We can't say NO

I remember a song from some old broadway musical. I've been told that it's from Oklahoma . It's called "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say NO."

Well, I think that I am that girl and Brent is no better than I am.

Women here make a living by going to the markets, buying fruits and vegetables, peanuts and beans and then carrying them on their heads to places where they can sell them. It is a hard way to make a living. Sometimes they walk for hours just to get to the places where they can sell their load of food. Well, this week two of those ladies came to our house to sell us things.

Here I am on the back porch with Rosa making a deal. She has eight children. She had walked an hour and a half to get to the center of town to sell her produce.

The great African dress I'm wearing did not come from Africa. It came from Ross in Tempe, thanks to Julie Curtis, who wanted me to be in style in Africa.

I told her that I couldn't buy things every day because the two of us just don't eat that much, but I would buy a few things one day a week and I made her a list.

Well, today she was back with all the things on my list and much, much more. She had carried it all on her head as she walked an hour and a half from her home. How could we make her carry it all home?

Being the softies that we are, we ended up with so much stuff that we will not be able to eat it in two weeks, or maybe three. We also paid way too much for it because we are not good barterers either. (Car salesmen love us.) This is what we now have to eat this week. (10 tomatoes, 8 potatoes, a bag of onions and garlic, 7 apples, 14 oranges, 6 bananas, a pineapple, a watermelon, 4 green peppers, 3 egg plants (which we don't even like), 3 cucumbers, a cabbage, a head of lettuce and 18 carrots.) And we know she will be back soon! Probably tomorrow!

I think we might have to tell Robert next time she comes to lock the barrier and we'll hide in the back bedroom . We just can't say NO and somebody has to save us from the veggie/fruit lady!

P.S. More food talk

This morning as Brent came in to eat breakfast, I said, "This oatmeal that we found at the store the other day doesn't taste like real oatmeal." Then I thought a second and added "And we're having it with sugar that doesn't taste like real sugar, milk that doesn't taste like real milk, toast that doesn't taste like real toast and actual bananas." Such is real life in the Congo.

But....there were twenty baptisms in Lubumbashi this week. So, breakfast tastes pretty good!

Oh What a Weekend at Likasi District Conference

That a wonderful weekend we have had!

It was fantastic!!

We just returned from our weekend adventure to Likasi for District Conference.

Actually, on Friday we started the weekend with a bang! Literally! We woke up in the night with a tremendous bang in the house. We had been having trouble with the water and had thought it might be the hot water heater, which is located in a room above the hall outside our bedroom. The big bang was the water heater. We went into the hall about 3 am to find a lake in the hall and water cascading down the bathroom door and flooding everywhere. We hurriedly turned off the water and the power to the water heater and finally the gushing water stopped. So, we mopped for about an hour and then went back to bed to try to rest for our Sat. journey down the bumpy Liskasi Road. On the way out the door, we called Justin, the mission handyman, and he promised to work on it while we were gone. They called us in Likasi and said it was fixed, but when we got home, there was NO WATER at all. Back to bidons (pronounced Bee-dones). They say there is a problem in all of Lubumbshi and it's not our house this time. The water will probably come back by tomorrow. Many days it feels like we are camping . We have always liked camping, but we have discovered that we do not like camping AT HOME that much!! We have only had about 7 days with both water and power all day since we arrived in Lubumbashi.

Back to the weekend.

So, off we went, with a back seat full of supplies--clothes, bedding, food, flashlights, scriptures and talks, etc. etc. Not knowing what we would find in an African guest house, we had prepared for anything.

All went well for the first part of the trip. We arrived at the toll station--NO PROBLEM!. Then we got to the first group of police. It was the same ones who had stopped us last week. They stopped us again. But to our great joy, they just wanted to tell us how much they were enjoying reading the Books of Mormon we had left them last time. We chatted about it and were on our way--NO PROBLEM!

This is normally a busy village, but NO PROBLEMS.

But this time there was a huge mob of people, mostly young men, who were blocking the road. Literally a minute before we came upon them we remembered to lock the car doors. They tried to block our passage and began beating on the truck and trying to get in and pushing it back and forth. We were nervous that they were going to get in the back of the truck, and then what would we do? They were yelling at us to give them money. We just moved ahead slowly and we finally got through them. We later learned that this is quite unusual. Monga said that sometimes, when someone is hurt by a passing car, they take out their anger on the next car that comes along. Maybe that’s what happened. We hope not to experience that again.

