Journals from Africa - DR Congo #4

1-20-10

Dear Friend,

Well I had to choke back tears once again today and am still holding back tears as I sit in the bed in the guest house and remember all those beautiful faces. Today at lunch we went to visit the home of Theresa who is a close of friend of Brenda’s and works on the All Nations board that Brenda organizes. Theresa is from the Congo and once when she visited she was moved to weeping for the girls she found on the street naked and playing in the dirt. She was afraid they would be raped as she once had been. So she literally took them immediately off the street and eventually bought a home for them and began an orphanage now called “Theresa’s house.” There have been about 15 girls for a few years now but one of the girls died because she was sick.

The girls greeted as at the home of Theresa’s parents where we ate lunch. They greeted us with a song. Then they did a program of songs for us. It was beautiful. I wanted to cry immediately when I found out who they were. My eyes welled up. They are such beautiful young ladies. After lunch I went out to talk to them and asked each of them their names. I taught a few of them a clapping game and then they taught me a clapping game. I did not want to leave. One little girl kept touching my hair and they kept saying how beautiful my hair was. Some of them became rather sad when we were leaving. A few of the older girls said they wanted to come to the U.S. with us. My heart was breaking inside. I still wish I could go back and wrap them in my arms and shower them with love and bring them home with me. I know they are being well taken care of at least but I could tell some of them were very sad. Many of the girls’ parents abandoned them, some of them had parents who died, most were abandoned.

From there we went back to the clinic. David was playing the keyboard in the church area where several ladies were also sitting. Brenda got him to play the Congolese song she knows and started singing. Then several of the ladies joined in and we were all singing and dancing. More and more people came and joined in or watched with big smiles on their faces. I did the African yell of joy haha and they all smiled and gave me a thumbs up and enjoyed it. It was such a blessing. We have now been dropped back off at the guest house (hotel) and are going to Dr. Hyacinthe’s home for supper at 7pm. I’m going to try to take a nap now. My stomach still has a pit in it. I wish I could stay with those girls or come back some day. Even though I have just met them, I will miss them.

Amani,
Bridget

Journals from Africa - DR Congo #3

1-19-10

Dear Friend,

I’m not sure how much I can write right now because I am feeling quite homesick and overwhelmed with the excessive need we see in the Congo every day. My heart is heavy with the need here and it tears me apart. Why is it so bad? Why can nothing be done to fix it more drastically? It takes time to heal a country – time, money, complete reversal of thinking, prayer, war against corruption and Satan’s ways.

We went into town today where there are tall buildings and all the embassies are there as well. We ate at a restaurant owned by Lebanese and where many of the embassy officials probably eat. Today was apparently a holiday so many of the buildings and shops were closed. We also went to a market. I also get quite overwhelmed with the market and probably spent too much but it’s hard to tell and these people have so little income I don’t know what to offer for things. One of Hyacinthe’s friends worked there and he helped us bargain so that we wouldn’t be cheated. I’m out of cash completely though.

There is a cockroach currently scurrying about my room, most likely under my bed, that is so big I could probably saddle it up and ride it. So far I’ve seen four baby roaches and a medium sized roach and then this big one. It makes me paranoid to go to sleep.

I just wish I could depict in words or even in photo what this country is like. I was thinking today though that if Uganda can be restored to the degree that it has been after the reign of Ide Amin, then there must be hope for the Congo. I have seen many UN vehicles (they seem to do little good, but I don’t know). I guess they have been here since the war in 2000 and the Congolese government is ready for them to leave because they say there is peace. But the UN is under negotiation because they do not think it is time for them to leave.

Tomorrow is essentially our last day here. We are going to do the business aspect of the trip and then I am going to interview Hyancinthe and we also have a lunch meeting scheduled with the family of a woman from the Congo that Brenda is friends with that now lives in the states.

My stomach is upset again so I’m glad we’re having the meetings here at the hotel so I can deal with it if I need to. I just hope I haven’t gotten any parasites again.

