Kayaking to Rwanda

This weekend I was back in Bukavu. We took some time to enjoy Lake Kivu - sitting on the pier, swimming, and kayaking. One of the FH staff members brought an inflatable 2 person kayak back from the States and I got to go out in it. Lake Kivu is on the border between the DRC and Rwanda (knew that) and the FH residence is really close to the border (hadn't fully captured that fact). So we went out about a half hour towards a point that was sticking out into the lake, and Michael told me that now we were in Rwandan water space. You could almost see the bridge that's the border. Pretty cool!
So...I've now paddled to Rwanda!

Happy News

Today Buck (our consultant) and I are finalizing the baseline data for the report we need to write up over the next few days before starting the trek back to the States next Tuesday. We're running our corrected and cleaned data through the statistical software programs, and I've seen Buck do a "happy dance" twice so far as programs that previously had bugs are now running smoothly and giving us the data we need. I got my one program that was giving me headaches debugged this morning too.

Yesterday we flew from Kalamie up to Bukavu. This was a feat in itself as you don't always get to get on the plane on your first try (i.e. you might get bumped if the flight's too full, or the trip is canceled or postponed, etc.). This enabled us to fortuitously cross paths with Adolfo (a colleague of mine based in Bolivia) and brief him on the agricultural marketing results from the baseline survey before he headed down to Kalamie this morning to do a week of training.

After monotonous fare down in Kalamie, everything here tastes AMAZING!

Sad News

This morning I got a skype message that the USAID representative here in DRC had passed away yesterday. Now the freaky thing is that Jim was just out here last week where I'm working doing a site evaluation visit in Kalamie and Moba. I had lunch and dinner with him and his assistant several times over the course of this past week. I heard his stories and opinions and held my tongue at the things he said that were inappropriate or annoyed me. (Can you tell I didn't like the guy?) Jim flew back to Kinshasa, where he and his wife live, on Friday and then had a fatal heart attack while playing tennis on Sunday. I feel really sad for his widow, and I'm so glad she probably got to spend time with him before Sunday. So a crazy bit in this whole thing is that we'll get a feedback report from his evaluation visit, but we can't contest any of it, because it's our word against a dead guy's. This is all too weird. Life is unpredictable - you never know when your time is up.

Going to the market

This morning one of our DRC staff, Marceline, kindly accompanied me to the main market in Kalamie. We were in search of fabric ("keyquembay" in swahili) for a dress that her mother is making for me. I noticed on my last trip here that Marceline was always "smartly" dressed and it turns out it's because her mom is a seamstress/tailor. We found some cool fabric, but in the midst of our search, we stopped so that Marceline could buy some chickens. Now some of you know I have a thing about birds. Too many pigeons too close to me freak me out. So I'm standing next to Marceline and about 10 ladies come up to us waving their upside down live chickens, wings outstretched and flapping, hoping to strike a deal with Marceline. It was too much for me...I had to step out of the sellers' circle, away from all the birds. After buying the chickens, Marceline tossed them in the back of the LandCruiser. I'd been riding in back on the way to the market (since Marceline was in a dress) but I was afraid the chickens would get a little rambunctious on the journey back so I was too nervous to sit in back with them! Marceline and the driver laughed and laughed. When I told the story to Buck (our consultant I'm working with) he laughed too. So I have a thing about large flapping birds in close proximity to my head, so what?! (Yes, I agree, it's quite absurd!)

So what do you eat in the Congo?

At the moment I'm in the throes of recovering from a sketchy chicken sandwich that I ate Monday night. So at the moment I'm not eating much. I had the typical bread and margarine and tea for breakfast and a little trail mix (brought from the US) for lunch. The first week here I think I OD'd on meat. The typical meal offered at the UN base restaurant (called "Welfare" <-- a misnomer really, because at the moment I don't think they're looking out my welfare, food safety-wise!) is beef or chicken with rice usually, or french fries, and on the rare occasion spaghetti. That's it. Oh, except on Sundays when there's fruit salad too (bananas, mango, and pineapple - YUM!) So when a chicken or egg sandwich can be wrangled up, we get excited. But I'm done with chicken and egg sandwiches now too. Twice hamburgers have been available. However, at the UN base they have had "Stoneys", a ginger soda from Tanzania. It's really good. Last week at our training workshop, breakfast and lunch were included. We had, you guessed it, bread and margarine for breakfast, with hot milk that you could add tea to. For lunch I had greens and rice everyday, sometimes spinach and sometimes okra. It was actually really good. And it felt good to be eating veggies (a rarity around here...and they wonder why people get sick and the children are malnourished???).

Making Progress

Last week we facilitated the training workshop for all the Baseline Study interviewers, supervisors, and assistants. This week they are in the field (i.e. rural villages) using the questionnaires to collect data. Buck (our Baseline consultant) and I are now working on the next stage - figuring out how to use the data they're collecting to determine the % accomplished for each indicator, and then writing computer programs to calculate these percentages. For example, I need to figure out the "Percentage of beneficiary children 0-5.9m who were exclusively breastfed in the last 24h". So I look at the survey tool - if the caregiver says "yes" that the child is currently being breastfed, and "yes" that the child received breastmilk in the last 24h and "no" to any other foods or liquids in the past 24h, then I can count that child as being "exclusively breastfed". I also need to calculate my denominator - number of total children <= 5 months. And then I get to write the computer program to calculate this using a bunch of IF, THEN, ELSE statements. It's enough to make one's head spin!