At this entrance to the city of Likasi there are always police--NO PROBLEM! They have always been very kind to us and just waved us on when they see that we were missionaries.

You can barely see the police in the yellow shirts on the right stopping some unlucky car.

Well, we were that unlucky car on Saturday--BIG PROBLEM! This time the police hassled us because they couldn’t see our proof of insurance. You have to have five documents, two stickers, red caution triangles and a fire extinguisher in your car at all times. They said we could just pay and leave but Brent protested and refused to pay them. He's getting pretty assertive. Finally, a police commander came along, out of nowhere, in civilian clothes and found that our insurance decal had been put in backwards and could not be seen on the windshield. He chided the police for giving us a hard time and sent us on our way. Sunday, on our way out of town, these same police stopped us again, only this time it was to ask us how our stay in Likasi went. We told them we’d see them again on our next trip. We know that the Lord blessed us to arrive there safely. We desperately needed His help. It was important that we get to Likasi in many ways. We are so grateful for the prayers that are being said for our safety. We felt like we were watched over and well protected by the Lord in a very real way twice on this trip to Likasi.

We hurried directly to chapel and the interviews that we had set with our missionaries.

Brent interviewed all six of them and then we had a meeting to talk about apartment issues. They have only had water off and on for the last three weeks and they had windows broken out by a relative of the landlord last week. Apartments are always an issue. We also talked about their missionary work in general in Likasi. They are hard working and devoted missionaries.

Then it was on to Priesthood and auxiliary training meetings where we both presided and spoke. (Is this what we signed up for?) After those meetings Brent met with the District President and the Branch Presidents. Then there was the adult session where we both spoke again. Finally, very weary, we went to our Guest House for the night. We were very curious to see what it would be like. But it was very reasonable.

This was a clean, neat little concrete box.

Laminate floors make a big difference in how a concrete box feels.

This was the tiny bathroom and a very interesting sink.

I like it.

The only thing missing was HOT water. NO PROBLEM! Well, ,actually, Brent said sleeping in the bed was like sleeping on the kitchen table, and the lighting was a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling in each roomi But it was OK. We felt good about staying there. It was so much better than we had anticipated.

We had no time to eat all day with meetings scheduled tightly, so our REI food tasted wonderful! Just add hot water and you're set. You just have to remember to bring drinkable water and your cute little hot water pot. It heats water to boiling in less than a minute.

Add a little French Bread and a morsel of chocolate--Voila! Dinner.

Sunday Brent's meetings started at 8:00. We got there at 7:30 and there were young men waiting for interviews outside the locked gates. They were eager to move their mission papers along. He did six missionary interviews. There were five young men and one sister. They don't go on missions here until they are older. Most of our missionaries are in their early to mid-twenties. They have been branch mission leaders, young men's presidents, ward clerks, young women counselors and all had graduated from Seminary and Institute. They were awesome. Each one contributed something toward the payment of their visas and passports. It was not a lot of money, but they gave what they had. It was a humbling and wonderful experience to meet with these wonderful young people.

Then we had a meeting for new converts. The district president and Brent both spoke to them. There were about 25 people there. Only three of them were women. Here in the Congo men join the church more quickly than women. Sometimes the men feel like the church is good for them, but not needed for their wives and children. It's something that we are working hard to correct. Many of the new converts are young adult men. But they are strong in testimony and excited about the gospel.

Next we had the general session, where we both spoke again. Wow! It's exhausting trying to give talks in a foreign language. And even more exhausting is having your talk in a foreign language translated into another foreign language. Some of the people don't speak French because they have not gone to school, so all the meetings were translated into Swahili by several wonderful young men. This was one of our translators.

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After the general meeting Brent went off to do other interviews. He did fiour patriarchal blessing interviews, two temple interviews, one polygamy interview, and a couple of other things. It was kind of a surprise to have all these interviews. He had only known that he would interview our 6 current missionaries. Always surprises!

I went out to be with the people and the missionaries. I love the children in Africa. They are very well behaved, somewhat reserved, and calm and very, very reverent.

They sit quietly, without toys or even cheerios for the entire meeting. Only an occasional baby is taken out. I don't quite know how they do it. But the children are beautiful, and I enjoy them very much.

I took my camera. Wow! Everybody wants their picture taken. Some wanted pictures with me. A real challenge since I hate having pictures taken. I ended up taking 64 pictures, mostly of women, young people and children. Here are some of my favorites. You can't help but love these gentle, wonderful people.

