Heading out

One of the most amazing things about daily life in the Congo is the way that women carry things on their heads. You see them everywhere you go with huge, heavy loads on their heads. We've never seen anybody drop their load and they seem to be able to balance them without even using their hands. It's quite impressive.

I always wonder how they get those heavy loads on their heads.  The other day we watched as a mother and daughter loaded up and "headed out"on their walk home.  Looking at this series of pictures you can see that they were heavy packages and it was quite remarkable that they got them up there without a mishap and then just walked away.

First they loaded the heaviest parcel on the Mom's head. 

      

Then they worked together to settle the Mom's load and to get the daughter ready for her load. 

  

The daughter picked up her load, handed it to her Mom and the Mom loaded it onto the daughter's head.  

After doing that, the Mom picked up the packages, gave some to her daughter and she and her daughter each carried some smaller bags in their hands.  

 

Then they just headed out down the road to walk for who knows what distance. 

 Hard things are a way of life in the Congo.  I'm inspired by how resilient and resourceful they are. I will always think of the Congolese people when I need to remember that "We can do hard things."