I saw a bit of a C-section today, but not really. We were supposed to be allowed to go in the operating room to take pics while the c-section was being performed, but they didn’t call us into the room in time and it was rather crowded anyway. The baby was born healthy, though. Oh, and apparently the women do not go home from the hospital after having the baby until they are fitted with a new outfit and have their hair done. I think usually the family comes and helps them with this to make them presentable to go home.

Today we found out that Hyacinthe doesn’t even have running water or a well near his own home. The street in front of his home is terrible too, but I believe I talked about that already. They have to carry 20-30 gallons of water to their house daily.

I saw a number of cripples today too. I wonder what happens to them and how they survive. With such a high unemployment rate I wonder that about many of the people here – how do they survive?

My heart is heavy. I’m going to talk to God and go to bed. Goodnight.

Amani,
Bridget

Journals from Africa - DR Congo #2

1-18-10

Dear Friend,

Well I woke up this morning to some pleasant surprises. Last night a small roach was in my bathtub – just the size of maybe two ladybugs. I then woke up in the middle of the night and was going to go to the bathroom but was met by a slightly larger cockroach – maybe a bit bigger than nickel-sized – and decided to let it have its playground because I didn’t want to use my shoe to smash it in case eggs came bursting out and I was too tired and dazed to deal with it. Thus, this morning it was on the floor at the foot of my bed on the rug. I remembered there was a box for a radio sitting on one of the nightstands so I grabbed it as the roach began to move and threw it on the critter and smashed him. I went to shower and when I came out a huge horse-size cockroach is scurrying out from under the bed on the side of the bed. I gasped a bit and reached for the box again – I threw frantically and fruitlessly. Now it is somewhere in the room causing me to have a bit of paranoia. Lovely.

Anyway, I’ll fill in a few of the details I missed yesterday and then head to breakfast. Regarding the clinic – Hyacinthe says he wants to start a blood bank in his clinic, but currently the room is used for overflow from the maternity ward. We saw the operating room and he said he performs about 30 operations a month and 6-7 of those operations are C-sections, which are kept for 2-3 days after the C-section. When we walked in one of the sections a woman was lying on the floor of the entryway receiving IV treatment for malaria.

Last year the number of patients at the clinic came down sharply because of the financial crisis in the Congo. The total for each month was 900 (usually it is well over 1,000) and 700 antenatal patients were seen each month (??? month or year, ask). There were 150 babies delivered per month – give or take. 40 outpatient cases were seen per day. This year, however, 550 babies have been born already.

The financial crisis occurred last year for multiple reasons. Few had jobs before the crisis and then when the crisis came the few that had jobs lost them. The two major industries that the Congo relies on were essentially shut down – diamond mining and copper mining.

Sometimes Hyacinthe’s wife does reception at the clinic. She will be an x-ray technician when the clinic develops the capacity for x-rays. She was a technician when they lived in Zambia. Hyacinthe and his family moved to Zambia originally to begin the process of immigrating to the U.S. But Hyacinthe had been praying to ask God what his calling was and felt God laying the Congo heavy on his heart. They had moved to Zambia when Rachel (their oldest) was 4 months old and they moved back to the Congo when she was 0 years old. More later.

Amani,
Bridget

Journals from Africa - DR Congo #1

1-17-10

Dear Friend,

No one can know what the DR Congo is like until you have been here. No words will describe what only eyes can see and no pictures will capture what only the five senses working together can make you feel. From the moment we stepped off the plane and into the airport in Kinshasa – chaos. We were ushered through immigration and wound up being led straight to the parking lot without talking to the officer in the boxed in office for VIP passport checks. We didn’t even pick up our bags. The immigration officer who was hired to help us told us he would return with our passports and our baggage. He led us to the car and Hyacinthe met us with his brother-in-law, Peter. We waited for a long time talking by the car while the immigration officer, or whatever he was, and John were in the airport taking care of unfinished business. When they returned with our stamped visas, the officer joked that there were no bags. I had been nervous about this all along so I thought he was serious and was thinking I was going to spend a very hot next few days in Congo. Fortunately, it was only a joke.