African children take care of their sibilings

from a very young age. They often carry them

on their backs like Mothers do.

Love the hair on this cutie!

This little boy followed the young men who came

for interviews into the building. I don't think he was a memember,

but he was so cute I had to take his picture.

The little boy on the right had all four front teeth missing.

I tried to get him to show them in the picture, but no luck.

They were smiling though. For some reason Africans think

that you should not smile in pictures.

Two new memebers of the church.

Get out a camera and kids come running. It's hard to get a picture with just one person.

During the last session of conference, Pres. Shimbi had leaned over and asked Brent what my name was. I had been called the President's wife or Soeur Jameson all weekend. Brent wrote it on a piece of paper, but Pres. Shimbi never called me by my name. We also found out early in the day that at 6:30 that morning President Shimbi's wife had given birth to a little girl, their 9th child (African's have big families). He had spent the whole day in District conference while his wife and new baby daughter were at the hospital 7km away.So, at the end of the day we encouraged him to get on his way to be with them. It was then that he told us why he wanted my name written down. The Shimbis were going to name their daughter, Lorraine, in honor of the District conference we had spent together on the day of her birth. I was stunned and thrilled to think that there will be a little Lorraine Shimbi running around in Likasi, Congo.

While waiting for Brent to finish interviews one of the elders wanted to take his picture standing by the truck. Having a vehicle is unusual in the Congo. At this conference of hundreds of people, ours was the only car in the parking lot. So, I suggested that we open it up and take his picture in the driver's seat. As I took the pictures I looked over my shoulder and every elder was in line behind me wanting his turn for a picture in the truck. What fun young men!

On our way out of town we took the missionaries home and checked out their apartment. Here we are, doing something I would never let anybody do at home. But this is Africa and people do it all the time. The missionaries couldn't figure out why Soeur Jameson was a nervous wreck about it.

They were anxious to have us come and we were eager to see what things were like . They had many broken windows, no water and a gate that wouldn't lock. We have some work to do. NO PROBLEM. They were also glad to show us their home . We bypassed Elder Diazola's room to look at the kitchen and he called out "Soeur, President, don't you want to see my room?" It was so cute. He's one who came with us from Kinshasa and we just love him. We love each missionary. Working with these young men is a joy!

We traveled home after a great weekend--tired, but having had an amazing experience. We were on our way for an uneventful two-hour trip home, safe and sound. What a blessing it is to be with the people of the Congo, and how blessed and protected we felt this trip. Next weekend we're off to meet with a group near the Zambian border. Never a dull moment in the Congo!

Now if we can just get the water back on in Lubumbashi!! NO PROBLEM!

Trying to Fit In

We are starting to really becoming accustomed to the African way of life. We are adapting and learning and trying to fit in.

I think that we are really getting into it!

There is, however, no water in these bidons.

We could never get them onto our heads if they were full. If we did, we could never keep them up there. Notice it takes both hands to keep our empty bidons on our heads. The Africans carry huge things almost effortlessly.

Brent is also getting comfortable with the money here. Since he is in charge of finances for this part of the mission and this is a completely cash society, he is working all the time with large quantities of bills (that's doesn't mean a lot of money, just a lot of bills, because 500cf is about $.58. ) But he is working with piles of money, counting, converting, recording, delivering, etc. He is starting to get the hang of that too. I'm still at the "hold out your hand and let them take what they want" stage.

The Congolese take American dollars in large denominations ($100 mostly) and only if they are perfect and new. However, this is not true of the Congolese Francs. This shows how they start out. (The top picture is a fairly new bill) and how the same bill looks after much use (in the bottom of the picture). You can use them all just fine. More look like the bottom bill than the top.

This is our gardener/gate keeper, Robert.

They told us that he was our "guard", but he really isn't what you'd call a guard. He just opens, closes and locks the gate as we come and go. There seems no need for a guard, although we do have an alarm system and "panic buttons" to get help right away if we should need it.

We feel very safe in Lubumbashi.

He was sweeping the sides of the flower beds when we got home today. The Congolese use these tiny little whisk brooms to sweep. There are street sweepers all over with them and people sweeping the dirt in front of their places of business or homes with them. Today, when we saw Robert with one, we asked about them. The "brooms" are made from weeds or twigs from palm trees that they gather and bind with leather cords to make their own brooms. Robert said it is "very African." I think that they have stronger backs than we do. It looks like back breaking work to seep large areas with these tiny little brooms. It is a hard way to sweep in the eyes of these two old Americans. This sweeping is something we are not going to do to fit in.

