of Chinese here that are doing business and Gabi says all light skinned people look alike to the Congolese (Love the irony). There was one lady that got it right and said “look at the whites on holiday.” School had just gotten out as we approached the church and a lot of kids were being drawn to us.

On arrival a young man came up to the van and saw that Julius (one of the passionists) was riding in the back and said that he was happy to see whites and black together as we are all brothers.

We toured the church – it was very nice. We heard an amazing choir, with only a set of African drums for instruments, practicing for the weekend. I’m looking forward to hearing them on Sat. for the wedding.

As we were getting ready to go, a lot of the school kids had filtered into the parish through the gate and were beginning to gather around. Doug, Christian, Zach, and Shannin started dancing for the kids and then Christian decided to take a picture with a flash. As innocent as that sounds it sent everyone into an uproar. We noticed that flash photography is a very new experience for most Africans and they got very excited at seeing it.


Some of the adults promptly tried to calm everyone down and shoo the kids away. As we were leaving we were mobbed by little kids. The road was terrible in this area and it prevented us from going anywhere quickly. The kids were so close to the jeep we were afraid that someone might get hurt. We thought they were singing us a beautiful song until Julius told us they were chanting the name of a white vegetable. Gabi and Julius got out to walk alongside the jeep to keep the kids off of it. Gabi thinks we should walk in next time as it will draw less attention.

We’re glad to be back at the mission. Here’s a pic of Zach taking his bucket - white vegetable fits doesn't it?


And yes, we had fish for dinner. Paul’s getting a little tired of taking one for the team as he’s getting tired of eating the fish.

By The Way...

We needed the wet wipes!

The Bucket Bath

First off…guess what we had for dinner? Yes, the fish although I believe that they started to realize that most weren’t touching it so they prepared chicken as well. We also had the tradition cassava plant tonight. Most eat the leaves as a kind of green, but the root is a starch similar to potatoes. They make a flour from the roots of the cassava plant and then use it to prepare a kind of very thick porridge. It was very good.

I have so much that I could write, but I’m wasted and it would go on for hours if I tried to cover everything. I know some of you are looking for more pictures and tonight’s internet connection is better so I’m going to try. Unfortunately Molly, YouTube videos probably won’t happen.

The reception at the orphanage was amazing. The kids had prepared a series of special songs and dances and they even got us doing it – Ashton bravely stepped up, danced, and sung his name in the traditional Lingali dialect…as then did we all.

Most of the kids speak only Lingali while the educated citizens speak both French and Lingali.

The orphanage has grown already from when Father Gabriel (Gabi) was here last. It is good to see the new facilities under construction in order to house more kids once more regular funds are pledged.

We brought one suitcase with us that had all of the toys and candy in it. The kids thoroughly enjoyed it and would spontaneously break out in song and dance while waiting for their goodies.

One of the younger girls (I’ll guess around 10) wanted to ask a question, and rather than a question, she had a request. She asked if we could manage to provide a desk and chair so she could get more serious about her studies. Wow. No shoe request or ipod request…a desk and a chair. We’re going to work on that for her.

We also got a complete tour of the 14 acre orphanage and managed to visit the river in the process which the locals use for bathing and drinking water.

The villagers there were somewhat entranced and it soon turned into a performance or show in which they mimicked anything that the kids (including Zach) would do. We had a blast and the kids didn’t even notice that they were naked.

So we’re back at the city mission where we’re staying and last night we had a mono-temp shower that kind of dribbled water. Tonight, the city water supply isn’t quite providing enough pressure to push the water to a 6 foot high shower head, so we marched to the mission spigot to fill the 5 gallon buckets we had been provided. So instead of a shower or bath…we had a bucket. Worked out fine though. We’re clean and ready for bed.

Going To Meet The Kids

We're going to meet the kids this afternoon. We've separated the suitcases of stuff into several piles: children's clothes, adult clothes, toys, and medicine. We'll deliver just some of the candy and toys this moring and bring the rest later.

Before we load up for the 1.5 hour ride to the orphanage we took a walk in the very affluent or wealthy secion of the city - I can only imagine what the poor section looks like!

We just finished lunch; last night's fish head curry and spinach as well as some new things like french fries. Evidently they don't waste anything and since Paul is the only one eating the fish - all those trips to Asia has gotten him acclimated to exotic foods - we'll be having it again until it's done. Paul is going to have to step it up and take one for the team.

BTW...Beth drank some water from the faucet and while I don't wish her any ill will, it should make for some great material if she gets Montazuma's revenge. I'll keep you posted.

Going To Meet The Kids

We're going to meet the kids this afternoon. We've separated the suitcases of stuff into several piles: children's clothes, adult clothes, toys, and medicine. We'll deliver just some of the candy and toys this moring and bring the rest later.

Before we load up for the 1.5 hour ride to the orphanage we took a walk in the very affluent or wealthy secion of the city - I can only imagine what the poor section looks like!

We also had lunch, which was last night’s fish head curry, rice, and last night’s spinach. Seems only Paul is eating the fish - those trips to the Far East have come in handy getting him more acclimated to exotic foods. I imagine we’re going to continue to have fish head curry until we eat it all as people don’t waste any food here. Paul may have to step up and take one for the team.

BTW...Beth drank some water from the faucet and while I don't wish her any ill will, it should make for some great material if she gets Montazuma's revenge. I'll keep you posted.

