November 16, 2014 - Shelley

November 16, 2014

It’s been a week of finishing up current projects and trying to come up with new ones for Jan. 1st.  Someone told us that we would leave the Congo knowing less about the culture than we did when we came – and I can understand that more now.  This is especially true when working with governmental agencies.  Just when we think we have it figured out – we don’t!

One thing we have really enjoyed is teaching an English class to the elders.  There are three stakes here in Lubumbashi.  Senior missionaries are assigned to teach the elders and sisters in each of the stakes.  Our class covers the Kisanga Stake.  When we first arrived here, I noticed how the senior couples loved the young missionaries.  It was almost like a reunion when the missionaries came to the office or when they saw each other at church.  Well, I think it’s because of this special time for teaching that those relationships are formed.  Below is Clark with the missionaries in Kasumbalesa.

Today we were able to attend church in a little area where some of “our” elders are serving.  The town is called

Kasumbalesa and is about an hour and a half away from Lubumbashi.

Here I am in a “not very flattering selfie” with two sister missionaries.  They are so cute – one of them is from Kenya and actually speaks English!

We really enjoyed getting away from the city twice this week.  The road to Kasumbalesa runs through little villages and offers many picturesque scenes.

This building is very typical.  It’s a store. The tin roof is held down with rocks and bricks.  Behind the buildings is a big mound of dirt.  Actually, these mounds are quite a phenomenon.  They are everywhere when you get away from the city.  The dirt in them is actually clay-like and is used to made bricks.  So it’s quite different from the regular dirt on the ground.  We have asked several local people where the mounds come from – and we’re always told that God put them there so that they could make bricks.  And it appears to be true!

Here’s a family home with the same scenario.  Bricks are used to build everything.  In order to make the bricks

sturdier, they are fired in an oven like this.  I’m not sure how the system all works – more to come when I find out.  

Another thing that makes getting away fun is to see the many creative ways people come up with for transporting things!

Two Men and a Truck have nothing on these guys!!! Haha

This is a great way to get your chickens to market!

And who needs to bother with a bike rack when all you have to do is tie them to the roof of the van?

Mattresses going to town to be sold.

We also saw many beautiful gardens.

Our other trip away was to visit a school in Kipopo.  We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into when Charles, the physical facilities man from the Catholic Diocese, asked us to go with him.  It took us FOREVER to get there!  What we found was a small village school that was very neglected and needy.  Four valiant teachers are trying to hold it all together on a shoe-string budget.  The Ministry of Education this week came out with an edict that schools are not allowed to solicit financial help from parents.  So no fund raisers, teacher appreciation week, etc. – nothing that we are so used to in the United States.  Several principals lost their jobs last week over this issue.  Anyway, it is heart-breaking to see these poor teachers receiving no help from the government – and now no help from the parents.  Their salaries are mainly paid through tuition that the parents pay.  It varies greatly!  Flavien pays $100 each month for his little first grader to attend a nice school.  But schools like this in Kipopo charge $2.50 per month or less.  

But the children are as beautiful as ever!

The darling little girl in this next picture is helping older kids pump water from a well located on the playground in Kipopo.  We weren’t able to offer much more than encouragement to the teachers there, unfortunately.  They have desks, but what they really need is a new building that doesn’t have a leaky tin roof!

Our next few weeks look like they will be busy.  It’s hard to imagine that it’s almost Thanksgiving!  And we have much to be thankful for!  We continue to be truly blessed.  Have a great week! –Mom/Soeur Davis