We left the airport and I soon realized the chaotic driving I had experienced in other countries was nothing compared to the reckless, disorganized driving in the Congo. I soon realized that you don’t know what “dog eat dog world” means until you come to a place like this. The roads are littered with piles of trash and the smell in many places is overwhelming. There are 8 million people in Kinshasa – a sea of faces. Cars and taxis come within inches and sometimes even graze the bodies of people running across the road or walking between cars or hanging out the side doors of small van taxis. I thought I had seen people packed in cars like sardines before….not until now. We drove by a bus that had to have way over 100 people on it – there was not a space of air to be had and the windows were even fogging up. The road in front of Hyacinthe’s home seems more like a dump trucks playground with unbelievable hills covered in garbage.

We visited the clinic today and had Sunday worship in an area of the hospital designated for church. The worship was beautiful – very Pentecostal J We prayed a lot and sang a lot and heard an amazing sermon on Jesus’ first miracle with a perspective on the verse that I had never heard before. They also had instrument shakers made from old bug killer aerosol cans.

The maternity ward at the clinic is fitted with only 10 beds and there is at least 2 women to each bed – sometimes four. There are two delivery beds side by side and sometimes they have to put a third woman who is delivering on the floor and deliver all three babies at the same time.

The people here do not smile. The first smiles I saw were at the church. The people had a much different attitude. Otherwise it’s difficult to get even little children to smile when you smile at them. I have found that the only people that smile back at me are children who are probably 7-14 years old.

I have more details and will write more later. I’m late for bed now.

Amani,
Bridget

Jorunals from Africa - Ethiopia #2

Dear Friend,

We have left Ethiopia and are in the Congo now but I am going to try to catch up on some Ethiopia stories and information. During the tour of the clinic, I learned that the clinic performs regular health education that is need based – vaccinations, disease control, etc. 46% are underweight and 69% are average weight, thus, the LS clinic has a focus on malnutrition. Infertility has dropped and the LS clinic is finding it more and more necessary to teach families, especially mothers, to manage pregnancies. Hygiene problems are also an issue dealt with in health education.

100% of the patients at the clinic get vaccinated and they do not discontinue vaccinations. The patients are vaccinated for eight diseases – there is 70% vaccine coverage in Addis, but in some places the coverage is as low as 5%. As far as vaccinations, the biggest problem they have is with the measles vaccination because herbal doctors tell people the vaccination is demonic and will aggravate the illness. There are rumors that polio is mixed with HIV – thus, Wondwossen says education about polio is important. Wondwossen said he has indeed seen cases of polio…mostly come from two counties in Ethiopia. Most patients reject the injected vaccine for polio but will take the oral vaccine.

Wondwossen says sex ed is also important because though public and private schools are required to have sex ed, requirement is more a policy than a practice. Thus, it’s his duty to go into schools. The media and government say sex ed is covered in schools, but it is not done well.

Other clinics have sent patients to Wondwossen’s clinic for lab tests because their facilities are better.

Each physician/staff member may only serve on purpose – they are not allowed to do double-tasks – according to the Ethiopian government.

There are 1.2 million blind in Ethiopia. 600,000 of these people are blind due to cataracts. Also, vitamin A deficiency, and a majority from STDs that affect baby at birth. A lot of this blindness is curable/preventable – cataract surgery, etc.

Religion in Ethiopia: Evangelicals – 18%, Muslims – 33%, Coptic – 49%.

More later….

B-rizzle

Journals from Africa - Ethiopia #1

Dear Friend,

We’re here on our second full day in Ethiopia. I have already been amazed a number of times at how God’s intricate hand works without us even knowing His ways and the miracles He will bring forward.

Yesterday we began the day with breakfast at our hotel which sits right across from the Bole (district) slum where Doctor Wondwossen Desta has his clinic. The hotel and slum offer a hard juxtaposition as one is very rich and nice, while the other smells of urine and feces and garbage as it runs through the little “drains” (through the dirt dug lower than the rest of the rocky, uneven ground).