Robert works hard to keep our place looking good. He's a very nice man. He has 10 children. He walks to and from work, about 2 hours walk each direction, six days a week. Life is not easy, but having a job in the Congo is a great blessing. We're all blessed that Robert is working here.

Life is always a surprise in the Congo

No pictures today and you will be glad. But we need to remember yesterday's adventure. Hopefully it's not a usual day. We decided, thanks to Cathy Bigler who suggested this, to have pancakes for dinner. She told us that she had a hard time with food in Brazil until she started making pancakes. When nothing else tasted normal, she made pancakes. So, we got a recipe from the internet and made pancakes, from scratch naturally. You can't imagine how "like home" and wonderful they tasted. We even found a bottle of maple syrup at the store. So........ we ate our delicious pancakes, and then went to wash the dishes. When I turned on the hot water, it looked like coffee was coming from the tap. (This is the part where everybody is glad not to have pictures.) We tried all the hot water in the house and sure enough.... coffee. Then we tried the cold water .....none. Once again we were glad for bidons. There are always surprises in the Congo. Today the plumber came, tinkered with a few things and.........real water everyplace. Like I said, "Always a surprise in the Congo."

I also tried my luck at homemade yogurt today while Brent was off doing missionary interviews and negotiating with a landlord for an apartment for the elders. When we arrived in Lubumbashi the store had the most wonderful yogurt. It even came in large containers and tropical fruit flavors, then they only had it in small containers and now NONE. So, I'm experimenting. The yogurt solution and a pan of hot water are in an ice chest that the Headlees carried from Kinshasa on the plane when they came last month. Life is always an adventure in the Congo. Hope my homemade yogurt works!

Our Mission Artist

We have a zone leader in Lubumbashi who is a talented artist.

His name is Lord Mbambu.

Elder Mbambu

When we arrived here he gave us this picture.

This week he gave us another picture.

This picture is very touching to us. Let me explain it to you. It's a Congolese child praying. You will see the pictures all around him of his prayer. He is praying for the missionaries and for peace in his land, as shown by the elders and the dove in the upper left. He is praying for the prophet, Pres. Monson. He is praying that he will not go hungry. His last prayer is also for a temple. Up in the right hand corner there is a temple with a Congolese flag on it. He is praying for a temple in his homeland. As they announced the new temples and Pres. Monson said that 85% of the people in the world have a temple within about 200 miles of them, our hearts were heavy. Our people are more than 1,000 from a temple and it is a dream of every member to someday go there. They talk about it in every meeting. They love the temple and are praying for better access to it, just as this little Congolese boy is doing in his prayer.

Last Sun. the Sunday School teacher talked about family history and he spoke most impressively about the sealing of eternal families. He admonished the members to be worthy and have a recommend to the temple. He said that having a recommend didn't cost anything and showed Heavenly Father of your devotion to the temple. We were struck profoundly by his words when we realized that he, himself, had not had the privilege of going to the temple yet. It is very expensive and most people have to wait years to be able to get to Johannesburg. But their hearts are in the right place and we know that the Lord knows the intent of their hearts. We are all praying for that young Congolese boys prayer to come true. It will be a great day when a temple is within easier reach of these devoted Saints.

Such sweet, beautiful gifts from our dear, talented Elder Mbambu.

Food, not so glorious Food

Food is a subject that people always seem to get around to talking about. I have talked about and worried about it all my life.

Not worrying about weight is one very good thing about being in the DR Congo. We don’t have a scale and don’t really think much about weight, for the first time in my life. We have less appetite for some reason. I read once that the antibiotic that we have to take for malaria can suppress your appetite and then the food also looks and tastes a little different. So, eating is a different experience.

It also helps that many African women are not small, thin people. In his books set in Botswana A. Smith calls them "traditional African women" and that's a good thing. I like that I fit in. I would not have like to be in Nepal, like Taysoms, where all the people are size 0.

They don’t seem to have negative feelings about weight and the terrible body image problem here in Africa that we have in America. But what has made me forget about weight most is that I feel like the only thing people, in general, see when they see us is WHITE. They don't see many white people, so I'm sure we look pretty weird to them. Many just stare at us, especially the kids. I love to wave to them or say hello and watch them hide behind their mother's skirts. I hope that someday we will make friends. I just feel like people don't look at the rest of me, except maybe the friends we are making in the church and they will accept me as I am. So, it all works. Kind of nice!