Me and God hanging at the beach

An unexpected benefit of this time in the DRC is the time I’m getting to hang out with God. Due to the nature of this project, I really only have one other person to talk to on a daily basis (Buck, our consultant), and he’s a guy. It’s been at least a week since I’ve had a conversation with another woman. So I’m finding that I’m spending a lot of time writing in my journal and just talking with God. On Sunday morning Buck and I went to the lakeside beach and hung out all morning. Buck sat under a tree reading a book, and I positioned myself up close to the lake on the sand and spent the morning with God. I read my Bible, spent time in reflection, wrote in my journal, read, prayed, and just enjoyed being in God’s presence as I took in His creation – the millions of sparkles created by the sun glinting off the waves, the warm breeze, the changing clouds, etc. It was an awesome morning. Many of my weekends during my last year in Bolivia were spent in similar solitude. I had forgotten how great it is – and how much I MISS spending extended time like this hanging out with God. Thank you Jesus for this unexpected blessing!

Cultural Attitudes

The other day as we drove to work we had to pull over and let troops of Congolese soldiers pass. You see, they were doing their morning run. In a very public way – running straight down the main road for all to see, essentially shutting down all other movement! About 6 platoons passed us as they ran in formation, each singing a different song or chant, and some had a soldier maintaining the pace by beating a makeshift drum. It was quite a sight! I have deduced from our staff comments that Congolese don’t necessarily take pride in doing something well. But, from this display, my colleagues and I deduced that Congolese are proud to be recognized for doing something important. At least the men. So the wheels in my head start turning – I wonder how FH/DRC could use this cultural phenomenon to engage local women as Mother Leaders to teach health principles to their neighbor women? Will shaping the Mother Leader role as an esteemed position create a pride that will enable the work to become sustainable? Hmmm…

Pre-testing

The team working on the Health baseline survey is a great group of guys. (Yes, all men!). Willing to put in the extra effort by staying late until we get it right, make it the best we can. Three of the guys tested the questionnaire by interviewing some mothers in a nearby community. They gave some great input – pointing out questions that in the moment they didn’t understand, telling me some of the things that surprised them (the mothers were very interested in the survey, the fathers and grandmothers were very curious too!). One father didn’t remember his child’s birthdate, but his illiterate wife did remember and reminded him that he had written the date on the wall inside the house! At the end Sacumi asked for validation – did they accomplish the objectives that I had set forth for the pre-testing of the survey? To which I heartily answered, “Yes! Above and beyond what I had expected – Your answers were invaluable and are helping to make this survey instrument even better!”

Mornings in Africa

While still in Bukavu I walked to our workplace along a red dirt road with occasional views of Lake Kivu, and realized what a “muzungu” (white person) I’d become. I passed at least 50 people on the 10 minute walk and was startled to realize that I’m out of the morning greeting practice. You see, in countries like DRC or Bolivia, whenever you pass someone (stranger or friend) you tell them “good morning” (“jambo”, “bonjour”, “buenas dias”, etc.) Also I was reminded that pedestrians do not have the right of way. The cars drive “erratically” here in order to preserve their suspension and avoid potholes. This can be deadly to the unsuspecting pedestrian with no shoulder or embankment to scurry on to!

Paz en la Tormenta

Flying over Rwanda is beautiful. It’s full of rolling hills covered in green tropical farm fields, forests, and criss-crossed with red dirt roads. The most beautiful part of the journey is flying along Lake Kivu’s coastline. Here the land mingles with the water like fingers interlace between two hands. Or multiple hands, since I could see at least 12 fingers of land stretching into the lake, plus islands. Moored on the shore are fishing boats – a series of 3 narrow canoes connected horizontally by an added beam, like a long rib. Off the front and back of each “canoe” is an antennae-like wood pole, curved like a long branch bowing from a weeping willow tree. Between these poles are strung the fishing nets. They are quite a structural masterpiece to see up close.

The guesthouse I’m staying at in Bukavu, DRC is right on Lake Kivu. There are balconies overlooking the green garden and the lake, and an outdoor veranda where we sat to eat lunch and enjoy the cool breeze. In the afternoon I took a nap to try and shake some of this jet lag and was woken up by this immense wind storm. A storm had brewed quickly over the lake, and as I looked out the window I could see white capped waves and shoreline eucalyptus trees bent in half. And then the torrential rain started. Quite intense really; I half expected a funnel cloud to drop down from the swirling clouds above.

It reminded me of the disciples’ fright during the storm on the Sea of Galilee. That must have been some storm, because these were experienced fishermen, used to witnessing the whims of weather on the lake. And with one statement, Jesus brought calm and peace (and some shocked faces too!)

My friend Lauren sent me this email prayer - May today there be peace within. (Peace for you when you travel and when you meet new people and discover your surroundings and the work you will be doing in the upcoming month.)

It’s going to be a busy month with hard demands. Please pray for peace and strength for me. Thanks friends!

Aid Work - is it worth it?

On my flight from DC to Amsterdam I was seated next to a Dutch man name Roland. After he gave me the 411 on how to get from the airport to downtown (in anticipation of my 8h layover in Amsterdam on my return trip), he asked about why I was going to the DRC. I explained that I worked for a relief and development organization which prompted him to say that the Dutch in general don’t believe that aid work does any good. In retrospect I should have asked him what he meant by that, because that’s a pretty broad statement. However, I have heard beliefs like that before. I know it can be frustrating to hear about the millions of dollars being poured into solving the world’s poverty and hunger situation, and then to continually hear how grave the situation continues to be, year after year. It can feel like dumping money down a black hole.

I don’t think my answer changed his opinion, but Roland seemed to respond to my statements about how FH is mostly made up of national workers, people bringing development ideas to their own countrymen, and not some outsider coming in and telling them how things should be done. This is an aspect of FH that makes me proud to represent this organization.

Does aid work do any good? What do you think?