We wound up walking to the clinic from the hospital. After crossing the very busy roads (with cars that mostly all mini-sizes of American cars), we walked down the sidewalk on the main street a little bit and then turned onto a dirt road that reeked of urine and garbage. Wondwossen held his hand over his nose and mouth and kept telling us to come quickly…it was less smelly after that passage, but it was still smelly until we were inside the walls of the clinic. When we arrived at the clinic, we entered the waiting room and there were a number of women and children waiting there. Wondwossen taught a very short lesson on hygiene and HIV issues, etc. We then took a tour of the clinic that has two patient rooms, a lab, a separate toilet for patients, a new separate HIV counseling room, and two administrative offices. There is also a guard who owns a small garden of cabbage that he sells from the property who has a small bedroom alongside the offices.

We visited with a woman who was holding a small infant – 3 months old – who told us her story and how the clinic had helped her. She had come to the clinic three months into her pregnancy seeking an abortion. She already had three children and did not have any means to take care of a fourth – the fourth baby had been an “accident”/surprise. When she came to the clinic they counseled her and told her an abortion was wrong in the eyes of God and sent her to an organization that counsels women in crisis pregnancies. After tears and turmoil she decided to keep the baby and give it up for adoption when it was born. Now that he is born, she may be able to keep the baby if she is able to obtain the job the pregnancy organization has told her is a possibility. The baby’s name is David. His mother wanted to name him miracle but his older brother insisted on calling him David because his father had read him the message of David since he was little. Her husband does not have a secure job so the financial position places her in a tough position. The mother’s name is Zennovich.

Beautiful Dissonance

An explanation:

The world is absolutely wrought with strife and chaos. At every turn it’s possible to feel completely defeated by the unsolvable, unstoppable disorder of something – anything. Observe:
Poverty, homelessness, strife, fighting, despair.
Over-abundance of wealth, greed, consumption.
Malicious intent, hidden agendas, hypocrisy.

In the United States, we tend to think things are better. Poverty is for third world countries. Homelessness is found on just some other street – not mine. Pass off chaos in Africa as just the way Africa is…by nature. In reality, the U.S. just tends to have prettier packaging. But ignorance and apathy cannot forever drown truth. On the other hand, reality is overwhelming.
--

What the hell are we doing here anyway?
School, work, play….and play some more.
Begin a relationship. End a relationship.
Invest – in money, in people, in learning.
Lose – money, people, learning.
Grow attached and get burned.
Laugh and turn to cry when no one is looking.

Sometimes life seems like an endless series – a cycle – of meaningless pursuits. At one moment you feel so strong and confident – never caring what people think about you or do to you. But then you break.

But that becomes the dissonance – the beautiful mess.

In music, dissonance is that chord or a combination of tones that is so ugly – the discord so deep that it is absolutely, gut-wrenchingly beautiful. The dissonance resolves. Dissonance always leads to a resolution. Is that the reason the dissonance stuns us with its magnificence – its depth; the reason it is so painful to the ear and yet so wonderful?

The dissonance – every single non-fitting tone – strings together to create something unique, unlooked for, and brilliant.

And so it goes. Life. Beautiful dissonance. Beautiful mess.

Every city may be plagued by poverty, pursued by the temptation of consumption, and drowning in strife. But each of those tones of dissonance in life is strung together to reveal His masterpiece. The very unknown becomes beautiful and appreciated for its mystery. Why? Because God is beautifully orchestrating the lines of music together to become a symphony. In musical ensembles, different sections will carry the simplest line of notes; or the oddest and ugliest harmony; or the most beautiful, singing tune. But when each of those sections comes together, directed by a conductor, the music becomes whole – paints a picture, tells a story, creates perspective. Dissonance encourages learning and looking beyond the surface; it builds strength.

I have no clue where my life is headed….directly. Thankfully, each day, my Potter uses my own personal beautiful mess of a self for His calling. I know that if I look beyond the chaos, I will see Him gripping each nuance together to masterfully form a work of art.

This is the joy I take in journalism – to see those perspectives. The dissonance is what makes me take a closer look, which is what I hope to do with this blog.

“In order that we finite beings may apprehend the Emperor He translates His glory into multiple forms – into stars, woods, water, beasts, and the bodies of men.” ~C.S. Lewis