Here we have found that food is one of our challenges. There’s plenty of food to eat, but so many of the things we are used to using are not available. Examples-shortening, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, tortillas, nuts, cottage cheese, parm. cheese, corn syrup, eatable chicken, soy sauce, bacon, meat that looks familiar, etc. , etc. etc. I brought lots of recipes, but when I go to make something there are always a few ingredients that I don't have, can't get.

Protein is the biggest problem. Hamburger is good, although it's about $6 a lb. Chicken breasts, which is our major protein at home, are not available. They only have whole chickens here. We tried them! Twice! Both of us ended up not eating at all. Just can't do the dark meat. Cuts of beef are different and I haven’t been brave enough to try any yet. I found a pork loin for the first time the other day. It was small, but nice and cost $12. I bought it anyway. I cut it into six small chops and will try them. We do have yummy yogurt, milk, eggs, and good cheeses, but all dairy products are only available in full cream versions, even powdered milk is whole milk . So, that's not the healthiest thing to eat too often. No fish looks like something that we want to eat. I'm not much of a fish eater at best. They have dried, salted fish. There are some fish in the freezer at the store, but it’s kind of unknown types with strange appearances. Mystery fish is not a good idea! As we cross the bridge over the river on the road to Likasi, there are always little boys holding up wriggling fish for sale, but we pass on those too. There is also a man in the city who always has a string of what look like sparrows that he's selling. Again, we pass. On the menu at the Italian restaurant we went to they had warthog and impala, along with Italian food, but we also passed on them. They do have delicious pizza there. Oh, we are picky, picky!

There are beautiful dried beans and when it gets cooler I can make chili and bean soup with the beans that are available. They look very good.

Actually, we have eaten a lot of peanut butter sandwiches or cheese and bread or yogurt since the power seems to like going out about dinner time.

Africans cook on charcoal brasiers. I think that they have figured out the undependable nature of electricity and know how to get around it. I might have to buy a brasier just for when the power is out. You use them like a stove top with a single burner, but then we could cook something when there is no power and it might be a fun adventure if some of the sisters would show me how to use one.

There are more canned foods than I thought there would be here in Lubumbashi, but they are pricey too. About $1.50 per can for any veggies or fruits, $6 for a small jar of Ragu or peanut butter. They generally come from S. Africa and those we've tried are very good. Food is still a challenge, which is strange since there is food everywhere. On every street corner people are selling things, but there is not a lot of variety or it's something that we don't recognize. It’s that way with fruits and veggies too.--lots of tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, onions, cabbage, sometimes a little lettuce and carrots. We have not seen broccoli or squash and we've seen celery, cauliflower and green beans only once. We found a package of frozen peas the other day for $6 and were thrilled.

Pears, apples, oranges, pineapple and bananas are plentiful. They taste wonderful . There are no berries, apricots, peaches, lemons, grapefruits or grapes.

I think that we just need to be a little braver. It’s all a little funky and also has been washed in soapy, bleach water.. I 'm pretty sure that Brent has dropped a few lbs. Not good! So, we are going to have to work harder to adapt to the differences in food. Someday I even want to try fufu.

Wow, that was a lot of food talk. I promised myself that I wouldn’t obsess about food while we’re here, but I think that I might be doing it. I seem to spend a lot of time thinking about, buying and preparing things. Almost everything has to be prepared from scratch. Tonight I made spaghetti sauce from fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, and other spices I brought from home. There is not a cake mix or brownie mix in sight. I must admit that I would love just one trip to Costco. Top of the list-- frozen chicken breasts!!!!!! Then canned chicken, then chicken nuggets, roasted chicken, grilled chicken, orange chicken! Wow!! Enough food talk.

We went to Likasi again yesterday to work on district conference that will be in two weeks. It’s an all day trip and pretty hard driving. We have 8 km of “teeth rattling dirt road” on the two hour drive, but we get a good laugh every time as we bump along. It's better than an amusement park.

The police stopped Brent several times on this trip. In a very small village they said he was speeding (which we were not a bit sure of) and we'd have to pay $100. Brent just looked very innocent and told the officer that we were not rich Americans, but poor missionaries and this was our first trip alone to Likasi to help our members and we didn't have much money, so the policeman settled for a Book of Mormon and $12 worth of Congolese francs and went away happy! Just another part of the adventure of Africa!