Ben – this entry was for you as making them on the hour is really tough.

We're Finally Here - Experiencing Major Culture Shock!!!

So the trip from Brussels was no big deal; everything went very smoothly. We've notice that the African people on the flight seemed extremely friendly. Everyone was very eager to help out their fellow passengers; from an older gentlemen watching a newborn while it's Mother changed it's sister’s diaper, to a guy that got onto Paul for photographing the kids while they slept. It was a bit bizarre, but the guy started hasseling Paul in French for photographing the children; he didn’t realize they were ours! Paul managed to spit out "my child" in French and he then calmed down, started to smile, and proceeded to ask where we were going and what we were doing. This was a rather short conversation, but someone got out "missionnaire" and he understood that we were on a mission trip.

On the descent into Kinshasa we noticed that it was pretty dark compared to any other American City you might fly into. It was a rather bizarre checkerboard pattern of lights for a city that is over populated. It turns out that dark portions of the city were the ones were the power grid had failed; a rather frequent occurence. While staring out the window, a large portion of the city suddenly became illuminated.

Okay, now the fun starts...of course there was no terminal to pull up to. The plane was apparently randomly parked and then we marched down a set of stairs that had been pushed up to the cabin door. We were escorted straight to the customs "hall" - more like a room with three wooden boxes at the far end: one for Diplomats, one for Expatries (foreigners), and one for Nationals.

Blowing through customs we entered the Baggage Claim Area. This small room is packed with people constantly milling about and all simultaneously talking so that the background noise was quite high. The only thing I could compare it to would be standing in the middle of a commercial chicken coop or perhaps being in a mall around Christmas time when there is a run on Hannah Montanna paraphenalia - use your imagination.

I can't help but mention the terrier sized rat that was milling about in Baggage Claim. We almost thought someone's pet had gotten out of it's carrier.

We had previously instructed the kids not to let go of their luggage for any reason and to stay close. I'll fast forward by saying we were stuck in the baggage claim area for around 2 hours waiting for the 20 bags of stuff we were bringing for the orphans. In the mean time we had several individuals that were loitering close enough to our stuff that the Congolese Police and Military came to stand next to us to make us more "comfortable." They were extremely nice and we were grateful for the help.

Interestingly enough, one of the Police officers asked Ashton if he could "see" his cap. He asked Paul and of course Paul negligently said yes. As soon as Ashton handed it to him he walked away laughing…we saw him a little later fighting with another policeman over the hat, and that was the end of that! Evidently "see" means "donate!"

On the ride to the Mission from the airport, the streets were littered with old VW buses moving under their own power or being pushed by several hired hands. The streets were lined with people milling about the street vendors whose stands were lighted with candles, as there was no power in the middle section of the city.

When we arrived at the Mission they welcomed us all with open arms, treating us very well! The hospitality is amazing. They prepared a wonderful Congolese meal, for us, which included whole fish curry…even the eyes! The kids handled it very well, but Zach was a bit squeamish!
It’s getting late and we’ve all partnered with someone (except Zach) to sleep head-to-toe on a twin bed.

So far so good

So no one is missing, we have eaten alot of food and have lost no weight yet. So the point is we are having a blast on this travel day. Princess Corrinne needed 2 and a half seats during the flight to Belgium.

Uma (AA Ticketing Agent) was awesome and cleared up the reservation mess that Orbitz created.

While we had a layover in Chicago we played with the "dollar on a string" gag that Rob Sims gave the kids. Christian and Ashton would lay a dollar, attached to a fishing reel, out in the middle of traffic...

and then reel it in when some unsuspecting bystander reached down to pick their lucky find.

This fun lasted 2 1/2 hours and rounded up quite a crowd. Paul was video taping the fun until an undercover cop told him he had to stop.

We made a bunch of friends - George was a private charter pilot who asked us about our mission trip; he is a fellow missionary - and made a $0.25 tip when Doug and Christian opened up the guitar case and started singing. Actually, the guy paid them to stop!!

We also got super-sized eating Mcdonalds french fries.........and while we all ate healthy salads Doug insisted on getting 2 cheese burgers.

With Anticipation

It is with great anticipation that I popped out of bed at 6A this morning after slipping into it well after 2A.

We've planned, packed, and pondered our preparation till we're second guessing ourselves. Paul bugged Shannin for wet wipes late last night, "Are you afraid you won't be able to wash your hands?" she asked. "It's not for my hands!" he replied. Apparently on some trips to a more rural mainland China, toilet paper is considered a luxury.

One of our friendly neighbors was kind enough to report that the DRC just had an uprising where several were killed, but all I could find on the Internet was a newspaper clipping reporting that some "white men" were killed near Katanga (far east from where we're going - Kinshasa) - the clipping was from 1893 which is probably why they reported that "white men" were killed.

Paul and Doug are anxious, but the rest of us are excited.

There were so many people that turned out to support the walk-a-thon! We were so pleased to even see friends come all the way from Auburndale! Thanks Magnolia!

Mercy for Children held their first walk-a-thon on September 28th at Cranes Roost Park in Altamonte Springs, FL. We had a great turn out, with 150 walkers and around $20,000 raised. Father Gabriel, the founder, was there to enjoy the day and visit all the vendors.