Humanitarian Adventures

For the last day of Marge and Jeff's visit to Kinshasa we decided to take part of the day off and go with them to see some of our water projects.  These projects are life changing as they bring clean water within the reach of hundreds in Kinshasa's outlying areas.So, we headed out into a different area of the city, which is more needy. 

  

 Our first stop was to visit one of three working wells in a project. The church requires any group for whom they build a well to form a committee that oversees the upkeep of the well. At this site the committee is functioning just as it should.  A technician was even on site this day making sure everything was working. 

   

There were many people from the community filling their bidons with fresh, clean water from the big blue hand pump at this project. They were please to show us the clear water that has improved their lives.       

 With a well in their neighborhood many hours of hauling water and many water-born illnesses are eliminated.  Elder B. just had to check it all out.  The children, who will benefit greatly from this fresh water, enjoyed watching the musungu (white person) fill his cup and drink from their well.
  
Our next stop was at a school where the church is building a latrine. Four hundred and eighty students, who attend in double sessions, have never had any latrine facilities before.

 

 Bricks are handmade at the site. The first batch was set aside because it was incorrectly made and crumbled in your had if you pressed on them.   Two large septic tanks were buried in the ground. This building won't have fancy flush toilets, but it will provide much better sanitation than this school has ever had before. 

 

The children who were not in school were busying themselves with daily chores and with a little home made fun. Children here can make toys out of just about anything.They can use tin cans and bottle caps built car.

   

 They use an old tire rim and a stick to have hours of fun.  They're wonderful and creative even when they have little with which to work. Kids will be kids!
 

Our last stop during the morning was a well that is under construction.  It was still farther out into the city, where there are few walls for security, only hand dug latrines and little power or water, but there are many families who live in these areas and hundreds of adorable, curious kids.
  
Projects are submitted to the church for consideration. Generally the well is located on the property of a family, organization, school, etc.  It will be made available to anybody in the community when it's completed.
They start by hand digging a hole enough to reach the water table.  This one is going very deep. But Elder B. said that the sand they were bringing up was wet and that would mean they will soon reach the correct depth. The most amazing thing about the picture below of the hole they've made  is that there's a man down there beyond where you can see who is still digging. A few minutes later he appeared from inside the hole.

 

I still shudder with claustrophobia when I see these pictures. As the hole is dug they drop cement cylinders, which are poured right at the well sight, into the hole to  keep the wall from caving in.  

  
 By the time we'd watched them work for a few minutes lots of children had gathered to see the musungus.
When they saw the camera they all wanted their picture taken. So, we got lots of pictures of these cute little people who live in this neighborhood.
  
The crowd just kept growing
   

                                                 and  growing....
  and growing.
 

 The children followed us to our car and were happy to hang out with us to the very end. Elder B. waited patiently . This is just a part of their everyday activities as humanitarian missionaries.                         

  

The children were still watching us as we loaded in the car. Marge had a hard time escaping the little crowd of children who had surrounded her, still interested in having their picture taken. 

Meanwhile Brent was on the phone. While we were on our outing he had to deal with a little companion dispute. "Either you behave yourself or I put you on a plane tomorrow morning for Kinshasa." He never really gets a break. He's never off duty, even in the far out reaches of Kinshasa at a well project.