The Barrier

We have found that in Lubumbashi people are very friendly. They say Bonjour or Jambo to each other on the streets and in the market places. They smile and are very pleasant to us. However, the environment is not really conducive to friendship because of ...

LA BARRIERE.

In the cities, people have a very high fence and a gate at their

residences and at some businesses.

This is the one place we've had dinner out since we got here.

The call the gates La Barrieres.

The fences and barrieres create very secure environments.

We're not sure that this security is really needed or just a

bit of paranoia.. Perhaps it is a hold over from a less stable time.

We don't feel fearful at all. But security is an important thing

here in the Congo. There are also bars on most doors and

windows in the homes and businesses.

If you live in a very nice area you have a big Barriere and a

Garde-Barriere, who watches your place and comes running

when you pull up and honk or get in your car.

(Africa's answer to automatic door openers.)

This is Brent with Robert, He's our

Garde-Barriere/Gardner/Car washer/All-around Outside Helper

Right next to our gate, inside our walls, there is a tiny one room

house (about the size of two twin mattresses). Sometimes

Robert goes in there to rest and when we go out of town, he

stays there while we're gone. Before we came, when the house

was empty, he live there 24 hours a day for 6 months.

Sometimes people have have a Barriere, but no Garde-Barriere.

Some of the Barrieres are very interesting, colorful and nice.

This is the most ostentatious one areound.

We call it the port-a-potty barriere.

Sometimes there is barbed wire rolled on the top of the walls or

glass embedded in them.

In nice areas, where people might have a car, they are made so that

you can drive a car into the yard for security.

Sometimes they also have a small door in them so that you don't

have to open the big gates when you want to walk outside,

like ours has.

Sometimes people don't bother to close them, but most people

keep them locked!

If you want to get into a compound you honk or knock on the

barriere with a rock. Then the people inside decide if they want

to let you in or not.

Some are not much security.

Some are only big enough to walk through, but give you some

security in your yard. This cute girls lives next to a missionary

apartment and can not keep from peeking out to see the

white people. She never will wave or talk to us.

Most of our missionaries homes only have small gates, but we

do require them to have one. We can tell if they're home

because when they come home the padlock is put on the\

inside of the barriere. When they are gone, it's on the outside.

In many neighborhoods, people have no barrieres at all.

They also often don't have doors or windows in their

home.Sometimes they just have fabric at the door.

You can buy barriers on the street. Some are plain, some rather decorative.

A few are works of art.

It is nice to have the security of a barriere and fencing no

matter where you live, but it is a serious deterrent to

getting acquainted with your neighbors. We think it must

also be a problem for missionary work. It's hard to meet

anybody when they are all locked behind their Barrieres.

I think it was Robert Frost who said fences make

good neighbors In this case, I don't know. We

have no idea who lives right next door to us.