It’s actually sometimes better when driving the Likasi road to go on the dirt by the side of the road rather than on the paved street on some parts of the drive, since there are so many huge potholes.

The big trucks drive on the side of the road a good deal of the time. I guess a pothole could easily tip this kind of load.

We passed the many villages again and they make us so sad, especially the children of the villages. There is so little hope for them to ever have a better life with no school, devastating poverty and isolated circumstances. Some of them will get no education and just work from the time they are little to scratch out a living in the bush.

It may be that some of them just like the slow village life and wouldn't want to move to the villes, but it is just heartbreaking to us!!

Notice that this is a restaurant, but we didn't try it

In Africa there are lots of children. It sometimes seems that almost every young woman has a baby on her back. They carry them that way until they are old enough to walk. They wrap a scarf around themselves and the child, leaving their hands free to do whatever they need to do. It's actually rather smart, but I'm always worried the kids will squirm, loosen the wrap and fall out. The babies seem totally content and are usually sound asleep and I've never seen one drop yet.

Most people here have large families. Many have 8-10 children. It's also very common to take in the children of relative. Our dear friends, the Mongas, have three children of their own and four that belong to other family members. Those family members could not give their children an education or a good home environment, so the Mongas took them in. Frere Monga says, "It's the African way." It is so inspiring that the African people would so generously reach out to help family members in this way and change these children's lives for the better.

Mongas daughter, Miriam and niece, also Miriam

We will be going to Likasi again next Sat and Sun. for a District conference. That will be our first African hotel experience. It will be another interesting experience. Brent is the Likasi district "visiting authority." Don't know how that works. Not that Brent is not a good guy and a great speaker, but in Tempe we have general authorities come and here in the Congo, they get Brent. He will do a great job and they are hungry for knowledge and listen with the spirit, so it will be a good experience for us all. I will meet with the district and branch axillary leaders. The spirit is strong in Africa, despite many challenges. So, life and work go on. We are learning so many things. We will be better people for having been here. We hope the people will also feel that they are better for us having come. We do love them already!

The parable of the bidon

In Africa, water is a precious commodity and it goes on and off without warning, if you are lucky enough to have running water at all. If you don't have running water, then you have to buy bidons full of water and haul them to your home. A "bidon" is a yellow container that holds about three or four gallons of water. They are sold all along the streets. Transportation

They also make good chairs.

In some places there are taps where you can buy water.

These people are getting water from a tap.

In the villages sometimes you have to walk or ride a long way for water or get it from a truck that comes by selling it.Everyone waiting for water.Riding to get water.

Taking water home.

If you have running water in your home or a tap outside your home, they say that you should have bidons, "just in case."

We went to see all of our missionaries yesterday to take them materials, let them know we are thinking of them and to do a little check of how things are going. It was p-day so we found most of them home and cleaning. Yeah! However, when we got to one apartment, there were piles of clothes, and dishes outside that appeared to be waiting to be washed. Their water had gone off this morning. Next to their empty tap they had about six "bidons." All six of their bidons were empty.
This experience lead me to ponder the parable of the bidon.

So, THE PARABLE OF THE BIDONS

Once there was a couple who were new to Africa and had never had the experience of water and power going out. They just expected that those things would be there, although they had been warned that they might not be "once in awhile." All went well for a week after their arrival. Power and water were always on and the couple didn't even think about the warning to prepare for those days when the taps and switches would not work. Then, one day, without warning, the power and water were gone. They stayed gone for 24 hours and the couple became very nervous. They felt like the 10 virgins who had not prepared for the bridegroom. They had brought flash lights and headlamps and so the darkness was not frightening, but they had not put in a good supply of water. In fact, they had six empty bottles on the counter that they planned to fill "in the morning," using their painfully slow filtration system. Then at 6:00 pm the water was gone. They survived the 24 hours, and foolishly thought that the worst was over. So, they just filled their six bottles of water and relaxed. Bam! The power was off again for 10 hours the next day. Finally, they learned their lesson, which they passed on to the elders and everybody else they knew. NEVER, EVER LEAVE YOUR BIDONS UNFILLED.

If ye are prepared, you shall not fear, be thirsty, dirty or be unable to flush the potty. You never know when your preparation will make all the difference. But now our bidons are full, as is our pantry. We are ready!

Our bidons.

Our water supply.

PS. It's a good thing that we're prepared too because the power and water have been off at some time nearly every day since then. Not the best part about Africa!!